Five Sarahs

Five Sarahs gathered at Books of Wonder in NYC yesterday to plot world domination. A-hem, I mean, talk about and sign books. Right. Perfectly innocent gathering. Nothing to see here. Move along, please.

But if you really do want to see... here are some photos from the Sarah Signing:

5 Sarahs: Sarah Beth Durst (me!), Sarah Cross, Sarah Rees Brennan, Sarah MacLean, and Sarah Ockler

And here is a photo of all our books:

Ooh, pretty!

I had a fantastic time. We all read for a couple minutes and then we answered questions from the fabulous audience. For example,

Question: "What weapons are in your books?"
Me, pointing at Out of the Wild: "A sword and a dragon."
Another Sarah: "A dragon is a weapon?"
Me: "It is if you use it properly."

Someone also asked what were our plans for the coming zombie apocalypse? I liked Sarah Cross's answer -- she said that if the zombies attacked, she'd probably just get eaten. Granted, as a plan, that's not ideal, but that's probably what would happen to me.

In my response to the question, I told everyone about the dream I had the night before Into the Wild's pub date: I dreamed that zombies were shambling down our street toward our house. To defend my family, I dug a moat. And then I thought that zombies could just crawl through the moat and attack. So I filled the moat with brambles. But then I thought the zombies could push through the brambles. So I filled the moat with water. And then I fetched the alligators. (Apparently, we keep them in the bathtub.) After dumping five or six alligators into the moat, I boarded up the house and hunkered down with my family to wait. The zombies were tearing at the boarded up windows when I woke up as a published author.

This is me, looking all professional yet talking about zombies.
(Thanks to Cathie for the photo.)

But the best part of the event -- indeed, the best part of any event -- was the chocolate. Sarah MacLean had these little puppies made:

Don't these make you want to be a Sarah?
(Thanks to Sharon for the photo.)

Aren't these so cool?

After Books of Wonder, I spent the afternoon with two of the Sarahs, Sarah Rees Brennan and Sarah Cross, as well as Cassie Clare, who is as awesome as a Sarah. We were later joined by Maureen Johnson, Josh Lewis, Ellen Kushner, and Delia Sherman... and thus were the Sarahs outnumbered.

Had a super-yummy dinner at a Greek restaurant that had lots of pots on the ceiling. And then I booked it out of there to catch the train home. Literally had to run through Penn Station to make it. But I did.

And the excitement wasn't over yet: on the drive from the train station to my house, at around midnight, I was pulled over by a cop. He claimed I had a headlight out. I suspect he could tell that I'd been plotting world domination with Sarahs.

Sarah Signing

Five Sarahs. One bookstore. I'll be there. Will you?

Books of Wonder. Sunday August 2nd. 1-3pm.

Bears and Sarahs

Random polar bear fact: Polar bears radiate so little heat that snow doesn't melt on them. (Be sure to tuck that little piece of knowledge away carefully. You never know when it might come in handy.)

Also, I just found out that the US postcard stamp this year has a polar bear on it. I think this is the most awesome stamp ever.

It makes me want to send postcards. Except I'm not going on vacation any time soon so I'd have to say stuff like, "Washed dishes today! Wish you were here!"

In other awesome polar bear news: The Central Park Zoo in NYC is hosting an event called Ice Chefs next Saturday. Two zookeepers are having a Top-Chef-style cook-off to see who can create the best taste-treat for polar bears. The bears are the judges! (Thanks to Cathie for the link.)

I'm also very excited for next Sunday when I get to be part of an awesome reading/signing/spectacle at Books of Wonder, a fabulous bookstore in NYC. They're hosting a "Sarah Signing" -- a panel of YA authors all of whom are named Sarah!! Sarahs will include Sarah Cross, Sarah Beth Durst (that's me!!!), Sarah MacLean, Sarah Ockler, and Sarah Rees Brennan. Here are the details:

Sunday, August 2nd from 1-3pm
Books of Wonder - Sarah Signing
18 West 18th Street, New York, NY

I've always rather liked the name Sarah. For one, it means "princess," and I harbor a secret belief that I am the prophesied princess of the unicorns. (Shh, don't tell anyone. You'll endanger us all.)

For another, the name is pretty much schoolyard-mockery-proof. Once, in fifth grade, a boy called me "Farah Fawcett" because Farah rhymes with Sarah, and I remember thinking, "Isn't she supposed to be gorgeous? Good one there." And then in middle school, a kid would sing that Sara song by Starship whenever I walked into the room. I'm sure I was supposed to feel embarrassed, but being a glass-half-full kind of girl, I thought it was rather nice to be serenaded.

I wonder... if I burst into song next weekend, will my fellow Sarahs think I'm insane? Or will they join in? Hmmm.....