Dreaming Anastasia Road Show

Me and the Chicago part of the Preble family at my Borders' signing. Do you see the HOT sign on the display of Dreaming Anastasia's?


Lou Malnati's pizza - just like Anne and Tess eat in an early chapter of DA

University Hall at Northwestern - the real building for the fictional setting of Professor Olensky's office in DA.

Award winning illustrator Larry Day, who was signing with me at the St. Mary's book fair in Riverside.

My little table at St. Mary's Book Fair.

Me at the John Cooper School Signature Series Event

Just back from Chicago events and before that the John Cooper School Signature Series here in The Woodlands, TX. Three days off from school, two book fairs, a teacher round table and a Friday the 13th book signing at Borders north of Chicago in Wilmette. In quick summation, I present the Dreaming Anastasia Road Show Highlights:

• Getting to listen to John Grogan talk about his dog Marley and book talking Dreaming Anastasia with anyone who stopped by my table.


• Flying to Chicago on a half empty plane and having row 19 all to myself. And what did I do with all this bounty? Spread out so I could grade Antigone tests. Oh the life a famous author!


• Visiting with the 7th and 8th graders at St. Mary's School in Riverside. What a great group you are! Plus Jessica and her team, including her husband who graciously brought back Diet Coke and warm oatmeal raisin cookies from McDonald's during the dinner lull.
• Getting to meet picture book illustrator Larry Day, who was great company during the above mentioned dinner lull at St. Mary's.


• Getting to visit my alma mater Northwestern and donating a copy of Dreaming Anastasia to the YA collection at the library.


• Driving along Sheridan road from Wilmette to Evanston and later along Lake Shore Drive to Hyde Park. Chicago cooperated with 60 degree weather. In November.


• Staying with my cousin Sara who is an amazing baker and has a freezer full of cookies and brownies and other crazy good stuff and seeing a bunch of other family, too.


• Getting to hang with college friends - for lunches, coffee, after one of my signings. Something about being with the people that knew you when that's sweet and humbling and just oh so right! Hard to be a diva when you're with people who have held your hair back so you could vomit...


• Reconnecting with the Chicago Preble's! You guys rock!


• Dinner with author @PattyJMurphy!


• Lunch with 2k9er's Fran Slayton and Susan Fine, and the ever fabulous best publicist ever @psamuelson01 - otherwise known as Publicist Paul. And did I mentiont that it was 60 degrees out that day? In November? In Chicago?


• The great Look What's HOT display of Dreaming Anastasia's at Border's in Wilmette for my signing - at which I read some, signed some, answered a bunch of questions, and even learned more about the story of the Dreaming Anastasia cover from Sourcebooks' own Kay Mitchell, who drove with Paul Samuelson and the intrepid Teddy Roosevelt all the way from Naperville in Friday night traffic to be with me.


• Hanging with teachers and the fab Angela at 57th Street Books in Hyde Park.

In short - Thank You! to readers, friends, family and to the Sourcebooks team that made the Dreaming Anastasia Chicago tour a reality!

Til next time...

SHSU Children's Lit Festival & YA Conference

Looking author-y in between Kelly Bennett and Janet Fox
SHSU grad student Katie Poland poses with me.

Kellly Bennett and Janet Fox with Janet's Faithful cover

Janet Fox and her SHSU grad student helper

Absolutely delightful time yesterday presenting at the Sam Houston State Children's and YA lit conference with Janet Fox (Faithful, Puffin, May 2010) Thanks to Dr. Holly Weimar for choosing us to be part of the program and to my cheery grad student helper Kathryn Poland for sheperding me around! And of course I'm always thrilled when I get to be a fan girl and Newbery authors! Specifically, the phenomenal Christopher Paul Curtis and Jacqueline Woodson, who were the keynote speakers and with whom I had the honor of eating lunch. (Let me say that when you are a newbie debut author, it is still shocking that someone lets you eat barbeque and cobbler with really famous people. In your own little guest author/presenter room. With all the other wonderful presenters such as author Kelly Bennett and some really cool librarians! While everyone else gets a boxed lunch in the cafeteria. I mean seriously - I had to pinch myself. Plus the cobbler was warm. And there was vanilla ice cream to put on top.

