Hey gang! Comic Con may be in the rear view window, but there's still time to get your geek on! I'll be a the Rosewood Main Library in the City of Commerce, CA next Saturday for COMIC BOOK INVASION! Details are below. Be there AND be square... which is to say, awesome!
Colony High Branch Library 3850 E. Riverside Drive, Ontario, California 91761
9:30am - 5:00pm
Hey gang, come on out and join me, and a plethora of amazing YA authors for an amazing time this Saturday: Jessica Brody, Anna Carey, Cecil Castellucci, Debra Driza, Katie Finn, Maurene Goo, Claudia Gray, Aaron Hartzler, Jessica Khoury, Melissa Landers, Shannon Messenger, Lauren Miller, Elizabeth Ross, Mary Elizabeth Summer and Kasie West! I'll be on two panels,"DIfferent Worlds: When You are Other" and "Hidden Lives: Escaping Your Past," plus Author Speed Dating for some fun face-to-face time with you. Come out and play
It's been a while since I've done my blogging duty. I've been writing and rewriting and rewriting my latest novel. The good news is, it's done now. I'll be posting more about it soon.
I've also been out and about doing things. Great things, and then every day sort of normal things (like loads of laundry and last minute grocery trips). There will be more soon about those things, too (the great ones, at least).
For now, I just want to let you know about three events I've got coming up later this month and next:
February 21, 2015 - SCIBA Children's Literacy Day - Long Beach, CA
If you're a Southern California Independent Bookseller, I hope I'll see you at this year's Literacy Day! I'm on the "We Need Diverse Books" panel at 2:15pm with Ayize Jama-Everett, Cynthia Kadohata, and Stacey Lee. I hope to see you there!
March 21, 2015 - Ontario Library Teen Book Fest - Ontario, CA
Join me and fifteen of your other favorite California authors at the fifth annual Teen Book Fest in Ontario! I've got two panels, "Different Worlds" in the morning and "Hidden Lives" in the afternoon. It is going to be amazing. Come join the awesome!
March 27 - 29, 2015 - AnomalyCon - Denver, CO
A steampunk and alternate history convention? What?! Count me in! If you're in the Denver area, or can get there, this promises to be an incredibly rich event. I'm on six (!) panels throughout the weekend, discussing everything from gender and diversity to character building and romance! If you're at AnomalyCon, look for me and say hello!
There! A lot of good stuff on the horizon. I've got some amazing pictures coming up from my chat with Lt.Col Robert Friend, Tuskegee Airman and all around wonder man. He's amazing and I can't wait to tell you all about him!
Now, back to doing laundry. Have a great week everyone!
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - 5:30 to 7:00 PM
Museum of History and Art, 225 South Euclid Avenue, Ontario, California 91762
If you live in Southern California and want to do something awesome, come out to the Museum of History an Art in Ontario for Pioneers in Flight: Breaking Barriers. I'll be speaking along with a very special guest-- Tukeegee Airman Lt. Co. Robert J. Friend! It's going to be amazing, guys. I'm giddy just thinking about it!
It's all part of a program on African Americans in Flight. Check out their calendar for a writing workshop and other aviation-related events!
Reservations are required. Just call 909/395-2510. Hope to see you there!
And yes, that's Ontario, California. Not Canada. Maybe next time!
The National Book Awards Longlists have been announced!
This signals a slowdown in the crazy that has been the past few months for me. Plenty of other things have been happening, but I hardly looked up from my stack of reading to pay much notice. Now, with the bulk of the work done (I'll be hashing out the short list with my fellow judges very soon!), I can take a moment to share some nice things.
First of all, I'd like to say thank you to the fine folks that chose ORLEANS as a:
Celebrate
Teen Read Week by meeting great teen authors, enjoying snacks, and entering to
win free books! Author appearances by Cam
Baity and Benny Zelkowicz (The First Book of Ore: The Foundry's Edge),
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (Open Mic:Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten
Voices), Simmone Howell (Girl
Defective), Jessica Love (Push Girl), Kathryn Rose (Camelot
Burning), and Sherri L Smith (Orleans).
