A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration VIII

  

STAR TREK, yay!  The new movie, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, comes out next year!

THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER is one of the best episodes of the entire franchise.  Anyone know off the top of their head how many Star Trek episodes/movies used time travel? 

Today's photos are taken at Waterloo Records, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year!  Congrats, guys!  Interestingly, in this digital age (and on the eve of the closure of their neighbor, Cheapo Records), they say they're making it on a revival of vinyl.

T-shirt is from Teefury.com.

 Links to previous posts:

 A Dino a Day: Day 0: Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot
A Dino a Day: Day 1: Book People
A Dino a Day: Day 2: Driskill Hotel
A Dino a Day: Day 3: Whole Foods 
A Dino a Day: Day 4: Texas State Capitol 
A Dino a Day: Day 5:Amy's Ice Creams
A Dino a Day: Day 6: Austin History Center
 A Dino a Day: Day 7: RunTex

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration VII

I have to confess that, as a kid, I was lousy at pushups.

No actual pushups occur in the book, although Max does reference his brother's "repetitive lifting of metal plates."  In this illustration from CHRONAL ENGINE, Kyle shows off his guns:

Illustration by Blake Henry

These pics are from Run Tex, Austin's iconic running store.  In addition to hosting packet pick up and registration for many of Austin's running events, historically, the store has maintained and sponsored water stations at Mopac and First Street on the hike and bike trail.  And this year, they're a primary mover behind the return of the Trail of Lights!  Thanks, guys!


The T shirt was a gift from Austin author April Lurie.

Links to previous posts:

A Dino a Day: Day 0: Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot
A Dino a Day: Day 1: Book People
A Dino a Day: Day 2: Driskill Hotel
A Dino a Day: Day 3: Whole Foods 
A Dino a Day: Day 4: Texas State Capitol
A Dino a Day: Day 5:Amy's Ice Creams
A Dino a Day: Day 6: Austin History Center

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration VI

Science Engineering can do it! T-shirt is from Teefury.com. shirtwoot.com

These are at the Austin Public Library's Austin History Center. (The Austin History Center is located in the original main library building, built in 1933, and overlooks Wooldridge Square Park (LBJ announced his campaign for presidency there)).

Incidentally, the term "science" used to mean all human knowledge, including literature and the fine arts.

Links to previous posts:

A Dino a Day: Day 0: Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot
A Dino a Day: Day 1: Book People
A Dino a Day: Day 2: Driskill Hotel
A Dino a Day: Day 3: Whole Foods 
A Dino a Day: Day 4: Texas State Capitol 
A Dino a Day: Day 5: Amy's Ice Creams

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration V

Pirates and dinosaurs.  What could be better?  Pirates and dinosaurs and Amy's Ice Creams, of course!


And it kind of looks like the cover of CHRONAL ENGINE, too. :-).

Jolly Roger T.rex T-shirt is from Zazzle.com

Links to previous posts:
 A Dino a Day: Day 0: Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot
A Dino a Day: Day 1: Book People
A Dino a Day: Day 2: Driskill Hotel
A Dino a Day: Day 3: Whole Foods 
A Dino a Day: Day 4: Texas State Capitol 

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration IV

What is it about BACK TO THE FUTURE and dinosaurs? :-).  (I like the fact that the tyrannosaur is stepping on the hood of the car.  Of course, this would be a relatively small tyrannosaur...).

And here's a shot of me behind the wheel of Ernest Cline's Delorean, Ecto 88:

The four pics at the top were taken at the Texas Capitol Building. The T-shirt is from 6dollarshirts.

Link to past posts:

A Dino a Day: Day 0: Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot
A Dino a Day: Day 1: Book People
A Dino a Day: Day 2: Driskill Hotel
A Dino a Day: Day 3: Whole Foods

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration III

 

BACK TO THE FUTURE is, of course, one of my favorite time travel movies.  Unfortunately, they never actually went back to anyplace as cool as the Cretaceous.

And, yes, a stainless steel car is awesome, but in CHRONAL ENGINE, they take a Bug (It's round.  And has a bud vase.):

Illustration by Blake Henry

T-shirt is from Teefury.com.

The photos were taken at WHOLE FOODS at 6th and Lamar, the chain's flagship store and corporate headquarters.

A Dino a Day: Day 0: Thunderclouds Subs Turkey Trot
A Dino a Day: Day 1: Book People
A Dino a Day: Day 2: Driskill Hotel

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration II

 

Katana sword-wielding ninja samurai dinosaurs! Once more, T.rex tries to extend its reach :-).  T-shirt is from TeeFury.com.

Today's photos are taken at the Driskill Hotel, Austin's iconic Victorian hotel, built in 1886.

Oddly enough, CHRONAL ENGINE is my second novel to feature a T.rex on the cover and my third to feature a carnivorous animal.  I wonder if it means anything?

A Dino a Day: Day 0
A Dino a Day: Day 1

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE CELEBRATION I

It's CHRONAL ENGINE!  Cyn got me this T-shirt for Christmas last year.

