Salem Literary Festival

I've been asked by the one of the wonderful editors of DEAR BULLY (click the link for maximum Beiber and info on the book and it's raison d'etre), Megan Kelley Hall (visit her here:Megankelleyhall.com to sit in on a panel promoting the book and the cause at the Salem Literary Festival in mega-awesome Salem, MA. I have an essay in Dear Bully that tells the secret origin of the Gen Dead series. I'm glad to go, because both Megan and Salem* rock.

Also rockin' is Megan's co-editor Carrie Jones, who you can visit at her website here: CarrieJonesBooks.com. One thing I know about Carrie is that she really likes Grover. Like, a lot.

The Festival is Sept. 23-25. I hope that I will see you there.

*Special Salem/Gen Dead trivia: both Increase and Cotton Mather had a role in the Salem Witch Trials** I loosely based my arch-bioist character Reverend Nathan Mather on some of their less pleasant beliefs and personality quirks.

**Special bonus book recommendation: track down the Shirley Jackson book on the Salem Witch Trials, a very quick and insightful read. Then read her novels. All of 'em.

Kiss on Tour

Yes, Kiss is on tour. I actually saw them a few nights ago, with Buckcherry as an opening band (love Buckcherry). Kiss can still bring it--Paul has had two hip replacement surgeries and still dances in platform heels.

Kiss is also on tour, as in Kiss of Life. I'll be at the Davis-Kidd bookstore in Memphis at 6:00 this Friday, and then I'll be in Nashville at the Southern Festival of Books on Sunday. Check out the full program HERE.

Hope to see you there!

I Declare....Rocktober

Kiss on tour!


Yes, folks, Kiss is on tour again. I noticed that for $995 you can get a VIP package that includes a meet and greet with Kiss at the Mohegan Sun Casino in beautiful downtown Uncasville (I actually saw Kiss in Uncasville a few years ago, and they provided me one of my all-time favorite concert moments when Paul Stanley yelled "Hello! Are you ready to rock...Uncasville?" Classic! At least he didn't try that "I heard that Uncasville audiences were the loudest audiences..." nonsense!). Of course, you won't meet Peter or Ace unless they are at the bar.

But actually I was talking about the Fall leg of the Kiss of Life Tour: Check out all of these fine events and establishments I get to visit:

Oct. 9 Davis Kidd Booksellers, Memphis Tennessee
Oct. 11 Southern Festival of Books, Nashville Tennessee
Oct. 17 Cornerstone Bookstore, Salem Massachusetts
Oct. 24 Austin Teen Book Festival, Austin, Texas
Oct. 29-31 World Fantasy Convention, San Jose, California

Unlike Gene and Paul and the other guys, I have elected to waive my usual $995 VIP package meet and greet fees! And no extra charge for my signature, which I will gladly place on any book that I've written! I also draw little zombies that look more like sloppy Rorschach blots but I try really hard!

However, I do not have Buckcherry as an opening act, either. I must warn you that the Kiss of Life tour is a "without makeup" tour, so if you were hoping to see "classic" Kiss of Life you might be disappointed. I will, however, be singing "Strutter","King of the Nighttime World", and "I Was Made For Loving You", all while wearing 7 inch leather platform heels.

Disclaimer: There will also be no actual kissing on the Kiss of Life tour. Sorry!

Frequently Asked Questions

I'd like to address a few frequently asked questions, not because I don't want your emails, but because I'm sure you get tired of waiting around for me to answer them!


1. Will there be a third book in the Generation Dead series?

Yes! There will be a third book in the Generation Dead series (and a fourth and a fifth, if I have my way). The third book will be called Passing Strange. I'm working hard on it as we speak to try and get it in shape for a May release, and as usual I'm making things far harder on myself than usual. But I love the story and I hope you will, too. I don't like to show my cards early, but I will tell you that a different character takes center stage for this one...

My lovely and talented editor told me they did the cover shoot last week!

2. I think Generation Dead would make an awesome movie. Why don't you make a movie of it?

First, I totally agree that Generation Dead would make an awesome movie. But that piece of things is out of my hands. I just write the books; I don't make movies, audios, downloadable editions, dramatic stagings, or merchandise. The film rights to both books are still available, so if any of you have deep Hollywood connections, make sure you let them know and get that ball rolling. And for those of you who have sent me pictures requesting a part as Phoebe, Karen or Margi, I promise I will email you as soon as I hear about casting calls. Good luck!

