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Some high res stills from the Hulk/Ant-Man battle for a soft drink have been released. None of them feature the Hulk, but he’s shy. These debuted in last night’s Super Bowl spot for new Coke Mini cans, which will feature six Marvel characters. including Sam Wilson Captain America. Also see storyboards for this in our […]

We’ve gotten trailers or spots of some kind from each of the superhero movies that are rolling out over the next few months. Here is the new ad for X-Men: Apocalypse, giving us some quick looks at a few of the younger members of the team that are being re-introduced:

  Marvel Studios is getting in on the “picking your favorite hero hashtag” game, with this new short Super Bowl spot for Captain America: Civil War. It doesn’t debut much new footage, but you do get to see Ant-Man as a part of the gathering of heroes now. Get to hashtagging and you can see […]

Turkish Airlines is the official airline for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. As such, it produced the first fairly nifty set of Superbowl commercials this afternoon. Take a look below at these in-universe travel ads for Gotham City and Metropolis, with cameos by Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor respectively.

The ice on Lake Champlain is floating north in giant puzzle pieces today.





Some of these ice slabs are enormous -- maybe 30 feet long.

There is a tiny part of me that thinks it would be fun to put on a big orange survival suit, climb onto one of them, flop down on my belly, and float all the way to Canada. 



But all the other parts of me get cold easily and have vetoed that idea. 

"Beside," my 11-year-old said, "Waves slosh over those ice chunks all the time, and I think they'd wash you off before you got to the border."

Instead, I'll be in the big chair by the window, watching the ice float north without me while I read Eric Larson's Thunderstruck with a cup of hot chocolate.

We had a lazy morning on Lake Champlain.  When I woke up, the lake was frozen solid from our back deck to the island about a mile offshore.  When the wind picked up, it churned up the open water to the south, and the ice started talking.

Sometimes, when the ice breaks up, it sounds like a timpani drum.  Sometimes it sounds like thunder. Sometimes it sounds like a sea lion barking.  And sometimes, it sounds like something from another planet -- something that doesn't sound like an earth noise at all.

So we shivered on the porch this morning and listened.  We watched a mink that popped up from a crack in the ice and played for about an hour before she disappeared again.  And we videotaped, so you could listen and watch, too. 

Last night, I had to catch up on a few priority items. First up, Super Bowl commercials. That's right--I didn't watch the actual game. Call me unAmerican, but after years of growing up with the TV commandeered every Saturday and Sunday by my dad and brothers, I hate the sound of sports coming through the television. My sister and I were made to postpone our chores while games were on: couldn't vacuum--the males wouldn't be able to hear the game; couldn't leave--we weren't done with our chores.

In any case, if commercials could be anthologized like short stories, the Super Bowl would hold the cream of the crop. I still love that Willie Nelson/H&R Block commercial from a few years ago.

When I was younger, this sprightly guy on TV had an exercise show. He was so funny and energetic, I wished he could be my uncle. You know who I'm talking about--the always effervescent Mr. Richard Simmons! Bridgestone's "Headlights" commercial featuring Richard Simmons is my pick for Best SB commercial 2008. It's so funny how we come upon him already doing his jumping jacks. The driver, instead of braking as he did for the deer and Alice Cooper, speeds up for Richard; the car's headlights affect a fierce mad face as the car guns down toward Richard. Even after the car squeals away, Richard is still cheering us on with his mantra: I believe in you!

I give Bridgestone's "Squirrel" and Budweiser's "Rocky" second and third place.

Good thing the commercial writers got their work done before the strike; the best part of the Super Bowl wouldn't have happened this year!

Sometimes it can be hard to wait.  I'm feeling a little impatient about the books of 2008 for a few reasons.

As a writer, I'm feeling impatient because my second MG historical novel, Champlain & the Silent One,  is still seven months away from the shelves.  It's off being edited and illustrated now, so all my work is done, except the waiting.  I can't wait to see the illustrations and the cover, and I really can't wait to start talking with kids at schools & libraries about Samuel de Champlain and the tribes who guided him on his voyage from Quebec to Lake Champlain 400 years ago.

As a reader and teacher, I'm excited for a whole roundup of 2008 titles from favorite authors & friends & other writers whose work I've heard about and can't wait to read.  I've been lucky enough to get sneak peaks of some of them, like Linda Sue Park's Keeping Score, which I reviewed here. This one is so unbelievably good that I've decided it's a crime not to pass it along so someone else can read it and love it and hopefully talk about it, too.

So here's the contest.  I'm giving a way my pre-read and somewhat well-traveled ARC of Keeping Score.  I won it in a drawing on cynthialord's blog a few weeks ago and asked Cindy if she'd be okay with me giving it away again.  The ARC traveled with me to the Kindling Words retreat in Vermont last week, where Linda Sue Park (lsparkreader) graciously signed it for the giveaway.  It's not a shiny, perfect, unread-by-human-eyes ARC, but it is signed and got to hang out with the likes of Linda Sue and Laurie Halse Anderson and Sara Zarr and Katie Davis and Jane Yolen and other wonderful people.  It's an ARC with lots of good karma.

If you'd like to be entered the drawing, just leave a comment below with the title of one 2008 release that you can't wait to read.  The contest ends at 6pm EST on February 13th.  I'll figure out some bizarre and random way to choose a winner and announce it here on my blog on Valentine's Day.

I've been waiting.   I started checking out the back window every morning as soon as it got cold this week.

Today, the sea smoke showed up.



On the first really, really cold, calm morning of  winter, plumes of cloud rise up from the surface of the lake and drift in the pink light of sunrise.  

