Jessica Day George's Blog

Behold, the Miracle of the Stickers!

Jessica Day George — 5/12/2008 1:50:56 PM

So, Boy has been moved from his crib to a big boy bed. And not just any big boy bed, but a Disney Pixar Cars Lightning McQueen bed! He is bug-eyed with joy over it, and for the first week, it was all he talked about.

And then.

And then whatever it is that keeps this kid up at night kicked in. From the day my child was born, he has fought sleep like the boogeyman is going to get him the moment he closes his eyes. We've worked through that mostly, and bedtimes go very well. But if he sneezes, coughs, rolls over, or hears the least little noise, the kid is up, and there is no going back to sleep unless he can get in with Mommy and Daddy. And then the kicking and thrashing ensues.

You'd think getting to sleep in Lightning McQueen would change that. You'd be wrong.

So along with launching my book and all the running around that that entails, I have also been getting about four hours of sleep.

But one sleep deprived night, right about Launch Time (or D-Day, as it is also known), I came up with a little idea. Hubby printed out a May calendar, and I taped it to the fridge. Every night that Boy stays in Lightning McQueen all night, he gets a sticker on the calendar. Coloring books have been promised. Even water color painting coloring books.

And behold, it is a success! He has not gotten up ONE TIME. He has earned a painting book, and we are moving on to a bigger reward. It's the most amazing thing in the entire world! All this time, this sleeplessness, repeatedly trying to get him back into his own bed, the crying and pleading and begging and even threatening of middle of the night time outs, and all I needed to do was give the kid a STICKER?!

The mind of a three year old is a strange labyrinth, my friends. Very strange indeed.

And now, back to writing news.

Saturday's Authorpalooza was awesome. I was at a table with Brandon "Fablehaven" Mull, and of course there was this huge line of people waiting for him when we all got there. But looking down the line, I realized that a few of those books had dragons on them! Wait a minute! There are people here just for lil' ol' me?! Yep! Makes a girl feel good, I have to tell you. I love Authorpaloozas. During the lulls I chatted with Sara Zarr, knit a little bit on the freakishly complicated sock I am attempting, wandered over to take Guy Francis' place so that I could harass Nathan Hale, artist extraordinaire whose "Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School" is Boy's favorite book. (And, by the way, Shannon Hale fans: He's also the illustrator of Rapunzel's Revenge. And yes, I've seen the finished copy. And yes, it rocks.)

If there's ever an Authorpalooza in your town, don't miss it!

And this week, people who live in or near Provo, it's the Provo Children's Book Festival! Games, readings, crafts, people talking loudly about books IN A LIBRARY!

Let's do Launch!

Jessica Day George — 5/6/2008 7:46:45 PM

I have launched Dragon Flight on the world, my people!

Let us all admire its shiny cover! And also the shiny new paperback cover of Dragon Slippers. We need to put up a picture of that, too, it's quite fancy.

I don't know if I ever explained about that, by the way. Probably, but here it is again. Pete Ferguson, the artist who did the original cover of Dragon Slippers decided to take a few years and go live in the jungles of Argentina (as is my understanding). It's not something that I would enjoy, but everybody's different. Anyway, so in order to try and get a uniform "look" to the dragon books, we switched to Brandon Dorman, who has also done the Fablehaven books. So that's what's up with that.

Anyhoo. Went to the King's English on Friday, and braved the cold on the patio with 30-odd other intrepid souls, to talk and read (very briefly). Launch 2.0 was on Saturday, roughly the same number of people came to Barnes & Noble, where I was able to talk without my teeth chattering, which is always good. What is up with the weather lately people? Today I'm just sitting around the house, and it's probably 80 degrees outside, and on Friday it was 50 and dropping rapidly.

But I digress. . . .

For those of you a bit to the south of us here in Salt Lake, there's a big to-do on Saturday. At 2 pm, May 10th, the Orem Barnes & Noble will be hosting an Authorpalooza. Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Nathan Hale, Rick Walton, Sara Zarr, Mette Ivie Harrison, and many, many more including yours truly! We'll be there until 4, maybe later, signing books and I'm sure chattering nonstop. Come and see the spectacle!

They're heeeere!

Jessica Day George — 4/30/2008 1:37:26 AM

Yes, today is (as far as I ever know with these things) the official release date of Dragon Flight and the paperback version of Dragon Slippers!

Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!

They have exciting and shiny covers, the paperback of DS is completely different from the hardcover, to match Dragon Flight. (The artist for the hardcover of DS took a couple of years off to live in the Argentine jungle. No, seriously.)

But they should be in bookstores and shipping from Amazon and all those good things today.

Is this so crazy to anyone else? This is my THIRD book, and it's exactly one year since DS came out! ONE YEAR! In fact, although it came out at the end of March, I didn't do a launch for Dragon Slippers until May 12th, and Dragon Flight launches this weekend.

What's a launch, you say? Well, that's when I go to a bookstore (or two), and talk about how great the new book is, and read from it, and hand out cookies, and sign the shiny new copies. And I'll be doing two of them this very weekend. So if you happen to be in the Salt Lake area, check it out!

May 2nd, 7 pm, The King's English Bookshop

May 3rd, 2 pm, Barnes & Noble at Jordan Landing

May 10th isn't just for me, but it's going to be a GREAT time. The Orem Barnes & Noble is doing a HUGE Authorpalooza. From 2 pm to whenever, me, James Dashner, Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Rick Walton, Mette Ivie Harrison, Nathan Hale, and I can't think how many others will be strewn about the store signing books (maybe some that aren't even ours!).

So if you're lucky enough to be in Utah in the next two weeks, come say Hi!

Ha! Take that, Editing Fairy!

Jessica Day George — 4/17/2008 9:10:37 PM

Yes, despite the fact that I still feel like crud, with all the coughing and sneezing and sore throaty-ness, I have finished my rewrite!

I think.

I went over it, tore it apart, put it back together, printed it out, went over it with a red pen, and incorporated those changes.

Enough?

Who knows?

That's the trouble with editing. I could probably read over and over this manuscript until I went insane and started tying scraps of yarn in my hair and calling myself Queen Pooh-lah, but I could always find SOMETHING to change. I think at a certain point you have to step back and say, this is good. This will work. Any more changes and I might as well write a new book.

Also, I want to get feedback from my sister, who is supposedly reading the manuscript. . . Hint, hint.

And then we'll see what Melanie the Editor thinks. So this is by no means the last time I will go over this manuscript. It's just the last time this round.

Ding!

And the winner is . . . ME!

(For not going nuts and calling myself Queen Pooh-lah.)

Now I can lie here coughing and read John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began series in peace. I'm halfway through book two: The Dead of Night. Love these books.

Also, it might be a good time to finish knitting the baby blanket I'm making for my cousin Chandrea's baby, since he's already a month old (or more). I ran out of yarn, and haven't been able to drag myself to the store for more this week. Ugh. Sorry, baby!