Hello my fine friends! It's finally here! The Year of the Beasts written by me and illustrated by Nate Powell is finally here!


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“…a poignant and entertaining mixture of storytelling and nightmare.”--VOYA

Every summer the trucks roll in, bringing the carnival and its infinite possibilities to town. This year Tessa and her younger sister Lulu are un-chaperoned and want to be first in line to experience the rides, the food . . . and the boys. Except this summer, jealousy will invade their relationship for the first time, setting in motion a course of events that can only end in tragedy, putting everyone's love and friendship to the test. Alternating chapters of prose and comics are interwoven in this extraordinary novel that will break your heart and crack it wide open at the same time.

Cory Doctorow reviewed it over at Boing Boing
Here is a nice interview I did with blogger Els de Clerq
I also did a playlist for it over at Large Hearted Boy

I prefer if you go to your local indiebound bookstore, but you can also get it online at Amazon and B&N where it is also available as an e-book. And remember, you can always order signed copies from Skylight Books. (of this book or any of my books!)

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I'm doing a GIVE AWAY of 2 copies of The Year of the Beasts (illustrated by Nate Powell) since I received my author copies! Please draw me the picture of the mythical monster that crouches inside of you and post it in comments here. (or over at facebook or twitter @misscecil )

the book is out May 22nd. But you can always pre-order it now!
Powells B&N Amazon Indiebound

And PS. the launch party will be May 22nd at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.

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Hello all!

I'm going to be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) this weekend. It's at the Toronto Public Library at 789 Yonge Street and it's free! I'll be at the Librarian and Educator day on Friday for the author luncheon. Then I'm tabling with Nate Powell, the illustrator of my new novel The Year of the Beasts! We'll be on the second floor so come on by and say hello. I'll have books for sale.

My panel is on Sunday, May 6, 2012 | The Pilot 22 Cumberland Ave.

2:00 – 3:15 – Making Comics: The Process
Creators discuss how they make comics: what’s the process of writing and drawing that they go through to create individual creative projects? When a comic varies from only writing to nonfiction journalism to fantasy, how does the process change? With Mike Dawson, Adam Warren, Cecil Castellucci, and Kagan McLeod. Moderator: Tina Coleman

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Attention Educators! The YARN has done a wonderful discussion guide for Little Red Riding Hood which compares the original story and the retellings by Hanna Howard and me. My retelling is here - To Grandmother's House.

Enjoy!

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Have just received a few ARCs of my new hybrid graphic novel The Year of the Beasts (illustrated by Nate Powell.) Am going to give two away. Enter here, my blog or on twitter. Post your name in the comments (or at reply me @misscecil ) and Friday I will choose a winner at random.


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Hello! I am delighted to have an original short story over at the YA Review Network. It's a sci fi retelling of Little Red Riding Hood called "To Grandmother's House"

Enjoy!

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I've just spent the day putting together the clips for the YA Reading and Popcorn event over at The Last Bookstore this Friday night and I must say, I'm super excited!

Come join us!

Friday, January 20th at The Last Bookstore

Join YA Authors Cecil Castellucci (First Day on Earth), Carol Tanzman (Dancergirl), Janet Tashijian (My Life as A Stuntboy) and Crickett Rumley (Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell) as they read from their new novels and screen clips from films that will tickle your reading bone.



Basically, we'll be reading and showing clips from a movie that sort of goes along with our books. And there will be popcorn. I'm kind of into the whole cross media thing. Because I love stories.

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I'm so excited to be starting off 2012 with a bang! The fabulous Brad Listi from the Nervous Breakdown (who I want as a guest at a Viking Dinner Party that I fantasize about having in the future. Think about it. Vikings + Dinner Party.) interviews me. over at his reallyfantastic literary podcast

I'm a subscriber and a fan and so it was a total honor to be invited to be on the show. He's always has really stellar guests like Steve Almond, Edan Lepucki, Ben Loory, Jillian Lauren, Dana Spiotta, Elissa Schappell, Adam Novy. It's probably best if you subscribe to it.