Sea smoke (lake smoke, I guess, in this case) forms when very cold air passes over warmer water.  The air right at the water's surface is warmer, so it rises in a plume.  As soon as it gets away from the water, though, that air cools, and the moisture in it forms condensation that we see as fog.  Icy wisps of fog in the morning sun.

That's what the meteorologists say.  But really, I think it's the ghosts.  Lake Champlain has ghosts.  You can only see them in these cold, quiet moments, and only if you remember to look. Pretty soon, the wind comes and chases them away.  I am thankful that I wasn't too busy to greet them this morning when they came.

Question:  When does a middle grade historical novel become a Halloween book?

Answer:  When the author agrees to dress up as her main character because she can't resist Burlington's Church St. Marketplace Halloween Celebration.  Spitfire is about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to fight in a Revolutionary War naval battle on Lake Champlain.  That means...you guessed it...  On Church St. this Saturday, I'll be an author, disguised as an 18th century girl, disguised as an 18th century boy.  Here's the official blurb...

Saturday, October 27, 1:00: Join children's author Kate Messner for a trip back in time to the American Revolution on Lake Champlain at Borders Books and Music, 2nd floor. Kate portrays Abigail Smith, the main character in her middle grade novel SPITFIRE, who disguises herself as a boy to fight in the battle of Valcour Island. Participatory activities for kids are based on the book. A book signing will follow the event.

If you're leaf-peeping in Vermont this weekend, please stop by and say hello!

On Tuesday, October 30, I'll be at the North Country Teacher Resource Center Educator Showcase at Plattsburgh State from 4:30-6:00, with five other fun author/illustrator people.  (At this one, I'll just be regular Kate...)

I know it's early, but I want to let everyone know about the Burlington Book Festival coming up next month.  Burlington, VT hosts an incredible book festival each fall, just as the leaves are changing color in New England.  If you live in the Northeast (or even if you don't but you really, really like autumn leaves and books), it's worth the trip.  Most of the events are being held at Waterfront Theater on the shores of Lake Champlain.



I'll be presenting  on Sunday, September 16th at the Children's Literature Festival.  Here's my blurb from the festival website:

11:00 AM-12:00 PM

KATE MESSNER

Join Kate Messner for a trip back in time to the American Revolution on Lake Champlain. Kate will read from her middle grade historical novel Spitfire, set during the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776, sign books and present an interactive multimedia slide show about the real 12-year-old who fought in the battle. Kids will be invited to taste the food and try on the clothes of an 18th century sailor, handle artifact replicas and design their own powder horns to take home.

Waterfront Theatre Black Box, 3rd Floor

Right after my presentation, Linda Urban (lurban) will read from A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT and talk about the journey of writing and publishing a children's book.  (Even though Linda says it will make her nervous, my kids and I are definitely going to be in the audience!)

Also on tap for the Sunday kids' day... Tracey Campbell Pearson, James Kochalka, Anna Dewdney, Harry Bliss, Jim Arnosky, Barbara Seuling, Marie-Louise Gay, Barbara Lehman, and Warren Kimble.

And the rest of the Book Festival is nothing to scoff at either, with writers like Chris Bohjalian, Howard Frank Mosher, Russell Banks, and Joyce Carol Oates speaking on Saturday, September 15th.  The full schedule is posted at the festival website now. If you're in the area that weekend, please stop by the Children's Literature Festival and say hello! 

We've had some colorful visitors stop by the house lately...



The monarch butterflies are loving my Echinacea.

And this little guy has made appearances on our beach twice this week...




It's a mink, we think, a member of the weasel family.  Some of you may have read carriejones 's entries about the weaselly creature that showed up at her house a few weeks ago and looked a lot like a wolverine.  I think this may be a smaller, cuter, distant cousin.  He spent the afternoon frolicking up and down the shore, climbing into drainage pipes, and then playing peek-a-boo before jumping out again.  We're trying to think of a name for him (or her).  Any suggestions?

I gave my first presentation on SPITFIRE on Monday and couldn't have asked for a more pleasant and receptive audience.  Clinton Community College hosts a teachers' historical workshop about Benedict Arnold in the Champlain Valley.   Facilitators Tom Mandeville and John Mockry do a fantastic job sharing knowledge about Lake Champlain history and leading field trips around the region. 



I was the after-lunch speaker on Monday.   They had lasagna, and I worried about this, but only one person dozed off a little, and I think I woke him up with my bo'sun's whistle. (It's used to issue orders during battle...or to get attention during a presentation as the need arises...)

I presented my PowerPoint about the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, the real 12-year-old boy who fought in that battle, and how I researched his life and life on board an 18th century gunboat to write SPITFIRE.   I also gave teachers a sneak peak at my school presentation, showing some of the artifact replicas, articles of clothing, and other 18th century treats I'll be sharing with students this fall.



I gave my first reading from SPITFIRE to people who don't live with me, and that was a terrific feeling.  The teachers were kind enough to laugh in all the right places, had nice things to say about my research and writing, and clapped when I was done.



It was a wonderful afternoon, and it was great to spend time with people who love Lake Champlain and its history as much as I do.

I'm giving my first presentation for SPITFIRE tomorrow! 

The book won't be out for almost two months, but this week's historical workshop at Clinton Community College focuses on Benedict Arnold in the Champlain Valley, so it's a perfect opportunity to share SPITFIRE and the story behind it with a great group of area teachers.

I'll be presenting a PowerPoint on the Battle of Valcour Island and the real 12-year-old who fought in it, sharing some artifacts to give teachers a taste of my program for schools, and... sharing my new book trailer for SPITFIRE!




Have I mentioned how much I love iMovie?