Bookstore Panel!

Writing careers are full of milestones — the first agent offer, the first book contract, the first reviews, the first appearance at a book festival, and so on. One milestone I’ve looked forward to is an appearance at Books of Wonder. I’ve attended many friends’ panels but never been invited onto one for my own book — until now! On Sunday, August 20 at 1 pm, I will be appearing along with DK Dyson, Rudy Gutierrez, Todd Shuster, and Tatiana Gardel for a Picture Book Spectacular celebrating fun, play, and being together.

Along with Ways to Play, the new picture books to be celebrated are Window Fishing, a collaboration between Dyson and Gutierrez featuring an artist pursuing his passion and making a new friend in the process, and  The First Day of Peace,  the story of two warring communities coming together after a flood with text by Shuster and illustrations by Gardel (and introduction by Maya Soetoro-Ng).

I look forward to meeting my co-panelists, though I wish Ways to Play illustrator Gabriel Alborozo could join us. However, he lives in the UK, so it wouldn’t be practical for him to travel to an in-person event. I do plan to talk about how we worked together on this project and show picture of my dog Charlie who inspired the story. The page for my Author’s Note didn’t have room to show readers my Lego town, so I also plan to bring pictures from the town. One of the advantages of a virtual event (along with Gabe being able to attend) is that people could see the town in the background. Apparently, though, virtual events have been less effective in helping the sponsoring bookstore sell books because people who attend remotely buy the book from their local bookstore unless they really care about getting it signed by the author.

I’m excited about my very first Books of Wonder appearance and hope people can attend. I have lots of fun stories for any children who will be there, from the “toy museum” trick my husband and I played on our son when he was three years old to the after school enrichment class I taught for elementary school students about how the toy industry works. (For their final assignment they made advertisements for their favorite toys and Lego constructions.)

If you can’t make the event — because it’s a summer weekend and lots of people are at the beach, or else you’re reading this post from far away — Books of Wonder ships signed books, or you can pay for the book via charge card and they can hold the signed book for you to pick up later. They’re also allowing the panelists to sign books brought from home, since several of us have multiple books that are older and that the store may not carry. So if you’re in New York City and have an unsigned copy of Torch, Moonwalking, or any of my older books, bring them in! There’s also a signed paperback of Moonwalking tucked into the upper middle grade shelf, a prize for the first person to find that book.

Hope to see you there!