Can Book Bloggers Change a Life? A Definitive Answer in Publishing Perspectives

Anyone who follows this blog knows just how important book bloggers have been to me.  As first readers, as confidantes, as bright and rustling wings. 

I was recently given the chance to tell that story to Publishing Perspectives, an on-line magazine spearheaded by Ed Nawotka and sponsored by the Frankfurt Book Fair that covers the book industry here and around the globe.  I had thought, when I began to write, that I might list all the bloggers who have been so instrumental in my career.  It quickly became clear that that would be an impossibility—that I would consume all allotted characters on blogger URLs before I had a chance to fully explain.  You all know who you are, of course.  Many of you appear permanently on this page.  I hope you know how much you matter. 

(Please also see Ed's call for responses to the book blogger question here.  Perhaps you'll lend your voice to the conversation.)

Today I would specifically like to thank a certain Danielle of There's a Book, who has been a pillar in my writing life—a buoyant, thoughtful, endearing advocate who has cared deeply about these stories I tell and has—in her own time, just because she is who she is—found ways to spread the word.   I didn't know this until last night, but Danielle also named You Are My Only one of her top reads of last year, one of the books she most recommended to people in 2011, the most beautifully written book she read in 2011, and the book that had the greatest impact on her. 

Danielle also named Small Damages, due out in July from Philomel, as the young adult book she is most anticipating in 2012.

See all of Danielle's thoughtful recommendations here. 

I'm not sure that any writer could hope for more than that.  I am sure, however, that anyone who questions the value of book bloggers has not had the privilege of meeting Danielle.

Great thanks again to all of you who have made such a difference in my life. 

My other stories for Publishing Perspectives can be found here:

The Attraction-Repulsion of International Literature: My conversation with Alane Salierno Mason

Transforming Children's Book Coverage at the New York Times: My conversation with Pamela Paul

Success is when the world returns your faith:  My conversation with editor Lauren Wein

Between Shades of Gray:  The Making of an International Bestseller 

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Presenting Lenore Reads Dangerous Neighbors (in the midst of huge news for her)

I spent part of yesterday, as readers of this blog know, with Kate Milford, whose first book, The Boneshaker, I'll be writing of here in weeks to come.  Kate's work has been compared to Ray Bradbury's work and is described as a fusion of steampunk, historical fantasy, and magical realism—all of which got us talking about dystopian fiction. I boasted a bit about my friend, Lenore, who has supported so many writers out here in the blogosphere, designed contests and participated in them, read religiously, introduced us to her cats, and kept us informed about the travels of her talented illustrator husband, Daniel (not to mention their travels together).  In the midst of all that, Lenore put her words where her heart is, penned a dystopian novel, and sold it as both a book and film project.  And no small book/film project either.  Here's what Publishers Weekly had to say:

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers has acquired a YA novel called Level Two by Lenore Appelhans, in a joint acquisition with CBS Films. According to S&S, this is the first time the company has coordinated a deal so that an author received a simultaneous book and film offer. In Level Two, the liminal place between our world (Level One) and heaven, Felicia spends her days reliving her memories from the security of her pod—until she gets broken out by Julian, a boy she met on Earth. Appelhans writes the popular YA blog Presenting Lenore. Level Two will be published in either fall 2012 or spring 2013, with a 200,000-copy first printing.

Since I'd been telling Kate this story, I had it in mind to stop by Lenore's fine blog and let her know that she'd been with us in spirit in a Mt. Airy bookstore.  Stop by I did, only to discover this post, from Lenore, about Dangerous Neighbors.  Which made me happy and quite in awe that she had the time to do this with all the other things that are going on in her life.

Thank you, Lenore!  (And, again, congratulations.)

