REBECCA STEAD: reblog

Have I mentioned that I don't travel much? I don't. But next week (actually, February 1st through Feb 10th) I will be on a real, old-fashioned book tour, visiting schools, bookstores, libraries, and readers of all ages in five great American cities. Details about the public events are here . Please come if you can! I'll miss you, man-who-yells-hallelujah-all-night-under-my-bedroom-window. I'll miss you, crumbly-broken-wall-in-the-bathroom-that-probably-will-never-get-fixed-because-there-is-a- big-leak-somewhere-and-nobody-can-find-it. I'll miss you, ipod-guy-who-leans-his-whole-six-foot-frame-against-the-subway-pole-so-that-nobody-else-can-hold-on. I'll miss you, New York.

So I've been very quiet here about what happened last Monday morning, which was when librarian Kate O'Dell called from ALA at dawn to tell me that she and her gorgeous committee had awarded the John Newbery Medal to WHEN YOU REACH ME. I've been quiet for a few reasons: First, I've been running around talking about it all week. Lots of interviews, and meetings, and even a radio show where I got to wear big fat cool headphones and talk into a microphone the size of my head. So part of me is just talked out and guessing that people are sick of me. Second, I'm leaving for my first-ever book tour on Sunday, which means a lot of getting ready and setting things up so that the kids get fed while I'm gone. (Note: A lot of the tour will be visits to schools, but I'm also doing at least one public bookstore-or-library event in each city. For the exciting details, see www.whenyoureachme.com ). Third, I'm so full of this paralyzing joy that I can't seem to...

Happy New Year! I've been spending less time online lately, but just came across this on Neil Gaiman's blog -- I love his wish for the New Year: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/01/what-i-said-at-3-minutes-after-midnight.html I'm heading off for a three-day poetry retreat today. Poetry is mostly new to me, and I'm hoping this experience will tap another side of my writing brain, if that makes any sense. I'm bringing my own pillow and a print-out of my work-in-progress, which I've been reading aloud to myself (very quickly -- I can't seem to read aloud slowly when I'm the only person in the room. Maybe if I had Neil's accent . . .). Also in the works is my FEBRUARY BOOK TOUR. During the first ten days of February, I'll be visiting schools and bookstores in five cities: Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Boston. I have never even been to three of those cities, so I'm getting excited . . . details coming soon.