Join the
season finale of Book’d in Burbank with a selection of Mystery, YA, Horror,
Romance and Humor readings from by Steph Cha (Beware, Beware), Sherri L. Smith
(Orleans), Devan Sagliani (Zombie Attack: Army of the Dead), Zoe Archer
(Wicked Temptation), Melissa Cutler (Risky Business) and Diane Haithman (Dark
Lady of Hollywood). Tickets available through Eventbrite or at the
door. General admission: $10.
If you are in the LA area, I hope you'll swing by and say hello. If you're in New York, maybe I'll run into you at the Strand Bookstore. When I was an undergrad at NYU, they claimed to have 8 miles of books. It's gone up to 18 in the intervening years. I think I could run a marathon in book miles. (I think I already have! Here'sa great article on judging the National Book Awards).
I'm scheduling author visits for the 2014/2015 school year and I want you!
Author visits are a great way to engage your kids and your community in the art and joy of writing. But you know that already. What you might not know is how much I love to visit schools and libraries. Writing is my greatest passion, and that includes talking about it with readers, non-readers-- quite frankly, anyone who will listen. It's fun! It's necessary. Everyone has a story. Let's help them tell it!
Thanks to my crazy life, I offer:
Talks about my writing career, animation, film, comic books, and more.
Writing workshops-- I can show you kids how to come up with story ideas and shape their work into a useful three act structure. These sessions are storytelling improv, with kids sharing their ideas to move the narrative forward. It's hectic, hilarious, and invigorating for all involved.
I like to tailor my visits to your needs. I come from a family of teachers, so I know this is key. What's in your curriculum? Let's see how we can address it together.
I'm setting a goal of two school visits per month, possibly three. So far I have space available this September, and a slot in October as well. I will be in the New York area in November, so that's a possiblity as well. If you are interested in other dates, let me know.
I love to travel, so don't let distance be an obstacle. To date I've done visits in California, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, Washington D.C. and Louisiana. And the list keeps growing. You can read more about my visits here.
Sound interesting? Drop me a line and let's discuss and make 2014 is the year of the author visit!
Goodness! I've been so busy (writing, always writing), that I'd forgotten to let you know where I'll be next. On the last Saturday of March, I will be at Grand Park's Downtown Bookfest here in sunny Los Angeles.
I'll be joining awesome YA authors Cecil Castellucci and Sonya Sones as we read from our latest books. We're on at 2:00 PM, the festival runs from noon to 5 PM.
2:00 PM Saturday, March 29 - Grand Park, 200 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles 90012
And also...
It's been pointed out to me that I failed to announce the arrival of Orleans in paperback! Sorry about that! We ran into it at Barnes and Noble on my birthday and my husband was stunned-- apparently, I failed to tell him, too. So you're all in good company.
There's been one little change from hardcover to paperback, and that is the title font. The vagaries of font rights (yes, you purchase the rights to use certain fonts), called for an adjustment. I think it looks pretty good. What about you?
"In the wild" at Barnes and Noble, the Grove, L.A.
I finished my draft late Sunday night. And then I did this:
... although, admittedly without the splits or the shaming at the end. I have no shame. And then I went and stood in front of the TV and made my husband watch me dance. It feels SO GOOD to be done!
Now, before I get the Grumps, I have a few things to tell you about:
First of all, I mentioned possibly being on a panel at Comikaze this weekend. Unfortunately, that will not be happening this year, so I apologize if you were planning on swinging by to see me. Barring something cropping up in the next few weeks, I believe I'm done with public appearances for the time being. Stay tuned right here for updates.
Secondly, LitCrawl. Last Wednesday, I joined a bunch of lovely writers to do "Book and a Movie" at the Republic of Pie in North Hollywood, CA as part of the inaugural LitCrawl NoHo. The Los Angeles Review of Books sponsored our YA event, and it was fun!
Right before we went on, the management pointed to the room full of 20-something art school students and other people-- not one of who was under the age of 18-- and said "this is a family establishment, so keep it clean" in a stern voice. Which lead some authors to literally say "bleep" during their readings, and had me explaining violence doesn't count in a movie if it's toward a zombie.
