A Peculiar Paperback Plus a Pair of Pencil Pushers

I don't normally post updates about a book's second release, but when it includes so much extra content I felt I had to make an exception.

The paperback release of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children includes not only an interview with the author, but also extra peculiar pictures and the entire first chapter from the upcoming sequel, Hollow City (due out in January 2014).


Here's one of the exchanges interviewer Jason Rekulak and Ransom had in their conversation:

Can you tell us how you came to write this book?
Which came first: the story or the photographs?

I have no idea where most of my ideas come from, but Miss Peregrine has a very specific origin story. A few years ago, I started collecting vintage snapshots—the kind you can find in loose piles at most flea markets for fifty cents or a buck apiece. It was just a casual hobby, nothing serious, but I noticed that among the photos I found, the strangest and most intriguing ones were alwasy of children. I began to wonder who some of these strange-looking children had been—what their stories were—but the photos were old and anonymous and there was no way to know. So I thought: If I can't know their real stories, I'll make them up.

The photographs came first, but I never stopped collecting. Even as I was writing the story I was finding more photographs to work in. Ultimately, the photos and the story influenced each other. Sometimes I'd find a new photo that just demanded to be included in the story, and I'd find a way to work it in; other times I'd look for a certain type of photo to fit a story idea I had. It was a fun, strange, organic writing process, unlike anything I'd attempted before.

Borrowed from The Soul Sisters
Also, technically not from their Powell's stop,
but my camera refused to offer an in-focus picture.

But that's not all!

You Should Be Next!

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending another of Powell's outstanding author events. You Are Next features four YA authors who, apart from having recently published supernatural-ish books and similar quirky personalities, I'm not sure why they were grouped together, but regardless made a wildly entertaining night of laughs, photos, and fun.

Though the crowd was very underwhelming (maybe 15 of us attended), it was probably to our advantage as many of the night's activities were made that much more intimate. It was like we were sharing in our own group of private jokes. Of course, this is not advocating for leaving all your friends at home, but if you arrive and don't see a huge crowd, don't you dare chicken out! You won't want to miss these guys.

Now, the event features four authors...

...but unfortunately Cat Patrick caught a bad stomach bug for the Portland stop...

...so the remaining three improvised!

Yes, that's right, Cat was represented by a Bratz Doll bust, pictured on the right, and sat beside her latest book, Revived, on the table top. "Cat" was backed by her clever compatriots, Sean Beaudoin (The Infects), Kevin Emerson (The Lost Code), and Martha Brockenbrough (Devine Intervention) who offered a very welcome change of pace as author events go, despite being a (wo)man down on the night.

The evening started out with trivia. Aided by his daughter's microphone, Sean walked through the audience and had them pull a slip of paper out of his hat, which he read (using the mic of course) and asked which author this factoid was about. A correct answer earned a small prize, like a Thor Pez dispenser or one of Kevin's band's (The Board of Education) CDs. For example, did you know Martha wrote questions for Cranium and Trivial Pursuit? Now you do!

Next up was a bit of information about the authors and their books. Of course, to make it interesting they were strongly encouraged to use a shout-out word from the audience in their response. The word of the night was "Moist". So if they were to describe their book in only 6 words... Boy and girl explore MOIST city (Kevin). There were standard questions, and not-so-standard questions, both informative and funny. And most importantly, everything was spoiler-free!

But next came the funniest part of the evening, the speed-reading section! Each author had their book in-hand, and a 1-minute time limit. Sean (or Kevin) would shout out page numbers, and the author-in-turn would have to flip to that page and read the best sentence (or first they could find) on the page. The object was to get as many as they could within the time limit. As if that wasn't hilarious enough, part two of the challenge was audience-driven. All three authors were to flip to pages that we shouted out and read as quickly as possible. Then they traded books in-between. One page-race was too much for Kevin (I believe, though it might have been Sean) who ripped the acknowledgements page from his book.

We then took a much needed pause from clutching our sides by participating in an audience Q&A. Though the crowd was small, there were no awkward silences (if there were, they were quickly broken by a joke), and we got some good questions in there.

And lastly, before the signing, we were all asked to pose for the authors! First was zombies, then came fish-people, and lastly angels, to go along with each of the books. Unfortunately I'm out-of-frame in this one, but you might recognize local blogger the Novel Novice there in the front row!

So there you have it, the You Are Next Tour features some off-the-wall activities, quirky authors, and a whole lot of FUN. Be sure to catch it in your area if you can!

Goodreads: Devine Intervention ~ The Lost Code ~ Revived ~ The Infects

Amazon: Devine Intervention ~ The Lost Code ~ Revived ~ The Infects

Powell's: Devine Intervention ~ The Lost Code ~ Revived ~ The Infects

Jan's Paperbacks: Devine Intervention ~ The Lost Code ~ Revived ~ The Infects

Of Authors and Teeth

Last Tuesday, something amazing happened...

