My New HOUSE

I just got back from a trip to New York and a visit to my new HOUSE.

No, I'm not moving back to The City (never say never, I suppose, but not now). My new house is my new publishing house, which is... drumroll, please...

RANDOM HOUSE!

Knopf Books for Young Readers, to be specific. Yes, I'm thrilled to report that Knopf will be publishing my first YA novel, FOLLOWING THE NAIL, in Spring 2010. And they will be publishing my first middle grade novel, WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU ORANGE JUICE, in Spring 2011. That may seem like a looong way off, but in book publishing terms it is not. Plus, I have two 2009 books coming from Abrams, so I'm happy to give all my books time to breathe and have their moments.

My new editor is Erin Clarke, and I am beyond thrilled to be working with her. You may know her as the editor of THE BOOK THIEF or from any number of fabulous books she's edited in her years at RH. Here's a photo of her desk ("waist up") and many of her recent titles on display:

I was also blown away by the Random House lobby, which is sort of like a shrine to every great book you've ever heard of... all of which they seem to have published (I was warned about this, but I still became dumbstruck upon entering the lobby). Here's a photo of Erin (also "waist up") next to one of the giant cases of literature (too dark to see, but there's a KNOPF sign at the top):

All in all, a terrific visit to New York. I also met with some of the wonderful folks at Abrams, including Susan Van Metre and Chad W. Beckerman, who showed me the cover for my Spring 2009 book, CHICKEN BUTT! I really can't wait for this book to come out. Henry Cole's sketches are a riot. I have a feeling they will make milk come out of many a nose.

Yes, a wonderful trip all around. Which may explain why I am so tired. Well, actually, I'm okay. Lucy, my devoted dog, on the other hand, spent the whole time I was gone worrying about whether I'd come back. Lucy was originally a pound puppy. Even now, fifteen years after we adopted her, this explains a lot. She promptly parked herself in my not-yet-unpacked suitcase and took a nap:

I guess it's true. Old house or new house: there's no place like home.

Run with Me!

I often run with Ira Glass. Not in person, though I'm guessing that would be fun. Rather, his The American Life podcast. Sometimes I run with Peter Sagal (of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!) or Terry Gross (of Fresh Air... are you detecting a public radio theme?). But today, for the first time, I ran with... me.

Yes, I jogged along listening to a podcast interview I did with Sabrina Weissler, of the Children's Book radio podcast. And so can you, if you'd like: you can get it here or go to childrensbookradio.com and click on "Episode Guide" (I'm Episode # 43).

I must confess that as I listened and ran, I cringed in anticipation, fearing that I said something completely stupid. I think the act of cringing while running gives a whole new dimension to the phrase "upper body workout."

Ultimately, I didn't discover that I had said anything truly cringe-worthy. I've enjoyed many of the other interviews Weissler has done, so I'm glad I didn't totally botch it... or at least I don't think I did. Feel free to strap on your running shoes, listen for yourself and weigh in on this point.

Cringing optional.

George and Me

Let's have a moment of silence to mark the death of George Carlin. Though perhaps a moment of cursing would be more appropriate. As a child, I used to take George Carlin's albums out from the Fletcher Free Library (in my hometown, Burlington, VT) and giggle over them with my brother.

The two most memorable bits for me came from A Place For My Stuff, which Carlin released in 1981. The first was one of his "announcements" which purported to be a message from the National Apple Institute (it was delivered in a voice I always took to be that of a tough-looking, menacing apple: "F--- pears.")

The second was his piece, Ice Box Man, in which he did an impersonation of a mom trying to sell her family on eating something nasty from the back of the fridge. His deadpan summary of the item on the plate was "could be meat, could be cake... I know, it's meatcake." And then in his mother voice, he'd chime in, "Don't you want to eat this bowl of pudding skin??? I'm only going to throw it away..."

To this day, my mom, who listened to me and my brother cutting up to the album ad nauseum, refers to anything gross from the back of the fridge as "meatcake." As do I, for that matter.

Rest in peace, George Carlin. Your spirit lives on.

Luck of the Not-Exactly-Irish

My mom, who has red hair, can pass for Irish. As you can see in this picture, my older daughter sometimes takes after her.

