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Jacqueline West, Writer

Bestselling author of The Books of Elsewhere and Dreamers Often Lie

Introducing THE STRANGERS

July 16, 2013    Tags: , , , , ,   

Today’s the day: THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOLUME FOUR: THE STRANGERS is an official, purchase-able, readable book.  Look for it at your local bookstore (and if you’re in Barnes & Noble this month, please note the special displays of Volumes 1 – 3 in paperback!) or library.  Pictures of THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE  in the wild are always welcome.

Find it on IndieBound here or on Amazon here — and of course it’s also available for Kindle and Nook for you e-reader readers.

AND, along with THE STRANGERS, VOLUME THREE: THE SECOND SPY is available in audio format at long last!  You can find both books at Audible.com (Here’s THE STRANGERS, and here’s THE SECOND SPY).  They’re read, just like THE SHADOWS and SPELLBOUND, by the wondrous Lexy Fridell.

Release day — even now that it’s my fourth — is exciting and frightening in equal measure.  Knowing that THE STRANGERS is out there in the hands of actual readers fills my stomach with staticky butterflies; they’re bumping around in there, giving each other little electric shocks.  If you read and like the book, please consider writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon, or any other bookish blogs.  Or tell your friends.  That’s even better.

If you’re in the MN/WI area, I hope you’ll consider joining me at Karma Gifts in River Falls, WI for a book party this Saturday, July 20, from 1:00 – 3:00 (more info on Facebook here).  It’s going to be great.  And if you’re on the MN side of the river, stop by Valley Bookseller in Stillwater at noon on Saturday the 27th.  I’ll also be at the Summer Reading Finale Celebration at the Hazel Mackin Community Library in Roberts, WI, on Monday, August 5, from 6:30 – 8:00, signing books and chatting with readers.

IMG_20130713_133037Here’s the whole BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE crew (plus a photobombing copy of Neil Gaiman’s THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, which is just as good as everyone says) at the Anderson Center’s celebration this weekend.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

 

 

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Summer Events

June 24, 2013    Tags: , , , ,   

In three weeks,  THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOLUME FOUR: THE STRANGERS will appear with a burst of shimmery purple in bookstores, mailboxes, and readers’ hands!   23 days and counting.

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June began with a week of school visits in DC/northern Virginia.  To the fabulous teachers, librarians, and students at Porter Traditional School, Centre Ridge Elementary, Eagle View Elementary, Crestwood Elementary, Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary, Old Bridge Elementary, and Laurel Hill Elementary: Thanks again for the welcome, the pizza and strawberries, the works of art, the fabulous questions, the follow-up emails…and most of all, for reading my books.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.  And more thanks go to the staff at Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, for providing boxes full of THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE.

Now, with most schools out for the summer, I’ll have a couple of quiet-ish weeks before THE STRANGERS events kick off.   And THEN…

Thursday, July 11: THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOLUME THREE: THE SECOND SPY is released in paperback.

Saturday, July 13: I’ll be at the Anderson Center here in Red Wing, MN for the annual Summer Celebration of the Arts — an outdoor festival featuring local food, art, and entertainment on the Anderson Center’s gorgeous grounds — selling and signing my books, including a limited number of pre-release copies of THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOLUME FOUR: THE STRANGERS.  Come on down/up/out and join us.

Tuesday, July 16: THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOLUME FOUR: THE STRANGERS is released in hardcover and downloadable audio format.  The book is already available for pre-order, so visit IndieBound, Amazon, or B&N anytime.  And if your favorite bookstore doesn’t have it on the shelves, ask them to order it — word of mouth means so much.  AND, for those of you who have been waiting for it, THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE, VOLUME THREE: THE SECOND SPY will also be released in downloadable audio format.  More info on that when I’ve got it.