Purchased Woodson's If You Come Softly, which I had not read. It is a re-telling of R&J, black teen Jeremiah falls in love with white teen Ellie. It is so beautifully written that I don't have words for it yet. I have so much to learn about this craft! And Bud not Buddy, by Curtis is next on my list. Christopher Paul Curtis is another master of the written word, of storytelling, and just listening to him was an honor.

Onward this week to Chicago! I am very excited to get to see Publicist Paul and authors Susan Fine and Fran Cannon Slayton when I'm in town and very much looking forward to my events!

Thursday - St. Mary's Book Fair in Riverside

Friday - Signing at Borders in Wilmette, 7 PM

Saturday- Educator's Round Table at 57th Street Books in Hyde Park

Itching to tell you all more updates. But not quite yet.

Til next time...

HuffPo, Sharpies, and other News

Quick post this morning. So much work to do and then husband's birthday dinner later on. (Don't you love it when birthdays fall on weekends and you can have more leisurely fun rather than the "here's your cake, let's go do homework" kind of fun?)

If I haven't mentioned it, I'm an official Huffington Post blogger now, on their new books vertical. I am thrilled! Posted my latest- on paying your dues as a debut author - on Friday. You can read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joy-preble/paying-the-debut-dues-or_b_339436.html Hopefully you will be amused. :)

Beyond that, if you're in Houston area, come join me up in Huntsville at SHSU's YA Lit Conference on 11/7. Janet Fox (Faithful, Puffin 2010) and I will be talking about on line writing communities, among other things, and also signing Dreaming Anastasia. Come say hi.

I'll also be a "local author" at John Cooper School Signature Series Event on 11/11 at the Waterway Marriott in The Woodlands. John Grogan (Marley and Me) is speaking! Plus it's a fund raiser for literacy causes. All worth the price of admission.

Chicago folks: SBooks is bringing me to town right after that. My bigger public signing is at Borders in Wilmette 11/13 7 PM. Hoping to rock the house on that one. Help me show them what this Chicago native now Texas girl can do! And if you're an educator, I'll be talking to teachers and then signing at the fabulous 57th Street Books (thank you Angela!) on 11/14 around 2 PM.

Beyond that, all sorts of other things going on, but this is not the post for them. Soon, though.

Happy November!

Til next time...

In Which I visit the kid in Phoenix and Sign at Changing Hands

Family pumpkin carving in AZ. Mine's the middle one.
Presenting AZ Blogger Shellie with her signed Dreaming Anastasia

What I didn't eat at the State Fair

Talking Dreaming Anastasia at Changing Hands

Dreaming Anastasia at Changing Hands in Tempe AZ

So the trip didn't start out too well - 2 hours sitting on the plane at the gate in Houston while maintenance tinkered with a part in the cockpit. Long enough that I graded two sets of essays, drank my complimentary cup of ice water (oh c'mon folks - isn't 2 hours at the gate enough for say, a Diet Coke?), watched all of The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds and chatted with a delightful history prof from England, who'd been sitting on planes since Heathrow and was resigned to it all.

But after that - what a great weekend!

To whit:

• Visited with son and girlfriend and the adorable Bernie the dog - the best mutt in the world.
  
• Signed Dreaming Anastasia at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe - an amazingly wonderous indie that you must support if you are ever in town. They had graciously pushed me into their schedule for an hour and I was even able to present blogger Shellie of Layers of Thought http://www.layersofthought.net/ with the signed copy of Dreaming Anastasia she'd won through Book Butterfly's contest! Some other interested folks dropped by; I signed stock, and I do believe a good time was had by all.


• Visited the AZ State Fair and debated on eating the deep-fried bacon, but instead consumed part of a corn dog and all of something called Dole Whip which is pineapple soft serve yumminess! Other than the food, we watched sheep shearing, llama obstacle course, and other assorted ag stuff. Played a few midway games. I lost. Kellie won an orange stuffed lobster by tossing ping pong balls in a bowl.


