Bolivian Hat Update (Or Lack Thereof)

Before I forget- stupid stupid stupid Giants.

That's to indicate how well rounded I am. And polite. Because compared to what people are going to be saying on sports radio stations tomorrow, I'm being extraordinarily compassionate.

And to continue with this well rounded theme, my tee shirt wardrobe has increased by one. I am now the proud possessor of an extremely handsome 27th World Series Champion NY Yankee tee shirt. I looked at every style available at Modells before finding the one I really liked (as opposed to willing to settle for in the heat of the moment).

I bet I won't be buying a Giants Super Bowl Champions tee shirt on Feb. 8.

Back to the Bolivian hat. I got an email this evening asking if Scooter and I had done the drawing yet. The answer is no.

I did write out all the email addresses so I can put them in the hat, which I'll do when the This World We Live In ARCs arrive. That could be tomorrow, or Tuesday or a week from now or when the Giants actually win a game again. Okay, that may never happen, but the ARCs pretty much have to, because Harcourt wants to give them away at the NCTE conference and the NCTE conference starts Nov. 19. Which isn't to say I'll get my ARCs before Nov. 19. Just that the ARCs will most likely exist by then.

Stupid Giants.

When the ARCs arrive, I'll blog here and at thirdmoonbook and announce that the ARCs are here and I'll be drawing out the names. Or maybe I'll draw out the names and blog that I've done it (that makes more sense, which is more than can be said for the stupid Giants' stupid play calling).

Either way, and Giants notwithstanding, when I've drawn out the names, I'll email the people whose email addresses I've pulled out, and ask them to send me their mailing addresses. I've already bought the mailing envelopes, and I'm sure Scooter will be a great help when it comes to addressing and packing.

Meantime, if you haven't emailed me to be put in the hat, and you still want to, go ahead and do it. And I remain cautiously optimistic that after I've sent off the first batch of ARCs, I'll locate a few more for you. Although my mother has said she wants one.

At least she doesn't want my beautiful NY Yankees 27th Championship tee shirt!

Yankees Win! Theeeeeee Yankees Win!!!!!

It's hard to imitate a radio broadcaster in a blog. But that's what Yankee broadcaster John Sterling sounded like last night.

I know because I was listening to the radio version of the game while watching it on TV. One great advantage was the radio broadcast was a couple of seconds ahead of the TV one, so I knew what was going to happen before it did.

Those of us who like to know the future are very grateful for any such advantages.

Meanwhile, the Yankees owe their victory to me (and I'll expect a ring). I bought a roasted chicken and prepackaged salad at Hannafords last Thursday, and discovered that the days I ate it for lunch or dinner (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), the Yankees won. Monday, I didn't eat it, and they lost.

So I skipped Tuesday and ate it for supper last night, and the rest is history.

Scooter feels somewhat responsible also, since he's named for Yankee great Phil Rizzuto (all Yankees are referred to as Yankee great, except for a handful who didn't turn out so well). If I were the kind of person who did this sort of thing, I'd buy a little Yankee cap and put it on him just for a photo. But Scooter's great good fortune continues, since I don't do that sort of thing.

I was up until 1 AM celebrating, and Scooter took it quite well when I threw him off the bed at 6:30 (when he thought it was time for the morning Purr On The Neck ritual). He actually let me sleep until 7:30, for which I am very grateful.

I'm also very grateful the Series didn't go for seven games. My nerves couldn't have taken it.

On a totally different subject, I'm pleased to report people who live in Missouri don't have to worry so much about earthquakes. Having killed off most of the state in Life As We Knew It, I'm glad to see my powers don't extend quite that much.

Speaking of powers, I don't have the power to make the ARCS for This World We Live In appear at my doorstop (or anyplace else for that matter). If they come before Wednesday, I'll try my darndest to get as many of them to the Bolivian Hat winners as I can before going to Skate America that Friday. If they show up later, then they won't get sent off until Evan Lysacek has landed his final triple axel there.