Saturday, July 20: Party for THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE at Karma Gifts, 204 N. Main Street, River Falls, WI.  Art projects, treats, reading, Q&A, book signing — the whole shebang — and copies of THE SHADOWS, SPELLBOUND, THE SECOND SPY, and THE STRANGERS will be available.

Saturday, July 27: I’ll be reading, chatting, and signing books at Valley Bookseller, one of my favorite bookshops, in Stillwater, MN.

Those of you who live far from my part of the world: I love getting pictures of my books in the wild.  If you spot copies of THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE — and THE STRANGERS in particular — in bookstores, libraries, or readers’ hands and feel inspired to send me photos (jacqueline@jacquelinewest.com), I’ll share them on my blog.

 

 

 

 

 

Spectacles

Thank you notes

May 29, 2013    Tags: , , ,   

So, I had some minor surgery on my tear duct yesterday, which means that today I’m a little black-eyed and bloody-nosed and bleary — but hopefully I will not have to make any more public appearances while crying out of one side of my face.   Hooray!  (Even better: They had to verify the site of the operation with permanent marker, and my doctor’s initials are JK, so it looks like someone punched me in the eye and then wrote “Just Kidding!” over my eyebrow.  It’s pretty great.)

And what better time to catch up on blogging than while lounging groggily on the couch?  None.  Groggy blogging.  Here we go.

From the time we were able to print, my brothers and I were trained to write thank-you notes for any gifts we received.  Because Christmas and my birthday were four days apart, I spent a lot of each post-holiday season squirming on my knees beside the living room coffee table, whining and sulking and wrestling with mannerly writer’s block.   But Mom persisted, as mothers are wont to do.  And eventually I would finish writing the thank-you notes and send them out into the world, often to relatives who lived only a few miles away.  The crazy thing is, a lot of those relatives kept my thank-you notes.  As a graduation gift, my (Fairy) Godmother Kris gave me a scrapbook full of letters and drawings and thank-you notes that I had sent to her over the years.  When we emptied out the big family house after my grandparents died, we found scads of thank-you notes from grandchildren, all written in shaky print or flourishy cursive.  (My own favorite might have been the one from me that read, “Thank you for the pretty rosary case! I’m always losing my rosary, and now I’ll always be able to find it,” like the future little nun/saint that I wasn’t.)

I still try to write actual, on paper, through-the-mail thank-you notes today, because I like getting them from others, and I think a thank-you that’s put in words, that you can hold in your hands, is something special.  But sometimes sending actual notes is difficult, like when we only make contact with someone through email, or when the list of thanks grows impossibly long, or when schedules get so hectic that we barely remember where we were and what we did there by the time we get home to our stationery.

So here are some belated (and not on paper) thank-you notes:

Thank you to everyone who made April is for Authors in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, such a great event — especially Sue and Helen, the coordinators, and Helen’s husband, who came flying out of his house very early in the morning in order to get me to my second school visit on time.  Thanks to everyone at Starlight Cove Elementary and Morikami Park Elementary, especially media specialists Christie Connors and Becky Brant (and to Christie’s parents, who drove me around and got me lunch and told me all about high school hockey), and to all the kids who gave me amazing thank-you notes of their own after my visit.  Thanks to volunteer coordinator  Thais Villanueva, who fed me amazing Cuban black bean soup beside her beautiful swimming pool, and thanks to Andy Larson, founder of Thinkersize, for creating a Cranium CoRE game for The Shadows.

IMG_20130427_091821Here’s one group getting ready to play Cranium CoRE.  They picked the team name “AUSOM: The Absolutely Unrelenting Seriousness of Mathematics,” which made me happy.

Thank you to all the staff and students who made this year’s Hiawatha Valley Young Writers’ Conference at Winona State University possible.  The setting, the concept, and the all people involved were exciting and inspiring.

Thanks to everyone at St. Croix Central School, especially 4th grade teacher Ann Leque, for making last week’s school visit happen.  I’ve never spoken in a giant tent before, and the students were wonderful.  I’ll be thinking of all of you as repairs to your school and library move forward.  (More on the SCC arson and the school’s current home at “Panther Camp” here and here.)