Aside from some technical difficulties (um, if you don't have sound, why are there microphones?) which were quickly cleared up*, we had a decent roomful of folks and some hilarious movie/book combos:
A scene from the movie of choice was played, then the writer took the stage and read the scene evoked by the movie, and then the movie trailer played. I confess I was hesitant at first, but also curious. The first scene started to play and a woman sitting next to me asked "Why are we watching these clips?" I said, "Hold on, it's a thing..." And it was a thing! A fun thing that totally worked out and made people clap. It also made them want to see Doomsday, which I can't really recommend as a "good" movie but hey, I watched it, so why shouldn't everybody? And I've been meaning to see Haywire. Now I can imbue that decision with literary purpose!
Thanks to the fabulous Cecil Castellucci for making me show Doomsday to the world! Litcrawl is still getting it's legs under it (ha!) but it looks like it will be a fun annual event!
In a further attempt to stave off the Grumps, I went to the bookstore tonight and came home with a giant book on Victorian Households (did you know a widow was expected to wear mourning clothes for two years or more?), and The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhejll. Looking forward to tea and text tonight!
Tonight, we celebrated the publication of the Hedgebrook Cookbook, a compendium of delicious recipes from Denise Barr and Julie Rosten, two of the magnificent chefs at the Hedgebrook retreat. (That's Denise laughing next to Julie in the upper right hand photo on the cover.) A group of alumnae and friends of Hedgebrook both new and old gathered at a gorgeous home in Brentwood to eat from the cookbook, to talk about Hedgebrook and its mission of supporting women writers in bringing their voices to the world.
We ate lavender shortbread and asparagus tart, drank Cedar Deep wine name for one of the hidden places in the woods above Hedgebrook's cottages and garden. The amazing Mayda Del Valle performed some of her gorgeous poetry. It was a wonderful night.
Yesterday, we celebrated For Women Only, a charitable organization helping homeless and at-risk women stand on their own two feet and succeed. I was joined by Carol M. Tanzman (Circle of Silence), Jennifer Bosworth (Struck), Erin Fry (Losing It), Gretchen McNeil (3:59)and Kathy McCullough (Don't Expect Magic), signing books and talking to the most interesting people! Many thanks to Penny Armstrong and the Manhattan Beach Barnes and Noble for organizing a fun Saturday afternoon for such a worthy cause . For Women Only's current initiative is to help young women from underserved communities finish high school and get on a path to college. A portion of our sales went to support the organization, and it doesn't stop there. Please visit their site and, if you are in LA, turn out to support them. FWO will be doing holiday gift wrap at several Barnes and Nobles around the LA area as part of their fundraising efforts. As much as this weekend was about celebrating two amazing organizations, it was also about raising awareness. Both Hedgebrook and For Women Only need our help to keep their good works alive!
This weekend was about writing, books, and counting my blessings. I know such amazing women! It serves as a reminder to celebrate every day. We have voices. Let us use them well.
Can you believe it's almost October? Time has flown, and that brings us to a whole new page on the calendar and a few new chances to meet in the real world. This October, you'll find me at the following events:
Sat., 10/12/13
- Teen Book Fest – Los Angeles, CA LA Public Library Central
Branch,630 W. 5th Street Los Angeles, CA 90071 11 - 11:45 AM - "Historical Fiction" Panel - I'll be moderating a discussion with
Sat., 10/19/13,
12 - 4 PM - Inspiring Authors for Teen
Girls Author Fair – Los Angeles, CA Barnes and Noble, Manhattan Beach, 1800
Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266This event is a fundraiser in support of For Women Only whose education program, “Passport to Life: A College Bound Project” is an
Education Program helps prepare young women aged18—24 to pursue their academic goals. Wed.,
10/23/13, 6PM - 7PM - LitCrawl YA "Book and A
Movie" - North Hollywood, CA Republic of Pie,11118 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood CA
91601 Join me and my fellow YA writers for this Los Angeles Review of Books hosted portion of the new, exciting LitCrawl as we team up our books with movie trailers, clips, and a reading from our latest novels. Includes:
What's LitCrawl, you ask? "The nationwide phenomenon known as the Lit Crawl debuts in Los Angeles’ North Hollywood (NoHo) Arts District this fall on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Mark your calendars now! Restaurants, bars and other hip NoHo venues will host an evening of thrilling readings with the best of L.A.’s writers in a sampling of some of the greatest ongoing readings series from throughout Los Angeles County. Multiple literary genres will be represented spanning fiction to poetry. It promises to be a magical, vibrant literary night for all! Los Angeles is home to one of the largest, fastest growing, and most diverse literary scenes in the world. An incredible array of local reading series and literary organizations are expected to participate in the first Lit Crawl LA: NoHo Arts District for a uniquely Los Angeles literary night."--- www.litcrawl.org/la Phew! That's a lot. And there will be more. Look for a panel at Comikaze the first weekend in November. But for now, 'nuff said. See you out there!
