National Book Festival

Posted on September 22, 2013 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

I was so happy Canary in the Coal Mine got to represent West Virginia at the National Book Festival this weekend in the Pavilion of States. Here’s a breakdown in pictures.

Me with my canary.

Authors Wendy Shang and Kathy Erskine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me with Kathy Erskine. Yay, Virginia authors!

 

 

 

 

 

The librarians gave away 7 cases of these bird whistles, which worked exceptionally well for little pieces of plastic. (Add water to make them work.)

With Meg Medina and AB Westrick, organizers of Teen ’13 in Richmond. Meg represented Virginia at the book festival with Tia Isa Wants a Car. Anne just published Brotherhood.

 

 

Kathy in the spirit with these book earrings

Not great light but great librarians: Hannah Wilkes, Suzy McGinley, Susan and Elizabeth stamped and stood and talked books all day.

Canary in the Coal Mine. Miner's hat made of duct tape, half a hackey sack, and LED. He was often mistaken for a chicken or a duck. Or, to quote the younger kids, DUCKY!

When it's raining at the end of the day, the table skirt offers protection AND lets Hannah and Suzy make a bold fashion statement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now for some words:

During breaks I saw:

Jon Klassen: Deadpan, humble, hilarious.

Matt and Jennifer Holm: Energetic, chock full of contagious enthusiasm. We have a Babymouse fan in the house, but everyone re-upped when we learned: Matt loves Star Wars, Jenni’s husband designs video games, Jenni’s favorite book growing up was The Black Cauldron.

Monica Brown and Rafael Lopez: Fun, fluid and fabulous.

Best tables at the Pavilion of States (besides West Virginia, of course): Utah! Because the librarian there knew the owner of the restaurant that was last featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. And because they gave away salt. And New York. Because it had Rocco Staino.

 

Posted in art, Canary in the Coal Mine, crafts, kidlit, libraries, national book festival | 5 Comments

re: the subject of this post

Posted on September 18, 2013 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

Revisions for Dream Boy, my YA novel with Mary Crockett for Sourcebooks, are in (the first round, at least). As part of my effort to show what it’s like to write with a partner, here’s a curated list of recent e-mail subject lines.

re: a thought

new edit

new plan

frick frack

re: frick frack

How long did Daniel and Annabelle go out?

re: snort

mice

re: note about mice

just saying

Oh crap end ch. 35

change moist to glisten

Okay, how about this for the end of 38

Question

re: question

Never-mind

Nevermind the nevermind

re: Nevermind the nevermind

completely lost

chap 46

Talon’s eyeliner

re: bugging out

what do people spend on wedding gifts?

re: unfortunately

River

re: IGNORE LAST COMPLILATION. USE THIS

checking in

Re: TONGUE STUD

here you go!

Final notes

FW: To Aubrey Poole Subject: Dream Boy Revision

 

Posted in archiving, Dream Boy, kidlit, ya, young adult | 4 Comments

Where I’ll be

Posted on September 16, 2013 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

Canary in the Coal Mine, which is set in West Virginia, circa 1931,  has been chosen to represent the state at the National Book Festival in 2013. The announcement was made by the West Virginia Library Commission.

So what does this mean?

For one, it means my book is listed as one of 52 Great Reads promoted by the festival and by the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book. The recommendations reflect the literary heritage of each state.

It also means I’ll be hanging out at the National Book Festival this Saturday with a bunch of groovy librarians. Look for me in the Pavilion of States at the West Virginia table, where we’ll have some tokens for the kids.

If I’m not at the West Virginia table, that means I have slipped away for just a bit to hang out with Kathy Erskine, Meg Medina and Anne Westrick. We will also be together in Richmond in October for the Teen ’13. Kathy is speaking at the National Book Festival on Sunday, and Meg’s representing Virginia at the Pavilion of States, which means we’re practically neighbors. And Anne is busy celebrating the release of her new book, Brotherhood, just out last week.

Posted in Canary in the Coal Mine, kidlit, marketing, Mission Possible, tourism | 1 Comment

Recovery wishes

Posted on August 20, 2013 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

One of the things I try to tell students when I speak is that no matter what profession they choose, it’s going to involve some storytelling. Coal miners are some of the best storytellers I know, and I just got a note from the wife of one — someone who was  helpful to me when I was revising Canary in the Coal Mine. Her husband had a stroke, she said. I’m sending out wishes for the speediest of recoveries to a helpful man and  storyteller. Heal soon!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

You Ought to Be in Pictures…

Posted on August 19, 2013 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

Remember how I said that marketing myself was going to be way better if I could do it with a friend? It already has been, even though my book with Mary Crockett isn’t due out until next July.

This summer, we decided we needed some publicity photos together, to show that we’re actually, you know, friends. My mother offered to take them. So did Mary’s husband. But we decided we’d be more relaxed with someone we both knew really well, so we asked Cece Bell if she could deal with us.

And she did.

We followed Cece up the mountain near her house in Christiansburg, Va., to an outcropping of rocks in the woods. (The woods are central to Dream Boy, and we wanted to make sure we were in them, even if the photos were just going to focus on our faces.)

I am proud to say I did not get poison oak.

 

 

 

 

 

Cece was a real sport, following Mary’s directions…

and accommodating our height differences.

"Maybe if Mad could stand on a rock." By Cece Bell

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a few of the photos, we tried to look pensive. But it turns out, we weren’t very good at it.

Pensive 1 by Cece Bel

 

 

 

 

 

Pensive 2 by Cece Bell

 

 

 

 

 

 

In most of the photos, we were laughing.

Laughing 1 by Cece Bell

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sent the rest of our photos to our publisher this week. We also got a glimpse of our cover, but we’re not allowed to show you that one quite yet. Stay tuned…

 

Posted in Dream Boy, marketing, photography | 2 Comments