And thanks to the third grade teachers at Burnside Elementary here in Red Wing (especially Emily Seefeldt, who made it all happen!), for using my books as a read-aloud, and for getting the students so excited about these stories.  What a treat to speak right here, in my hometown, to a group of such engaged and enthusiastic kids.

On Sunday, I head to the Washington DC area for a week of school visits!   Hopefully my black eye will have faded by then…

Ooh, one last important note: Earlier this spring, I got a lovely letter from a 6th grader in Santa Ana, CA, named Flor M.  I sent a reply, but it was returned to me, because the return address provided was incorrect or incomplete.  Flor, if you happen to read this, I hope you’ll double check the address and send me a message at jacqueline@jacquelinewest.com.

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Endangered Authors, Week 2

April 22, 2013    Tags: , , , ,   

It’s the end of another exciting/exhausting week on the road!  The “Endangered Authors” show is running like a smooth and bookish circus: We pile out of the minivan, snap the set together, talk and laugh with kids, and zoom away again, leaving the scent of Sharpies in our wake.  For another (and another) perspective on the tour, check out this review in Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/article/endangered-author-tour-with-jobling-rodkey-west-and-gidwitz) and this blog by a teacher at Carver Middle School, Miami (http://byrdonbooks.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/ya-authors-gidwitz-jobling-rodkey-and-west-are-on-the-endangered-authors-tour-and-it-is-awesome/).  Thanks for spreading the word, Pamela and Janas!

This was my fifth visit to Texas in two years — the Lone Star state has been awfully good to me — and we had a great time in Houston and Austin on Monday and Tuesday.  Thanks again to everyone at West University Elementary, Bunker Hill Elementary, Mills Elementary, Kiker Elementary, and to the booksellers at Blue Willow Bookshop (where, by the way, signed copies of our books are currently in stock), and to the fabulous folks at Perma-bound.

IMG_20130415_103939(A slew of signed books at West University Elementary)

Then it was off to Chicago, where torrential rain caused some crazy flooding, turning roads into rivers, schoolyards into swamps, and cemeteries into zombie aquariums…or so we imagined.  Dozens of schools were forced to close, including Hester Junior High, where we were supposed to stop on Thursday.  [Students/staff at Hester JHS: We’re sorry we missed you. If you’d like to arrange an email interview, or get some signed bookplates, or schedule a future in-person visit with me, please get in touch any time.]  To everybody at Lincoln Middle School, Cossitt Middle School, Heritage Middle School, Lincolnwood School, and Oak Terrace School: You were awesome.

Here’s the crowd at Lincolnwood on Friday morning, making us feel welcome (and slightly deaf):IMG_20130419_101056

Chicago is a wonderland of indie booksellers.  To find signed copies of The Books of Elsewhere, The Chronicles of Egg, Wereworld, and A Tale Dark and Grimm, visit The Book Stall in Winnetka (where Robert can answer all of your kids’ lit questions), Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park (thanks again for braving the deluge, Rosie!), and Anderson’s in Naperville.


While the rest of the troupe flew home to NYC for some family-hugging and underwear-washing, Curtis and I headed on to DC.  We spent today visiting TWELVE local bookstores to sign books (it was supposed to be THIRTEEN, but we were just a few minutes too late for the downtown B&N), so for a limited time, you can find signed copies of Wereworld and The Books of Elsewhere at almost every DC-area Barnes & Noble, at Books-A-Million in McLean and at Dupont Circle, and at the practically perfect Politics & Prose Bookstore.

Here’s the staff picks display at the Rockville, Maryland Barnes & Noble, which made me very happy:

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(Not staged, I swear)

And here’s famous author Curtis Jobling in the children’s section at Politics & Prose:

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And lastly, here’s some student art from Lincolnwood Elementary:

Read Forever Lincolnwood El

“Read Forever.” Good advice.

