And they have books to give away!

Ashley is giving away signed copies of both Five Flavors of Dumb and Thou Shalt Not Road Trip, and Candace is giving away a signed copy of Thou Shalt Not Road Trip. Just click on the links to get entered.

Good luck!

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t celebrate anything. For instance, I sent the final draft of ELEMENTAL to my editor yesterday. I love this book, and am enormously proud of it. There’ll be a lot of copyediting, as usual, but I’ll celebrate that too, because it means I’m honing in on the finished book. And as for the cover . . . whoa! I can’t share it yet, but let’s just say it’s freaking amazing. In my mind, the book is already coming together. And that is something I can truly celebrate: the pursuit of the dream is every bit as compelling for me as the realization of it.

All of which reminds me of something many talented authors have told me: enjoy the ride. As long as these intermediate goals (first draft, final draft, copyediting, receipt of cover) are cause for celebration, I’ll be a happy camper a lot of the time. The same goes for all writers. Books are as much about the journey as the destination. Make it a pleasant one.

Sara Zarr wrote about this kind of thing herself–and far more articulately–in case you want to see.

On a different note:

* Today I’m guest blogging at Eating YA Books about my history as a reader. No, I didn’t read very much when I was a teen. Now you’ll find out why.

* Two new fantasy novels MUST be added to your wish list ASAP: ASHFALL by Mike Mullin is a captivating story of a boy struggling to reach his parents in the aftermath of a supervolcano eruption. It’s almost unbearably tense, and so real. LEGEND by Marie Lu doesn’t come out until next week, but it’s a dystopian novel about two 15-year-olds on opposite sides of a war. The pacing is breakneck, and the plot twists and turns so much you just can’t put it down. I loved them both.

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

I arrived on Thursday (after traveling for 21 hours – yes, you read that correctly) and rushed to meet Katherine Schneider, the sponsor of the Schneider Family Book Award. Dr. Schneider is a delight: thoughtful, kind, witty, engaged . . . I could go on and on. I am so pleased I got the chance to meet her, and had the opportunity to express how winning her award has transformed Five Flavors of Dumb from a small novel into one that is carried in almost every library in the USA.

Next, I gave this year’s Schneider Disabilities Issues Forum talk. I called it “Five Flavors of Dumb: How the Deaf Community Shaped a Novel.” The audience was fantastic, and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire provided both an ASL interpreter and closed-captioning. A local newspaper has published an excellent write-up on the event – you should totally check it out. If Katherine Schneider isn’t your own personal hero after reading this, then you’re crazy.

On Friday, I visited awesome students at Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls middle and high schools. Again, kudos to the teachers and librarians at every stop, because these students were prepared. There’s nothing more gratifying than walking into a school and having students ask detailed questions about your book. Just look at how much I was forced to gesticulate!

Thanks to Dr. Katherine Schneider and the organizers of the festival. I look forward to returning in the future!

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

Actually, everything about DUMB makes me exceedingly happy. Every week, small, personal, quirky books like mine are released. Some get lost in the shuffle, some fight the tide long enough to be enjoyed by niche readers, and others (like DUMB) just get plain lucky and enjoy the support of readers, booksellers, bloggers, librarians, teachers, etc. It’s not an easy process to predict, and when as an author you get lucky, you just have to be grateful. And I am grateful – to everyone who chose to read DUMB over one of the hundreds of other wonderful books that have come out in the past twelve months. Piper and her friends are alive and well today because of YOU.

But back to that paperback release. It seems a shame to let the date pass without celebrating it in some way. So I’ve spoken to the lovely folks at Penguin HQ, and they’re sending me a stack of bookplates to sign. And there’s more . . .

For anyone who pre-orders a paperback copy of DUMB by (or on) September 29^th, I’ll mail you a signed bookplate (inscribed however you’d like) for you to put in the front. All you have to do is email me at antonyATantonyjohnDOTnet (substituting the AT and DOT for the correct signs; you know the drill), provide your address, and tell me you’ve bought a copy. (No need to send proof of purchase—I trust you.)

