Confessions of an Accidental Writer

It’s July 4th weekend here in the States – the annual celebration of US independence from oppressive Brits. Hence I’m writing this from an undisclosed bunker and disguising my accent every time I answer the phone.

Okay, that’s not completely true. Actually, I’m sitting on the deck of a house in Myrtle Beach, SC, which is positively idyllic. Later on, I’ll join all Americans in extreme over-consumption of burgers and hot dogs. And possibly beer. Gotta love national holidays.

All of this is a far cry from last week, when I headed to New Orleans for the American Library Association conference. It’s the one where they hand out writing awards, including the Schneider Family Book Award. The good folks at Penguin flew me in to collect the award, and generally enjoy a free vacation in a super-cool city. There’s a lot to like about being an author.

I got in on Sunday, toured the French Quarter, sidestepped the vomit on Bourbon Street, and gorged on a Famous Ferdi Special Po’Boy from Mother’s. I should’ve taken a photo, as it was a beast of a sandwich, but I was up to the challenge. I then spent the evening in a calorie-induced stupor.

On Monday, I met my awesome editor, Liz Waniewski, for breakfast (at Mother’s, because my tummy told me I had to), and we went on to the conference center, which is really quite enormously large. At the entrance were these large panels for all the award winners. As Liz took this photo she remarked that I was wearing the same shirt. I wish I could say that she was wrong, but actually, I really only have a few presentable shirts. My “stay-at-home-dad” wardrobe apparently doesn’t count as business casual. And my “author” wardrobe bears a striking resemblance to my “stay-at-home-dad” wardrobe. Hmm, I might do something about that if I ever win another award.

In the conference center, I had a signing from 10-11AM. It ran over by 15 minutes, and there was a line the whole time. It was incredible–never experienced anything like it. Some people had brought copies of FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB with them, and almost everyone grabbed an ARC of THOU SHALT NOT ROAD TRIP. It was so cool to meet librarians and teachers and bloggers and teens. Even Lauren Myracle and Richard Peck stopped by, and I totally managed not to become incoherent in front of them, which has to count as a highlight of the trip. A big thanks to the School and Library Marketing folks at Penguin for organizing it all.

Liz then escorted me to the Schneider Family Book Award luncheon, where we met the wonderful panel of librarians who had selected my book for the award. They were delightful and engaging and very thoughtful, and I think we could have stayed there all day if it weren’t for the fact that the room was needed for another group, and I was the only one still eating. (The crawfish salad was out of this world.)

Monday afternoon was a far more thorough tour of the French Quarter with Liz. We ate beignets at Cafe du Monde, where I met author Jackson Pearce, and had dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Felix, where we feasted on gumbo, jumbalaya, catfish, sausage and beans, and a couple of other things that I can’t remember now, but were really good. Normally, I would’ve asked for a take-home box, but just finished everything instead. My tummy did a happy dance.

Monday night Liz and I took in the Printz Award speeches. Some wonderful books and wonderful authors. A.S. King gave a brilliant speech, as did Lucy Christopher. The experience reminded me how glad I was that I wouldn’t have to give a speech on Tuesday. Having to give speeches requires you to not overeat, and to remain utterly sober. Still, I guess it’s worth it if you get a Printz.

After the awards, there were drinks. (Come to think of it, there were a lot of drinks during the conference.) I even had the chance to chat to Sara Zarr, whose books I’ve admired for years. It’s a sign of how amazingly modest and down-to-earth she is, that she peppered me with questions, even though I was determined to ask HER all about her writing.

Perhaps best of all, I (finally) had photos taken with my editors. The first is of me with Andrew Karre (center) and Brian Farrey (left). Andrew edited my first novel, BUSTED, at Flux, and Brian (his successor there) has been in touch since, with words of encouragement. In the second, I’m with Liz (my editor at Penguin Books). Liz and I still have three more books to write together, so I consider her extremely brave, as well as being utterly delightful. It’s truly an honor to work with her–she’s a dream editor in every way.

On Tuesday, we breakfasted at, uh … Mother’s (you can’t say no to The Tummy). We had a rehearsal for the award ceremony, and rode the streetcar out to the Garden District, which is really fancy. Apparently Sandra Bullock moved there last year, and her house is, well … not small. At all. Quite enormous, in fact. Oddly, we didn’t knock on the door and ask if we could join her for a drink. We’re sensitive like that.

In the evening, the award ceremony took place. It was a black tie affair, which meant that I felt extremely awkward. Still, it’s not like many of the other guys looked any more comfortable. I met the other Schneider winners (George Ella Lyon and Lynne Avril for the picture book award, and Jordan Sonnenblick for the middle grade award) and all of them were lovely, and just as excited as I was. We went up onstage and got our awards from the president of ALA. All very inspiring, I must say. Then Liz and I went out to try New Orleans’ famous cocktail, the Sazerac. Again, yum.

I flew home on Wednesday with only a Central Grocery’s muffuletta for company. Still, if you have about 8000 calories in your hands, it’s hard to feel too lonely.

1. Next Tuesday, January 18th at 6PM, Jody Feldman, Cole Gibsen, and I will be presenting a YA books panel at the Buder Branch of the St. Louis Public Library. We’ll be talking about our own roads to publication, and how we write. But we’ll also be offering advice to emerging authors of all ages, so anyone with aspirations to be a published novelist should definitely come along. It’s free, and we’ll have a lot of information for you.

2. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a nice story on local ALA award winners. And talking of local ALA winners . . .

3. Brian Katcher, one of my favorite YA authors, won the Stonewall Award for his most recent book, ALMOST PERFECT. Everyone should read this and his other novel, PLAYING WITH MATCHES.

4. Brian and I were in good company among ALA award winners it seems, as Midwesterners racked up.

5. Finally, a big shout out to the fantastic students at Crossroads College Prep in St. Louis. I really enjoyed my visit today, and the questions were excellent. And bonus points for having MULTIPLE students who have already finished their first YA novel (yes, I’m looking at you Mia and Zoe). Amazing.