Perhaps you are wondering, as am I, what a photo of three people on the Crazy Mouse has to do with this post. Please let me know if you come up with anything.
I’m going to be here and there in the next couple of months, giving talks and workshops and signing books and, in between, bumbling about the streets looking for the best diner in town, one with a Formica counter and twirly red Naugahyde seats. Insider tips always welcome.
If you happen to live near any of the below places, I’d love to meet you.
September 24-25 I’ll be at the South Dakota Festival of the Book. I’m giving a workshop on Friday afternoon and a talk on Saturday morning. (Best diner in town, anyone?)
On October 2 I’ll be signing copies of my new book Bink and Gollie, co-written with Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Tony Fucile, at the Midwest Booksellers Association Trade Show.
I’ll be doing a reading and giving a talk in east St. Paul, in the Dayton’s Bluff community, on Tuesday, October 5, at 6:30. The event will be held at the Twin Cities Academy.
On Saturday, October 9, I’ll be reading from the aforementioned Bink and Gollie at 1 p.m. at the wondrous Wild Rumpus bookstore in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis.
On Saturday, October 16, I’ll be giving a talk and reading at 1:00 p.m. at the Ortonville Public Library in Ortonville, MN.
Tuesday, October 19 I’ll be giving a reading and talk at 7 p.m. at the Prior Lake Public Library in Prior Lake, Minnesota.
On Saturday, November 6 from 3:30-4:30 I do believe I’ll be talking about writing novels at the Loft in downtown Minneapolis. The Loft is located in one of my favorite buildings of all time, Open Book, and if you haven’t been there it’s worth it just to walk in and up the winding staircase.
Wednesday, November 17, at 7 p.m., I’ll be giving a reading and talk at the Dakota County public library in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
Any interest in writing picture books? You can sign up for my workshop, “The Puzzle of Picture Books,” to be held at the aforementioned Loft on Saturday, November 20, 12:30-4:30.
Whew. That’s a lot of event-type-stuff for someone who doesn’t do much of it. Are you sick of me yet? I can’t blame you. Maybe it’s time for a ride on the Crazy Mouse.
Alison McGhee 
Alison – I know the library readings are 1-2 months away, but do you think those reading are going to be for Bink and Gollie, or perhaps for any of your adult novels?
Which isn’t intended as a knock against the YA or children’s books. All Rivers Flow to the Sea is one of the most beautifully painful things I’ve read.
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Hi Joe! The main focus of the library talks will be novels. I’m sure there’ll be questions about children’s books, including B&G, but my plan is to read a little from Shadow Baby or All Rivers and then have Q&A.
And thank you for the kind words about All Rivers Flow to the Sea. That one is near and dear to my heart. For what it’s worth, I wrote it as an adult novel, but sold it as a young adult. And I wrote Shadow Baby and Falling Boy as adult novels, but they were published overseas as young adult novels. Which all goes to show that I really don’t know the difference between adult and young adult. (Maybe someone else can enlighten me.)
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After going to a few conventions with science fiction / fantasy folks who are writers, editors, and otherwise publishing professionals, I can give you a partial answer.
The only “real” difference is that they are marketing categories. Put the YA tag on something and it goes in a section in the bookstore that will draw consumers who are looking for stuff “sort of like X”. And when you feature a child as the protagonist, you may get the YA label.
Think of the The Time Traveler’s Wife from a few years back. Very few publications were actively describing it as a science fiction (or fantasy, if we’re being honest) novel. It was Literature (or Pop Fiction). Why? Because the publisher thought it would sell more copies and hit the book clubs when it is published as Literature. It’s a book that features a guy who involuntarily travels back and forth through time. It’s so very much in the SFF genre, but for marketing purposes…Literature. The editors had some other examples of older books from before YA became a category (I want to say The Last Unicorn and maybe the first Earthsea book from LeGuin), but that’s kind of why. Sometimes the imprint a book is published under will also direct booksellers to classify a book as one thing or another.
And thanks for the library info. I was hoping you’d say it was for the adult stuff. 🙂
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What a schedule! I’m exhausted from thinking about it!
My husband has family in Sioux Falls, so we’ve been there many times. There is a little (tiny) counter place that makes enchiladas called Mama’s Lada’s. If you like enchiladas, it’s the best.
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Diana, thanks so much for the recommendation! I’m heading that way on Friday and will check it out. Tiny counter places are my favorites, and how could anyone resist a name like Mama’s Lada’s?
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