What’s more, I’ll also enter you for a BIG prize giveaway. THREE winners will each receive a signed ARC of THOU SHALT NOT ROAD TRIP. And ONE winner will receive the 8-piece mega prize pack*, consisting:

1. Hardback of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON (signed by John Green and David Levithan)

2. Signed paperback of THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness

3. Signed ARC of THOU SHALT NOT ROAD TRIP by me

4. ARC of LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins

5. ARC of VIRTUOSITY by Jessica Martinez

6. ARC of LEGEND by Marie Lu

7. ARC of CROSSED by Ally Condie

8. Critique by me of either an agent query letter or the first chapter of your novel (this may be gifted to someone else of your choice, if you’re not an author).

For anyone who’d like to be entered into the giveaway but already has a copy of DUMB, why not order a copy from my local Indie, Left Bank Books, and have it sent to a friend? I’ll make sure it’s inscribed however you’d like, and they’ll make sure it gets mailed (for an extra fee).

Here’s where you can pre-order DUMB in paperback:

IndieBound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Finally, for all the wonderful folks who have already bought hardback copies of DUMB (and thus made it such a success)—THANK YOU! I’ll be hosting more giveaways on my Facebook page between now and the end of the year, so you’ll have a chance to win swag too.

(* I will ask the winner of the mega prize pack for proof-of-purchase. Hope that’s okay.)

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

For instance, almost exactly three years ago I met the absolutely awesome Catherine Gilbert Murdock (of DAIRY QUEEN fame) when she visited St. Louis for a book festival. We’ve been friends ever since, and she even (very graciously) blurbed FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB. Well, I said I’d love to read any forthcoming novels, and in response she sent me an early draft of WISDOM’S KISS, which comes out tomorrow (Tuesday, September 13th)! And can I just say . . . WOW.

WISDOM’S KISS is a fairy tale of sorts. It’s told from several perspectives, using a playful mix of dairy entires, a play, letters, and more. (It is consistently hilarious.) The genius in the variety of formats is how seamlessly one section continues from another, sometimes overlapping for humorous purposes and to show the unreliability of one narrator’s point of view. It moves along at breakneck pace, has unforgettable characters, and a cat who deserves a spin-off novel in the future. Brilliant!

Incidentally, Catherine is hosting a live chat on her Facebook page at 8PM ET on Tuesday, September 20th. Definitely worth checking out.

Congrats to Catherine on the release. I’ll leave you with the pithy words of the Booklist reviewer (just in case you don’t take my word for how good the book is):

“Packed with double entendres, humorous dialogue and situations, and a black cat that will capture the reader’s imagination, this is a joyful, timeless fantasy that teens will savor.”

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

Creative Retreat for writers

Slip away from the noise and distractions in your life for a tranquil weekend retreat at a riverside site owned by the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA). On Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, writers of all levels will have the opportunity to learn and to create. You will return home rejuvenated and filled with ideas.

Course description:

Author Antony John will focus on the art of novel writing, regardless of at what stage participants are with their writing. Participants will learn how to get past the initial hurdles of writing, how to parcel out research and writing and editing, and how to fundamentally ENJOY writing. After all, what’s the use of writing a novel if you don’t enjoy the journey?

There will be ample opportunity to exchange ideas and to discuss and critique works in progress.

Register at www.msta.org/events. Fee includes workshop, meals and lodging. MSTA members, $200; non-members $250. Enrollment is limited. Contact Sarah Kohnle, skohnle@msta.org. Please indicate your interest in writing.

Special appointments:
Ready to discuss your novel? Questions about agents and publishers? One-on-one appointments may be made with Antony John. Contact Sarah Kohnle (skohnle@msta.org) now to schedule. Limited spots.

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

There’s some new stuff there (for anyone who is wondering what I’m up to at the moment), and even a bonus soup recipe. And it’s so easy, even I can’t screw it up! (Yes, that’s an Actual Photograph of the soup, made by me.)

Hope everyone is surviving the heat wave. Unless you’re a member of the British cohort, in which case you probably think I’m bragging any time I mention sunshine.

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

I’m often asked what’s the best part of being a published author, as opposed to an unpublished author.