It's that time of the year again! I'm off to Comic Con and I've got an exciting line up this year. Thanks to ORLEANS finally being a considered genre enough for Con, I'll be doing a couple of panels and signings, in addition to my usual crafty presence in Small Press with Tired Girl Collective.
Visit Sherri and her pals at their arts, crafts and
jewelry table known as the “pinkest booth at Con!” You can see a preview of some of this year's wares below.
·Thursday, 7/18/13 – AUTHOR SIGNING,2pm to 3pm, Penguin Booth 1028/1030
Moderated by Timothy Travaglini (Open Road Integrated Media); authors Kevin J. Anderson(Dune) and Rebecca Moesta (WordFire Press), Cory Doctorow (Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother, Boing Boing), Andy Briggs (Hero.com, Villain.net, Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy), Sherri L. Smith (Orleans, Flygirl), and Nick Cole (The Old Man and the Wasteland, The Savage Boy), and bookseller Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Books, Inc) discuss impact of the digital age on writing, publishing, reading, bookselling, and the traditional book as we know it.
From The Hunger Games' Katniss to Divergent's Tris, no one knows how to give a solid ass-kicking like a YA novel heroine. But when these young ladies aren't saving the world, overthrowing powerful regimes, or slaying everything from zombies to dragons, they still find time for romance. Ally Condie(Matched), Veronica Roth (Divergent), Holly Black (The Coldest Girl in Coldtown),Marissa Meyer(Scarlet), Lissa Price (Starters), and Veronica Wolff (The Watchers) discuss the delicate balance between killing and kissing, and what it takes to properly woo a YA heroine. Moderated by Sherri Smith (Orleans).
With When Grrls Fall in Love Panelists Ally Condie (Matched),Veronica Roth (Divergent), Holly Black (The Coldest Girl in Coldtown), Marissa Meyer (Scarlet), Lissa Price (Starters), Veronica Wolff (The Watchers), Sherri Smith (Orleans).
Now, if you're wondering what Tired Girl Collective is, it's a crafting co-op I started with a couple of friends back in the dark ages of 2006. Comprised of my odd random crafts and jewelry (as Miss Smith's Miscellany and Bookish Press),
What I get up to when I'm not writing...
... or working....
...or sleeping. This is a hairclip!
my partner-in-crime Ren of Karen Lucrece's beautiful art (she designed the look of my webpage!),
and a rotating cast of other exhausted women who stay up late making strange things because we think they are funny or cute. This year we have Melanie of Belle Pottery with us. she's got AWESOME jewelry this year. You must come see it if you can!
Okay, that's enough self-promotion for one day. I hope to see you in San Diego. If not, I'm sure I'll come back with some good stories. See you next week!
Join me this Sunday, 7/7/13 at 7pm EST (4pm PST) for the Black Girl Nerds Book Club podcast! ORLEANS is the book of the month, and we will be discussing all things ORLEANS and nerdy. I can't wait!
Okay, that's a really lame title. But today brought me to Main Street and Mariposa in El Segundo, CA and it. Was. Fantastic. What a beautiful library! What a lovely strip of old timey beach town charm! Hooray for the El Segundo Author Fair!