 

 

Spectacles

Endangered Authors Tour, Week 1 (mostly pictures and thank-yous)

April 11, 2013    Tags: , , , ,   

Hey, everybody!

We’re wrapping up our first week of traveling, school-visiting, and book signing.  Things have been marvelous all around, although I’m starting to feel a bit loopy and disoriented. (This morning, I couldn’t find my glasses, my phone, or the buzzing alarm clock, and I spent several seconds wondering where on earth I was and whether I was supposed to be asleep there before I found my glasses, saw palm trees out the window, and remembered that I was in my very own hotel room in Miami.)  Geoff Rodkey and Curtis Jobling are top blokes, as Curtis himself might say, and they’ve both been blogging about the tour.  You can read their delightful observations here and here; I’m feeling too out of it for a full-scale recap.  Maybe later.  For now: Pictures!!!

IMG_6387Watching Curtis mock One Direction and sparkly vampires at the Davis Academy in Atlanta, Georgia

IMG_6408Chatting with readers at the Davis Academy

IMG_6422Assembling the crazy collapsible set

IMG_6472The crowd at St. Thomas More School in Decatur, Georgia

IMG_20130410_103152Curtis enthusiastically signing books at Page & Palette between school visits in Fairhope, Alabama

Speaking of signed books, you can now find signed copies of all four of our series (A Tale Dark and Grimm, The Chronicles of Egg, Wereworld, and The Books of Elsewhere) at the following fantastic independent bookstores:
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH
Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA
Page & Palette, Fairhope, AL
Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL

These are the kind of bookstores that give me hope for the future.  Huge, HUGE thanks to all of the booksellers who have hosted us, and who have connected us to these amazing schools:

– Campbell County Middle School, Alexandria, KY
– Davis Academy, Atlanta, GA
– St. Thomas More School, Decatur, GA
– Fairhope Intermediate School, Fairhope, AL
– J. Larry Newton School, Fairhope, AL
– Carver Middle School, Coral Gables, FL

The enthusiasm, insight, and warmth of the kids at each of these stops has blown us away. Palmer Trinity School and Gator Run Elementary: We’ll see you tomorrow!

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In Minnesota, there’s an April snowstorm.  In Miami, there’s an orchid in my drink.

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Between travels

April 5, 2013    Tags: , , , ,   

I leave on Sunday morning for the big Endangered Authors II tour, and I’ve just had time to unpack my New Orleans luggage, send the latest revision of Volume Five off to my editor, and get my carefully cleaned coat re-covered with Brom hair.  New Orleans at Easter was lively and lovely and full of amazing hats.  We caught beads at Easter parades, walked the Quarter, took a streetcar to the Garden District, and ate a shameful amount of pastry.

Here, in panoramic West-vision:

J Writing at Croissant D'OrVol. 5 Croissant D'Or               Ryan’s view                                                            My view

 

Ryan Pere Antoine Alleyphoto(3)Lafayette Cemetery Easter     Pere Antoine Alley            Jackson Square                  Lafayette Cemetery

This year’s Endangered Authors Tour includes the Story Pirates, Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm), Geoff Rodkey (The Chronicles of Egg), and Curtis Jobling (Wereworld)… and me.  I’m excited to be hitting the road with them, seeing new parts of the country (hello, Connecticut!), and meeting young readers.  It looks like all of our events this time will be school visits—in other words, not open to the general public—but we will be signing stock at local bookstores in each location, so if you’re looking for signed copies, check with your indie booksellers!  I’ll post a list of stores where we’ve signed once the tour is complete.  Also, a few last-minute schedule changes/additions are possible — I pre-apologize for any mistakes.

