NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO and TOFU AND T.REX back in print!

I am delighted to announce that IntoPrint Publishing, LLC, will be bringing my award-winning Peshtigo School novels for tweens, NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO, and TOFU AND T.REX, back into print as e-books and in hard copy! 

NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO is a romantic-, science-, comedy-, courtroom-drama about three friends who take part in their school science fair and end up in their student court because of it.

For more information, including reviews and awards, check out the official NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO web page here! Read an interview about NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO at Cynsations!

TOFU AND T.REX is the story of a girl who's a vegan who goes to live with her cousin's family, who own a German delicatessen and butcher shop.

For more information, including reviews and awards, check out the official TOFU AND T.REX web page here!  Read an interview about TOFU AND T.REX at Cynsations!

More details as they become available!

YABFest 2013!

Yesterday was the inaugural Young Adult Bookfest (aka YABFest), sponsored by The Book Spot, the City of Round Rock, the Round Rock and Pflugerville ISDs, and The Frisco!

I was on a panel titled "Out of this World" with Sharon Bayliss, Ernest Cline, Krissi Dallas, Rachel Harris and Cory Putnam Oakes!   At Cory's instigation, here's a pic of us doing something called "Blue Steel:"

Here are a couple pics of the day, behind the scenes:

CC Hunter, Cory Oakes, Mari Mancusi, Rachel Harris

Andrea Cremer and David Levithan

Andrea, PJ Hoover, Jill Bailey, David

Krissi, Lindsey Scheibe (Back, blue), Cory, Sharon

Here are some pics fromt he Friday night reception:

Jessica Lee Anderson, Cyn, PJ Hoover, Danny Woodfill

Julie Woodfill and Madeline Smoot

Books!

Cyn and me

Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, and attendees!  Congrats on a great first event!

BALL

BALL, by Mary Sullivan (Houghton Mifflin 2013)(ages 3+).  In this nearly-wordless picture book, Dog is obsessed with playing fetch and Girl is happy to oblige.  When Girl has to go to school, though, what's a dog to do?

BALL is hilarious fun, terrifically capturing every dog's biggest obsession (after food and sleep).

Here are a couple pics from the launch party Saturday:

Mary Sullivan and Bethany Hegedus

Cyn and Mary

Erik Kuntz and me

Texas Library Association Conference 2013 (#TXLA13)

Just back from the 2013 Texas Library Association Conference in Fort Worth! 

 First, some pics I took when I went running:

Reflected in doors of federal courthouse

Boarded up freight depot

Post office

Gorgeous art deco court building (foreground). New city hall (back)

Monument to JJ Burnett

A couple shots of publisher dinners:

Daniel Nayeri and onion ring mountain

Candlewick "family" dinner

Steak tartare

 And on the conference floor:

Spirit of Texas panel

Cyn and me and this awesome dinosaur book

Signing with E. Kristen Anderson and the Book Festivals of Texas booth

Kathi Appelt poses with her forthcoming release

Debbie Leland and Gingerbread Football guy

Cyn at the Mackin booth

Many thanks to all the publishers, librarians, organizers, sponsors, exhibitors, etc., for a fabulous event!  

Event Pics -- RIF and Bridget Zinn's POISON

A couple weeks ago, Cyn, Chris Barton, and Tim Tingle were featured authors at an event at the LBJ Library sponsored by Reading is Fundamental.  Here are some pics:

Tim and Chris watch while Cyn displays JINGLE DANCER

Day Glo Brothers, Saltypie, and Jingle Dancer

Chris, Cyn, and Tim sign their books

Joy Hein, Kathi Appelt, and Cyn like Ike.

Monkey in the middle

Then, last week, we attended a gathering at BookPeople for the release of the late Bridget Zinn's POISON.  To celebrate, a group of Austin authors signed copies of the book, which are now available at BookPeople!  To buy a copy, click here.

P.J. Hoover, Susan Kralovansky, Nikki Loftin, Cory Oakes

Liz Garton Scanlon, Me, and Cynthia Levinson

Cyn and me.  Photo courtesy Cory Oakes

Title Page!

