So yesterday was the signing at Kids Ink in Indianapolis, with Fran Cannon Slayton, author of WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS. Fran and I have crossed paths over the years on various writing boards and LiveJournal, but yesterday was the first time we met in person!

The owner of Kids Ink was so kind to have us both in to sign together (and sweeter still to treat us to lunch beforehand!) It was so exciting to hear about Fran’s experiences with rail fans, and her tour (she’s driving the whole way!!) and just such a pleasure to get to talk with people who know and love books.

The signing itself was awesome! Not only were there some lovely pre-orders to sign, we had great walk-in traffic the whole time. We stayed two hours instead of an hour, and we got the chance to talk to the whole staff at the store, meet some of the staff members’ families, and of course, lots of young readers!

My family came- you’d think they’d be tired of signings by now, but they remain enthusiastic! Except for the first picture here, all the photos I’m sharing were taken by my photographer stepdad Phil.

I had so much fun with Fran. And really, we failed to behave ourselves several times. I have the photographic evidence. Of course, bunny ears, and then our serious author pose- but the funniest part are the pictures you can’t see. We got the giggles so bad that we blurred any number of shots. :D

And you know, I have to say- signing is pretty cool to begin with, but it’s even better when you get to sign with a friend! Now I get to sit back this holiday weekend with Fran’s book and catch up on my reading. I can’t wait to go back to Kids Ink; they’re probably going to have to start running me out of there! What a great day!

Short version: Kids Ink is awesome, Fran is awesome, I had the BEST time today.
Long version: Coming soon, after I catch up from being gone all day (and get our awesome Serious Author Picture processed!)

Fran Cannon Slayton will be signing her debut novel WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS and I will be signing my debut novel SHADOWED SUMMER. Stop by, snag some free bookmarks and goodies! (Tabasco red hots, and armband tattoos!) If you’re in town, please stop by! I’d love to say hello!

Sister Deb and eagle-eyed, Sarah Ockler has one of the most consistently exciting blogs online- and now her debut novel, TWENTY BOY SUMMER, is available in bookstores everywhere. It’s been a crazy month for her, so I’m thrilled she could spare five minutes for us!

You’re a born listmaker- one of my favorites is 30 Days of Search Terms (snowsuit pee, really?) So just to put you on the spot, what are your top three favorite YA tropes?

1. Making lists, of course. Along with footnotes.

2. The wicked stepmother-figure who actually turns out to be pretty cool and misunderstood, and in the end, she totally bonds with the MC.

3. Emerald green eyes. I don’t actually know anyone with emerald green eyes and so it always sounds really cool, even if it’s like totally rare in nature.

You’ve said that everyone you meet influences your writing. Do you just change a name and hairstyle and go to town, or are you talking about more subtle influences?

Usually more subtle influences, like a physical trait here, a quote there, a funny quirk over there. But sometimes I meet someone who’s so wacky he’s like a caricature of himself. That guy always goes into the story, head first.

After five years in Colorado, you moved back to New York. What effect does your own personal setting have on your writing?

While I loved writing out in the wilds of Colorado, especially in the mountains or woods, I can just as easily write in a crowded coffee shop. The only places I really can’t write in are rooms where one person is watching television or trying to talk to me. I can drown out hustle and bustle, but the constant doom-and-gloom of CNN or some reality show laugh track really irks me, and I get all twitchy and cranky. I need some kind of space of my own, even if it’s the base of a tree or a little coffee shop table.

This question is more for Chancho, than you. What are you inspiring/enabling/encouraging Sarah to write right now?

*Oink* It’s complicated. Acting as Sarah’s muse difficult at best, but I’m pushing her hard to work on her third YA novel while launching her first and completing revisions on her second, Fixing Delilah Hannaford, which comes out next summer. Fixing Delilah Hannaford is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl coming to terms with three generations of family secrets and how those secrets have impacted the women in her family. There’s lots of mother-daughter drama and a cute boy in the mix, too! *Snort*

Back to questions for Sarah! Now that you’re a published author, and thus legally allowed to be eccentric, how tempting is it to make appearances in your fave high school slackerwear, PJs and socks?