3. Will you be doing any signings in(my town)?

No, unless you live in Memphis, Nashville, Austin, San Jose, or visit the Calvert Library here in CT! Yes, Disney-Hyperion is kind enough to be sending me on a Fall book tour, where I'll be in Nashville at the Southern Festival of Books, The Austin Teen Book Festival, and the World Fantasy Convention! And something TBD in Memphis, I'll keep you posted. How sweet is that? I'll have a busy, busy October and hopefully will be meeting many of you.

4. Is your Facebook Avatar really you?

No, it is actually a customized action figure. But the resemblance is striking!

5. Were you a goth in high school? I can't say I was straight up goth, although one of my favorite albums at the time was the Damned's Phantasmagoria, which is cited by many as being one of the main albums that started the movement. I had all the rare Bauhaus singles, too.

But I think instead that I was an almost perfect blend of the five personality types from The Breakfast Club. Well, I was more Basket Case than Princess, and more brain than jock, and not much of a criminal although I did sport fingerless gloves and a trenchcoat and listened to Slayer. Maybe it was more 30%, 10%, 25%, 20%, 25%. Although I really didn't do anything princess-y, except I was a little spoiled.

Ah, heck with it. I was a goth.

French Kiss

Ok, my sabbatical is over. Actually I fled the country (under a cloud of suspicion, as usual), making my first excursion abroad as classier people than me might say. This year is a round number birthday year for my wife and I and so a trip to France with the kids was our gift to ourselves.

We had an unbelievably spectacular time.

One personal highlight (you know, after all the museums and great artwork, incredible churches and architecture, stunning views and the Eiffel Tower, etc.) was going into the WH Smith's in Paris on the Rue de Rivoli and finding the U.K. Kiss of Life on display. It is a very pretty and flowery cover and looks like this:

Texas!

I LOVED Houston! Thanks again to Blue Willow Bookshop for sponsoring me, and to Hastings School for having me.

In not particular order, a few of my favorite things about the day I spent there--

1. The kids--the kids at Hastings had all read the book, and asked some of the best questions on the books and on writing that I've had yet!
2. Meeting Danielle, and Danielle, and Danielle's Dad. Danielle writes a great book blog called The Book Blogger and you can check it out HERE. Yay, Danielles!
3. Meeting Facebook friend Amy. Hi, Amy!
4. Coming off the plane and seeing a sporting goods store named after Clyde Drexler. Clyde the Glide is my all-time favorite basketball player.
5. Along those lines, watching Houston beat the Lakers when in Houston was pretty cool, too.
6. Meeting Raschel! Raschel is the administrator of the Generation Dead message board over at THE VIRTUAL HAUNTED HOUSE, and I did my first video interview with her while at Blue Willow! Thank you thank you Raschel!
7. I had dinner at the Galleria, which is this block-long megamall near the hotel I stayed at. I ate at a Mexican cafe overlooking the ice rink--yes, the ice rink--where people were skating, including an adorable six year old girl who did a show. Mmm, cilantro. I do love the cilantro.
8. Lisa the Hastings librarians' pralines!

Note: I did have toast in Texas, although I don't believe it was Texas toast.

Please Release Me

Kiss of Life came out today, in fine stores everywhere. At least I hope it did--I haven't visited any fine stores today because I flew to Chicago. I did have a fine deep dish pizza, though. I wrote for awhile at the airport and on the plane and listed to the new Bell Rays CD which is quite good. I've got a great hotel room, and earlier I was watching some guys play Bocce on the lawn under my window. I was never a big fan of Bocce, I'll take a Frisbee any day. Or Jarts. Does anyone remember Jarts? I think they are illegal now. Basically Jarts were lawn darts, these foot long fleched missiles with sharp tungsten tips that were designed to bore through concrete. The idea was that you'd lob the Jart in the air and try to land it in this yellow hoop which was maybe a foot in diameter, but usually you killed your dog or your kid brother instead. I think in 1979 alone there were 62,342 human and 179,331 canine Jart related deaths. And those were just the accidents.

Tomorrow I get to speak at two schools and then talk and hopefully "move some product" (e.g. sell books) at Anderson's Bookshop. Then--and here's the fun part--I get to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to catch my flight to Houston the next day so I can speak at another school. The zombie author might actually be a zombie author after getting up at 3:30 a.m. I'm not known as an early riser.

