Thank You Judith Viorst!

If I were at BEA today, I would be in line at Table 15 to get Judith Viorst's autograph.
Events: Autograph Session, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 @ 11:00AM - 11:30AM

Lulu and the Brontosaurus A brand-new illustrated chapter book from two legends in the industry: 
Judith Viorst, Author
and Lane Smith, Illustrator
Published By: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

I'm envisioning myself there right now, even though it is 11:05am in California, and hopefully by 2:05pm in NY the line has wound down so that Ms.Viorst can go to lunch! (Odd how I can't call her Judith. I feel the same way about Beverly Cleary. Calling them Judith or Beverly would feel like calling the Bard Will.

Anyway, back at Table 15...here is my imagined, highly fictitious, #armchairBEA meeting with the amazing Ms. Viorst.
Erin: Hi...um...Ms. Viorst...
(Starstruck, handing her a copy of LULU.. as well as well-loved copies of ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD DAY, ALEXANDER WHO'S NOT (DO YOU HEAR ME? I MEAN IT! GOING TO MOVE), IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER WORRIES, and I'LL FIX ANTHONY, all of which I've lugged from California--plus SUDDENLY SIXTY AND OTHER GOOD SHOCKS OF LATER LIFE...)   
I'm a huge fan.

Ms. Viorst: Why thank you.

Erin:  (as she signs SUDDENLY SIXTY AND OTHER GOOD SHOCKS OF LATER LIFE..) My sister can quote your HOW DID I GET TO BE FORTY? and FOREVER FIFTY so that's for her. She is the one you wrote about in "The Blissful Couple."

Ms. Viorst: My latest, EXCEEDLINGLY EIGHTY AND OTHER ADAPTATIONS, will be out in October.

Erin: Yeah, but she'd kill me if I got her that one.
(Ms Viorst starts to sign IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER WORRIES. . .)

Erin: As a teacher I want to thank you for all the years I've used IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF THE WORLD.. as a writing prompt for kids. These are for you:
(Handing her a few student poems that 2nd graders wrote recently.)

Brock: "If I were in charge of the world, I would make everybody into an adult, and people wouldn't be mean to other people...

Eryiann: "If I were in charge of the world, we could read a lot..."

Andrea: "If I were in charge of the world, we could eat a lot of ice cream..."

anonymous: "If I were in charge of the world, all kids would have parents..."

Ms. Viorst: The world would be a better place, if they were in charge of the world.

Erin:  (as she starts to sign ALEXANDER WHO'S NOT (DO YOU HEAR ME? I MEAN IT! GOING TO MOVE) Sorry about the teeth-prints...I'm not sure if it was my daughter or our nephew who started teething on that one. 

Ms. Viorst: (about to sign ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD DAY) Are these coffee stains?

Erin: Um...possibly...either that or wine...

Ms. Viorst: If your child has a terrible horrible no good very bad day, chances are you've had one too.

Erin: Yeah, moving to Australia has been a tempting concept from time to time in our family.

Ms. Viorst: (signing I'LL FIX ANTHONY, and noticing the line's growing agitation --at me for monopolizing Ms. Viorst's time...) Oh dear...

BEA: Excuse me, but Ms.Viorst needs to move on to the others waiting for autographs.

Ms. Viorst: (with "A reservoir of undiminished Z -- zeal --" ) No worries. (signing LULU) Good luck with your own writing, Erin.

Erin: How did you know I'm a writer?

Ms. Viorst: I'm following you on Twitter, my dear. @erindealey, right? And Facebook, and both blogs and gee, why don't I mentor you? You're fabulous!

Erin: Wow! Really? Are you serious?????

ArmchairBEA bouncer: NOT. This is your dream autograph, remember? Time to get back to your manuscript revisons. You know--the real world.

Erin: Right... : ) Thank you Ms. Viorst, for decades of reading enjoyment, from our entire family. It's been a wonderful, joyful, ArmchairBEA dream.

See you tomorrow!

Social Media Confessions of an Everyday #Tweep

Today I pictured myself at BEA, listening to the panels on Social Media, and tweeting.  Yes, my name is @erindealey but I'm NOT a twitterholic. I'm a regular Tweep. (Just ask my 390 followers--woot!)

