Dreaming of My Pub Date

I think I may be a little anxious about my upcoming release date.

Last night, I dreamed that it was June 21 (the pub date for INTO THE WILD, exactly one month from today!). My family and I were celebrating at home with a box of my books. We took a book out, admired it, and smiled happily at each other.

And then the zombies came.


Their skin was blue-green, and they had bits of kelp-like goo dripping off their bodies. Moaning, they shambled up the street.

We didn't panic. We knew just what to do. We took out machetes and ran to the backyard, where we chopped down brambles. We set the brambles up in an impenetrable barrier in front of our house (taking care not to block the fire hydrant). Once the barrier was in place, we fetched shovels, dug a moat around the house, and filled it with alligators. We then went back inside, boarded up all the windows, made ourselves some baked beans*, and again took out a copy of my book to admire.

* In every apocalyptic novel I've ever read, the characters always eat baked beans. I don't know why. We've never actually made baked beans. We don't even own any cans of baked beans. For the record, we also don't own any alligators.

Anyone want to analyze my dream?

On an unrelated note... (okay, maybe really loosely related since Holly was involved in the great zombies versus unicorns debate), this Sunday I attended a reading by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Lisa Ann Sandell, and Ysabeau Wilce at fabulous Books of Wonder in NYC. Enjoyed all four excerpts immensely. (Also enjoyed daydreaming about my reading there on June 23!) Had fun talking with Peter Glassman, Barry Goldblatt, and others while the four authors signed about a bajillion books. Afterwards, I joined Holly, Cassie, Theo, and others for a late lunch in a nearby park. Note to self: if weather report says "scattered thunderstorms," bring an umbrella. Or don't eat outside...