We talk about YA, and trying to live an artists life, and Star Wars, and experimental films, all art all the time and the mysterious shirt (which I still have) that always caught my eye.

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Hello! My tiny holiday story FROST AND THE MAILMAN is available on Kobo, Nook and Kindle. If you are in Canada, you can download it for free on Kobo with the promo code FROST. The cover is by Jen Wang (buy her book Koko Be Good.)

Kobo
Kindle
Nook


Frost and the Mailman

A mailman, Daniel Wasserman, and one of Santas elves, Frost, try to save Christmas after its discovered that Santas mail has been forwarded to the South Pole.

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Hello friends!

It's that time of year! The holidays. Perhaps for your holiday shopping you are thinking of getting one of my books for your sassy teen, your friends inner teen, your surly niece or nephew, your bosses kid or a teen you don't know because you've landed at a party of someone elses family. They make a nice gift! Perhaps you want to get one signed.

So, for your signed Cecil book needs, you may get them at four different places in four different cities!

LOS ANGELES - SKYLIGHT BOOKS For your information, Skylight Books always has signed books.

TORONTO - MABLES FABLES

MONTREAL - BABAR En VILLE

NYC - BOOKS OF WONDER

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NY! Hello and I am in you!

I'll be doing two readings this week. Please come on down and say hello! I'll be reading from my new novel FIRST DAY ON EARTH!

12/7 - 6 PM
TEEN AUTHOR READING NIGHT
at Jefferson Market Branch NYPL
425 Avenue of the Americas

with/
Cecil Castellucci, First Day on Earth
Margie Gelbwasser, Inconvenient
Andy Marino, Unison Spark
Julia Mayer, Eyes in the Mirror
Marie Rutkoski, The Jewel of the Kalderash
Delia Sherman, The Freedom Maze

12/8 at 6 PM
BOOKS OF WONDER
18 West 18th Street

Great Teen Reads
with/
CECIL CASTELLUCCI First Day on Earth
DANIEL NAYERI Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow
PAUL GRIFFIN Stay With Me
ANNA GODBERSEN Beautiful Days (Bright Young Things Series #2)

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Travel is always good for the soul. All that movement and new views. In Montreal it's so nice to be with family and old friends. And I continue to be amazed at the performances of Madame Merveille.

There is one last showing of it in Montreal, I hope that you will come!

December 9th

Salle Jean-Eudes (maison de la culture Rosemont)
3535, boulevard Rosemont, Montréal

I've been a supporter of the Occupy movement and with the eviction of the OccupyLA camp last night, I wrote a little something about YA Fiction over at the LA Review of Books Blog that highlights characters who participate in rallies and actions. For those of you who know my work, Boy Proof, , The Plain Janes and Rose Sees Red all feature activism by teens. It's important to me. I hope that you will go and chime in over at the LARB blog with any books that you think would be great on that list. I think that it's essential that teens be able to find YA fiction about activism.

For those of you in New York City, I'm doing two events to support First Day on Earth.

December 7th at the Jefferson Market Branch NYPL

6-7:30

Teen Author Reading Night
6th Ave and 10th St
New York City, NY

Cecil Castellucci, Margie Gelbwasser, Andy Marino, Julia Mayer, Marie Rutkoski, Delia Sherman

December 8th at Books of Wonder

18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-3270

w/ CECIL CASTELLUCCI - DANIEL NAYERI - PAUL GRIFFIN -ANNA GODBERSEN


I hope that you'll come and say hello!

And last, but not least, Terri Windling, who is a writer, artist and editor needs help. There is a fundraiser over at Magic 4 Terri. As I move into writing more in the Sci Fi/Fantasy genre I've been honored to be in two anthologies edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow. Teeth and the upcoming After. I've put up for auction an advanced reading

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Hello my fine friends!

I am currently in OH! Canada! I spent last week in Toronto having a super swell time doing a bunch of high school visits and leading a teen writing workshop at Mable's Fables

I even stopped by The Morning Show on Global TV to talk about my new book First Day on Earth and YA!