Because of Twitter, this Tweep has met librarians, teachers, fellow authors, book reviewers, agents, illustrators, editors, and book store owners--not to mention moms and dads who read to their kids--and book lovers around the world who can still tell a book from its Kindle. Where else would this have happened?

Facebook? It's not the same--although I am friends with Beverly Cleary now. #howcoolisthat?
My blog(s)? no. Up until now, I'd almost forgotten about this one. And my other blog at http://www.erindealey.typepad.com/ is devoted to sharing fun, use-them-tomorrow lesson plans for teachers and librarians, and photos and fan mail from school visits.

On Twitter, however, I've met the kind of amazing people you would meet at BEA; the ones you might sit next to at a conference, or go up to introduce yourself to after their workshop session--like Anne Mazer and Jane Friedman. And consider the power of social media when all of us can congregate at #ArmchairBEA without leaving home?

Writing is no longer a solitary existence.  Those days went out with typewriters. And the job description of an author--in case you haven't noticed--is no longer just: If you write it they will publish. I caught some chat today from BEA (on Twitter at least) about how Social Media is a time-sucking drudgery. I disagree. I think of it as one more way to keep my writing career moving forward, and not merely in a networking-sell-thyself sort of way.

Agent tweets about queries and acquisitions remind me that their days are crazier than mine, and oh yeah, gee, that my own agent has more than one client. (Happy Launch to LaChanze and Little Diva!http://www.littledivabook.com/  !)

Editor tweets with links to their blogs give me insight into the even crazier world of publishing houses as well as which manuscripts are best for whom--(Okay yes, my agent knows these things too but see #nottheonlyclient comment above. It doesn't hurt to do a bit of your own homework. )

Book Reviewers like http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/ let me know what books are out there, as do my pals on #Kidlitchat.

Authors and Librarians who retweet the above-mentioned links also save me mucho cyberspace time and many search engines so that I have time to WRITE.

And Tweeps are helpful folks! When I put up The Writer's Rap on youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYqMA2mPG7I  Hmmm...maybe tomorrow's post will be about hooks...), a lot of teachers couldn't access it at their schools. I asked one of my Twitter pals, librarian @mrschu81, who suggested http://www.teachertube.com/  which most schools can access and voila'.

Okay yes, I do confess the following:
1. I sign on to Twitter before checking email.
2. I #usehashtags in regular emails, texts, and posts. #whatandyoudon't?
3. The only thing better than #Kidlitchat on Tuesday nights is #Glee.
     (thanks @gregpincus and @bonnieadamson )
4. I actually feel like @MaureenJohnson lives next door--and I wish her well on her BEA Keynote. (Will she stop in the middle and announce: "OK I'm going to answer three questions now." Please tweet @erindealey if she does! )

But after my morning tweets, I back away and work on my manuscripts. Manuscripts that will become books and hopefully Book Birthdays to celebrate on Twitter (Thanks to Twitter pal @mitaliperkins). And you know where that leads. : )

See you tomorrow!

ArmchairBEA

I haven't used this site for eons (blame my friend who got me started on Twitter!) but my main blog http://www.erindealey.typepad.com/ is for school visits and lesson plans for teachers so I hereby vow to use this one for ArmchairBEA, and whatever writery ramblings follow after that.

So let's start with a huge thank you (and kudos) to ArmchairBEA blog team Michele , Florinda , Tif , the1stdaughter , and Emily for creating our virtual BEA conference!

Why do I wish I was there? Hellooo, it's in NY. The last time I was there was for SCBWI in February and although the temps were in the teens outside (brrrr!), the speakers and attendees were sizzling with great info and inspiration, as always. And if you're lucky, you meet cool people like the fabulously talented

watch-for-these-illustrators Jessica Gomez and Anastasia Starikova (photo left), and authors (below) Suzanne Dunlap (L) and Marsha Diane Arnold (R) at lunch. (The others are photo-credit shy.)

If I were at BEA, I know I'd look for one of my Twitter pals @HeidiRKling aka debut author Heidi Kling whose YA novel SEA
will be out on June 10th! (Go Heidi!)

And speaking of Twitter, look for the hashtag #ArmchairBEA to follow. (or check my retweets at @erindealey)

In the meantime, I'll get back to my mg revisions and send the pb manuscripts that evolved from NaPiBoWriWee (Thanks Paula Yoo! ) to my agent, as promised. See you at #ArmchairBEA!