But that's why the good Lord encouraged man to invent coffee. And Texas Toast. What would a trip to Houston be without Texas Toast?

Zombie or not, I intend to have big, Texas-sized fun. And Texas Toast.

Grandparents: Decidedly Pro-Zombie

Here's another piece of genius artwork from Bryony. I love how Bryony works the UK cover art into every piece. Thanks, Bryony!


This was a nice surprise-- Grandparents.com named Generation Dead one of their ten best books for children for 2008. Check out the rest of the listHERE. This is cool for a number of reasons, one of which is that grandparents are generally much more in tune with what kids want, because they spend most of their time giving kids what they want. And also, again generally, they have more money to spend on things like Generation Dead for their grandkids than say a parent does.*

*The italicized opinions above were formed by conducting an informal poll with the children in my household, and should in no way be construed as being the actual opinions of the author of this blog.

Now that that's cleared up, the news. There is snow on the ground. A lot of snow. I haven't seen any yetis yet. Yetis have yet to appear. I won't be running for a few days, it looks like (I fear snowplows and knee injuries) but I did get some exercize running the snowblower and shoveling the walk. And that's the weather and sports. In national news, I get to go on a book tour! Wheeee! I love traveling across this great nation of ours. Don't know where I'm going yet, but wherever it is, there I'll be.

I'll post the dates and locations as soon as I know...

Big Hearted Fun at NCTE

Burnin' love comes once in a lifetime

The NCTE convention was probably the most fun I've had at a promotional event this year, and not just because of the lack of anyone accusing me of corrupting the youth of America. I got to meet teachers and librarians from all over the place, including some who post on this blog (hi Sandi!), and San Antonio is just a very cool place.

I also was fortunate enough to meet dozens of the best authors writing YA fiction today, people who I've admired from a distance for years. I won't do a who's who for fear of leaving anyone out, but suffice to say I was pretty starstruck and probably babbled incoherently (or even more incoherently than usual) around many of the folks I met. I will, however, mention that I got to hang out with the fabulous E. Lockhart, who I was fortunate enough to begin my promo travel circuit with. E.'s book The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks was a well-deserved National Book Award nominee, as though you needed another reason to go read it. If you haven't, what are you waiting for?

And speaking of babbling incoherently, the folks at Hyperion shot some promotional footage of me, no doubt to capitalize on my radio-star good looks. Talk about a bizarre experience! For some reason I am pretty comfortable speaking in front of a group like I did at the panel I was on, and reasonably engaging one on one or in small groups, but I found hitting the grapefruits that Hyperion was serving me up during the "video interview" almost impossible to hit. At one point, when bungling yet another chance to describe Kiss of Life, I was asked "You did write the book, didn't you?" Yarg. Hopefully the Disney special effects team will take the footage and I'll come across as endearing as Wall-E. In fact, maybe they should just use footage of Wall-E with my voice over. Except my voice is probably pretty irritating so they should re-dub my answers in Wall-E's voice. Did I mention they played Wall-E on the airplane home? I love that movie.

Good times, good times. And I got home in plenty of time to act as my wife's sous-chef for Thanksgiving.

Texas is the Reason

I love the place...am I misunderstood?

Today I sang, without accompaniment, the entire song "Astronomy Domine" to my puppy, Star. She was confused. As am I. Why do we do the things that we do?

Going to Texas in just a few days. I love Texas, so much coolness comes out of Texas it isn't even funny. I'm going to meet a bunch of great people, see a friend I haven't seen in (gulp)seventeen years, hang out with the dream team from Hyperion, and hopefully sign a few books. My favorite book concerning Texas? Texas Music by Rick Koster. My favorite pulp writer from Texas? Robert E. Howard. My favorite culinary delight from Texas? Texas Toast. My favorite horror punk band from Texas? Ghoultown. My favorite Texan nickname? Tex. My favorite sports nickname from Texas? Phi Slamma Jamma. Favorite basketball player from Texas? Clyde Drexler. Favorite sport statistic from Texas? Clyde Drexler's near quadruple double, Nov. 1 1996 vs. Sacremento:25 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 10 steals

Oops, I'll be in San Antonio, just a stone's throw from the Alamo. They might not appreciate all that Houston love, I don't know.

I could go on and on about all the great things about Texas, but instead I'll write later about all the great things I see and experience when I'm out there.

