Cynsational BLESSED tour!

Despite the wintry weather, Cyn leaves tomorrow for the northeast on the BLESSED tour! Here's her schedule:

Sunday, 2/6/11

1 p.m. to 3 p.m. - Books of Wonder - reading/Q&A/signing to public with Another Pan author Daniel Nayeri (PUBLIC EVENT)

18 W. 18th St., New York, N.Y.

Monday, 2/7/11

10 a.m. to 11:34 a.m. Francis Lewis High School

6 p.m. Borders Bookstore - reading/signing (PUBLIC EVENT)

Borders Columbus Circle
10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y.

Tuesday, 2/8/11

4 p.m. to 5 p.m. New Brunswick Free Public Library - reading/Q&A/signing (PUBLIC EVENT)

6:20 p.m. to 9 p.m. Rutgers University -- guest lecture, "Materials for Young Adults" -- room 203

School of Communication and Information -- 4 Huntington St., New Brunswick, N.J.

Wednesday, 2/9/11

10 a.m. NYPL Mulberry Branch - visit with schools

10 Jersey Street (Between Lafayette & Mulberry Streets) New York, N.Y.

8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. New School Creative Writing Graduate Class - guest lecture

66 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues

Thursday, 2/10/11

11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. Brooklyn Public Library - Professional Development Day

Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza

4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Brooklyn Public Library - Will You Be My Paranormal Valentine Party (with teens)(PUBLIC EVENT)

Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza

Friday, 2/11/11

2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School Visit

Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin HS, LREI

272 Sixth Avenue, New York, N.Y.

7 p.m. The Voracious Reader - "Will You Be My Paranormal Valentine?" event with Another Pan author Daniel Nayeri (PUBLIC EVENT)

1997 Palmer Avenue, Larchmont, N.Y.

Saturday, 2/12/11

1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mercer County Library Event -- West Windsor Branch (PUBLIC EVENT)

333 North Post Road, Princeton Junction, N.J.

6:30 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Cherry Hill, N.J. (Greater Philly area)(PUBLIC EVENT)

911 Haddonfield Road, Cherry Hill, N.J.

There'll be a cold time in the old town tonight...

Even by my raised-in-Chicago standards. It's going to get into the teens here for the next three days (of course, it'll be even colder in Chicago). The last time I remember it being this cold here was in December of either '89 or '90 when I flew up to my brother's graduation in Des Moines. Here, it was 20. There, it was 20 below. That 40 degrees made a difference :-). So, keep your pets indoors, wrap your pipes and your tropical plants, eat some soup, and stay warm.

So, last Saturday was the debut party for Cynthia's BLESSED and Mari's NIGHT SCHOOL. A couple of the giveaways are above. On the left is the whiteboard/specials menu that Candlewick produced; in the middle is the audio of TANTALIZE, and on the right is one of Mari's giveaways. The things that look like hypos are actually ballpoint pens...Check out Cyn's recap of the event here.

And check out these pictures of a flying Ankylosaurus and dromaeosaur from the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences. It's the same dromaeosaur one you see here, but they're moving the things to storage while they expand. The new exhibit hall(s) open in 2012!

BLESSED release day!

Congratulations to Cynthia Leitich Smith on the release today of BLESSED, book 3 in the TANTALIZE series!

Check out the article in Sunday's Statesman!

"A guardian angel joins forces with an unusually humane vampire and a host of shape-shifters in this appealing melding of characters from Smith's earlier novels, Tantalize (2007) and Eternal (2009). The pages fairly smolder...[and] readers will again be pulled into this wild and ultimately fascinating...alternate universe." Kirkus Reviews

"As in the first two novels, the main attractions are the clever and campy blend of the supernatural and the everyday and the thoroughly entertaining characters, human and otherwise...A hearty meal for the thinking vampire reader." Horn Book Magazine

Check out Cynthia's northeast tour schedule! And don't forget the Austin launch party!

BLESSED and NIGHT SCHOOL signing! [Bumped and Updated]

Update 1: Check out the BLESSED blog tour!

Update 2: Check out the great article in Sunday's Statesman, "In 'Blessed,' neophyte vampire battles forces of the undead -- and adolescence"!

Update 3: If you're in the northeast, go see Cynthia next month on the BLESSED tour!

Save the date: On January 29, 2011, at 2 PM, at Book People at 6th and Lamar, Cynthia Leitich Smith and Mari Mancusi will be celebrating their new releases, BLESSED and NIGHT SCHOOL, respectively, with a party and signing!

