Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi at Joseph-Beth (or How Long a 5-year-old Can Last at a Bookstore Event)...

Last night Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's book tour for The Wyrm King, the 3rd book in their Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series, took them to the Joseph-Beth Booksellers here in the Nati. I thought Holly was terrific when I saw her speak at the SCBWI conference in LA in August so I didn't want to miss the Joe-Beth appearance despite the fact that I didn't have a babysitter for the boy. But he's seen the Spiderwick movie previews and knows the bookstore has macaroni and cheese in the cafe, so he was in. (Note: The last bookstore event I brought him to was Holly Hobbie when he was 3 months old. See From the Editor in the 2006 CWIM.)

As I suspected, the event was crowded. Check out all the people as they wait for Holly and Tony to come in. (You can't see those who are standing in the aisle and between the bookcases in the back. There were lots of people.)


Holly and Tony were really charming, engaging and funny. This was truly one of the most enjoyable book signings I've attended. Their event included talk of cool mythical creatures (with visual aids and instructions to not Google "rat king"), live dragon drawing, impromptu diaper jokes, and prizes (including Tony's drawings). Here's Holly and Tony addressing the crowd of readers.


Here's Holly reading a little from The Wyrm King (enough to get us really interested by not give too much away).


Tony takes it in from the sidelines (and rests his drawing/signing hand).


And here's me with Tony and Holly, interupting them mid-autographing for a picture. (I knew the boy wouldn't have the patience for standing in line and it was getting close to his bed time, so I didn't get a book autographed myself, but they offered to pose with me anyway. Note the cool blown up Wyrm King cover in the background.)


And here's the boy, who fidgeted on my lap for 45 minutes and kept saying "This is not hilarious for me. I'm tired of being here. Is that a dragon?" And he picked his nose like it was his job.


Finally, the boy got to do what he loves to do at the bookstore: play with trains.


He also made it home with a copy of The Spiderwick Chronicles movie and one of Jon Scieszka's Truck Town books.

(And next week when I go see Sara Zarr when her tour stops in the Nati, I'm going by myself. She's in the Nati October 6th and 7th.)

My SCBWI Summer Conference Tweets Transcript (#SCBWI09)...

Stealing an idea from Lee Wind (who says in Hollywood, it's referred to as "liberating" an idea), I've collected all the tweets I posted from the time I left the house for the SCBWI Summer Conference until I got home--when I wasn't blogging, I was tweeting. (I may have corrected a few misspellings and boo-boos.) Click here to find all the #SCBWI09 posts and see what everyone at the event was saying.

• The last thing I want to do first thing in the morning: clean up cat barf. Guess what I just did?
• My (awesome) brother just picked me up for the airport. I know, I'm surprised as you are that I got up this early.
• Worst CVG security line ever! Walked straight on to my (exit row) seat when I got to the gate.
• A guy in the back of my plane had a seizure. First time I've been on flight where they paged for a doc. Nice delay in CVG. Just left LAX!
• Why are LA cabs always uncomfortably hot?
• The cabbie has hockey playing curious George hanging from his rear view mirror which makes me like him better. Wish he would get off phone
• At faculty dinner sitting with @EllenHopkinsYA, @Suzanne_Young, David Diaz and others. The bartenders make fab cosmos.
• David Diaz kicked our butts at Hannah Montana Uno #SCBWI09

• Ahh. King size hotel bed. Goodnight, tweeps. Lots of tweets and blogging tomorrow! #SCBWI09
• #scbwi09 SCBWI TEAM BLOG @PaulaYoo; @leewind; @cuppajolie; @jeaimetem; @suzanne_young #followfriday
• Breakfast with Team Blog in The Breeze. Everyone is playing with devices. We start conference coverage in an hour. #SCBWI09
• Just went last in the faculty word parade. My word: blog! #SCBWI09
• Sherman Alexie has the room laughing. #SCBWI09
• Sherman Alexie can go seamlessly from tragedy to comedy. #SCBWI09
• Sherman Alexie has perhaps the best story ever about how books helped him get through childhood. #SCBWI09
• Sherman Alexie: "I'm rich but I still have class issues." #SCBWI09
• Sherman just dropped a very appropriate F-bomb. #SCBWI09
• Sherman: "The book is safe. The book is where I can hide." #SCBWI09
• Sherman: "It's easy to hand a book to a kid that's about that kid." The challenge is to engage a kid in a book that isn't. #SCBWI09
• It's super cold in the conference ballroom but David Wiesner's beautiful images will warm me up. #SCBWI09
• David Wiesner is showing clips from The Shining in relation to his process. Makes sense in person. #SCBWI09
• David Wiesner loves him some movies. Now he's discussing 2001: A Space Odyssey. #SCBWI09
• But really, is it any surprise movies inspire Wienser? Look at his books if you're not sure. #SCBWI09
• Lobby court restaurant is trying to starve me and make me late.
• Lin Oliver is telling contest winner jokes. There are some witty peeps here. Oh--door prizes! #SCBWI09
• Editor panel going on. I love listening to editors discuss books they're passionate about. #SCBWI09
• Ari Lewin from Hyperion: bookstores love series. Stand alone connected stories, even better. # SCBWI09
• RT @gregpincus: #scbwi09 Tweetup tonight at 9 in the lobby bar area. Come say "hi" or something longer than 140 characters!
• Agent Marietta Zacker is reading the first paragraph from an unpublished novel she says "gives her shivers" every time she reads it #SCBWI09
• Marietta Zacker said she recently counted how many manuscripts her agency receives daily. Answer: 10. #SCBWI09
• Check out the secret stuff behind the book jacket of Frank Portman's latest novel, Andromeda Klein

