Library Appearance - California

I have one final public appearance this year. It is this Friday, November 6th, in Belmont, California, at the Belmont Library as part of the San Mateo County Library Children’s Book Week Author Festival. All are welcome and refreshments will be served.

Here are the details:

November 6, 2009 - Belmont, CA
San Mateo County Library Children’s Book Week Author Festival

Belmont Library, Children’s Area
4:00 pm

1110 Alameda de las Pulgas
Belmont, CA 94002
Phone: 650.591.8286

For more information, please contact the library. If you're in the area, stop on by and say hello!

And then it snowed

Trees...
Gas meters...
The path from our front door...
We've had a little bit of snow here in Colorado!

More from the Buckeye State

I enjoyed my day at the OELMA conference in Columbus on Thursday. I gave two presentations, met many, many great librarians and spent some time getting to know some other authors.

On Friday, I got to spend the entire day with the fifth grade students and teachers at New Albany Elementary as well as the school's amazing librarian, Dr. Cramer. I enjoyed my time there immensely! The kids had great questions and some great Savvy stories of their own.

Before heading back to Colorado on Saturday, I had the great pleasure of visiting Cover to Cover bookstore in Columbus. A fun day!

Outside of Cover to Cover Bookstore with owner Sally Oddi.

Signing the Wall at Cover to Cover!

Having fun with Lauren Myracle at OELMA.

Ohio: Visit to Fundamentals Parent-Teacher Store

Yesterday was such a fun day. I left Colorado in the middle of a light snowstorm and arrived in Columbus, Ohio, where it was seventy degrees! I was delighted to discover the always fun Lauren Myracle on my flight with me. We're both attending the same conference (OELMA) today and we both signed at Fundamentals Parent-Teacher Store in Delaware last night before having a wonderful dinner out with a group of equally wonderful people, Floyd Dickman (who was on my Newbery Committee), Leslie Bermel from Junior Library Guild, and another fellow author, Pete Hautman. Pete won the National Book Award a few years back and he's got a new book out called How to Steal a Car. Lauren was signing her new book, Luv Ya Bunches.

Fundamentals is a delightful store and Tami and her staff were so fun to chat with. I forgot my camera, so the only photo I could scrounge (rather, steal... sorry Karen!) was this one of me with two really nice people, Karen and Maria, who came to the signing (the picture is originally posted HERE).

If you're in the Columbus area and missed me at Fundamentals, I'll be at Cover to Cover this Saturday (Oct. 24) at 11:00.

Hi, from Columbus!

Bookstore Visits in Ohio

I have two bookstore visits coming up in Ohio...

October 21, 2009 - Delaware, OH
Fundamentals Parent-Teacher Store, Children’s Books
6:00 - 7:00 pm
25 West Winter Street
Delaware, OH 43015
Tel: 740-363-0290

October 24, 2009 - Columbus, OH
Cover to Cover Bookstore
11:00 am
3560 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43214
614-263-1624

If you are in the area, stop by one of these stores and say hello!

It's my first visit to Ohio. While in the Columbus area, I'll also be speaking at the OELMA conference and spending a fun day with the kids at New Albany Elementary School.

Trailer Fun

Over the weekend, I received a wonderful email from Analine Johnson, Library Media Specialist at Rodolfo C. Centeno Elementary. Analine is creating her own book trailers for Savvy and many other books to help inspire children in Texas to read the books on the list for the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award.

Here are a couple of links to the trailer (I'll also attempt to embed it at the end of this post):

http://readkiddoread.ning.com/video/video/show?id=2244625%3AVideo%3A25369

http://centeno.edublogs.org/2009/10/03/savvy-by-ingrid-law/

Enjoy! And thanks, Analine, for allowing me to share the video!


Find more videos like this on ReadKiddoRead

Book trailer created by Analine Johnson, Non-commercial use only.

October

October is my favorite month of the year. I love the change toward cooler weather, the sound of dry leaves rustling, the wind, and the chance to wear a sweatshirt again.

This fall is a busy time for me, so the blog is going to see few new entries for awhile. Already, it's been some time since I posted anything, and I'm afraid that I may have to be away from it until I get more downtime.

So, if you don't hear anything from the blog, Happy Autumn! and I'll try to be back soon when life is less hectic or when I have anything new or fun to announce.

Enjoy the falling leaves! Happy reading!

Word of the Week Thursday

Today's word is from a book I brought home with me from New York. The word is:

MIZZLING

As a verb, 'mizzle' means: To rain in fine, mist-like droplets; to drizzle. OR, to confuse or muddle.
As a noun: A mist-like rain; a drizzling rain.
In British slang, it can also mean: To make a sudden departure.

(Source, Dictionary.com)

At the end of summer...

I was going to take a bit of a blog break after our New York television adventures and my need to focus, focus, focus, and write, write, write...

Then I met someone new, fell in love, and had to post a picture, even though the story ends (or begins, actually) in tragedy... or the inevitable.



This guy practically fell on my head when I got home today, choosing the top of my screen door as the best place to go to die. As I said, tragic. Or, just the inevitable result of the end of summer (which is far less tragic for those of us who like cooler temperatures and a bit of wind and rain).

The new book, SCUMBLE, will have a few dragonflies in it, so, this is me, pretending that I have Uncle Autry's savvy for a moment, before putting this guy back outdoors.

There and Back Again... NYC and the Today Show

If you missed the show but want to see the SAVVY segment on Al Roker's Book Club for Kids, here is a link to the show: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32187339/ns/today-today_books/

What a whirlwind! Our New York City trip was fast and fun. We got to our hotel in Midtown around 12:15 AM on Wednesday morning, unpacked all of our clothes, then went straight to bed.