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(you can go get it! Indiebound Amazon
B&N Powell's! )

(FYI you can get signed copies of any of my books from Skylight Books in Los Angeles or Mables Fables in Toronto)

Now I'm in Montreal and I'm attending the performances of the remount of the opera I wrote the libretto for Les Aventures de Madame Merveille!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xgp8uT_cmM]

There are still a few show left, so if you are in Montreal (or near Montreal) you should totally come! It's a live comic book opera with music by Andre Ristic and art by Cameron Stewart, Michael Cho, Pascal Girard and Scott Hepburn put on by ECM+

Below find the dates! I'll be there! Please come and say hello! xo

November 17, 18, 19
Opera / Les Aventures de Madame Merveille
Théâtre rouge du Conservatoire
4750 Henri-Julien, Montréal

Jeudi 24 novembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Maison de la culture Ahuntsic
10 300, rue Lajeunesse, Montréal

Samedi 26 novembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Centre Segal des arts de la scène
5 170, chemin de la Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montréal

Mardi 29 novembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Maison de la culture Frontenac
2550 Ontario Est, Montréal

Jeudi 1 décembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Théâtre Centennial
2 600, rue Collège, Sherbrooke

Vendredi 9 décembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Salle Jean-Eudes (maison de la culture Rosemont)
3535, boulevard Rosemont, Montréal

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Hello my friends!

Just to announce that First Day on Earth is now officially out and available!


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from the jacket copy:

Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet loving the world -- or, at least, an idea of the world.

Then he meets Hooper. Who says he's from another planet. And may be going home very soon.

Indiebound - Amazon - Barnes and Noble

I'll be doing some upcoming events, so I hope you'll come and say hello! And buy a book!

November 9th
Dear Bully Event at Vromans
with Amy Goldman Koss, Melodye Schorr, Nancy Holder and Lisa Yee
6 PM
Pasadena, CA

November 12th
Writers with Drinks
7:30 PM
with Cecil Castellucci (First Day on Earth, Boy Proof)
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarashina (Consensual Genocide)
Samhita Mukhopadhyay (Feministing, Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life)
Alison Moon (Lunatic Fringe)
Alvin Orloff (Why Aren't You Smiling?)
At The Make-Out Room
3225 22nd. St
San Francisco CA

November 16th
Mables Fables
Writing Workshop for Teen Girls
Toronto, Ont


November 17, 18, 19
Opera / Les Aventures de Madame Merveille
Théâtre rouge du Conservatoire
4750 Henri-Julien, Montréal


Jeudi 24 novembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Maison de la culture Ahuntsic
10 300, rue Lajeunesse, Montréal

November 26th
Writing Workshop for Teens
Babar en Ville
1235, av Greene, Westmount, QC
2 PM

Samedi 26 novembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Centre Segal des arts de la scène
5 170, chemin de la Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montréal

Mardi 29 novembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Maison de la culture Frontenac
2550 Ontario Est, Montréal

Jeudi 1 décembre 2011, 20h00
Lieu : Théâtre Centennial
2 600, rue Collège, Sherbrooke


December 7
Teen Author Reading Night
Jefferson Market Branch of NYPL
6th Ave and 10th St
New York City, NY
6-7:30

Cecil Castellucci, First Day on Earth
Margie Gelbwasser, Inconvenient
Andy Marino, Unison Spark
Julia Mayer, Eyes in the Mirror
Marie Rutkoski, The Jewel of the Kalderash
Delia Sherman, The Fre

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My fine friends!

Behold, Episode 2 of Space Tales Theater in honor of the launch of my upcoming novel FIRST DAY ON EARTH.

First Day on Earth comes out 11/1 (but of course you can pre-order it now amazon, indiebound, powells, b&n ) But if you want it earlier why not come to one of my Launch events!

Sunday, October 23rd
Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach
2810 Artesia Blvd.
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
This is Teen! 4 PM
With Jeff Hirsch and Maggie Stiefvater.

Tuesday, October 25th
Skylight Books
1818 N Vermont
7:30 PM
Official book launch (and it's my birthday party!)