• Did the official family pumpkin carving event. Everyone lied and pretended that my pumpkin didn't suck. You can judge for yourself above.


• Ate and shopped and generally enjoyed the wonderful AZ fall weather.

And now I'm home. Back to school. Back to grading. Back to writing. Onward it goes. Sam Houston State Conference coming up 11/7. Chicago mini tour coming after that. What a crazy wonderful fall! I am totally thankful for it all.

Til next time...

Dreaming Anastasia goes to Blue Willow

Signed the Blue Willow author wall. Yes - Joy Preble right next to Lauren Conrad
Visiting with blogger and Twitter pal Sabrina

Signing Dreaming Anastasia at Blue Willow

If you live in Houston or visit Houston, promise me that you'll stop by Blue Willow Bookshop on Memorial on the west side of the city. Valerie Koehler and events coordinator Cathy Berner and the rest of the staff were gracious enough to take a chance on a newbie debut author - aka - me! Last night's signing was such an enjoyable, delightful event. Those in attendance - some friends, some family, some friends of friends, and some new faces who came out to see me - cozied up in this beautiful, book-filled space. I talked a little genre and inspiration and other Dreaming Anastasia stuff. Signed books. Gave away posters and a t-shirt and some bookmarks and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even got to sign the author wall - which was totally cool and since I got to pick my spot, you will see above that I signed next to LC herself - The Hills' Lauren Conrad - who was in town this summer plugging her own novel. Hey - if I get to pretend I'm a famous author then why not, right? Thank you, Blue Willow. You guys rock!

Onward to Changing Hands in Tempe, AZ in a few days. Check my website for the full schedule of upcoming events if you are so inclined.

As for me, right now I'll be doing what any author diva does - grading papers! Whoot!

til next time...

Laissez les bons temp rouler! Louisiana Book Festival!

Dreaming Anastasia in a B&N in Baton Rouge
Look who's on the program at the Louisiana Festival of Books

Me and Burton Raffel, amazingly brilliant scholar and writer and translator of the definitive version of Beowulf

Fran, Joy, and Donna in the B&N signing tent

At the Author Party with our book covers, State Library

Dreaming Anastasia makes it to the big time in Louisiana

Just came back from Baton Rouge and the delightful Louisiana hosptality of fellow 2k9er, Donna St. Cyr (Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate) - who housed both me and Fran Cannon Slayton (When the Whistle Blows) for the weekend. And what a time we had proving that there is no limit to the amount of jambalaya and bread pudding a human can consume and meeting, greeting, signing and presenting at the wonderful Louisiana Festival of Books. (It occurs to me that I did not take pictures of either the jambalaya or the bread pudding, so you'll have to take my word for their wonderfulness. Likewise the shrimp po-boy I consumed at Boutin's (which used to be Mulate's if you're in the Louisiana know) and the wonderful satsuma oranges that we ate each day at Donna's by pulling them fresh off her trees!

And lest you think that all we did was eat and drink... the Festival itself was delightful. Weather- cool, clear, sunny. Books and book talk and readers and writers - all interacting at the Capitol, State Musuem, State Library, and other assorted buildings on the grounds. So seriously - how cool was it for Donna, Fran and me to do our panel on writing adventure into stories and have our venue be a Senate Room E in the Capitol building? Totally cool! If you're reading this and you came out for the event, thank you! I met not only people who were at the festival and chose to come to our events (the other one was about on-line writing communities and we got to present it in the State Museum!), but also people who had already read Dreaming Anastasia and actually came with their books already in hand to have me sign. You are all awesome!

My personal highlight came when I got to meet and chat with Burton Raffel! Yes, the same Burton Raffel who translated the definition edition of Beowulf from Old English!! He has just published his translation from Middle English of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales so that's what he was currently promoting. But Burton Raffel - Someone whose book I've taught from and read aloud - just sitting there and chatting and telling me how he used to read Beowulf installments to his sons when he was working on it back in the 1960's! I can't tell you how thrilling this was for me.