Generation Dead got some nice ink in Publishers Weekly this week, along with a number of other great books in a sort of "state of the YA supernatural market" article. You can check it out here: The Next Dead Thing.

More Fun in the New World

A few appearances for September:

New England Independent Booksellers' Association (NEIBA) Regional Trade Show: Sept. 19 at 2:30, Hyatt Convention Center, Boston, signing.

Barnes and Noble, Canton CT: Sept 25 at 6:00, signing.

The Most Literate City in America, Part 2

Game day for Danny. E. and I travel to a restaurant called Zelo with Jenn, our publicist from Hyperion. Jenn just got married . Congrats, Jenn! We're going with some people from the Disney Book Group and meeting people from Target for lunch. Everyone from the Disney Book Group is young, attractive, and passionate about what they do. Everyone from Target is young and attractive, and very passionate about what they do. Daniel Waters is, well, passionate about what he does.

When we sit down, I have the painfully acute realization that A). I am the oldest one at my table, B.) No one seems to know what Mystery Science Theater is and C). It could be said, fairly, that I resemble Pumpkinhead, except Pumpkinhead after he has been left out bleaching in the sun way past his freshness date. Did I mention everyone else is young and attractive?

Luckily I can overcome these differences, mostly, with my sparkling wit. I get to talk about my book, my kids, my prowess on the basketball court, and video games. Going with the recommendations of the Target people, I order the something-or-other encrusted sea bass, and am a little worried when a scoop-sized portion of what looks like wasabi is on the plate. I'm suddenly fearing that I haven't been half as witty as I thought I was, and have blundered into some insidious wasabi-based hazing ritual. I'm assured that the dollop is wasabi mashed potatoes, and upon trying them, discover they are excellent. All in all, fine company and a fine meal.

And, oh yeah, I get to sign books. It's the first time I've signed Generation Dead for strangers, which was actually kind of emotional for me. But I wasn't crying; that was the wasabi.

In part three I will regale you with Tales of Cheese Curds! Take Courage!

The Most Literate City in America, Part 1

Day 1 in Minneapolis:

I avoided the dread Nor'easter with an afternoon flight and a hotel stay near the airport. The flight itself is blissfully uneventful and we actually arrive a half hour early. I spend the flight reading, listening to music by Echo and the Bunnymen, the Gathering, and the Detroit Cobras. I sketch out not one, not two, but FIVE short story ideas featuring my pals from Generation Dead. I also play Klondike, which is the iPod version of solitaire. I notice that I play Klondike instead of being nervous. I play Klondike often lately.

For dinner, I eat a grilled Stiltoncheese sandwich at a place called Brits Pub after trying to take a walk but quitting after two blocks. Some of my companions on this trip are vegetarians and I'm trying to get into the spirit of things. A little boy at the next table informs me that this is the coldest day of the year in Minneapolis, perhaps catching inspiration upon seeing my elephantine red ears. There is a large bottle cap-shaped emblem on the wall with a bantam rooster and the words "Take Courage" beneath. The cheese sandwich and pub fries are quite good.

No events for Danny today, but I am fortunate enough to attend a reading/seminar at Hamline University given by the vivacious and delightful E. Lockhart who I mentioned in an earlier post. I'll admit, I find some readings painful, but Emily (E. is a secret code name. Ssssshhhhh!)has such charm and stage presence I'm riveted the entire hour, in which E. reads from a selection of her many works. Beyond her obvious rapport with the crowd, a mixed bag of students, readers and people that Tim, our media guide, describes as "book junkies", what shines through the most to me is Emily's voice. Her narrative voice, and the voices of her characters, ring very clear and true to me.

I think voice is one of the most difficult things to capture and develeop when writing fiction, and, for this reader, anyhow, it is usually the element that pulls me in the most. Hearing Emily read from a number of different works, introducing the reader to a variety of characters, it is easy to hear that she has voice aplenty--and stories to match. Her forthcoming The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks may be the only title of hers I've yet read, but I plan to remedy that soon.

Watching Emily was as inspirational as it was entertaining, although when I try to picture myself doing the same sort of thing someday and what pops into my head is the pastry chef who would fall down the stairs on Sesame Street after announcing, loudly, that he has "eleven custard pies" or some similarly unweildy pile of confectionary.

Yes, I release that reference may date me. You'll see that I'll have even more reason to feel dated on day two of the adventure, but I'll Take Courage. The rooster demands it!!!!