It’s so tempting that I do it daily. Fortunately for everyone involved, I work from home. On the rare occasion where I have to make a public appearance, I leave the PJs at home and opt for more socially acceptable garb. Though it’s pretty funny when people find out I work from home and make a joke about working in my PJs. If they only knew! ;)

So, this weekend, I enjoyed a round of my favorite pasttime: Make Myself Feel Old! This is a simple game to play- all you need is a fifteen year old- either gender will do, my son gets to play this role for me- and list off names of pre-1990 bands and singers, just to see if he recognizes them. So far, my son has reported he doesn’t recognize:

* Cher
* Bono
* Madonna
* U2
* Depeche Mode
* The Cure
* Cyndi Lauper
* The Rolling Stones
* Kiss
* The Bee Gees
* Barry Manilow

However, he had at least heard of:

* The Doors
* The Beatles
* Led Zeppelin
* Lynyrd Skynyrd
* Duran Duran (How random is that?!)

So anyway, while playing this game, my 7 year old daughter decided she wanted to participate. Since she doesn’t know the difference between presidents and bands, she contributed Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, George Bush, Barack Obama, and George Clooney.

And I’m like, what?! My son is like, what?! And I asked her, “Who’s George Clooney?”

She says, “The second president!”

The duh was implied.

Saturday Wait- exactly the same as The Story Siren’s Books to Pine For- books that intrigue me, and I can’t wait to try. With the caveat that there will be no Deb books listed here- I’m totally looking forward to them, but it would be a conflict of interest to slip those covers in here.

Evil? by Timothy Carter (August 1, 2009)
Candle Man by Glenn Dakin (September 8, 2009)

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (July 14, 2009)
Jumping off Swings by Jo Knowles (August 11, 2009)

Saturday Wait 007
Saturday Wait 006
Saturday Wait 005
Saturday Wait 004
Saturday Wait 003
Saturday Wait 002
Saturday Wait 001

1. 35,000-year-old bone flute unearthed in Germany. Dude, you guys, for real. THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, somebody cut perfect little holes and finger spaces out of bone, just to play a tune. THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

2. The Egyptian pyramids, built during the dynastic period of The Old Kingdom (circa 2500 BC) were already more than a THOUSAND YEARS OLD when the boy king Tutankhamun ascended to the throne in the 1330s. The pyramids, my friends, were as old to King Tutankhamun as Notre Dame Cathedral or The Leaning Tower of Pisa (circa 1100 AD) are to us.

3. You can watch the entire Empires series on Hulu. I LOVE THIS! I’m currently watching Rome in the First Century!

4. Two words for you: Colored bubbles.

5. Stoned wallabies making crop circles. That headline is so perfect, I only wish I could have made it up.

The castergirls made a great video about the southern things they learned while reading Shadowed Summer, which totally made my week, so I’m going to share it here:

And link to the entry where they posted it here. As noted, this pretty much made my entire week. (MY FIRST FANVID OMFG EEEEEEEE!) However, it’s the second review/commentary to notice that the few times my characters don’t call their RC by name, they call it pop.

Gentle readers, I have to tell you- this is wrong. And I was really hoping no one would notice- which is dumb, considering the book was for sale in Louisiana and all. But I had two confusing regionalisms, and a third, bonus confusing appellation, in the book:

Where y’at? I’m a’ight!

and

You want a Coke? Yes. What kind? RC.

and

When Collette was pleased with Ben, she’d call him Leo (since his full name is Benvolio.) When she was mad at him, she’d just call him Ben. Collette, of course, thought this was darling. Mainly, it made Iris want to puke.

And more or less, I could keep one. My editor is the arbiter of all things confusing- I’m a simple foot soldier, carrying out orders! So I sacrificed authenticity, shamefully letting the good people of Ascension Parish call their bubbly drinks pop, mostly because if I had to take out where y’at, I’d have to start the book over completely. (In her head, Collette still calls Ben “Leo” when she wants. She’s stubborn like that.)

True southerners, I apologize. But I hope you’ll forgive me. Maybe I can buy you a Coke sometime. Just tell me what kind you like.