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.

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.