BUILDING OUR HOUSE

BUILDING OUR HOUSE, by Jonathan Bean (FSG/Macmillan 2013)(ages 4+).  A girl and her family live in a trailer while they build their new house.  An informative text and fun, yet detailed, illustrations take the reader through the year-and-a-half long project. 

Altogether, BUILDING OUR HOUSE is a terrific look at construction and tools and what makes -- and how to make -- the buildings we live in.  Check out the Macmillan web page for an activity guide and interior illustrations.

Capitol 10K 2013

Last Sunday, Cyn and I participated in the biggest 10K run in Texas, the Capitol 10K!  It was Cyn's first ever, and the first one I've done in years.

 Here are some pics:

One of the fun things about it (and one of the fun things it shares with the Turkey Trot) is the folks who wear costumes for the run. Here's just one:

Jetpacks!  It's blurry because they're moving so fast...

Another of the fun things was the bands and music groups that played along the race route.   Among my favorites were St. Martin's Lutheran Church playing "For unto Us a Child is Born" from Handel's Messiah as we were climbing the 15th Street hill; the Connally High School Marching band under the MoPac bridge; and the Japanese drum group on Cesar Chavez.

15th Street hill on the way down

Finisher area

Many thanks to all the organizers, sponsors, volunteers and participants.  Thanks also to the folks in Austin who put up with the traffic delays!

MODO: EMBER'S END [UPDATED]

UPDATE:  Congrats to Arthur Slade on meeting the fund-raising goal!  Can't wait to see the finished product!

Arthur Slade, author of the terrific Hunchback Assignments series (see my recs of the first two books here), is in the midst of an intriguing new crowd-funding project: a standalone graphic novel called MODO: EMBER'S END.

They've got a pile of perks, including signed copies, T-shirts, original art, and Skype visits.

Here's what the funds are going toward:

We're looking for enough greenbacks to print a full-colour collector's edition of Ember's End. (It's gonna look real purrrty.) The artist and author will also be paid for their work. More importantly, we have several awesome stretch rewards in mind should we surpass our funding goal. Will it be buttons? T-shirts? Airships for everyone? Stay tuned.

They have three more days to raise the goal of $15,000. 

Here's the link to the Indiegogo EMBER'S END page.

And check out the trailer:

Welcome to Jurassic Park!

Me and Leo

In two days, the 3D version of Jurassic Park is released, which explains the T-shirt. 

It's been twenty years since the movie was originally released and it still has some of the best, most-true-to-life effects and realistic dinosaurs of any dinosaur movie, anytime, anywhere.  And the score and main theme by John Williams are his best, IMHO.

I have a lot of favorite scenes, particularly the one where the lawyer gets eaten by the T.rex. :-).  It also formed the basis for some irreverent but nonetheless legitimate science:

In The Complete Dinosaur (Indiana University Press 1997),  M.K. Brett-Surman and James O. Farlow address the question thusly:

It is agreed by all living humans that the highlight of the movie Jurassic Park (Universal Studios 1993) was the consumption of the lawyer by the true hero of the movie, Tyrannosaurus rex.  This brings up the obvious question: how many lawyers would it take to properly feed a captive T.rex?

The answer: it depends on whether a T.rex is endothermic or exothermic (i.e., cold or warm-blooded).  Their conclusion?   If the T.rex is warm-blooded, 292 lawyers per year.  If the T.rex is cold-blooded, 73 lawyers per year.  Assuming the average lawyer weighs 150 pounds and weighs around 4.5 tons, that is.  Now you know.

That said, my favorite scene of the movie was (and still is) is the one where Grant and Sadler first see the brachiosaur and the herd of hadrosaurs in the distance.  It just has a majestic feel to it, and was the first time you actually saw dinosaurs as "real" animals:

So, yes, I'm going to see it in 3D, and enjoy every minute of it. :-). 

P.S. The Complete Dinosaur just issued as a second edition last fall and you should check it out.

Project Daspletosaurus Update

Project Daspletosaurus has reached its pledge goal! 

You can still pledge, though, and also buy some of the cool stuff offered by David Orr (Anatotitan) on his Redbubble site. 

Here's Dr. Hone's latest update post!

Above is a special DINO A DAY T-shirt featuring one of David Orr's project logo design.