Hooray for Books, hooray for great friends, hooray for selling out of books! If you’re ever in Alexandria, VA, there’s no better place to spend an hour, or two, or three than Hooray for Books.

When I arrived for my booksigning on September 6th, Ellen and Trish had made brownies, set up a reading and signing area and had plenty of books on hand. Good thing too, we sold out! Anne Marie and Kathy caught me on the street corner just before I went in the store, and Jama was in there waiting. I was so happy to see old friends and meet others for the first time. I had friends there from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, DC and Brazil! 

Anne Marie Pace, Kelly Fineman, Kristy Dempsey, Kathy Erksine, Jama Rattigan, and Sara Lewis Holmes

And after that, we were close enough to spend a little time with Lady Liberty on our way to Boston. 🙂

 We’re off on the ME WITH YOU and the grandparents mini-tour complete with grandparents, bookmarks and the requisite conversion van to celebrate the upcoming Grandparents Day! 

*September 6th — booksigning from 2-4 pm at Hooray for Books — Alexandria, VA

*September 10 — storytime and booksigning at Barrington Books, Barrington, RI at 10:30 am

*September 11– storytime and booksigning at Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, MA at 10:30 am

Here we go in classic grandparent style:

Okay, okay, so I know I’ve been terribly absent. Terribly. But here’s a little view into the business of the last month or so. And when I say business, I mean funfunfun! Nothing could be more fun than to see people you haven’t seen in forever, meet new and interesting people, and eat cake. There’s cake leftover by the way, so if you’re passing through South Carolina . . . 

(edited to put pics behind a cut for those who’d like to skip them)

Continue reading “Book Signing Fun!” →

I’ve arrived in the US, walked miles and miles in one exhibition hall in Chicago, signed books with Jerry Pinkney, Richard Peck, Gennifer Choldenko and Ingrid Law at Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, signed across from Judy Blume and *just* before Sarah Dessen in the Penguin Putnam booth, saw some absolutely amazing and entertaining online friends and ate some awesome Chicago deep dish pizza. Here’s a pre-Newbery banquet pic:

Jessica Lee Anderson, Lisa Schroeder, Cassandra Riegel Whetstone, Me, and Tanya Seale

Now, I’m off to prepare for a tv interview tomorrow am (!)(Oh dear, what shall I wear? Any suggestions? What looks good on tv?)(And again, !!!!!) and my first hometown booksigning on Saturday afternoon. There will be cake!

1. I was thrilled, THRILLED I say, to see this review of ME WITH YOU, not only because the reviewer seems to really "get" the book as a celebration of those who love children unconditionally, but also because the reviewer is Esmé Codell. You know? Esmé? Codell? Professional "Readiologist" and otherwise Amazingly Insightful Children’s Lit Reader and Extoller? Yes, THAT Esmé Codell. She read ME WITH YOU and blogged about it. She even sniffed the pages a bit. I mean, I bet she did. WOW.

2. During ALA on Saturday, July 11th, I am going to be reading and signing ME WITH YOU at Magic Tree Bookstore from 1:30 to 3:30 pm (Happy 25th Birthday, Magic Tree!) . Also signing is Jon Scieszka (Yeah. He’s only the NATIONAL AMBASSADOR FOR YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE), Gennifer Choldenko (Yeah. Her book Al Capone Does My Shirts won a Newbery Honor), Ingrid Law (Yeah, Her New York Times Bestselling book, Savvy, won a Newbery Honor this year), Jerry Pinkney (Yeah. His awards are too many to mention and include words like "Caldecott" and "Coretta Scott King Award"; not to mention I have been in love with his ilustrative style since…oh, forever), and Richard Peck (yes, that Richard Peck) only one of the most important authors in my writerly heart and with whom I can’t even imagine sharing breathing space. I’m afraid I will tear up and make a fool of myself. Yes, I have already asked someone to have the smelling salts at the ready.

Needless to say, I feel very privileged to be able to take part in such a wonderful celebration of Magic Tree’s 25th anniversary with so many of my children’s literature idols. (Oh. And did I mention it will be my very first signing for ME WITH YOU? Boy howdy. What a way to kick it off.)

I’ll also be signing Sunday morning, July 12th at ALA at 10am at the Penguin Putnam booth (#2120). Hope to see you there!

Way back in May when I mentioned that I wouldn’t be in the States to see my book born into the world in bookstores across America, and I decided to hold a contest to give those who would be willing to send me a picture of my book in a bookstore or in their hands at home, I never imagined how many tears I would shed and how many smiles it would bring to my face to see you guys tracking down my book and sending me pictures. I’m so grateful to have had the chance to see what feels like years of labor, even though I’m not there to see it. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. And thank you, too, to those who sent me news of "sightings" even if they didn’t happen to have a camera with them at the time.

To all who entered by sending me pictures, I am SO grateful you were willing to share in my joy. And some of you were entered in the contest even if you didn’t send me the link. If you posted a picture of my book here on LJ, or on Facebook, or on Blogger or anywhere that I saw it, I entered you in the contest!

We wrote down each of the names on a piece of paper…if you posted the pic to your blog or Facebook AND sent me the link, you received two entries…we put all the names into my son’s cowboy hat and then my husband (to whom the book is dedicated) did the honors….

And without furthor ado, the winner of a copy of ME WITH YOU is MARY WOODFIN BOGGS, a sweet friend from our college ministry days in Carrollton, Georgia! She found the book at Barnes and Noble in Hampton, Va.

Congratulations, Mary! I’ll be in touch!

You have till midnight to get those pics of ME WITH YOU in bookstores or in your hands at home in order to get a chance to win a copy. Last call!

Don’t forget you can win a copy of ME WITH YOU! See details here.

And if you need any incentive to run out to your nearest book emporium and snatch it up, here’s a little preview. Or need a gift for Dad or Gramps for Father’s Day? See below!

I’ve shared this poem before, one I penned a couple of years ago as my own take on hope after reflecting on Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”. It seems that the euphoria *and* the pain of hope are recurring themes in my life, and sharing this poem again only serves to echo that cycle. Perhaps you can relate?

HOPE

Hope refuses to perch
as if she had arrived for only a visit,
like so many flitting wings
on the branches of a bloodwood tree,
weaving instead feathers from her breast
into the fabric of my soul.

Her fussing brings pain,
reminding me of a presence I’ve tried
to ignore, preferring instead

            a familiar landscape of barren desert,
averting my eyes from the want within,
growing as if shielded from sun, protected

from possibilities until they would

weigh my branches with promise.

But hope, feathered hope, is already here,
nestled so sweetly for laying,

and I await with the pain
of expectation.

–Kristy Dempsey (2007, all rights reserved)

ETA: Oh! I forgot to say that ME WITH YOU is the Poetry Friday Picture Book of the Day over at Anastasia Suen’s six traits blog!

Shield your eyes for an onslaught of cuteness, people! This is my high school friend’s son, S, who found ME WITH YOU at the Pickens County Library in South Carolina.

(CUTE + plastic wrapping and a library tag) X CUTER = AMAZING!!!!!!

Awesome, right?