Ooh ooh, the doorbell just rang. That's my friend Hilarie. She's driving through my part of NY on her way to PA to a Highlights Foundation Writing Non-Fiction For Children Workshop, being given by Barbara Kerley, and we're having lunch.

I may not be able to predict the future, but I can predict I won't be ordering roasted chicken!

If You'd Like A Chance At A This World We Live In ARC

There's been a delay in the printing of the ARCs for This World We Live In, and most likely I won't be getting my copies until next week.

My original plan had been to suggest people email me after the copies had arrived, but I've gotten impatient, so I'm switching the order. I think I'll have a couple of dozen copies to distribute, maybe a few more, and I'll send them out just about as soon as I get them. If I get more, right away or later on, I'll keep on sending.

Here's the deal. Most likely more than two dozen people are going to ask for an ARC. If there are more requests than ARCs, I'll use a lottery, as I have in the past for ARCs of The Dead And The Gone (I didn't know any of you when I got my ARCs for Life As We Knew It).

If you want to be in the drawing, then email me, either using the email address at this blog or at the other (but not both). Leaving a comment won't do it, because what I do is copy everyone's email address and put them in the Bolivian hat (currently residing on the bathroom wall) and pull out names.

If yours is one I pull out, I'll email you back and ask for your name and address. So you don't have to include them in your Bolivian hat email.

Some of you have already emailed your request. I've kept all those emails in a special folder, so you don't have to email me again.

I think when I get an email request I'll email back saying "Thank you," just so you'll know your email arrived.

Oh, I pay for the envelopes and postage and all that. So don't worry about it.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment. But again, if you want a chance at an ARC, a comment won't do it. I'd tell you what would, but I've used the word email so many times in this blog entry, I'm tired of typing it!

Posted by Susan Beth Pfeffer at 11:17 AM

But His Speciality Is Onomatopoeia

I spent Tuesday in Houston talking to high school students about Life As We Knew It and The Dead And The Gone (and I told them stuff about This World We Live In, because I can't resist).

The students and faculty were absolutely wonderful and I had a very good time.

The only problem was the students were better educated than I am. That's not surprising, given the quirks of my education, but when people are better educated than I am about the books I write, it can be a problem.

Several of the students asked me about the foreshadowing in LAWKI.

Who knew there was foreshadowing? It was news to moi (see, that one year of French still comes in handy).

In TW, there's a lot of stuff I think of as echoes, which I guess is foreshadowing only in reverse. Backshadowing. Anyway, one thing happens and then later on something else happens and if you think about it (and I did) you can see that there was something earlier in the book that wasn't exactly like it, but kind of sort of like it. Give or take.

But I never thought about that in LAWKI or d&g. I just wrote them.

Scooter, on the other paw, knows all about foreshadowing. He's the kitten king of foreshadowing, as you can tell by this photograph.


While I had a great time every single place I went to the past six weeks, after trips to Virginia, New York City, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas, I'm happy to be home.

I think Scooter and his shadow are happy about it as well!

ETA: This piece from Publishers Weekly on what teens read and why and how is so interesting, I'm providing a link. I'm sure Scooter won't mind.

I'll Be Sitting In The Corner Munching Some Doritos

I spent much of yesterday at Ocean City High School, in Ocean City, New Jersey. The ocean in question is the Atlantic (and a fine ocean it is).

As I was doing my presentation to a group of pleasant, well mannered, highly intelligent ninth graders, I got kind of woozy. I mentioned, in passing, that if I didn't sit down immediately, I would pass out, and one of the ninth graders suggested I sit in an actual chair, which I did (I was sufficiently woozy that I didn't think I could perch on the side of a table and remain conscious, but not so woozy that I was incapable of checking out seating alternatives).

As I burst into a cold sweat and turned grey, I mentioned that given I was at a school, someone really should call for the school nurse.

It turned out they already had called for the school nurse. She had just arrived in time to admire how awful I looked.

So in front of all those ninth graders, she gave me an examination. First she commented on my grey complexion and clammy skin. Then she checked for my pulse in my left wrist. Unfortunately she couldn't find one, which I explained to the students meant I was dead. She switched over to my right wrist, where apparently my pulse had migrated. It was slow or weak or something but it was there.

