2010 Writing for Charity

If I was a better blogger, you would already know about the 2010 Writing for Charity event.  And unfortunately, this is not a case of better-late-than-never, because you really don’t want to miss this.  It’s coming up this Saturday, on August 21.

Last year, I participated in the Writing for Charity event held at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, Utah, and it was a great experience.  The atmosphere was so fun and congenial and supportive for everyone involved.  This year won’t be any different.

As with last year, there will be panels organized by genre (picture book, contemporary, fantasy, etc.), followed by mini workshops where aspiring writers will have the opportunity to have their work critiqued by a nationally published author.  Lunch will be provided, and the conference will last most of the day.  But this year, they’ve added an awesome evening extravaganza.  In addition to music and improv comedy, authors Brandon Mull, Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, Sara Zarr, Ally Condie, James Dashner, Bree Despain, and Jessica Day George will be on a panel taking audience questions and being thoroughly entertaining.  You can attend one or both events.

And here’s the thing.  As with previous Writing for Charity events, all procedes go to charitable causes.  All the writers involved have donated their time, which is an amazing thing and shows how wonderful our Utah writers are.  This year, the event is focusing on putting books in the hands of kids.  For every conference registration fee received, an entire class in an under-priveleged school will receive books.  That’s right.  Not only can you have a great time and learn a lot at the conference, but you’ll also know that you have provided each child in a classroom with a book of their own.

There is also a silent auction going on to raise even more money for charity.  Lots of great items have been donated, but I wanted to tell you about one in particular.  My agent, Stephen Fraser, has graciously donated a 10-page critique of a manuscript.  Ten whole pages critiqued by a literary agent.  You should know that before he became an agent, Steve worked as an editor at such publishing houses as Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, and HarperCollins.  So a critique from him truly is an opportunity.

You can register for the event online here.  You can also just come to the event and register that day.

And check out the silent auction here, which also includes items such as a lunch with Brandon Mull, being fictionally murdered in Dan Well’s next novel, or being publicly extolled and raved about on Shannon Hales’ blog.  Tell me that’s not cool.

5 Comments by Matthew on August 19, 2010
filed in Literacy, Writing

ALA 2010

I’ve been meaning to post about my first conference of the American Library Association for a while now.  I had an amazing time.

Scholastic brought me in to promote The Clockwork Three.  It was the first real publicity for the book, with a reading and signing, and ARCs handed out.  But the weekend was also a chance to hang out with lots of great people who are involved with and passionate about children’s literature.

The reading took place at the Scholastic Literary Brunch, along with several other wonderful authors.  I enjoyed hearing passages from Lucy Christopher’s Stolen, Cynthia Lord’s Touch Blue, Erin Bow’s Plain Kate, Blue Balliett’s The Danger Box, and Deborah Wiles’ Countdown. All were engaging and made me want to read their books.  Which fortunately, I’m able to do because everyone attending the brunch left with a copy of each in a gift-bag.  Free books are a perk of this job I could definitely get used to!

After the reading, my editor, Lisa, showed me around the conference show-floor.  We walked through most of the publisher’s booths, and I met lots of people and saw lots of great books.  Friends’ titles were well-represented, including Mette Harrison’s The Princess and the Snowbird, Jessica Day George’s Princess of Glass, Rebecca Barnhouse’s The Coming of the Dragon, Lindsey Leavitt’s Princess for Hire, Carol Lynch Williams’ Glimpse, and Bree Despain’s The Dark Divine (Have you seen Bree’s book trailer yet?  Check it out here).  I was excited and grateful to see that The Clockwork Three was present as well.

Me and Blue Balliett

My signing that afternoon went great.  I’d never done a big signing like that before, and it was wonderful to meet librarians and readers from all over the country.  I signed for about an hour, but I was having so much fun I felt like I could’ve kept going forever.

After that, we went back to the hotel and changed into fancier clothes for the Newbery & Caldecott banquet, which was also amazing.  The energy and the shared love of children’s literature were palpable.  The speeches given by Rebecca Stead and Jerry Pinkney were eloquent and inspiring.  And I got to meet and thank M.T. Anderson, whose advice to “write what you think you can’t” led very directly to my second novel.

The next day, Lisa and I went to the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.  When I was growing up in Maryland, it was my favorite museum, and I even had dreams of running away and living there, a la From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  I hadn’t been back in years, so it was pretty neat to see it again, although a lot of things have changed.  I don’t know if I like it as well as I used to.  Lisa noted how the displays don’t seem to follow any easy sense of order or sequence, and I agree.  It’s rather chaotic.  Everywhere you look, there’s something to see, but nothing to tell you what order to look in.  Perhaps this reflects a shift in the way we take in information in this modern internet age, that is, everything-from-everywhere-all-the-time.

After the museum I still had a couple of hours before I had to catch my plane, so I walked back over the convention center.  This turned out to be a mistake, because it was pouring rain by the time I had to leave.  There was a huge line for taxis outside the center, and I still had to get back to the hotel for my luggage.  So I decided to make a run for it through the rain, and while I was waiting a little too close to the curb at a cross-walk, I got splashed by a car.  I mean, really drenched.  Like in the movies.  The poor guy next to me was wearing an expensive-looking suit, and we just looked at each other, dripping, and he used an expletive I won’t repeat here (though I silently agreed with him).  I made it back to the hotel, got my things, took a cab to the airport, and changed into dry clothes while waiting for my flight.

The airport was extra fun, because there were two flights with very similar numbers, but going to very different locations, using the same gate.  My gate.  They kept announcing the wrong flights, causing everyone to get in line, even though half of them wanted to go to Atlanta, and the other half to Salt Lake City.  Fortunately, Jessica Day George was on the same flight as me, so we were able to commiserate and laugh about the whole thing.  (Did you enjoy your “crispy rice,” Jessica?)

