I will be at the LA Book Festival next Sunday!

Sunday
April 26, 2009
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
UCLA Campus (follow the flags—the children’s area is in front of the Music Bldg I think)
Stage: 3:15-3:35 PM
Signing: 3:45-4:30 PM

I will be one of the featured speakers at the main Target stage at the LA Times Book Festival! The Target stage is the BIG one in the middle. Oh yeah! I’ve made it since sharing a tiny table next to Fancy Nancy, and having Fancy Nancy’s fancy feathered booth COMPLETELY block me. Also: the Fancy Nancy line envy. As a household that also owns multiple Fancy Nancy books, I COMPLETELY understand but it was still ugly-green-monster-inducing. Even though I write for teens and not hordes of five year olds and their helicoptering parents. (As a heli-parent myself, I smirk therefore I am.)

Come out and show your love! The Book Festival in the children’s area is a bit crowded with rampaging preschoolers. I know when I was your age, I was WAY too cool to hang out with the little brats. But there are going to be cool people before and after me, like Brooke Shields and rapper Common. Do I even have to say “rapper Common”??? And why come? Because I will be reading from the first chapter of Van Alen Legacy! And it is spoiler-y so you will know lots of things that everyone else will not know until October. (And yes: to the slew of emails. I will be sending sneak peeks via email before October. So do not worry. Even if you don’t live in LA-LA Land you will still get to read the chapter.)

And um, yeah. I’m still writing the book. But I should be done very very soon. I am way too ugly right now and I have to get this book done before I get beautified for all of you. I am hoofing it to Tracy Anderson’s studio THE MINUTE I turn my book in. I just realized it was next door to our favorite Indian restaurant! So you know, I can dance out the calories and dance into the tikka masala. Oh wait. I’m trying to get in shape here. Whatevs! Tracy and tikka the perfy combo!

You do realize I don’t talk like this in real life do you? But I do in emails because i think it sounds funny/annoying to say “rezzie” for reservation and “perf” for perfect and all that. I realize that makes me the kind of person other people roll their eyes at. Because I am slightly put-on and ridiculous. But so what? Whatevs! I’m perfy!

Also: a couple of you guys asked me if I will ever put comments back. Sadly: no. Here’s the thing: I can only write these blogs thinking that no one reads them. Once I have proof and comments! Dear god, comments! I don’t think I could handle that. First of all I will have to check the comments every five seconds to see if anyone replied. Which will be a huge time-suck (and believe me the every-five-second Amazon and B&N ranking check is enough of a time waster thank you). Then I will have to feel guilty about never responding (and I already feel guilty about so many things: not being able to respond to emails, not being on Facebook, not being able to take my kid to her swimming lessons cos of my deadline, etc). I’m so glad you read this blog, really I am. You guys shut down the server the other week! That’s crazy! But it’s better for me to believe that no one does.

xoxo
Mel