I don't know what it is about lately.
Truly.
Ask A.S. King, that famous writer, She. She is the one took the photo here. Snapped it at Chester County Book and Music a few weeks ago, where I had gone to sign
Small Damages, and where A.S. King and K.M. Walton and I practically shut down the little restaurant hours later. Or, at least, we shut down the lunch shift at 5 PM.
Minutes after striking this hot little pose I was informed by a quite polite but anxious management team that this very table had collapsed beneath another's weight, a few signings back. I wanted to ask if the other author had been a former Rockette, just like me, but decided to heed the caution and hopped off, pledging myself to adult behavior.
But here, forever, thanks to A.S. King, is me being me.
I will get back to my regularly scheduled seriousness on the morrow.
Unless another odd photo surfaces.
Yesterday, my gorgeous niece Claire called, as she will, from time to time. She had a school project on the docket, questions for my husband about his life in architecture, but I got to talk to her, too (it was part of the deal). Claire is the niece who shares her love of books with me. The sixth grader with a huge vocabulary and a very empathetic heart. She'd just acquired a handful of new titles from Borders. I sat on my deck, phone pressed to my ear, as she read the jacket flaps to me. Together, and quite craftily, we speculated.
Not long ago, at a cocktail hour, someone said, indicating me, "Oh, don't talk to her. She just writes kids' books for a living." It was half a joke, but I suspected it wasn't really. It was a prejudice I thought we'd snuffed, this ghetto-ization of YA writers. I think of dear Claire whenever I think of those who want to make YA books a lesser category. I think of the giants of the craft.
I'm going to be thinking out loud about the YA genre—the rise of fantasy, paranormal romance, dystopia, and steampunk, the ever-continuing importance of contemporary realism when handled by those who care about kids and about craft—during a few upcoming appearances. I'm going to be talking about what I think is next. In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think is next. What you think is necessary, what is called for. What trends are over and done for you? What stories do you miss? What books would you give my bright, loving, beautiful niece Claire, if you had the privilege of being her aunt?
Please let me know here. And please come, too, to one of the following events, where I'll be talking about all this and more, while also reading pages from
You Are My Only. I want to see you. Live, and in person. It's about time for that.
Wednesday, October 26, 4 PM - 6 PM
Rutgers-Camden Visiting Writers Series
Young Adult Lit: It's Not Just Kids' Stuff Anymore
(details
here)
Thursday, October 27, 7:30 PM
You Are My Only/Book Launch Party
Radnor Memorial Library, Radnor, PA
(details to come)
Monday, November 7, 6:30 PMYou Are My Only/Lecture and Reading
Haub Executive Center, St. Joseph's University
(details
here)
Wednesday, November 9, 7:00 PMYou Are My Only/Reading and Signing
Chester County Book & Music Company
975 Paoli Pike
West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA
Because Lilian Nattel is a very brilliant author and reader, I trust her, and when
she sang the praises of Adam Foulds'
The Quickening Maze back in late June, I knew I'd be reading the book sooner than later. And when the dear and deep and perpetually risk-taking
Elizabeth Hand wrote (long before the National Book Award list had been unveiled) that I absolutely had to read
Just Kids by Patti Smith (she'd
reviewed it for the
Washington Post), I said,
All right, Liz. I will.Yesterday, released for the afternoon from client work, I headed to the
Chester County Book & Music Company, which is another version of paradise on earth. We're talking an indie book store here that feels a city block deep, and those who work there stack their favorite reads up and down end shelves. I get lost there, and I don't mind one bit.
This afternoon, I board a plane. Smith's coming with me. So is Foulds.
<3 this photo. What a fun day.
I think this one should go on all your books.
Yay! I am so glad you like it! It's tough to get a good shot with all that back light. But this time, the Beth-light outshone the sun. Look at that face!
I love it.
And, Q, considering it.
I love it! You crack me up. This is hilarious! Brought a smile to my day. :o)
PS...Can I say how insanely jealous I am that you were able to "hang out" with AS King? She's incredible, just like you. Love her writing as well. :)
I love this photo...glad to see you had such a good time.