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, full of great experiences and great people.  Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Scholastic for making the trip so enjoyable and memorable for me.  I hope I get to go to ALA again in 2011.  New Orleans or bust!

4 Comments by Matthew on July 28, 2010
filed in Books, The Clockwork Three, Travel, Writing

The Clockwork Three Cover

The cover for The Clockwork Three is finalized and I can now officially reveal it.  It’s already been floating around out there on the internet in various stages of completion.  But I’m excited to share with you the version you will actually see in the bookstores.

What do you think?  I’m thrilled with it, and I’m so grateful to Elizabeth Parisi, who designed it, and Brian Despain, the artist who created it.  I think they both did a fantastic job.

Next up: my ALA report.

24 Comments by Matthew on July 8, 2010
filed in Books, The Clockwork Three

The King’s English Book Group

Last week I went to a book group at The King’s English in Salt Lake City.  I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating over and over that The King’s English is a wonderful bookstore.  I wish I lived closer to Salt Lake because I would love to browse and shop there more than I am able to.

The book group consisted of over 30 young readers who had been given an ARC of The Clockwork Three, and what an amazing group they were.

I was so impressed by their insights, their perspectives, and how articulately they shared their thoughts.  It’s energizing to be around people who love to read, who find books exciting and magical.  The enthusiasm in those young readers was infectious, and a part of me didn’t really care what book they were talking about.  It was just inspiring to see them so engaged in reading.  Of course, an even bigger part of me was thrilled by the fact that they were talking about my book.

Up to this point, those who have read The Clockwork Three have been mostly adults, so I was a little nervous going into a group of young readers.  They are, after all, my audience.  But it didn’t take long to settle in, and I was soon having a blast.  The feedback I received felt really good.  They enjoyed the book, which made me very, very happy.  Of course, they didn’t pull any punches when it came to things they didn’t agree with, or didn’t like, and I really appreciate and respect that.  But overall the response was very positive.

I spent a lot of time answering their questions, and then I asked a few of my own.  Which character was their favorite?  What was their favorite scene?  And a few others that would be a little too spoilerish to mention.  We spent about an hour discussing the book, and then I signed all of their ARCs.

It was a wonderful experience.  I owe a big thank you to Anne and Margaret of The King’s English, and also Chris, our Scholastic sales rep.  They put together a great event.

5 Comments by Matthew on June 23, 2010
filed in Books, Literacy, The Clockwork Three, Writing

What’s in a name… or a middle initial?

My name is not uncommon.  There are, in fact, several men out there who share my first and last name.  A simple google search (is there anyone left who has not googled themselves at least once?) reveals that Matthew Kirby designed the game Apples to Apples.  Matthew Kirby is an Anglican priest.  And there are actually a few Matthew Kirby’s who are writers.  Like me.

It is to avoid confusion with the latter that I have decided to use my middle initial.  As an author, from now on I will be Matthew J. Kirby.

I’ve set up a new blog at matthewjkirby.com.  It’s pretty much the same as the old one, although I’m still restoring all the links and such, and a few of the most recent comments got lost in the move.  Sorry.  When I get my website up, hopefully within a week or so, it will also be at the new address.

I’m going to keep matthewkirby.com and set up a redirect from the old blog, but you may still want to update your bookmarks.  And if you subscribe to posts via RSS, you may need to re-subscribe at the new web address.

Sorry for any confusion, but in the end I think it’s a good thing.  And I’m glad my publisher and I settled on it now, before my first book is out.  That way, I’ll be Matthew J. Kirby from the beginning.

2 Comments by Matthew on June 20, 2010
filed in Books, Writing

Some upcoming events

Just a little update about where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing this summer, writer-wise.

First, next week is the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop. I’ve written about it before, about what a great event this conference has been for me, and will continue to be for other writers. I’ll be speaking there in the afternoon on Tuesday, June 15th, as a part of a First Books Panel with Heather Dixon. It should be a lot of fun. If you’re attending the workshop, stop in. If you’re not attending the workshop, how come? Registration is still open for a few more days.

The next day, June 16th at 3:00 PM, I’ll be doing a book talk with a group of kids at The King’s English. The staff there are amazing, and they went out of their way to get a bunch of Clockwork Three ARCs to share with some of their younger customers and set up this event. I’m not sure if it’s open to everyone, but anyway, that’s where I’ll be.

At the end of the month, from June 26-28, I’ll be in Washington D.C. for the American Library Association’s annual conference. I’m really excited about this, as it marks the official publicity launch of The Clockwork Three. I’m scheduled to give a reading at Scholastic’s Literary Brunch, and then I’ll be signing books at the Scholastic booth. Then, I get to attend the Newbery & Caldecott banquet, something I am very much looking forward to. Back in January, I got up early, drove through the snow to an elementary school library, and gathered with some friends around a computer screen to watch them announce the medalists and honor books. Now, I get to see the authors and illustrators receive their awards. Awesome.

From July 30th to August 2nd I’ll be in Los Angeles at the annual summer conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I love this event, and this will be my third year. I’m taking a class on writing graphic novels. I’ve always loved comics, and I’ve written and illustrated them before. I’ve always planned, or at least hoped, that graphic novels would be a part of my writing career, so I’m looking forward to the SCBWI class.

In October, I’ll be flying back to L.A. for the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association annual trade show. Along with Ally Condie, author of the forthcoming and much-buzzed Matched, I’ll be speaking at the Author Feast on the 23rd.

Between these trips, I’ll still be working on a new website, and starting on my next book. I’ll be busy, but it’s a good kind of busy.

2 Comments by Matthew on June 10, 2010
filed in Books, The Clockwork Three, Travel, Writing