Back Pattery Redux

Some really great developments for The True Meaning of Smekday recently:

It won a Cuffie (the Off the Cuff awards compiled annually by Publishers Weekly based on a poll of booksellers) for Funniest Book of the year, tying with Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

It was named best of 2007 in the Fantasy and Science Fiction category of the Cybils (the Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards). Pssst! was also short-listed for the Fiction Picture Book award, incidentally.

Finally, Smekday has been short-listed for the 2007 Andre Norton Award for best in YA Fantasy or Science Fiction.

I am gratefully speechless about all this, so here's a picture of Dracula holding a piece of garlic bread.

Inside the Secret Lair

–The world will rue the day it crossed Grit Sanderson!

–Right, no doubt. Who’s he again?

–Wh–I’m Grit Sanderson! That was my name before I became the bitter Doctor Chill!

–Oh.

–I thought you knew that.

–No. Huh.

–What?

–Nothing. You were saying? They’d rue the day?

–YES! The world will tremble in fear when–

–Your name is really Grit Sanderson?

–Don’t you think I’d know?

–It’s just…how is it you don’t have some…like…sand powers or something? Grit? Sanderson?

–Well my parents didn’t name me after I fell into the vat of liquid helium–

–I know, I know, but…still, that’s just how these things usually work out. Lightning Lord’s real name is Fry Watts. Grizzly Blair’s name really is Blair. Blair Honeytree, actually.

–Yes, I know Blair, thank you. We used to date.

–I figured you’d be…I.C. Weathers, or something.

–No.

–Nippy Winters…

–I want to be alone.

Wyncote Elementary

I had a great visit with this school recently, and I wanted to share some of the kids' art. The teachers there devised some very clever projects that tie in with one or more of my books. Like conversations between students and animals at the zoo, a la my book, Pssst!

And speaking of Pssst!, collaged vehicles, like this rocket:

Ooh! Monsters!

And aliens. Look at that Boov on the left!

And I'd like to end with a disgusting sandwich.

Thanks, Wyncote! By the way, if you're a Wyncote student and you made one of these, sorry if I blurred your name. It seemed like the right thing to do.