Monday, May 12, 2008

How ya'll doin'?


Okay, lots to catch up on, so I'll go with another list. We'll just have to see if I make it to 10 or not.

1. Anna, Faithful Commenter, your Q&A is coming soon! I hereby declare to you and the world that this week will not expire before your question is answered, and answered thoroughly. For those of you interested, it will be about the difficulty of finishing a novel, and getting unstuck from Stuckland.

2. THANK YOU SPOKANE AND DEER PARK! I just want all the teachers, students, bookstore folks, and everyone else up there to know I had a wonderful time, and thank you for treating me so well. The signing at Borders matched any I've had so far, and my visits to the schools were so much fun. Tick's parents chose wisely in settling there. I'll be back!

3. I had an epiphany. The house they always show for The Brady Bunch doesn't match the inside - unless they're utilizing some freaky portal to another Reality. I noticed this because a billboard in Spokane had a picture of it, and my kids watch that show all the time (which I just don't get, by the way). Check it out. The upstairs is CLEARLY to the right of the front door when you see the inside. But the house from the outside shows the upstairs to the left. You're welcome for alerting you to this very important matter.

4. THANK YOU OREM! Wow, Authorpalooza III couldn't have gone any better. This was thanks in much part to the presence of Mr. Brandon Mull, but yours truly sold quite a few books as well. I was sandwiched between two Brandons at the table (Sanderson and Mull), which made me realize just what a lucky schmoe I am.

5. If you missed it, you basically are being given another chance. Almost everyone who was at the Orem event will be participating in the Provo Children's Book Festival this Saturday (May 17th) at the Provo City Library. In fact, added bonus: SHANNON HALE will be there! Yeah, that's right.

Yours truly is doing a reading (noon) with Brandon Mull and Brandon Sanderson, a panel (1:00) with those two and Mette Harrison, and a signing (3:00) with the Brandons and several others. It'll be a party. For more info and the complete schedule, CLICK HERE.

6. HELLO SAN ANTONIO! I'll be flying to your city on Wednesday night (my first time) and visiting quite a few of your schools on Thursday and Friday. If you live in the area, please come see me at the Booksigning: Friday the 16th, 6:30 pm, Barnes and Noble (6065 N.W. Loop 410, Ste. #185).

I've been told I must do the "Riverwalk" though I don't know what that means. I also, of course, have to see the Alamo. Just not sure when exactly I'm going to do that! Maybe Thursday evening.

7. Why are people so mean? If someone cuts you off, chances are highly likely that the person in the other car is not the stupidest, most idiotic person who has ever lived, and that you've done the same thing on accident before. Be happy, you'll live longer.

8. I saw IRONMAN a while ago. It's very good. I forgot to stay until the credits were over. I'm very angry with myself. I will go see it again. I wanted more of Ironman destroying things, but it was still very good. It's very sad, but Ironman makes Superman look like a pansy. This paragraph is choppy on purpose.

9. Mother's Day was a great day. I made breakfast, and I'll pass on telling you about The Very Bad Bacon Incident. Several of us menfolk then made dinner for the wives, and I'd just like to say that I never realized a chicken had so many nasty bits. I'm very thankful my wife LOVES to cook. In fact, I gave her and her mom tickets to a cooking class at the Les Madeleines restaurant as their present.

Which begs this question: Since my wife loves to cook, and it's her hobby, why do I cook for her on Mother's Day? It's like having her watch basketball or write a story for me on Father's Day. Feel free to discuss.

10. Do you realize that Indiana Jones will be back on the big screen in TEN DAYS? I haven't felt this giddy and childlike since I was a giddy child. Say the word "giddy" ten times in a row. That's one weird word.

Well, we made it to Ten. As you can tell, I almost lost it there at the end. My apologies to Macotar for continuing to steal his Top Ten thunder.


Lyrics of the Day:

When you're standing at the crossroads
And don't know which path to choose
Let me come along
'cause even if you're wrong
I'll stand by you
- The Pretenders

13 comments:

Danyelle Ferguson said...