Here we go:

April 8: Alexandria, KY (Campbell County School)

April 9: Atlanta/Decatur, GA (Davis Academy, St. Thomas More School)

April 10: Fairhope, AL (Fairhope Intermediate School, J. Larry Newton School)

April 11: Coral Gables, FL (Carver Middle School)

April 12: Palmetto Bay/Weston, FL (Palmer Trinity School, Gator Run Elementary)

April 14: Stock signing in Houston, TX

April 15: Houston, TX (West University Elementary, Bunker Hill Elementary)

April 16: Austin, TX (Mills Elementary, Kiker Elementary)

April 17: Oak Park, IL (Lincoln Middle School, Cossitt Middle School)

April 18: Oak Park, IL (Heritage Middle School, Hester Junior High School)

April 19: Evanston/Highwood, IL (Lincolnwood School, Oak Terrace School)

April 21: Stock signing in Alexandria, VA/Washington DC

April 22: Alexandria, VA (Hollin Meadows Elementary, Mt. Vernon Community School)

April 23: Milford/Clinton, CT (Meadowside School, Abraham Pierson School)

April 24: Montclair/Glen Ridge, NJ (Charles H. Bullock Elementary, Ridgewood Avenue School)

And THEN I head alone to Palm Beach, Florida for April is for Authors.  On April 26, I’ll be visiting with the kids at Morikami Park Elementary, and on Saturday, April 27, I’ll be speaking, reading, and signing books at Palm Beach Gardens High School for the April is for Authors festival.  This is a free public event, so come down and say hello!  A schedule of author events will be posted on the festival website any day now.

April 28: Come home.  Get covered in dog slobber.  Sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wintry Mix

January 29, 2013    Tags: , , , , ,   

Freezing rain and fog here in Minnesota, with the roads so treacherous that schools are closed. I’d much rather have an actual blizzard…but a flurry of words and links and news will have to do.

First things first: The advance reading copies of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume Four: The Strangers have arrived at my house in their excitingly heavy box!  If you (or someone you know) is a book blogger or reviewer, and you would like an ARC of The Strangers, contact me in the comments or email me at jacqueline@jacquelinewest.com.  Obviously, quantities are limited, but I will guarantee a copy for the first three reviewer-respondents.

(For now, this offer is for bloggers/reviewers only.  I will very likely do a giveaway for readers in a few more weeks, so stay tuned!)

Speaking of book bloggers, two great reviews of The Second Spy appeared on Book Nut and Book ‘Em! Huge thanks to everyone who is spreading the word in this way.

I learned that The Second Spy was nominated for the 2012 Cybils Awards, as well as for the Minnesota Book Awards.  It isn’t a finalist for either, but both awards have been very kind to The Books of Elsewhere in the past, and truly fantastic books are on both lists.

The Second Spy also got a mention (and its picture!) in Publishers Weekly, in an article on holiday book sales.

My spring travel schedule is about to get really crazy, with more events being added all the time.   Keep an eye on http://jacquelinewest.com/appearance-calendar.php, if you’re interested.  This weekend, I’m off to booksALIVE! in Panama City, Florida.  So long, freezing rain.  Hello, Emerald Coast.

 

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Vagabond Shoes

November 29, 2012    Tags: , , ,   

We spent Thanksgiving in New York City with Ryan’s family.  It was Ryan’s first visit, and my first non-book-whirlwind visit, so we had time for some sightseeing and bagel-fueled street-wandering: The Metropolitan Museum, Central Park, the Museum of Natural History.  Since coming home, we’ve been playing the game of watching our favorite New York-based shows and squealing “We’ve been there!” whenever something familiar appears on the screen.

One of my favorite stops was the New York Public Library, naturally.

Finding my third book in the Children’s Center.  The first volume was checked out, which made me even happier.

With the stuffed animals that belonged to the real Christopher Robin and inspired A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories.  You probably can’t see it, but I am crying.  (How small the real Piglet is!  And how shirtless the Pooh!)

Now I’m back in my own very quiet house, hard at work on Volume Five.

A very sweet new review of The Books of Elsewhere can be found here.