The photos are at BookPeople, Austin's largest independent bookstore! In addition to having an awesome children's and YA department, the store sponsors Camp Halfblood!  I keep telling them they need to do a Camp CHRONAL ENGINE, although perhaps the cloning technology isn't quite there yet.

 A Dino a Day: Day 0

A Dino a Day: A CHRONAL ENGINE Celebration -- Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Eat a Dinosaur Day Thanksgiving, everyone!

After having run the Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot with Donna Bowman Bratton and her son, Ethan, Cyn and I are having a quiet and romantic Thanksgiving by ourselves :-).

But I wanted to thank everyone who has supported CHRONAL ENGINE since the idea began to gel and it became a book.  The list is too long to be comprehensive, but a few of the worthies are my wife, Cyn (of course), early reader Anne Bustard, my agent Ginger Knowlton, my editor Daniel Nayeri, the production and marketing and sales staffs at Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,  booksellers and librarians too numerous to mention, and of course READERS!

So, to celebrate CHRONAL ENGINE and the holiday season, starting tomorrow, for the next twelve days, I am featuring on this blog A DINO A DAY: each day, a picture of me wearing a different dinosaur T-shirt at a different, iconic Austin locale.

To start off with Day 0, here are some pics from the Turkey Trot:

Before the race

Awesome avian dinosaur costume

Running up Lavaca

15th Street toward Lamar

At the finish

Enjoy!  And thanks also to all the Turkey Trot organizers and sponsors and volunteers!

Photo report: Writers' League and DEAR TEEN ME

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel for the Writers' League of Texas's Third Thursday program with authors Cory Putnam Oakes and Bethany Hegedus; and Meghan Goel (children's buyer at BookPeople).  We talked about book launches and what to do after the dust settles

Moderator/author Jennifer Ziegler, Me, Meghan, Cory, Bethany

Shiny cover!  And recommendation by Madeline Smoot

And speaking of launches, last weekend was the launch party for DEAR TEEN ME, at Bookspot in Round Rock.  The theme was dress for a high school semiformal of your era...

E. Kristin Anderson

Mary Lindsey

Me, being very MIAMI VICE.

April Lurie, Lindsey Schiebe

The crowd gathers

Danny Woodfill and E. Kristin Anderson

Cyn and me.  Photo courtesy Dave Wilson Photography

2014 Books by Austinites [Updated 9/21/14]

This is a preview of books by Austin authors and illustrators tentatively scheduled for release in 2014.  Note that titles and release dates may be subject to change.

Picture Books

GRANDFATHER GANDHI, by Bethany Hegedus and Arun Gandhi, ill. by Evan Turk (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, Spring 2014).

THE GOOD-PIE PARTY, by Liz Garton Scanlon, ill. by Kady McDonald Denton (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic 2014).

THANK YOU, GARDEN, by Liz Garton Scanlon, ill tbd (Beach Lane Books/S&S 2014).

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE, by Pat Mora and Libby Martinez, ill. by Patrice Barton (Knopf/Random House 2014).

ATTACK! BOSS! CHEAT CODE! A GAMER'S ALPHABET, by Chris Barton, ill. by Joey Spiotto (POW! 2014).

LITTLE OWL'S DAY, by Divya Srinivasan (Viking, 2014).

Middle Grade/Tween

LITTLE GREEN MEN AT THE MERCURY INN, by Greg Leitich Smith (Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan, Spring 2014).

NIGHTINGALE'S NEST, by Nikki Loftin (Razorbill/Penguin 2014)

TUT, by P.J. Hoover (Tor/Macmillan, Spring 2014).

THE GREAT GREENE HEIST, by Varian Johnson (Arthur Levine Books/Scholastic 2014).

POETRY BANDIT, by K.A. Holt (Chronicle, Fall 2014).

THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, by Katherine Catmull, et al. (Greenwillow, Summer 2014).

REVENGE OF THE FLOWER GIRLS, by Jennifer Ziegler (Scholastic, 2014).

HEAP HOUSE, by Edward Carey (Overlook Press 2014).

Young Adult

FERAL CURSE, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick 2014).

EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, by Lindsey Lane (FSG, Fall 2014).

UNMADE, by Amy Rose Capetta (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 2014).

SHATTERED, by Mari Mancusi (Sourcebooks Fire, Fall 2014).

TBF II and additional events

Here are a couple more pictures from the Texas Book Festival, some from the Hurricane Party at the Writing Barn, and a handful from Library Jubilee in Waco.

Lisa McMann, Catherine Katmull, Me, and Bethany Hegedus

Shana Burg and Avi

Liz Garton Scanlon

The Wurtzels and FUNNY FOOD

Bethany and Anita Silvey

Emma Virjan and Shelley Ann Jackson

Check out this story at PW on the hurricane and children's authors' experiences.

Nikki Loftin, Cyn, and Shana Burg

E. Kristin Anderson and Jessica Lee Anderson

Jeaneatte Larson, K.A. Holt, and P.J. Hoover