James - The River Walk is a river the meanders through down town San Antonio. There's a boat ride you can take & they'll tell you all the awesome things about the river, San Antonio history, etc. John and I opted for the self-guided tour since I didn't think the boat passengers would enjoy it if I threw up all over them (yep, boats me me very, very sick). The Alamo was pretty neat. It takes like 15 minutes to walk through.

Now what you really need to find out, is which seafood places are the best. We went to a really awesome restaurant for seafood, then another for mexican. I wish I could remember their names cause they were divine. But they were both on the River Walk. So ask around!

Have a great trip!

Anna said...

Thank you! Looking forward to it. I am very excited about Indiana Jones. The other day I watched the trilogy on TV (I hadn't seen Temple of Doom in forever...something really weird happened then too. I had just created a new character that was influenced by Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver, and then I started thinking of him as a cross between Eddie Haskell and Indiana Jones some how! isn't that the weirdest combination ever?!). I can't wait to see Kingdome of Crystal Skull.

Marcia Mickelson said...

Yes, go the Riverwalk. It is great and also very close to the Alamo. You could walk there.

What schools will you be going to in San Antonio?

Have fun here. San Antonio is great.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy San Antonio, James.

By the way, how do these mass author signings happen? Do the stores arrange this with all the authors individually, or do you all belong to some kind of organization that manages the scheduling, or do stores keep in contact with your publishers, what? However it works, I want in next year!

Tamra Norton said...

Aaah, James. You'll be so close...and yet so far! A mere 3 to 4ish hours away. If my boys weren't in a play Friday night (with rehersals on Thursday), I'd be tempted to mosey on over to San Antonio and crash the par-tay! Have a great time, and be sure to eat some Tex-Mex cuisine!

Annie Bailey said...

James -

We might be in San Antonio doing the Sea World/Riverwalk/Alamo thing this weekend. If we end up coming I'll try to swing by B&N to say hello.

Have Fun!

Annie
www.anniebailey.com

J.N. Future Author said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J.N. Future Author said...

That was much fun!
(The authorpalooza)
It was really good to see you again. And I was very surprised that you remembered who I was.

But man, was it a madhouse…there is so much i could say! but ill blog it instead of wasting space.

Thanks for signing my copy of your books! and I'm still awaiting a reply to the letter ^,^ but take your time, I know authors are very busy while on tour!

Melinda said...

James,

You just CRUSHED my Brady Bunch image.

I love that show and watched it when I was a little girl and now you've ruined it.

I think I need counseling.

James Dashner said...

Marcia, I'll be going to Carson, Nichols, Locke Hill, Raba, Colby Glass, Steubing, and Michael Elementary Schools. Hope I got those right. I'd love to see you!

And Annie, you too! Annie just signed a record deal, so let's give her a woot woot.

Clint, the shabang in Orem was organized by their awesome CRM (Courtney) and yours truly. You'll be more than welcome once your book comes out.

Tamra, I'll miss you.

Melinda, get over it. You can still enjoy the show - just pretend that there's something funky going on with another Reality.

Don said...

James, we just finished 13R-JCL - the girls loved it!. (I did, too - even more the second time.)

My daughter is hoping you like Texas enough to return to the Ft. Worth area. She's really talking you up to the school librarian.

I know there's a place on your web site to sign up for visits, so I'll have our people contact your people.

Anonymous said...

James, My name is Mike Handy, a teacher at South Davis Jr. High in Bountiful. Our school is setting up a community literacy night for the coming fall, and I gratefully took the assignment of contacting local authors to invite them to attend, talk to our students, and sign books. So, I am writing to invite you to come to our literacy night Tuesday, October 14, to visit with students and sign books along with other local authors.
Please let me know if you can attend. You can reach me by email at mihandy@dsdmail.net.

Mike Handy

Julie E. said...

We can't believe you made it to San Antonio and not Dallas... What's THAT all about?? You've got three of your biggest fans up here just waiting to host you!! Love your book. The Texas Egans