And if you’d like to take the reviewer’s suggestion and get some (signed!) copies of The Books of Elsewhere for the readers on your holiday list, I’ll be at the Thank-You Celebration at the Red Wing Public Library from 5:00 – 6:00 on Friday, December 7, selling and signing The Shadows, Spellbound, and The Second Spy. (Of course, if you already have copies of your own and just want them signed, you can bring those too.)

Big news about Volume Four to follow very soon…

 

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Hey, Winona! (Not you, Ryder.)

November 15, 2012    Tags: , , ,   

This Sunday–November 18th–I’ll be a guest at Kids Day, part of a special open house event at The Book Shelf in Winona, Minnesota. If you’re in the area, or if you know anyone who is, please spread the word! (Now would be a great time to stock up on holiday gifts from a fantastic independent bookstore. Just saying.) I’ll be reading, signing books, chatting, and bringing supplies for some Books of Elsewhere-related art and writing projects. The event goes on all weekend, but I’ll be there from 10:00 – 11:30ish on Sunday only. Or, to put all of this another way:

I’d love to see you there.

“Under the Bed” had its premiere and its closing in quick succession (that’s how it goes when there are only two performances), and I got to attend both.  The students, staff, and families who helped out with the production at Twin Bluff Middle School did amazing work, and the audience seemed to love it, and I’m still hearing nice things from people around town.  I didn’t take any photos of the set or of the cast in costume, but if I can find someone else who did, I’ll post some images here.

And while I’m talking about past events, another huge thank you to the kids, teachers, and volunteers at Mosinee Middle School, who hosted me last week.  It was a joy.  Same goes for the kids at Fairmount School in Downer’s Grove, IL, who I got to visit with via Skype yesterday.  I’m one lucky writer.

I should have some big Books of Elsewhere news to share in the very near future, so stay tuned!  In the meantime, if you’ve been enjoying the books, please consider writing a review at Amazon.com (or Goodreads, if you’re a Goodreads-user.  A Goodreader?).  This kind of individual recommendation can mean a lot.  It certainly does to me.

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Fall Leaves and Steel Wrists

October 1, 2012    Tags: , ,   

(My just-waking-up view: The maple tree through our stained glass window.)

Happy autumn, everyone.  This is my favorite time of year: Rich colors, Halloween preparations, getting to wear long sleeves again… By the end of September, I’m practically euphoric.

I spent the last beautiful week visiting all nine elementary schools in Stillwater, Minnesota, courtesy of the Valley Bookseller.  Kathy, the store’s amazing children’s specialist, coordinated the entire tour, and she took care of everything from scheduling the stops and arranging sales to keeping me fueled with sandwiches and caffeine.  (Kathy: You rock.)  At each school, I gave talks, read aloud, answered questions, played guessing games, and signed books and signed books and then signed a few hundred more books.  Whew. Writers may not be known for impressive physical strength (something to do with sitting at desks and staring into space for hours each day, I suppose), but we’ve got wrists of steel, I tell ya.

Getting to talk with so many enthusiastic young readers and writers was a pleasure.  Thanks again to the staff and students at Lake Elmo, Withrow, Andersen, Rutherford, Stonebridge, Oak Park, Afton-Lakeland, Lily Lake, and Marine Elementary Schools, for making us feel so welcome.

(Signed and personalized books waiting for their readers at Afton-Lakeland and Rutherford Elementary.  Yes, Rutherford. If there had been a Dunwoody or Horatio Elementary, I would have started to think I’d dreamt the whole thing.)

Speaking of fall fun: On Sunday, October 28, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., I’ll be at Karma Gifts in River Falls, WI for a special Halloweeny open house.  I’ll read and chat and answer questions, books will be available for sale and signing, there will be art and spell-writing projects for kids, and as anyone who came to last year’s event knows, Val’s autumn treats and decorations are out of this world.  Please come join us!

Now back to work on Volume Five.

Spectacles

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