No, I'm not talking about the election. I'm talking about getting to read Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone (henceforth called Daughter), then getting to see her that night at my local Powell's!

Now, my review will be coming out tomorrow, but I just wanted to give a little teaser post about the event I was lucky enough to go to.

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover...

but come on, people! How amazing is that hair?! Yes, I saw a picture of her on the dust jacket of Daughter above the author blurb, and she had pink hair there, but it's still pretty freaking awesome. (And I apologize for the low-quality picture from my phone - left my good camera at home that night.)

She spoke a little on the writing process of Daughter, read a couple completely non-spoiler-ly passages from the newly released (that day, in fact) Days of Blood & Starlight (henceforth called Days), and then opened it up for questions.

I was especially impressed by not only not spoiling just-released Days, but also not spoiling anything from Daughter. So even if I hadn't literally stayed up all of the night before devouring all of Daughter (like I had any choice in the matter), I wouldn't have had to plug my ears at all! I love it when authors are kind like that.

Also, the writing advice, or rather exposing her strategies for getting things done, was excellent! It's certainly nice to know that even though not all writers are the same, at least a few successful writers share the scattered brain syndrome, the perfectionist tendencies, and the need for escape now and again.

And finally, though it is a custom at Powell's to raffle off swag of some sort, Ms. Taylor was generous enough to offer 2 prizes from the new Daughter of Smoke & Bone jewelry line! You can check out the full site HERE, with nearly everything they're going to be offering (she said a couple pieces are still in the works). PLUS proceeds from sales are currently going toward the Sandy recovery efforts.

But that's not all...I was a lucky recipient of one of the teeth!

Yes, teeth. I'll get more into the teeth in my review, but for those who have read the book(s), aren't these totally amazing?! Not sure what type of tooth it is, other than brass, but I love it nonetheless!

After the raffle, she also had a bunch of Days tote bags, but since I didn't have a copy to sign, I went ahead and took my leave. Overall, a great night without a bunch of political drama or stress.

If you want to go see her for yourself, and help celebrate Days's release, here's her current tour information:

You can bet that if I find a copy of my own I'll be heading down to Clackamas in a couple weeks to get it signed. ;D

Now...back to my review...

Hands-On Or Hands-Off?

I was reading a post about someone fondly remembering his time working in a bookstore. To quote a phrase or two:

I was surrounded by great books all day, and I could always snatch a few moments to write during the work day. Now, I worked a lot, six and sometimes seven days a week, without taking a break or vacation for five years. But those stolen moments during the day were wonderful. It made each work day somehow more alive.

Now, he's talking specifically about jobs vs personal writing time, but it got me thinking...


I visit a Borders store on average once a week. As soon as I walk into the store I'm usually greeted by an employee and asked if there's anything I need help finding. If this conversation isn't made near the door, I'm usually addressed as I'm wandering. Sometimes I'm asked multiple times (by different people). Employees are seldom stationary (unless working a busy register) and always seem to have a book or three (or a stack) in their hands to re-shelve. Even those 'stationed' at the information desk (recently renovated into an e-reader/e-book station) seldom stay there for long unless working with a customer. Actually, the few times I have needed help, there was no employee in sight and I ended up going up to the register (though I think this was due to the holiday rush and being understaffed).

From having worked in the customer service industry, I'm pretty used to the "connect with customers" angle that stores often try to enforce. It was the same where (movie rental store) I worked - we were supposed to say "hello" to everyone who walked in the door, offer our services in locating their wants, and suggest other selections that they might enjoy. Customer Service is about the customer...and what will make them come back and spend more.

Of course, just down the street from my local Borders is another bookstore that I visit quite often. Not quite independent, but not a corporation either, Powell's New & Used Bookstores are a proud staple around here, well, at least among the book-buying community. Often a cross between a warehouse (in size and inventory) and a coffee shop (in coziness and atmosphere), their stores are pretty much made of awesome.

The inventory of the stores is pretty even: Both have comparable new/current releases; Powell's has a good selection of older and used books while Borders has music and movies. However, the one difference that stands out (and what Bryan's Post made me think of) is the employee protocol.

Powell's employees don't usually make an effort to engage their customers. They either stay at the registers or they're stocking the shelves. They don't dress in uniform, and they're actually sometimes hard to spot if you don't happen to see their "Ask Me" sticker. Even if you do happen upon one in the aisles, they're more likely to apologize for needing to squeeze by than ask if you need help. And yet, I don't feel any less welcome there. Because there's usually someone posted at a register or information desk, they're easy to find. And if you do have a question, they're always very knowledgeable and friendly.

As far as working at a store goes, I think either one of these would be great. But I guess I'm curious...

Which would you prefer to shop at?

Assuming you're dealing with knowledgeable staff, would you rather the hands-on but endlessly-busy workers, or the hands-off but easy-to-locate workers? Have you ever felt intruded upon by inquiring employees, or been reluctant to bother those behind the Desk Of Power?