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My fine friends. Many of you know that I am a cinephile. And many of you know that I have had a long and wonderful relationship with the American Cinematheque. I've volunteered there, I've worked there, I even had my character Egg, from Boy Proof, have an internship there. Every year the American Cinematheque has a gala fundraiser where they give an award and celebrate an actor. This year it's Robert Downey, Jr. (swoon!)

One thing that you can do to help the Cinematheque is to watch the Ustream of the red carpet at 6:30 PM (PDT) The Cinematheque earns a revenue share for every viewer who watches live.



[ustream cid=9498317 w=480 h=296]
Streaming by Ustream

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In honor of the upcoming release of my new novel FIRST DAY ON EARTH, which is about a boy named Mal who starts going to an alien abduction support group, I'll be releasing some UFO abduction / encounter tales over the next few weeks.

This first one was submitted to me by Ashly.

Remember you can pre-order FIRST DAY ON EARTH (amazon, indiebound, powells, barnes and noble) and it's out on November 1st, 2011 !!!




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Hello all!

I'll be all over the West Hollywood Book Fair this Sunday, October 2nd! I hope you'll come on out and say hello!

TEEN STAGE:
11:15 - 11:30 EXTRA, EXTRA, BLOG ALL ABOUT IT!:
Teen Book Blogger CHELSEA SWIGGET Interviews Author CECIL CASTELLUCCI

Popular blogger and book reviewer Chelsea Swiggett (Coffee and Cliffhangers) interviews one of her (and our!) favorite Young Adult authors on the Teen Stage. Listen in as she gets up-close and personal with Cecil Castellucci (Rose Sees Red, Plain Janes).

Followed by a book signing @ 11:30am, Once Upon a Time Books Teen Booth

GRAPHIC NOVEL STAGE
1:30 - 2:30 THE WORLD OF YOUNG ADULT GRAPHIC NOVELS
Featuring:
Cecil Castellucci (Plain Janes)
Barbara Randall Kesel (Vampire Kisses, Wicked Lovely)
Deborah Vankin (Poseurs)
Moderator: Lillian Diaz-Przybyl

Signings @ 2:30pm, The Comic Bug Booth

ALL DAY The Literary Diaspora / cards on display and look for cards in the books you buy!

I'll also probably be hanging around the LA Review of Books booth. And the skylight books booth. See you there!

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This past week, over at the Los Angeles Review of Books (where i am the YA Editor) we've been marking banned book week. Many books - excellent books by excellent people - have been banned. Many of these banned books are books that you and I both love. And on the front lines of banned books are YA authors. So we've had some great YA authors, who have had their books challenged, talk a little bit about being banned. They do so with wisdom, humor, and grace.

Ron Koertge

Susan Patron

Ellen Hopkins

Sonya Sones

Lauren Myracle


You should go read their books now.

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As some of you, but surely not all of you, may know, I have been conducting my very first conceptual art project which I call The Literary Diaspora You can follow along @litdiaspora on the twitter or on the l itdiaspora on the tumblr I hope you will.

What is the Literary Diaspora? It's a playful game of narratives. Think of it like a strange exquisite corpse, where I send a blank postcard and a word or phrase to visual artists and ask them to send back a piece of work inspired by it. Then I print 10 copies of that image and I send one of those cards to an author and ask them for a microfiction, or a poem, or tiny philosophical thought. The other cards I slip into that authors book in bookstores. Not just in LA! Everything is done through the post. Mail! Lovely mail!

A diaspora is a scattering or a dispersion.

I am curious to see what will come back to me. And it's been great fun to see what's been returned.

Some pretty amazing people have participated. Visual Artists who have returned cards include Becky Cloonan, Chip Zdarsky, Darina Karpov, Jen Wang, Julia Denos, Ken Garduno, Rachel Perry Welty, and Sara Varon to name a few.

Authors who have returned text include: Blake Nelson, Cory Doctorow, Emma Straub, Marie Mutsuki Mockett, Marisa Silver, Natalie Standiford, and Patrick deWitt to name a few

There is always more arriving. I hope you will follow along!

