The blog of author Matthew J. Kirby

Category: Events

  • The Edgar! Also, butterflies, a space shuttle, and a really big snake.

    As some of you may have heard, last week Icefall won the Edgar Award in the Juvenile Fiction category! I am honestly still a bit stunned. The nomination alone took me completely by surprise, to say nothing of actually winning. But I’m so thrilled and honored, and I’d like to say thank you to the…

  • Travels, Part 2

    This post has been a long time coming, but I do still want to talk about some of the trips I took last fall. One of the things I’ve loved most about my writing career has been the opportunity to travel, to meet new people and have wonderful experiences I wouldn’t otherwise get to have.…

  • Travels, part 1

    I’ve been doing a fair amount of traveling recently to promote Icefall. The first trip was to the Baltimore Book Festival in Maryland. Having lived in Maryland for several years, it felt a bit like going home. I stayed near the Inner Harbor, a place I really liked as a kid, especially the National Aquarium…

  • Icefall Book Launch – Now with more Vikings!

    Last Wednesday, The King’s English Bookshop hosted the launch event for Icefall, and it was awesome. Through a co-worker, I was able to get in touch with some members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). I asked them if they might have some Vikings who would be willing to come to the launch and…

  • Icefall signing events

    First, a big thank you to everyone who came out last night for the launch of Icefall. I thought it went really well, especially the armed combat. Yes, there were Vikings there, among other warriors, and they fought valiantly. I’ll do a post with pictures and maybe some video soon, but in the meantime I…

  • Come to the Icefall launch party!

    Just a reminder that next week I’ll be at The King’s English celebrating the launch of Icefall. All are welcome! I’ll be speaking a bit about the story, reading from it, and then signing books. And I’m trying to see if I can get some Vikings there. We shall see. For more details, click here.…

  • One month away!

    I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this, since I mention it to everyone these days, but I am under deadline. And being under deadline, I have learned that deadlines are an effective way to time-travel. As they approach, time speeds up, bringing them rapidly closer, and before you know it you’re in the future and they’re…

  • 2011 SCBWI Annual Summer Conference

    Earlier this month I went to the annual summer conference of the SCBWI, and I had a wonderful time. It’s always great to catch up with old friends, some of whom I only see once a year at the conference. Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser pulled out all the stops this year in celebration of…

  • Where did July go?

    I knew it had been a while since I posted anything new to the blog, but I was honestly surprised to see that it’s been almost a month since my last entry.  That was followed quickly by the surprise that the month of July is nearly over.  I don’t know where it went.  But the…

  • My BEA Report, or, How I Met Hercules

    Last week, I had a whirlwind few days in New York City at BookExpo America.  I hadn’t ever been to BEA before, and it was a really great experience. I took an afternoon flight out of Salt Lake City on Tuesday, and got into NYC close to midnight.  My publicist, Lauren, had arranged for a…