As usual, my tempermental cellphone took blurry photos, so I'm afraid you'll just have to trust me-- it's a lovely little town, only topped by the incredible library staff. The fabulous Youth Services Librarian, Julie Todd, gifted me an amazing necklace-- it's a book necklace! Double sided! ORLEANS and FLYGIRL! And it matched my outfit perfectly. She's like a fairy godmother.
We had a fantastic panel on YA in the Adult world, with Jessica Brody, Carrie Arcos, Gretchen McNeil, Jennifer Bosworth and me. I learned a lot chatting with those ladies. We all come at our work from different directions but, in the end, hope and adventure are a common ground.
The El Segundo Library puts on this author fair every June, so do yourself a favor and mark next year's calendar now. BONUS HINT: If you go to the neighboring high school (which is bea.ut.if.ul!) you get extra credit for author signatures. Who wouldn't want that?
Now, back to our previously scheduled rewrite. Wish me luck!
Thanks to everyone who swung by the Mysterious Galaxy booth and the Mrs. Nelson's booth on Saturday! I had a blast signing along side Robin Benway (Also Known As), Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz (Colin Fischer), and Scott Speer (Immortal City). Sadly, my little cellphone picture refuses to upload, so no visuals today!
12:00 pm - 1:50 pm Young Adult Round Table Texas Tea Time, Omni Fort Worth Hotel
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Siging with Follet, Booth #1933
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Young Adult Round Table Texas Teen Event, Omni Fort Worth
Hotel
Saturday, April 27th
9:30 am - 10:30 am Signing with Penguin Young Readers Group, Author Signing Area
Aisle #4
1:00 pm - 1:50 pm Young Adult Round Table: "Southern Stories for Teens," Fort
Worth Convention Center, Level 1, Room 121B
Do you know what's so special about this Saturday? Three things:
1. It's March 17th, St. Patrick's Day!
2. It's also my birthday!
3. And it's the first annual Pasadena LitFest!
Come help celebrate all three wonderful events this Saturday at Central Park in Pasadena, CA. I'll be moderating the Youth Knows No Bounds: Breaking the Cliques and Clichés of Young Adult Literature panel at 10:30 am with fabulous local authors Cecil Castellucci, Lauren Kate, Ron Koertge, and Lisa Yee. Come by, join the conversation, and be sure to wear green! (I'm not above pinching people!)
What are you doing this weekend? If you live in Los Angeles or nearby, I hope the answer is: coming to meet Sherri and awesome YA author Cecil Castellucci this weekend at Comickaze Expo!
Cecil’s newest book, FIRST DAY ON EARTH has just hit the shelves. She's invited me to hang out at her table, signing books and dishing on the latest in our writing lives.There might even been some secret stash from the Tired Girl Collective. You might even get to meet elusive artist Karen Lucrece! Books will be available on site thanks to the awesome Skylight Books. We're at Table 80. Come and check it out!
Last Sunday I took part in Flintridge Books and LA Parent Magazine's Meet the Author event.It was awesome.Five of us young adult authors sat at tables while groups of moms and daughters circulated around, spending ten to fifteen minutes at each table, asking questions, shooting the breeze, and getting to know one another, much like a single's speed dating event (but without all the pressure and desperation).What a fun idea!When it was all over, the authors sat down together and did the same thing.How I wish this had been around when I was a kid.Thanks to Catherine Linka and LA Parents' Mag for including me in a super fun event.If this had really been speed dating, I'd like to think I'd have gone home with more than few phone numbers!
Looking for a fun family event? Come join me this coming Sunday, 1/30/11 at 3:30 pm for Flintridge Bookstore’s Mother Daughter Book Party!It “speed dating” with your favorite YA authors. I'll be there along with Morgan Matson, Margaret Stohl, Amy Goldman Koss and the fabulous Cecil Castellucci!
Flintridge Bookstore, 964 Foothill Blvd., La Canada, CA 91011.Call to make a reservation at 818/790-2701.