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Scenes from the Book Blogger Convention...

which was so well run, so informative, and so rippled through with companionable energy:

The Javitz Convention Center.  Yours truly flanked by the gorgeous Natasha (Maw Books Blog) and the stunning Nicole (Linus's Blanket).  The faithful attendees, of the very last BEA week day, after the very last session, as seen from the very last seat of the Author/Blogger Relationship panel discussion.  Yours truly with the one and only Lenore.  Yours truly with the always-kind Melissa of The Betty and Boo Chronicles.  And never last and never least:  The fabulous Amy of My Friend Amy (in person!) as well as the very dear and intelligent Wendy of Caribousmom. 

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International Book Blogger Mentor Program

If there's one thing we know for sure about Presenting Lenore, it's this:  She will never, ever bore us. She will not fade into the woodwork, she will not recede, and she will experience no shortages of great ideas or memes.

The International Book Blogger Mentor Program was her brainchild, too, and I was a participating author.  I sent three of my books—Undercover, House of Dance, and The Heart is Not a Size—to the rising, Puerto Rico-based author/reviewer Patty of Yay! Reads, and her responses—honest, insightful—made me feel confident that our future is in very good hands.

Check the whole thing out here.

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The Barcelona of Nothing but Ghosts, and a Bloggy Confession

Dear Lenore went to Barcelona last week for a wedding and visited a place so dear to me that I wrote it into Nothing but Ghosts. What a gift, then, that she has returned with photographs from her trip, and with memories that she shares with her lucky readers today. She's included, in her post, a Barcelona excerpt from Ghosts.

Another key Ghosts scene takes place here, at Ciutadella Park. A place I wish I would find myself strolling through again, and soon. Wings, anyone? Fantasies?

On another topic now, I fear I must make amends: Poor Sierra has been left wondering (due to my previous two posts) whether I have porcelain-faced doppelgangers in my own backyard. Alas, I do not. I fear my blog makes me seem far more eccentric (by which I mean interesting) than I actually am. In fact, I live in a small, quiet, and (to a fault) immaculate house with a manicured front and back yard, and a (shall I say it?) surround of celebrated gardens (the kind that people slow their cars down for). All bath tubs (that would be one) are of the indoor variety. I own no shower cap. I do not have A. Jolie lips. I wear my trench coats over clothes, not naked skin. But this is true: When I look up, I look for the stars.

All of which would be explanation enough as to why I shifted from memoir to history to fiction. The older I get, the more I like to make things up.

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The Bootleg Nothing but Ghosts Interview/Major Prizes/Stunned Author

I am definitely living another's life right now.

I am not me. I am merry-go-round whirling. I am dizzy.

First My Friend Amy and Presenting Lenore cook up this not-to-be-believed virtual (surprise) launch party for Nothing but Ghosts—replete with prizes, with urgings, with viral enthusiasms. Their friends friend the initiative. Momentum builds. Conversations unfold: Can bloggers shape the book industry? Is there power in blogger suggestion? A party becomes a dialogue. A dialogue becomes a story. I watch, stunned—the woman who still thinks of herself as the loner in high school.

Then, today, I wake to discover that my friend, humorist and novelist (yes, she's a novelist; I'm reading her it-will-be-published-soon novel right now) Anna Lefler, has kicked off an extravaganza all her own. I mean: An. Ex.Tra.Va.Gan.Za. Featuring a Beth Kephart tour bus (how does she do those things?), an ocarina, and a bootleg interview conducted (in Anna's trademark so-smart-it-can't-be-slapstick style) with yours truly (when I received her questions I started to laugh; as I answered I kept laughing). Featuring prizes that you have to see to believe ($150 Amazon gift card anyone?).

I know that life isn't always like this. In fact, it rarely is. Nothing but Ghosts is my tenth book. What happens here, what happens now, is not, for an instant, taken for granted. It is a surprise. It is a miracle. It is this moment in time that I will return to, years from now. Remember when?, I'll say.

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The Presenting Lenore Interview and Ghosts review

Is there something of your mother's that you hold onto that keeps her memory alive? Is cooking cathartic? Does that ancient underground city in Barcelona exist? How do you know when a book you are writing has potential, and how do you know when a project needs to be scrapped?