• Just rode the elevator with a guy who bathed in cologne. I can still smell it. #SCBWI09
• Karen Cushman just took the stage. I love her books. #SCBWI09
• Someone's phone just rang. Karen Cushman: "Sounds like the ice cream man is here." #SCBWI09
• Cushman: Writing is like exercise. I wanted to do it, planned to do it, but never got around to doing it. Until she was in her 50s. #SCBWI09
• Karen Cushman quoting a poet: Write what you know. This should leave you with a lot of free time. #SCBWI09
• Karen Cushman: I figured I could say 'shitty first drafts' since Sherman said 'f*** you' yesterday. (Big laughs.) #SCBWI09
• Karen Cushman: Tell the truth--the emotional truth, the truth of your passion, the truth revealed from your research. #SCBWI09
• Karen Cushman: publication isn't the only reason to write. Let go of the outcome. #SCBWI09
• Karen Cushman: Like Flannery O'Connor, I write what I can. #SCBWI09
• Holly Black is leading an active discussion on critique groups. Blog posts soon. (No wifi in Brentwood room.) #SCBWI09
• Holly Black always wears cool shoes. #SCBWI09
• Holly Black just had the people in her session write something, swap with a partner, and tell each other what's good about it. #SCBWI09
• Ellen Hopkins: "The $8000 advance I got for Crank was not life changing." #SCBWI09
• Ellen Hopkins: There were dark phases in my life. I got through them. I worked them into my writing. #SCBWI09
• Ellen Hopkins is making me cry. I wish you were all here listening to her story. #SCBWI09
• Ellen Hopkin's Crank sold on 75 pages. #SCBWI09
• It took 2 1/2 years for Crank to hit the NY Times bestseller list. #SCBWI09
• Ellen Hopkins: Learn the rules before you break them. #SCBWI09
• Courtney Bongiolatti (S&S); "Literal hell or metaphorical? Because that would be important for the synopsis." #SCBWI09
• #SCBWI09 Conference F-Bomb Count--number of keynote speakers who have have dropped the f-bomb so far: 4. (I'll update you as f-bombs happen)
• Wendy Loggia (Delacorte) googles writers before she takes them on. So watch what you say in the blogosphere, tweeps. #SCBWI09
• Wendy Loggia: Contrary to popular belief, we do not take pleasure in crushing writers' dreams. (She's given a great session). #SCBWI09
• Our sundae came with an extra gravy boat of fudge

• Holly Black: Fantasy has real stuff to say about our own world and real things to say about us. #SCBWI09
• Holly: We have to believe in the fantastical when we read it. World building is one of most difficult things for fantasy writers. #SCBWI09
• Holly Black: In many ways fantasy resembles historical fiction. #SCBWI09
• Holly Black's crazy theory: fantasy plotting is slightly different than non-fantasy plotting
• Holly Black: When I started, I wrote a lot of scenes with elves sitting around drinking coffee and experiencing ennui. #SCBWI09
• Doing last minute presentation prep for my breakout session Practical Online Promotion. #SCBWI09
• I'm talking about twitter
• Just left the Golden Kite Luncheon. Getting ready to blog Marla Frazee's session, How Your Words Inspire Me to Draw Pictures #SCBWI09
• Marla Frazee: I [illustrate] one page at a time and I do them in order. Because I'm a Capricorn. #SCBWI09
• Elizabeth Law: Egmont's profits go to children's charities. They are technically a not-for-profit publisher. #SCBWI09
• Elizabeth Law: Writers need to know what the hook is for their books. Elevator pitches aren't two minutes long. #SCBWI09
• Elizabeth Law: She thinks agents are important and advises writers to find one. "I rely on agents to weed things out for me." #SCBWI09
• Elizabeth Law: "Winslow the Whale spouted emotions through his blow hole." (Posted because it's just as funny out of context.) #SCBWI09
• Elizabeth Law on social networking: Join networks, make comments, make friends, don't be embarrassed to talk about your work. #SCBWI09
• Elizabeth Law: "If anyone does introduce me to my future husband, there's a contract for you at Egmont." #SCBWI09
• @mbrockenbrough That was one excellent banana.
• @chavelaque Thanks! And thank you for contributing. (Everyone be sure to read Cheryl's great piece on revision in the 2010 CWIM.)
• I'm having my final breakfast at The Breeze at the Century Plaza. (I recommend the oatmeal.)
• On my way to my least favorite airport LAX. (It is no CVG.)
• My cab driver's name is Igor. That's kinda cool. I've never met an Igor. (He's a very good driver.)
• Just drove past a Live Nudes place right next to Carl's Jr. I'm so not in the Nati.
• I'm standing in the line to get to the next place I will stand in line. LAX: you are living up to my expectations.
• Number of times 20-something dude in security line said 'dude' in his 5-minute phone call: 13. (I counted.) Dude. His Vegas trip ROCKED!
• I'd forgotten all about humidity until it smacked me in the face outside the airport.
• Back in the Nati and stuck in LA-style traffic. But someone's here to help.
  

Links to SCBWI TEAM BLOG Keynote Interviews...

Today blogger Lee Wind offers a great interview with Holly Black, one of the terrific keynote speakers for the upcoming SCBWI Annual Summer Conference. (She is also featured in the 2010 CWIM!) Lee has recently joined Twitter so add him to your follow list--he'll be blogging and tweeting along with the rest of us from the L.A. event August 7-10.

If you haven't, also check out Paul Yoo's interviews with keynoters Ingrid Law and Betty Birney. There will be more interviews with SCBWI conference keynote speakers from TEAM BLOG between now and the event which I'll link you to when they are posted.

(And for those of you who still may be thinking about registering for the event but haven't yet, read Suzanne Young's post featuring feedback from three first-time conference goers.)