The tour rolls on! Yesterday I had a very full day in Los Angeles. I did an in-store event at Children’s Book World for several school groups. It was right down the street from the Fox studios, so some of the gang from the studio and 1492 Productions who are working on the Lightning Thief movie showed up. Everyone is really excited about how the project is moving forward. Afterwards, I had a great lunch with Sonja Bolle from the L.A. Times for her new kids literature column.
My media escort Ken and I spent the afternoon going from store to store, and I can confirm the rumors that the Titan’s Curse is selling out everywhere. We hardly found any copies because each store had sold out and had multiple copies on reorder. A good problem to have, but not if you’re looking for the book! I left bookplates around, so there should be signed Titan’s Curse copies available in the L.A. area within a few days when they restock. The on-line sellers are also having trouble keeping up with demand. The book is in its third printing and still going strong.
Yesterday evening I had a nice event at Border’s in Torrance. A relatively small crowd — about seventy or so — but still plenty big for a school night in an area I’d never visited! Thanks to all the teachers and kids who showed up! After that, I caught a very late flight into Seattle. I arrived at 2 AM, which is why today I was a bit bleary-eyed.
Nevertheless, it was a fabulous first day in Seattle. Sunny and cool (yes, sunny in Seattle, can you believe it?), and I love this city. It’s so beautiful. I did two school visits during the day and then an evening event at All For Kids. Great store, great staff, and it was completely packed. We had somewhere between 150-200 people, which was pretty much wall-to-wall folks. Several different school groups had come out in force. Before I went on, someone told a bookseller, “This is like the Who for kids.” I resisted the urge to do air guitar windmills and smash my book into the speaker. I also heard a kid worrying (right before I appeared) that he wouldn’t recognize me because I might not be wearing a white shirt like in my author photo. Lo and behold, I just happened to be wearing a white button-down. The kid was delighted. Strangest request: I signed two books to a young reader’s left and right arm muscles, which he dubbed Thunder and Lightning. I’ve signed books to dogs, cats and relatives, but never biceps. I hope they enjoy the books. Perhaps he’s using them as weights.
Still operating on very few hours of sleep, so I’m going to make it an early night! Tomorrow, another day of school visits in Seattle and a signing tomorrow evening at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. If anyone in the Seattle area didn’t get to see me today and wants to come by, please do!