Me, well, that's another story. However, I am delighted to report that the Irish are not holding my not-quite-Irish status against me. I'm going to Dublin later this summer and I've been communicating with the lovely Tom Donegan of the national children's books organization there, Children's Books Ireland a.k.a. Leabhair Pháistí Éireann for you Celtophiles (that's pronounced KELT-o-files, not SELT-o-files, who are fans of the reining basketball team).

Alas, I will not be there for Kate Thompson and Keith Gray's writing-for-teens seminar this month, nor will I be there for next month's Summer Stories event, which sounds fabulous. It combines Ireland's best storytellers, children's book authors and illustrators in one big free festival.

I was particularly curious about what the fesitival description lists as "potty poetry." While it is possible that toilet-themed verse is HUGE there, I think the more likely explanation is that the word "potty" means crazy in the UK. The definition on peevish.co.uk (a British slang site with a wide range of risque fare... a disclaimer that will likely make my middle grade fans click even faster!) includes use of the term in the following sentence: "I was potty about Angelina Jolie for several years." Say no more.

But I digress. The point is: I will be in Ireland later this summer and it looks like I might have the pleasure of visiting some Irish libraries and/or bookstores to read my books with a whole new continent of kids (OK, perhaps not a whole new continent... I did take my books to the kids of Paris a few years back... but you get the picture). And my mom will be along for the trip, bringing her red hair to increase my Irish street cred!

For those of you who are children's book authors and illustrators, I have to say that bringing your books when you travel and/or setting up readings and signings in places you are visiting is incredibly fun and rewarding. I've done this on pretty much every trip and family vacation for the past several years. Consequently, my books have found audiences in places they might not have otherwise (tiny Jackson, New Hampshire, for example... and that aspiring literary mecca, Sanibel, Florida). And my family and I have gotten to really know the people in these places better than we would as regular tourists.

Here's me in Cape Cod with some of my furrier fans:

And on Long Island, playing deuling-livestock-hats with a host librarian:

It's not all that hard. Usually, I call the extremely-well-connected-and-charming Jason Wells, publicity director at Abrams, and pick his brain about wherever I'm going. Then he or I call around and set things up. Truly, you would not believe how happy some places are to have an author visit, talk about her work and sign books.

And it leaves plenty of time to hit the beach, the slopes or, in the case of Ireland, I guess that would be the pub... or maybe the rolling green hills (we're staying on a farm). How lucky can you get? And you don't even have to be Irish!

Julia Denos!

I am thrilled to announce that in 2009 I will have TWO new picture books coming out from Abrams. The first, YOU KNOW WHAT? CHICKEN BUTT! is currently being illustrated by the extremely talented and extremely prolific Henry Cole (illustrator of one of my favorite books, AND TANGO MAKES THREE). When I was in New York earlier this month, I got to see his sketches and they are wonderful. Very funny stuff. Henry definitely knows chickens... and kids.

And now, drumroll please, I am excited to announce that we scored Julia Denos to be the illustrator for my other 2009 book, DOTTY! I am beyond pleased, because as soon as I first saw Julia's work, I said, "Yeah, her!" She has a beautiful drawing style and just the right ability to convey kids' emotional range, which is necessary for this book.

DOTTY is a story about a girl named Ida whose imaginary friend won't leave (even though Ida's classmates have outgrown theirs), and what happens when another girl discovers Ida's secret. A coming of age tale for 4-8 year olds, if you will. As well as a testament to the importance of keeping your imagination as long as possible.

I wrote DOTTY because when I was a kid I had imaginary friends, including a set of twins named SOTTY (pronounced SAH'-tee) and DOTTY. They were twin girls, but they were not the same age (a detail my parents found funny, though I didn't understand why at the time). I also had an imaginary pet sheep, so I sort of combined the two in this book. Plus, I had a bad summer camp teasing experience exactly like what Ida endures in DOTTY, so I drew on that. When kids ask me about writing fiction, I always point out to them that no matter how "made up" the story is, it won't work if the feelings you put in aren't real.

Julia Denos has a gorgeous portfolio that you can check out at her website. I selected the image shown here because it looks uncannily like one of my daughters. Julia was also interviewed by Jules and Eisha at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast last year, and you can check that out here (they included several of her most fetching images).

I can't wait to see what she does with DOTTY!