Anyway - the mighty Mississippi was still muddy and mighty. Baton Rouge is charming. The Book Festival was inspiring. I was honored to be part of it. I mean seriously - I got to put on a dress and go to an author party at the State Library and drink wine and eat gumbo and mini muffaletas with FAMOUS authors. How cool is that?

Onward into the week - signing at Blue Willow in Houston Tuesday 10/20 at 7PM. Then on to Changing Hands in Tempe, AZ at 11 AM - noon on Saturday 10/24. Plus the AZ State Fair. And possibly pumpkin carving. (the last two aren't book events, btw. But they're on the agenda! If only because I might get to see the world's largest alligator again.)

Til next time...

So Did I Ever Tell You about the Squirrel?

So the squirrels. Did you ever notice how they hesitate? You're driving along and there's one at the curb and you see him and he sees you and you slow down just a little and give him some more woman to rodenty -creature eye contact. And then, just as it is too late for you to do anything about it, he dashes in front of you to cross the street. Sometimes it works out for him. Sometimes - not so much.

Last fall about this time, I was severely traumatized by one of the latter variety. Old Rocky races out and smacks himself against my front right tire, richochets to the right, cartwheels up someone's driveway and into their open garage, where he landed, stunned but not dead. I slammed on the brakes - obviously too late - and sat there watching as he eventually got to his little feet, then stumbled about dazed. (Can squirrels stumble? I suppose maybe there's a better word. But you get the picture) Eventually he made it out of the garage and sat on the driveway looking at me. And I'm thinking, "Buddy. What the hell do you expect me to do? You are unfortunately a wild animal even if you're cute and even if your potential demise is now going to be a lot sooner now, and it's clearly because you smashed yourself into my Altima. Trust me when I say you're on you're own here. I'm going to drive away now. I am not going to nurse you to health. It's a rough world here in the suburbs. Welcome to it."

So why tell you this now? Because 1) It just almost happened again with yet another squirrel just now as I was rushing home from the cleaner's to meet the dryer repair guy who eventually told me that said dryer was not dead but only wounded from a blown inner fuse because I'd pushed it too close to the wall and the vent wasn't venting which was why it was getting so hot every time I dried sheets or towels and eventually blew a fuse rather than setting itself on fire which would have been the much less pleasant alternative.... and 2)It is, it occurred to me as I was stick-vaccing up the crap behind the dryer and hoping the repair guy was not judging me on my slovenly housekeeping habits, the perfect metaphor for being a debut author. (stick with me here; this is going to be profound if I can explain)

Debut author life is full of false starts and hesitations. Mostly you have no idea in hell what you're doing. You race across streets - metaphorically speaking - hoping you won't crash head first into someone's mid size sedan. Sometimes you do anyway. Sometimes you make it to the other side. Some of the stuff you write is brilliant. Some of it, not so much. Some of your choices are fantastic. Some are phenomenally stupid. Some of your reviews are stellar. Others are the equivalent of crashing into an Altima. You keep going. Get up and stumble back down the driveway. Go gnaw on an acorn and tell your squirrel buddies about the crazy woman who just didn't stop to render aid. If you're lucky, the next time you remember - wait at the curb. Or run faster. Get good at dodging navy Altimas. Clean behind your damn dryer if you don't want to spend an hour at your mother in law's making small talk while your underwear dries. (Okay, that's a lie. I sent my husband)

In short - it's like the lesson my mother taught me when I was growing up in Chicago. "If you're somewhere unfamiliar," she said, "Make sure to walk with a purpose. Look like you know where you're going even if you don't. It's safer that way. Trust me."

I'm walking like I know where I'm going this fall. Mid way through month two of the great Dreaming Anastasia adventure. Still loving every minute of it. I've bashed my head a couple of times and sat on metaphorical driveways a tad stunned on occasion. But then I get up and get back to business. So far, it's working out for me. And possibly even the squirrels.

Til next time...