These were among the questions that were waiting for me over email early yesterday morning. They stopped me in my tracks.

I answered them, as best as I could, for Presenting Lenore, a Germany-based blogger with international reach, to whom I am indebted (for her review, for her co-sponsorship, with My Friend Amy, of the amazing Ghosts book launch party, for her companionship in the land of blogs).

Miss Lenore also reviewed Nothing but Ghosts. Her words touched me deeply, especially her reference to a certain Kate DiCamillo book called The Tiger Rising—a book I first read and fell in love with when chairing the Young People's Literature committee for the 2001 National Book Awards. As readers, as writers, our world is full of echoes and, when we are lucky, resonance. Thank you, Lenore.

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Stunned: A Nothing but Ghosts Surprise Party

I don't have words for today.

That's it, I don't.

My Friend Amy (her blog name, her world self) wrote to me a week or so ago and suggested that we have a Nothing but Ghosts party. I said, "Thank you. Of course. That would be lovely." I said, "Yes, of course, I'll be in a chat (thank you for the invitation)", and "Yes, of course, I'll do a reading (let me fix my hair)", but in truth, I had no idea—zero—what she was planning.

This is what she and Lenore have been planning. My Friend Amy plus Presenting Lenore.

The force is, most definitely, with me.

I also have (and I am grateful for this) Lisa Bishop of HarperTeen on my side. She's posted a piece I wrote on the origins of Nothing but Ghosts on the popular HarperTeen MySpace site today.

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Presenting Lenore Presents Undercover

You have not forgotten dear Presenting Lenore, who taught me the zombie chicken dance (a number I performed for that star of ballroom dancing stars, Jean Paulovich, last Thursday; he was impressed indeed). Who makes me smile at many an odd early-morning hour with her unstintingly opinionated posts. Who takes me back to high school days and academic bowl life, though let us be clear: Lenore made her high school smart team because she was actually smart; I made mine because I had the smartest brother in the entire school (the guy was a stand out everywhere he went—high school, Princeton, Stanford), and people assumed I'd have at least a fraction of his brain matter. (They were wrong, I tell you, wrong! They should have seen the difference in our eyes—his brighest blue, mine hazy green.) Who assures me that sushi can be found in Germany (a relief) and that I can (at my old age) still adopt a cat so as to be more like her.

In any case—that Presenting Lenore.

Lenore has a review of Undercover up on her site right now, and let me tell you all one thing: I'm exhaling mightily over here. Lenore has the toughest of tough standards, and she loves highly plotted tales. I'm just so relieved that she found, in Undercover, a character to remember her former self by. I'm grateful, hugely, that she had such nice things to say.

I bow my head.

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Shouting Out to Some Special Bloggers

Presenting Lenore—oh, Presenting Lenore. She adorned me with a zombie chicken award (yeah, you read that right) and asked me to pass it on. I love Lenore—so smart, so unblinking, so quick on her feet, so adventurous (plus, she loves sushi).

But: To win an award means one should pass the award along, and I've always sidestepped this. I only have one son. I've only had one husband. I only ever had one cat. I can't do the favorites thing. I'm constitutionally incapable.

But I can tell you, as I do in this video, about some of the bloggers who mean a lot to me. I'd list them out here, all properly URLed and stuff, but then what would be your motivation to watch this little vlog? Truly.

Oh man, I hate already all the names I couldn't fit in, like Little Willow (oh my gosh, she's smart, LW, you are right here in my heart), and Ink Mage (so dear), and Jen Robinson and Finding Wonderland (both indispensible), but wanted to so badly. All right, and while I'm at it: The 3 Rs, Shelf Elf, Saints and Spinners, The Holly and the Ivy, Doret, Not The Rockefellers, Juliet Colours, SolvangSherrie, MariReads, SeptemberMom, Kristen, and yup, here you have it, from the horse's mouth itself: There are so many smart women out here that I (with my limited math ability) can't enumerate them all.

(Forgive me.)

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