Badger State recap, Part 1: The Wisconsin Book Festival

I've spent the last week in southern Wisconsin, visiting Mom & Dad, eating too much, and meeting a whole slew of kids and librarians.

First up was the Wisconsin Book Festival, in Madison.

A pretty city on a pretty day.

The Festival hosted my visit with kids and their parents at the Middleton Public Library:

Thanks to the library's generous Friends, every kid in attendance received a signed book.
How cool is that??

I also met up with some writing friends who live nearby, and who I don't get to see often enough:

author Pam Beres and me

author Georgia Beaverson and me

It was a special treat to see Brian Farrey, my editor at Flux, and author of The Vengekeep Prophecies, just released this month:

Just a coupla midgrade fantasy authors showing off their new books.

Best of all, I got to meet some awesome librarians: Crystal Brunelle from Northern Hills Elementary School in Onalaska, WI; and Sarah W, who blogs at PageInTraining.

It was all made possible by Middleton librarian super-hero Amanda Struckmeyer, who really knows how to make an author feel welcome. Thank you, Amanda!!

Thanks also to the Wisconsin Book Festival and the Wisconsin Humanities Council for hosting all the events around Madison.

I finished the day in the company of authors Brian Lies, W.H. Beck, Georgia Beaverson, and good-sport spouses. And of course, my sister Steph, who never missed a beat because she is the person we all  want to reach: a well-spoken and thoughtful reader.

There were pints of beer and plates of fried cheese curds, too. Because, after all, this is Wisconsin.

The wonderful Books of Wonder

Two of my favorite things:

1. Books
2. New York City

It's only natural, then, that I really love Books of Wonder, the amazing little children's bookstore tucked into a side street near the Flatiron Building.

It's one of those places that make New York City a magical place. It's stacked floor to ceiling with books, and original book art, and an awesome collection of rare books. On any given week, you can stop in and meet real authors, and hear their stories, and have a book signed.

When I imagine heaven, I imagine that it's a lot like this bookstore. There's no place like it.

The down side of being one-of-a-kind, though, is that you're on your own in lots of ways. You don't have corporate muscle or bankroll behind you. Without customers and community, such special places can't exist.

So if you're ever in New York, and if you love books, visit Books of Wonder and buy a book or two.

AND, if you're there on Saturday, November 3, I'll be there too, celebrating great middle grade reads with these other awesome authors:

TOMMY GREENWALD- Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Extra Credit 

JOE McKENDRY- One Times Square 

CHRIS GRABENSTEIN- Riley Mack and the Other Known Troublemakers 

STACY DeKEYSER- The Brixen Witch 

Please stop by between 12 and 2pm to say hello and to see what the magic is all about.

And if you can't visit, but you still love books, contribute to the Books of Wonder fundraiser. 

The world would be SO boring without places like Books of Wonder. Do you want to live in a boring world?

Wisconsin Book Festival!

I'm so excited and honored to be included in this year's Wisconsin Book Festival. It will be a great 5 days of all things bookish.

Writing exercise: The right word in the right place

So much of writing is about choosing the best word to convey exactly what you're trying to say. 

As an example, let’s use the following actual true telephone conversation I just had with a customer service rep from a Large Electronics Company.

Large EC: Hello. I’m calling in response to your e-mail. You need help* with your new printer?

ME: Yes. It’s fresh out of the box, but it won’t print. It says the magenta ink cartridge is empty. The cartridge must be defective.

LARGE: Did you call Technical Support?

ME: No, I e-mailed, remember?

LARGE: But did you call? It’s best if you call.

ME: How did you get my phone number?

LARGE: From your e-mail. Have you tried removing and reinserting the magenta cartridge?

ME: Five times. No luck. I finally went out and bought a new cartridge.

LARGE: Are you still having trouble printing?

ME: No, it works fine now.

LARGE: I’m glad to hear that. Is there anything else I can help* you with?

ME: Yes. Can you reimburse me for the cartridge I bought?

LARGE: I’m sorry, I can’t reimburse you. I could have sent you a replacement if you’d called.

ME: How about you send me a replacement cartridge now?

LARGE: I can’t do that, since I’ve already recorded that the problem is resolved. Is there anything else I can help* you with?

ME: Why can’t you just reimburse me the $19.99?

LARGE: I’m not authorized to do that. The best I can do is give you a $25 coupon toward your next purchase of ink.

ME: That’s FINE, thanks.

LARGE: Would you like me to give you a coupon? (Honest to goodness, she asked me this.)

(General rummaging sounds; she finds and recites a coupon code for me.)

LARGE: Is there anything else I can help* you with?

ME: God no. Thank you for your help*.

LARGE. My pleasure. If you need further help*, please—

ME: I know. Please call Technical Support.

LARGE: Yes. Would you like that number?

*Writing exercise: In place of the word “help” please insert a more precise, accurate verb, such as confound, frustrate, aggravate, hose.

Win a signed copy of THE BRIXEN WITCH

There's a giveaway going on over at Goodreads, today until August 23.

Ten signed copies are up for grabs.

Good luck to all!

New events on the calendar

Some great news to celebrate the launch of The Brixen Witch:


The book is an Editor's Pick for July on Amazon.


Signings coming up! I hope to see you there!


Saturday, August 11

Bayswater Book Company

Rt. 25B Main St.Center Harbor, NH 03226

603-253-8858

Tuesday, August 21
7:00 pm


Boswell Book Company
2559 N. Downer Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53211
414-332-1181

In Which I Prove that Watching Old TV Shows is Considered "Working"

I couldn't fall asleep last night, so I fired up an episode of the old Dick Van Dyke Show online.

(Not only is this show funny, it's packed full of writing lessons: Pacing, dialogue, characterization; humor. You could do lots worse than try to pick apart one of these episodes and apply it to your story's structure. And have a lot less fun.)

I chose an episode called "Just a Friendly Game of Cards." I've seen every episode of this series probably a zillion times, but I haven't seen THIS episode in a long time--not since I started writing seriously--and for the first time, my writer's brain was struck by the structure of this episode. It started with a summary of the entire plot, revealing *everything*, then played out that plot in a prolonged flashback.

It was hilarious, and it worked, but today I'm still trying to figure out WHY it worked, and WHY writer Carl Reiner decided to structure that episode the way he did.

Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

In the meantime, I might have to hope for insomnia again tonight, to try and figure out this puzzle.