Then she took my blood pressure. She murmured the number 80, then said she didn't like that blood pressure machine and I should go to her office and have my pressure taken there later.

I had explained to the students that my temperature is always a little lower than normal, so when it comes out normal, that means I have a fever. The nurse took my temperature, declared it normal, and all the students said, "That means she has a fever."

Now if I'd been a student, I would have been sent home. I mean I was grey. They don't keep grey students in school (or at least they didn't when I went to school, which is why I used to try my hardest to be grey, so I could go home). But because I'm a grownup now (and have been for countless decades), I kept saying I was feeling better and better and no one even hinted I should go home. Of course home was 191 miles away, and it wasn't like my mother was going to go to school to get me.

So I went back to presenting, although sitting down in a chair while I did. After the session ended, I went to the nurse's office and she took my official blood pressure, which was 90 over 60. She told me to keep drinking fluids and have some protein at lunch (so I had a chicken salad sandwich, and a pumpkin cookie with cream cheese icing).

By the end of the school day I felt fine, although this afternoon I did take a two hour nap just to be on the safe side. When I woke up, I figured I should find out if I had something fatal, so I went to Dr. Google, and typed in my more attractive symptoms: Cold Sweat Clammy Skin Low Blood Pressure.

Sure enough, many websites offered diagnoses. I picked one, and it turns out that low blood pressure is indicative of low blood pressure. But there was an actual name for my condition, something with three initials, most of which I've already forgotten (I think there was an N in there somewhere).

I have low blood pressure brought on by standing. This mostly affects young people, but maturity has never been my strong suit.

The treatment is simple enough. Don't stand for long periods of time and eat more salt.

That sounds easy enough. I'm glad I didn't search No Pulse In Left Wrist though. I'd hate for Dr. Google to tell me I'm dead!

Book Report

Oooh, I just noticed this is my 300th blog entry here. Let's party. You bring the refreshments (I'll eat them).

I'm off to New Jersey in an hour or so, and I haven't packed yet, so this will be a short 300th post. But since I discussed earlier what I'd be reading, I felt I should provide an update.

On the flight to Chicago, I became totally engrossed in the latest issue of Films Of The Golden Age, and pretty much only read that. What an issue! It had a great article about the dog who played Asta (did you know the dog who played Asta on The Thin Man TV show was the original Asta's great-grandson? Me neither), and an absolutely wonderful interview with the assistant director of Dracula Vs. Frankenstein. I am not kidding. It was a great, fascinating read.

There was also a good interview with Van Johnson. Oh heck. Even their article about Allene Roberts was interesting.

My flight back was delayed, so I had lots of time to read The Devil In The White City. I made it about halfway through and really enjoyed what I read. But when I got home, I discovered a book I'd reserved from the library had come in- The Wrong Mother by Sophie Hannah. So I scurried to the library and read it Monday and Tuesday (now I can return it on Friday for the next person who's reserved it).

Those kinds of books always sound better than they pan out to be. It was a good read, but it took what felt like 40 pages to explain who did what and why. I can forgive most of an implausible plot, but I like the solutions to be a tad speedier.

Also when I got back, Google informed me of this question on Yahoo. I really feel for this kid, because there are no physical descriptions of the characters. I hate writing descriptions, so I almost never do (and with a diary format, I didn't have to).

What I do have to do is pack. I'll be taking The Devil In The White City along with me, although I won't have much time to read it or anything else this evening. And my trip to Houston was cut short, so I'll just need something to read on the flight there and back, but nothing for long lonely nights at the motel.

Happy 300th. Maybe 301 will be about the arrival of the This World We Live In ARC. Now that's something I know I'll like reading!

ARC Update

The ARC update is there is no update.

Or more to the point, there are no ARCs. At least not yet. My editor tells me they may come in this week. Which doesn't necessarily mean they'll be on my doorstep (let alone inside my apartment) this week. More like they may come into existence this week.

When I get them, I'll let you know.