Well, there are the obvious things: I get to see my book in print; I actually get to make money doing something I love; I get to do school visits and talk about my work, etc etc. But there are other things too, that aren’t as obvious. One is that I get to work intensively with a very gifted editor, Liz Waniewski, who knows how to tease out the real story behind my story – sounds simple, but believe me, it isn’t.

Another thing I adore is having a professional copyeditor. As a graduate student I did a fair amount of copyediting for my professors, although mine was definitely of the “this word is spelled wrong” and “this sentence is missing a verb” variety. To be honest, my copyeditor at Penguin, Regina Castillo, is in an entirely different class.

For instance, my next book (now entitled THOU SHALT NOT ROAD TRIP) has just received the Regina treatment, and . . . whoa! She doesn’t just highlight typos (although she found plenty of those) or sentences that aren’t quite right (although she found plenty of those, too), but she’s like a continuity editor on a movie–making sure that actions aren’t duplicated or missing altogether, keeping people’s behavior consistent, and pointing out other inaccuracies. Here are a few examples of my sentences from the book with her comments in brackets:

All eyes are on me, and it’s clear that even drenched in sweat, everyone knows who I am. [Recast? Everyone is not drenched in sweat.]

I shake her hand again, and it’s not until she’s gone that I realize what she just said. [When did he shake her hand the first time?]

Still, I don’t think Matt wants to hear it, so I pretend it was a rhetorical question and nod sympathetically. [If it's rhetorical, Matt doesn't expect any response.]

Teresa pouts her lips. [Is lips redundant here? I'm not sure it's possible to pout anything else.]

See what I mean? Bear in mind that these are taken at random from the first few chapters. There are about 500 more comments where those came from! It’s such a luxury for me to have my novel go through this process – it makes me look much smarter when the finished version comes out.

Anyway, thanks to Regina, and to copyeditors everywhere for making us authors look good.

Finally, a quick shout to my wonderful hosts this morning: the students at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis and their librarian Mrs. Siefert. You’re all awesome.

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

A couple of weeks ago I went back to college, although for once, I wasn’t after another degree (you can breathe again, Mum and Dad). My hosts were the faculty and students of Connecticut College, an extraordinarily beautiful campus nestled against the River Thames in New London, CT.

In case you’re wondering how on earth I managed to finagle an invite, the answer is that my graduate school “flatmate” (English for: we shared an apartment) was Professor Simon Hay, who is on the English department faculty. His colleague Professor Michael Reder, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, has been teaching a freshman writing class that deals with issues of identity. Well, as luck would have it, FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB deals with that, too, and was one of the assigned books.

I loved my class with Professor Reder’s students. They had all read DUMB and really thought about it, so we could have talked for hours. They even chatted with me about it (and the writing process in general) over lunch . . . and dinner. It’s not every day that I get to talk to highly intelligent and erudite folks about my own book, and maybe that’s a good thing; it was actually kind of intimidating!

In the afternoon, I sat down for a conversation with the college’s own award-winning writer-in-residence, Blanche Boyd. Although our genres and approaches couldn’t be more different, we had a great time talking about the ins-and-outs of writing, the challenges and the particular satisfaction it brings. The college newspaper even did a wonderful write-up of the event (with photos!).

Oh, and one of the writers for the newspaper, Shannon Keating, wrote an astoundingly thoughtful (and frankly, hilarious) review of DUMB that coincided with my visit. She’s a brilliant writer, I have to say.

Huge thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcome. And before I sign off, here (in no particular order) is the list of 12 MUST-READ YA novels that several audience members asked me to include (what do you mean, you asked for 10?):

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. Hyperion, 2008

Before I Die by Jenny Downham, David Fickling Books, 2007

Candy by Kevin Brooks. Chicken House, 2005

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going. Putnam’s, 2003

Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock. Houghton Mifflin, 2006

Looking for Alaska by John Green. Dutton, 2005

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Wendy Lamb Books, 2004

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1999

Holes by Louis Sachar. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1998

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Alfred A. Knopf (Random House), 2000

Feed by M.T. Anderson. Candlewick Press, 2002

Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer. Harcourt, 2006

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.

As a bonus, Kepler’s Bookstore in the Bay Area has an interview with me, for those of you who aren’t bored with reading author interviews yet.

Happy weekend!

©2012 Antony John. All Rights Reserved.