And if you are at the West Hollywood Book Fair, on Oct. 2, you may just find a card in a book you buy.

Returned art by Gabriela Salazar / word given "dreaming"



Returned text by Steve Almond on the card "Relaxed Shoe" by Joe Infurnari

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For your enjoyment, I wrote an essay about my love / hate with Star Wars. It's up on io9. Enjoy!

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It was just a quick dip this year. A little skip in and skip out to the nerd prom. I headed down on Thursday at the crack of dawn and took the train down to San Diego. I ran into my one of my swell agents on the ride down so a good time was had gabbing away.

On the way to the convention center I saw this Dr Who Exterminator dress. Love!


My first stop was the DC booth. I'm a Roaring Brook /:01 girl now, but my instinct this year was to go to DC and check in. Mostly because I had a meeting with my Plain Janes editor the divine Shelly Bond. Also because I am still trying to cook up something DC. Keep all fingers crossed.

Then I skipped over to Top Shelf where I hung out with the fabulous Nate Powell. Nate's new book Any Empire is fantastic. You should go get it now. And I think many of you know that Nate is drawing my new hybrid prose/ graphic novel The Year of the Beasts. (Roaring Brook Spring 2012) He had just handed in a chapter and so I just threw him love love love of the art art art.

Me and Nate Powell!


A quick wander around the floor and then it was time for my panel on Teen Comics. It was Me, Hope Larson, Gene Luen Yang and Nate Powell and it was moderated exquisitely by Scott Westerfeld.



(picture nicked from Melissa Wiley)


I could have talked for about this subject (What is YA graphic novel!) for a million more hours with these smart cats. Really brilliant things said. Go buy all of their books if you haven't yet. As a special treat Scholastic gave me a box of ARCs of First Day On Earth to hand out. It's exciting to have a new book making its way in the world.

Then it was time for the soirees. I went to Scholastic's party for Jeff Smith's Bone (Congrats on 20 years!). I got to hang out with Raina Telemeiger (congrats on your Eisner, Raina!) and Lisa Yee!



Then I ended the night at the CBLDF party. Support them. It's important.

The next day it was a nice breakfast with people like Marc Bernardin a

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Most of you know that I really love outer space. Almost all of my books have some kind of observational astronomy in it. My newest book, First Day on Earth, (coming out in November 2011) is a Sci Fi(ish) book. And my current work in progress, The Tin Star, is a two book series that takes place on a space station around an extra solar planet. So, you know, finding out that there was a workshop to teach writers about space science...well... I could not apply fast enough.

And so last week I went to LaunchPad 2011 (aka space science camp.) It was the most fun and brain breaking thing ever.

LaunchPad is the brainchild of astronomer and sci fi writer Dr. Mike Brotherton (Spider Star and Star Dragon) It's been funded by NASA and the NSF and its goal is to teach writers (of sci fi) space science so that the science is correct in your fiction. (I know, right? AMAZING!)

It takes place at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. (by the way, we all know Laramie has a bad rap. But it's a sweet cute place. Totally adorable. For example, i saw a pair of victorian boots that I am coveting and also the cowboy saloon and dancehall which we got to sneak into and look at its amazingness - including saddle seat bar stools and a buffalo that snorts smoke. I was sad the saloon was closed for summer.)

Cowboy Saloon and Dancehall. I know you are two-stepping in your mind right now.

We were there for one week. Every day we had a lecture on space science. For a space dork like me it was amazing. I learned so much.

My fave things were the lecture on Dust.

Learning about Stars. Learning about space medicine. Dark Matter. Spectrograph lab.

I even liked cosmology. (although it nearly broke me.)

We had two observing nights. I so desperately wanted to see M51 because there is a supernova in it right now. But we couldn't see it from where we were. A stupid streetlamp was in the way and the weather was not cooperating. But we saw clusters (open and globular) Saturn. M82 galaxy. The Ring Nebula. I admit, many of these things looked like smudges. But they were very. cool. smudges.

We also went to WIRO (Wyoming InfraRed Observatory)

It was way up high on Mount Jen... Gorgeous

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