The wake-up
call jangled the inner core of my brain at 6 a.m.: Clarion's kick-off
breakfast would begin in an hour. I had, um, a little headache.
I'd planned to wear my chima-chogori (traditional Korean
dress and jacket) to the breakfast, but that plan almost came
undone. I was sharing my room with Marsha for the one night, until
my family arrived later that day, and I didn't want to disturb
her by turning on all the lights. So I struggled into the garments,
which do not button or zip or snap; instead there is a complicated
system of narrow slippery ribbons to be crossed and wrapped and
tied. This is not easy to do when you hardly ever wear the thing,
and the room is dark, and you have a little headache.
After several
attempts, I gave up, praying that my final groping effort would
keep the clothes on me somehow, and made my way to the elevators;
thank goodness the event was being held in my hotel. All of Clarion
was at the door of the ballroom to meet me, and immediately I
began to feel much better. I have to confess, though, that having
flash bulbs go off repeatedly at that hour of the morning as your
photo is taken several times does not make a little headache any
smaller. I met some lovely people there, including Andrea Davis
Pinkney, new head of children's publishing for Houghton Mifflin
(of which Clarion is an imprint), whose work as both author and
editor is inspiring.
From
left, Marjorie Naughton, Clarion's marketing director; my genius
editor, Dinah Stevenson; Virginia Buckley, editor of many wonderful
writers, including Katherine Paterson
More Clarionettes!
From left: Deb Shapiro, formerly Senior Publicist at Clarion;
editor Jennifer Greene; art director JoAnn Hill; editor Michelle
Coppola.
With Ed and
Eve Bunting.
With
Dinah Stevenson (did I already say she is a genius?).
From the
breakfast to a waiting car that took me and David Wiesner and
Deb Shapiro (then of Clarion's marketing department, now of Simon
& Schuster, and boy do I miss her!) to Hobbit Hall bookstore
in suburban Atlanta. What a great place! A nice crowd of kids
and parents, and best of all, I got to see David's presentation,
in which he showed the stages of the work for The Three Pigs.
A terrific lunch at the Buckhead Diner (fried green tomatoes for
the first time, and meatloaf, and mashed potatoes to die for);
stock signing at another store --Chapter Eleven ("Books so
cheap you'll think we're going out of business"); and back
to the hotel at around 3:30, where I met up with my family.
I was so
busy throughout ALA that unfortunately I didn't get to attend
any signings except my own! Here's a photo of one of my local
pals, Will Hubbell (author of Pumpkin Jack and the forthcoming
Apples Here) signing for Albert Whitman.
Another signing
that I missed: Mary Jane Auch (left) and Vivian VandeVelde (right),
with librarian Sharon Salluzzo, signing Troll Teacher (which
Vivian wrote and MJ illustrated) at the Holiday House booth.
At 6:00,
Random House had a cocktail party at the Margaret Mitchell House,
which is now a museum. Adrienne Waintraub did a wonderful job
running the party -- great food, my son must have eaten at least
a couple dozen of the coconut butterflied shrimp! One room of
the house has a wonderful display of letters Mitchell wrote during
and after the writing of Gone With The Wind. I wish I'd
had more time to read them, and will definitely go back the next
time I'm in Atlanta. I got to meet UberEditor Wendy Lamb and another
of my heroes, author Peter Dickinson. Dinner at a Chinese restaurant
with The Clan -- my husband and two children; my parents; my brother
and his wife and my niece and nephew (Emma and Craig, who are
pictured elsewhere on this site); and Nancy and Kathleen. And
the day finished up with another drink with The Posse (We Value
Consistency).
Sunday,
June 16, part 1
