This is part 2 of my recap of my East Coast tour. Go here to read part 1.
After stops in Boston and New York, I headed on down to Philadelphia. As evidence, here I am in front of the Liberty Bell, recreating the Dalai Lama’s visit.
Of course, I did not go to Philly solely to pay homage to old American stuff. I also went to NCTE, where I was on a panel about fairy tales with Diane Zahler (her book, The Thirteenth Princess, comes out in Feb. 2010), Suzanne Selfors (Finding Juliet, Coffeehouse Angel), and Shannon Hale (Forest Born, The Goose Girl).
Left to right: Me, Diane Zahler, Shannon Hale, Suzanne Selfors
Shannon Hale, some of you may know, is legendary not only for her wonderful books, but for being a very funny speaker. Well, I was not disappointed! She has a hilarious slideshow in which she is fake-stalking tons of authors. Luckily, I spoke before her and narrowly avoided being entirely upstaged. 
It was a great panel!
Afterward, I signed books in the exhibit hall, where I got to meet so many cool people:
Me and Steph Su of Steph Su Reviews!
Me and Grace Lin, author of "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon"
Me and Justine Larbalestier, author of "Liar" (and one of my favorite bloggers!)
I also ran into a couple of Debs, Kate Messner (The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z) and Jenny Moss (Winnie’s War) at the HarperCollins booth, so we posed for this photo op with books by fellow Debs Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder) and Cindy Pon (Silver Phoenix), plus Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers (if you can’t find another Deb, WDM is the next best bet!).
Left to right: Jenny Moss, Kate Messner, and me
After NCTE, I participated in a fundraiser/read-a-thon benefiting Giovanni’s Room and the Lambda Literary Foundation. Giovanni’s Room is the oldest remaining independent LGBT bookstore in the U.S., and has been in business for 36 years. Sadly, the economy as well as changing book-buying habits have caused many LGBT and women’s bookstores to close over the years, and Giovanni’s Room is having some difficult times these days.
It really is a bummer to see these places close, because they used to be one of the centers of gay life. Hopefully Giovanni’s Room will survive, because it’s important that we still have community-oriented places like this. There’s nothing like entering a queer space full of books. It’s a wonderful feeling.
Speaking of community, I wanted to wish everyone in the U.S. a happy Thanksgiving! I’ve got a lot of things to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is today’s news that Ash has been named to Kirkus’ Best Young Adult Books of 2009 list (download PDF here). Yay! I am so honored to be on this list along with so many great writers.
May you all have fantastic Thanksgivings full of many pies!
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{ 4 comments }
Malinda –
It was great to meet you at NCTE and to be on the panel with you! I LOVE your book, and I’m sure it will continue to do well & get more of those fabulous reviews it deserves.
Diane Zahler
Thanks, Diane! It was great to meet you too, and I’m really looking forward to reading THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS.
you look so cute in the first foto!
love the peace sign. haha! just finished
LIAR and really enjoyed it! looks like a great time!!
I’m near the end of LIAR now — I agree it is great!
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