Welcome to author Wendelin Van Draanen's first-ever blog tour! Along the way, Wendelin will answer questions about her writing life, including some never posed to her before.
To start off the 9-blog tour, Where the Best Books Are! is giving away three copies of Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash, the 12th book in her award-winning mystery series.
To enter, send me a comment with your name and address, or email me directly by midnight Tuesday, June 8. Enter as often as you wish and look for more giveaways along the tour.
Following Wendelin's post, you'll find my review of Cold Hard Cash (a fantastic summer read), then scroll down for a tour schedule, as well as links to participating blogs. Be sure to visit Wendelin's blog on the last day of the tour!
Q & A with Wendelin Van Draanen
Q. Wendelin, what inspired you to create the feisty super sleuth Sammy Keyes and how do you keep the character fresh? Also what's in store as the series heads toward its conclusion?
A. First, I'd like to thank you for launching this blog tour. I've been on book tours many times, but this is the first time I haven't had to deal with airport security. So thank you! Now onto your questions about Sammy Keyes.
Thanks for launching Wendelin Van Draanen's blog tour at your site. It's always fun to read what Ms. Van Draanen has to say about her books and the writing process. As a devoted fan of her books, let me assure your readers that they just can't go wrong this summer by going on a Sammy Keyes adventure that will have them hooked and wanting to read more Van Draanen books. Read the Sammy books in preparation for the 13th installment, The Wedding Crasher, in October.
I'm Stephanie and I live at 1193 Hillcrest Lane 60517, Woodridge, IL.
I'm probably the biggest Sammy Keyes fan alive. I write Fanfictions, have a fanblog (I made a lot of the pictures on the fan blog... if you do happen to go on it, scroll alllllll the way to the bottom to see the best Sammy Keyes pictures I made myself..) It's www.cammylover.blogspot.com ...
Also, I've read every Sammy Keyes book about 100 times each. I have most of the books memorized. I have Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary, Cold Hard Cash, Dead Giveaway, Art of Deception, Skeleton Man, and Psycho Kitty Queen memorized. Literally, I know every single little detail and part in these books. Such as (this is one of my favorites), when Hudson was telling Sammy that the paintings in the mall were not *real copies, and Sammy's like, "Yes they are." That is one of my favorite parts, I don't know why, it just is, because it's funny I guess -I have it completely memorized. :)
I also really want to know who Sammy's father is. I can't wait until book 18-- heck-- I can't wait until Wedding Crasher! I wrote a WHOLE long Fanfiction on my take of Wedding Crasher. It's so long and it fits exactly with the synopsis, that it could even really be the actual book! But of course it can't, I'm not the actual author. The one I wrote follows the whole "note" thing to Mr. Vince, and the whole "bad news" from Lana, and Casey not answering her calls, and of course, the wedding with the "pouffy lavender dress". I actually posted one whole story on Fanfiction that was, again, my take on the wedding (called "Night of Perfection") but it's not as long as my whole Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher fanfiction (I didn't post this one yet, it's too long). I'll write more on another post...
(continuing my first comment)
I also make pictures and drawings, which I usually edit the background of and add words. Go to my cammylover.blogspot.com blog and scroll at the very bottom to see someof my favorite Sammy Keyes work. :)
I even made an "Official Sammy Keyes Badge". On it is a picture of Sammy I drew (it's a very simple picture) but I edited the backround to look really neat and and there are words (Official Sammy Keyes Badge) and of course, I tagged my name in the corner so no one could steal it). It's a badge that is supposed to go on the sidebar of blogs or anything if you support Sammy Keyes. I've seen about 10 blogs with it so far, but who knows? Someone could have it and I wouldn't even know. Wendelin Van Draanen even put it in one of her previous posts! :) People have emailed/commented me asking to use the badge on their other social networking websites--of course I said yes. If you want to see it, go to cammylover.blogspot.com and look at the sidebar. :)
Also, before I knew of Fanfiction.net, I used to carry around a notebook and write a long fanfiction in it. I even made a cover and I formatted the story to look just like the format in the real Sammy Keyes book (I even copied the font of the title name and "Chapter #" the same way with my handwriting).
And before I ever knew Wendelin Van Draanen ever had a blog or email, I made *another notebook but this was a notebook (I called it a "Guide"). It had character pages for each character with a matching background (Ex: Lana Keyes had a Hollywood themed background). And on each character page I picked songs for each character and wrote the lyrics and "defined" why the lyrics fit the character (Ex: Marissa had "Waking Up in Vegas" by Katy Perry and "If You Can Afford Me" by Katy Perry). ((In my Katy Perry phase at least))
Those notebooks I just talked about were works of *two summers ago. I was just in the beginningof junior high then, and I was pretty young, but still an *extremely devoed fan*, like I am right now. My love and dedication for Sammy Keyes hasn't changed a bit for three whole years and I plan on keeping it that way. I am more than just a simple "fan" of this series, I'm a dedicated fan. A fan that would do just about anything for Sammy Keyes.
I really do hope I win one of the bound galleys, I actually think I *deserve it, and not in a conceited sort of way. I think I desserve it because I am probably the biggest Sammy Keyes fan this world will ever know.
And thanks for the cool interview!
--Stephanie Anne Hall
1193 Hillcrest Lane 60517, Woodridge, IL
Fun to find you "on the road", Wendelin. You make me want to find a Sammy in my novel life, so that I can watch her grow into a woman. My books are so completely over when they're over that, well, they're over! Hope to find you in real space soon. Love.
Thanks for being a host on WVD's blog tour! And thank you WVD for sharing your time and heart with your fans! We love you! And 'Where The Best Books Are', please count me as entered for the giveaway, I emailed an entry already but wasn't sure if I should send multiple entries. Thank you both again, Elizabeth
Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and to those of you who left comments! Loved the review of CHC--thank you! I especially like that you pointed out that you can dive into the series anywhere. This is a great blog and I'll definitely be back when I'm not on tour :-)
Thanks for having me!
Wendelin