Event is open and free to the public! The celebration will include author talks, a Q&A panel, book raffle, surprise giveaways, devilish desserts, demonic drinks and signing.

Wear red and black if you're on the side of Evil or blue and black if you're on the side of Good.

Bonus points (and possible prize) to anyone who dresses up as a vampire, shape shifter, vampire slayer, angel, or fairy!

Austin Authors speak!

The 2011 monthly SCBWI meetings (open to everyone) kick off on on January 15, at 11 AM, when Jessica Lee Anderson will be speaking at Book People on "seven things she's learned along her publishing journey...using songs."

Jessica is the author of Trudy, winner of the 2005 Milkweed Prize, and also Border Crossing.

Then, at 7 PM on January 20 (also at Book People), the first Third Thursday program of the Writers League of Texas begins with a panel on "Inspiration: The First Glimmer of a Book Idea." Panelists include YA authors Jennifer Ziegler (How Not to Be Popular) and Brian Yansky (Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences), as well as author Stephen Harrigan (The Gates of the Alamo).

2011: Dinosaurs on TV!

Check out "American Experience" next week: on January 17, 2011, the show will feature "Dinosaur Wars," a documentary on the rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.

Then, this spring, Steven Spielberg is doing dinosaurs again! Sadly, not Jurassic Park IV, but a TV series called "Terra Nova," which features a time-traveling family from the future who go back in time to save humanity and get eaten. Or something like that. :-). It'll debut with two hour long episodes on May 23 and May 24 before beginning its regular weekly run in the fall.

Finally, this summer, Discovery Channel is teaming up with Pixar to air a six-part series called "Reign of the Dinosaurs," featuring up-to-date CGI, in the tradition of "Walking with Dinosaurs." Per their press release, "'Reign of the Dinosaurs' combines the latest paleontological research with Hollywood storytelling and the talent of the world's best dinosaur illustrators and animators. In the series, new creatures like giant dinos with Freddy Krueger-style clawed hands, a Jurassic flying squirrel, pygmy T-Rex and frogs so big they can eat dinosaurs, are combined with the latest understanding of dinosaur behaviors."

Cybils Finalists 2010

The finalists for the 2010 Cybils (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards) were announced a couple weeks ago. Congrats to everyone! Winners will be announced February 14, 2011.

Go check out the entire list of finalists, but here are the ones I blogged last year:

Fiction Picture Books

SHARK VS. TRAIN, by Chris Barton, ill. by Tom Lichtenfeld

Middle Grade Novels

THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA, by Tom Angleberger

Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction

UNDER A RED SKY: MEMOIR OF A CHILDHOOD IN COMMUNIST ROMANIA, by Haya Leah Molnar

Nonfiction Picture Books

DINOSAUR MOUNTAIN, by Deborah Kogan Ray

HENRY AARON'S DREAM, by Matt Tavares

BLESSED

BLESSED, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, 2011)(14+). Picking up where TANTALIZE and ETERNAL left off, neophyte vampire Quincie P. Morris is still struggling to keep Sanguini's afloat. At the same time, she has to deal with the rise of hundreds of new vampires, courtesy of the restaurant's former chef. Plus, she has to clear Kieren of suspicion for Vaggio's murder. The addition of a new chef and the exotic Zachary only add to the problems...

Deliciously creepy and horrific, but not without romance and humor, BLESSED artfully explores themes of salvation and forgiveness and good and evil. Having overcome her transition to the vampiric life, Quincie is steadfast and determined. And Zachary is, well, Zachary. :-).

Check out the amazing Official Trailer:

CHIME

CHIME, by Franny Billingsley (Dial, March 2011)(12+). In the early twentieth century, in the village of Swampsea, which borders a swamp still inhabited by the Old Ones, they hang witches. So seventeen year-old Briony Larkin must keep the secret that her uncontrolled powers injured her sister and killed her stepmother. But with the Boggy Mun sending the swamp fever, she must choose between telling all or letting the children die. And when handsome, funny Eldric arrives, things become even more complicated. Although attracted to him, she knows a witch cannot love...

Elegant and enigmatic, CHIME offers a world on the cusp of modernity, but where ancient wild magic still holds sway. At times both romantic and horrific, Briony's struggles over which path(s) to take make for a compelling and ultimately satisfying tale of love, family, and mystery.

ALA Awards 2011

Congratulations to everyone who received good news today from the American Library Association! Here are the ones I blogged about last year:

Coretta Scott King Award:

One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia.

Newbery Honor:

One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia.
Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm.

Schneider Award:

After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick.