Sunday, January 27, 2008

We Interrupt The End Of Civilization For A Weekend In Las Vegas

My cousins Fran and Nancy and I are planning a long weekend trip to Las Vegas, June 5-8. Nancy (who lives outside Boston) and I have never been there. Fran lives in LA and loves Las Vegas, and will show us the sights.

I'm thinking about flying in on Wednesday June 4, and spending Thursday June 5 paying calls on anyone who'd be happy to see me. Life As We Knew It is currently up for the Nevada Young Readers Award, and will have been out in paperback for a month at that point. the dead and the gone will have come out on June 1 (the same day I'm hosting my Cheap And Easy 75th Book Party). I anticipate being in a very good mood in June.

If any of you work in a school or library or bookstore in or around Las Vegas and are interested in my popping in for a visit, to sign books or talk with students (assuming school is still in session; it would be in New York, but I know different states have different calendars) or giving an informal presentation at a library, please send me an e-mail via the cute little link to the left. If you yourselves don't work in a school, library or bookstore in or around Las Vegas, but know someone who might be interested, please tell them to e-mail me.

I'm off to follow the results of the men's figure skating competition without actually being able to see it until it's on TV tonight.

I think my life could use a little Vegas!

14 comments:

Marci said...

Viva Las Vegas! I miss you already.

Anonymous said...

YOu know how to leave Las Vegas with a small fortune?

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hello Marci and Anonymous-

Let me guess. Go with a large fortune?

As it happens, I'm not a gambler. I would be if I knew I was going to win (I'm never opposed to free anything, including money), but apparently losing is also a possibility. Drat and curse.

See how Marci says she misses me already. That's because she's a saint. She puts up with me every Wednesday. Frankly, I'd have trouble putting up with me every Wednesday, which now that I think about it is probably why I write fiction.

Marci said...

Heck, I even put up with you when it is not a Wednesday! And I am NOT a saint! But you do write fiction.

I think you ought to write a murder mystery set in a FOL Book Store. I know who the corpse can be! And there is even political intrigue, and break-ins and mysterious illnesses. And the body can be carted out unknowingly by the guy who recycles the books and his warehouse burns down. And two middle aged sleuths solve the mystery while arguing over the particulars. This could be really good! They even own cats!

And it might even be fiction.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Marci-

And just how does the body get carted off unknowingly by the guy who recycles books? Does it get carved up into carton sized pieces? Or could it be there's a coffin the basement just waiting for a body to hold?

Hmmm...You may be onto something. But for the moment, I'm too involved with P3B to focus on anything else.

Anonymous said...

And from the clues I'm seeing here, the action will all take place on a Wednesday.

Glen

Anonymous said...

Actually, it didn't really take a Sherlock Holmes to figure that out.

Are you rooting for the Giants this weekend? No parties to blog about?

Glen

Anonymous said...

This is a needless comment; I just wanted to see if I had signed up correctly.

My word verification for this is 'inkwoif' which sounds like a spotted dog from Brooklyn.

Here goes nothing...

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Good morning Glen-

Maybe that rogue Boy Scout troop of yours could also be detectives. You clearly can crack the case.

I just put a link in to a column about the place where Marci, Carol, and I meet on Wednesdays to do our volunteer work (LAWKI is dedicated to both Marci and Carol).

We handle the first shift- 12:00-2:30. I sit behind the desk and take the money, while Marci, Carol, Ira, Dolly and Frank actually work.

Definitely my kind of arrangement!

Marci said...

The body is in one of those big boxes that the recycler hates, with Reader's Digests and National Geographics artfully piled on top. Since National Geos are so heavy, the recycler doesn't notice anything amiss, but he is very annoyed that someone used such a big box.

It could be in the coffin, but no one would notice until the remains putrefied with the inevitable result and the recycler wouldn't be moving a coffin full of books. The coffin is a different story.

I just bought a Roomba and it is going to vacuum my kitchen area (and cat hangout) while I do something else. I'll let you know how it works.

Paige Y. said...

Off topic, I know, but my book fair came in this week and I must say Scholastic's covers are really different. I'd seen them on your blog but I didn't recognize the book at first. I'm going to buy one to keep as a collector's item.

I've been pushing them to all the kids and hope to be sold out by the end of the week.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Thank you Paige Y. The sooner the first printing sells out, the sooner the Scholastic version is less pink.

Back in the day when I was still bragging, I considered reporting that Scholastic has LAWKI listed as one of its middle school best sellers. It's pretty funny, since about half of their titles are called middle school best sellers. Still, it's better to be in the top half than the bottom.

Anonymous said...

Life as we Knew It was an amazing book. It was brilliant. It is my new favorite book. I can't wait till The dead and The Gone is for sale. I bought Life as we Knew it at a bookfair at my school, the copy I have is the different cover with the picture of the dresser. I looked up a picture online of the same cover i have and the lettering is in cursive. The one i have, it alsmost looks like handwritting, i just thought that was cool. Anyway I loved the book!!!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Brand New Anonymous-

Thank you for your kind comments about Life As We Knew It. It's always exciting for me to hear from someone who loved the book.

I can't wait for the dead and the gone to come out also. June first can't get here too soon!