We slept as long as we were able, then woke up to prepare for a day spent at the Penguin Young Readers offices, first going out for a wonderful lunch with my publisher and editor from Dial. After lunch, Penguin hosted a lovely meet and greet party with food and cake, and I got to meet so many of the amazing people who have put such hard work into Savvy.


The next morning we got up early to get to the show where we met all the kids ahead of time and were primped and preened just like Dorothy and the gang at the Wash & Brush Up Company!



We met Al just before the segment began. Now I can barely remember it! It went by so quickly. But I love talking with kids about the book, so they made it easy for me. It was very special to have my daughter there beside me.


After the segment was over and I chatted with the kids some more before saying goodbye, we walked back to our hotel (it's hard to tell in the picture below but Radio City Music Hall is right behind us in the distance).


We were three blocks from Central Park and had an hour and a half before we had to be back at the airport. So we changed clothes and wandered toward the park.

We had time to take a carriage ride, to ride the carousel once, to buy a T-shirt or two, and eat a hot dog. Then we were back in a taxi to the airport and on our way back home.


Whew! Now, it's a school day and time for me to catch up on some emails!

Savvy: The Game - From Two Great Readers!

I have truly amazing readers! I feel like such a lucky author. I received this lovely surprise in the mail some time ago and meant to post pictures much, much sooner (sorry girls!). But life got away from me for a bit and I got stuck on the "lose a turn" square and fell behind.

I love the way the bus pieces stand up and how the two talented creators made everything, including the die, out of paper!

Reader Monday - What's Your Savvy?

For more reader savvies, click on the What's your savvy? label here on the blog. And check back weekly for Reader Savvy Mondays, where I post what real kids have to say about what their savvy know-how might be. Or to write to me what you imagine your savvy might be, click HERE to be directed to the Contact page of my website.

Word of the Week Thursday

Something quick and easy this week--it's a busy time!

Let's see, let's see... let me think. How about:

BRUMMAGEM

Have I used that one yet? Maybe it's not so quick and easy, but it is fun to say. 'Brummagem' (pronounced: bruhm-uh-juhm) can be an adjective or a noun.

Adjective: Showy, but inferior or worthless.
Noun: A showy but worthless or inferior thing.

Calling someone a 'brummagem' would not be a very nice thing. Of course, they'd have to look it up to know that, wouldn't they? Now, now, no pompous vocabulitist name calling! (I just made that word--vocabulitist--up, though I'm sure I'm not the first to do so.)

Happy Thursday!

2009 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Awards

I'm so thrilled that the MBA selected Savvy as their 2009 Children's Literature Honor Award pick! For a complete list of all the winning titles and honor books in each category, click HERE.

I'm excited to be able to return to the MBA conference this year! While I'm there, I'll be making an appearance at The Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 26th, at 1:00. For more information, see the Appearances page of my website.

A big Thank You! to all of the wonderful booksellers in the Midwest who have helped put Savvy into the hands of young readers.

Reader Monday - What's Your Savvy?

For more reader savvies, click on the What's your savvy? label here on the blog. And check back weekly for Reader Savvy Mondays, where I post what real kids have to say about what their savvy know-how might be. Or to write to me what you imagine your savvy might be, click HERE to be directed to the Contact page of my website.

Word of the Week Thursday

Today's word of the week is:

INTERTWINGULARITY

I offered this word to attendees of the SCBWI conference in LA last week to think about as they spent the weekend attending workshops and lectures. Coined by Ted Nelson over thirty years ago, this word may not appear in most dictionaries, but I like it. It was invented to express "the complexity of interrelations in human knowledge."

Nelson wrote:

"Everything is deeply intertwingled. In an important sense there are no "subjects" at all; there is only all knowledge, since the cross-connections among the myriad topics of this world simply cannot be divided up neatly."

He expanded on the idea more later by writing:

"Hierarchical and sequential structures, especially popular since Gutenberg, are usually forced and artificial. Intertwingularity is not generally acknowledged—people keep pretending they can make things hierarchical, categorizable and sequential when they can't."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertwingularity

SCBWI

I had a great time in LA at the SCBWI conference. The picture above is of me with Lin Oliver, co-founder of SCBWI, at the rap party Monday night. Lin is a talented, gracious lady with a great sense of humor. Thanks again, Lin, for inviting me to speak!

If you are a writer or illustrator of work for young people, this organization has much to offer. The conference was a spectacular array of talents--faculty, staff, and attendees! Check it out!

Reader Monday - What's Your Savvy?

For more reader savvies, click on the What's your savvy? label here on the blog. And check back weekly for Reader Savvy Mondays, where I post what real kids have to say about what their savvy know-how might be. Or to write to me what you imagine your savvy might be, click HERE to be directed to the Contact page of my website.

Fun from the Blue Moon Ball - SCBWI LA 2009

The party was held outside by the pool. Everyone was encouraged to wear blue and to dress up as much as they wanted.

I promptly dropped my camera around this time and it wouldn't work again for a while, so I missed out on getting a great group shot with a wonderful bunch of 'Blue-Boarders' from Verla Kay's Children's Writers and Illustrators Message Board . . .

But once the camera started working again, someone was able to get a picture of Cindy Pon and me together. Doesn't Cindy look great?

There were so many outrageous costumes and fun outfits!

Even Mary Poppins was there!

SCBWI - LA 2009

Just a quick post from Los Angeles! I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet, but I'm going to try to remedy that very shortly at the Blue Moon Ball.

I'm here as faculty and have completed 2/3 of my assigned duties. A workshop yesterday and another today. Monday morning I give a talk in the BIG room.

I've met all kinds of wonderful people here and visited with some of my newest old friends.

For up-to-the-moment blog posts from (the amazing) SCBWI Team Blog, go to:

http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com/

You'll even see a very short video blip of me explaining why I love writing middle grade if you scroll down or find my name in the side bar.