Tangled and Princeton Book Signing

I love Disney.

Just the silhouette of mouse ears makes me smile. I think it's because so many of my favorite memories -- family vacations where we laughed so much our cheeks hurt -- took place in Disney World. For me, it is the happiest place on Earth.

Also, it's so very clean. You drop a straw wrapper, and Cinderella's mice pop out of the sewers and sweep it away. Little birdies assist with your personal hygiene. And woodland creatures select your wardrobe.

Combine my Disney obsession with the fact that my debut novel (Into the Wild) is about Rapunzel's daughter, and of course I had to see the movie Tangled.

Overall, I loved it. The use of her hair was magnificent (also the use of frying pans). I adored the montage of Rapunzel's torn emotions when she leaves the tower. The floating lanterns were lovely. And the horse was awesome.

But I can't help thinking that Disney missed an opportunity with the witch Gothel. If she had genuinely loved Rapunzel (rather than only using her for the regenerative properties of her hair), it would have instantly deepened and complicated the story. She could have been an overprotective parent gone wrong, which would have been interesting. Maybe it would have made the story too dark, though.

I also saw Harry Potter 7 (part 1) this weekend, which was plenty dark, both in plot and palette.

In addition to seeing movies this weekend, I also did two book signings at the Borders in Meriden, CT, and the Borders in Stony Brook, NY, and I had a great time at both. Thank you to everyone who stopped by! It was great talking with you!

If you happen to be anywhere near Princeton, NJ, this Wednesday Dec 1st..... I will be signing books at the Barnes & Noble at Princeton Market Fair starting at 6:30pm. A portion of sales will benefit The Pennington School's book fair. Since Princeton University is the setting for my latest book, Enchanted Ivy, I am hoping that numerous gargoyles and were-tigers will be in attendance. Hope to see you there too!

Let Them Eat Cake

Last week, there was a lovely article about Enchanted Ivy in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette -- the newspaper in central Massachusetts, where I'm from! Yay!

I am particularly enamored with the title of the article, "Novelist takes an excursion to magical world," since that is exactly how I view the writing process.

Please help yourself to a virtual slice of cake while you read.

Mmm... cake...

This cake was created by Rolling Pin Bakery for Enchanted Ivy's book launch party at Book Revue in Huntington, NY. It's vanilla with raspberry filling. Yum. Special thank you to everyone who came and shared non-virtual cake with me last Sunday!

Mmm... books...

Also, for those of you who are in the NY-NJ-CT tri-state area, I have added three new book signings to my schedule:

Friday, November 26, 2010 at 1pm
Borders - Meriden
470 Lewis Avenue, Meriden, CT

Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 3pm
Borders - Stony Brook
2130 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook, NY

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 6:30pm
Barnes & Noble - Princeton
Princeton Marketfair, 3535 US Route 1, Princeton, NJ
(with a portion of sales benefitting The Pennington School's book fair)

Hope to see you there!

Enchanted Ivy Book Launch Party

Hello, Long Islanders! Please join me this Sunday at 2pm for a reading/signing/book launch party for Enchanted Ivy at Book Revue in Huntington, NY. As you may have surmised from my calling it a reading/signing/book launch party, there will be reading (by me, from Enchanted Ivy), there will be signing (again by me, of, you know, books), and there most certainly will be partying (by all in attendance, to celebrate the launch of Enchanted Ivy -- though honestly, if you have something else to celebrate, I'm game to celebrate that too).

Once all the reading and signing is done, we'll have yummy cake -- decorated with Enchanted Ivy's cover art!!! We got a BIG cake, so come hungry!

Here's all the info:

Book Revue
Sunday, November 7th at 2pm
Reading/Signing/Book Launch Party (with cake!!!)
313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY

Hope to see you there!

World Fantasy Convention 2010

I can sum up World Fantasy Convention 2010 in one sentence:

I talked to a LOT of people.

Or to be more accurate: I talked to a lot of really wonderful, awesome people, starting the moment I checked into the hotel on Thursday night and lasting until I boarded the plane home, with brief pauses to sleep and use the bathroom.

I am going to resist the urge to mention names because I might forget someone, and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. (I love you all. Really. Especially YOU, person with whom I had a wonderful conversation. Yes, you. You're great.) But I did remember to take a couple pictures so I'll show those...

On right: Melissa de la Cruz, Me, Jim Frenkel
On left: Inara Scott, Cinda Williams Chima, Elizabeth Bunce

Me and Cinda Williams Chima

Beth Bernobich and Me

Yes, I know, I should take more photos. Here's one more:

Learned today: Books are heavy

These are all the books that I brought home from WFC. I took everything carry-on, and I am so pleased that I didn't knock myself unconscious while lifting the suitcase into the overhead compartment.

Anyway, the convention was fantastic. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Special thanks to everyone who came to my reading! You guys rock.