Posts Tagged "Thursday Readers Roundup"
Thursday: Readers’ Roundup
Bookish things around and about.
*Former student/always friend Alecia Whitaker posted a rant that I can SO get behind on her blog last week — in defense of the serial comma.
I’m still clinging to the serial comma. I can’t give it up.
For example, if I write, “I’m going to the store for watermelon, beans, and carrots,” it’s pretty clear to the reader what I’m getting. You may argue that it is just as clear to you if you read it as, “I’m going to the store for watermelon, beans and carrots.” But that groups beans and carrots. Are you looking for beans and carrots that are already packaged together?
By going down that road, you are setting yourself up for confusion. Look how clear things are when I write, ”I’m going to the store for watermelon, black and brown beans, and carrots.” When ditching the serial comma, it becomes, “I’m going to the store for watermelon, black and brown beans and carrots.” The absence of the serial comma implies something unintended about the carrots.
Anyway, you can read about it here real quick because Oxford makes it all much clearer. But please, for the love of God and for my sanity, could we just embrace the serial comma?
Word, sister. Serial commas 4Eva! And how adorable is Alecia’s book cover, by the by? 
*Meanwhile, tomorrow I’ll be joining Melissa Walker on our first stop of the Camplified! summer camp book tour, where she and I will be chatting with the campers at Staten Island Day Camp about reading, writing, and our new books. Fingers crossed for some S’mores and Mad Libs — old-skool camp-out style!
Thursday: Readers’ Roundup
Less of a “roundup” and more of a, “coupling,” if you will, but two lovely points of note on this dreary Thursday, nonetheless:
*I’m hosting the always-amusing Leila Sales over at the Contemps blog today, where she waxes nostalgic on an all-too-real high school experience. Sneak peek: 
A prevailing theme in my novel Mostly Good Girls is “not knowing any boys, and therefore behaving like a total fool whenever you happen to run into them, because they are a rare and exotic breed.”
I hear ya, sister. Sing it.
*My talented baby bro has completed yet another feat of book-trailer production, this time to promote the inimitable Sarah Aronson’s forthcoming Beyond Lucky. Watch the trailer! Buy the book! Hire my brother!
Thursday Readers’ Round-up: BEA recap (happy endings)
So, okay: today was my family signing at BEA, and though it did not *quite* go off without a hitch, ultimately, all’s well that ends well, and it was a fabulicious event and SO MUCH FUN!
Though I’d been told that the signing was slated for 12pm, my editor had thought it was 12:30, and being the confident, outspoken person that I am, I immediately assumed she was correct and chose to silently defer rather than voice my vague misgivings.
Thus, our entrance to the autographing pavilion was fashionably late, and slightly dramatic. Apparently a lovely assortment of kind people had actually lined up in anticipation of a signed book from me (!), and mere moments before my arrival, had been turned away by the event organizers. D’oh!
Nonetheless, the fearless organizers managed to wrangle everyone back, and once I was seated and in place, the signing kicked off.
People, we signed every last copy of my book and I met some delightful librarians, bloggers, and other reader types. I’m so flattered that anyone would line up for little old me — not to mention, wait out my own bubble-brained self-imposed delay! — and I had a blast. Thanks a million zillion to all who came out, and I hope you like the book!
Thurs Readers’ Roundup: Deb Caletti at the YA Contemps!
This week, I’m all about the hosting. Today, it’s Deb Caletti over at the YA Contemps blog. Isn’t she so cute? If you haven’t yet read her newest novel, Stay
While I can’t claim to have run to a remote beach town to escape an obsessive boyfriend like Clara does in STAY, I can admit to something else that happens to Clara in the book: I have been subjected to the embarrassing, excessive enthusiasm of my parents.
WHO HASN’T? Oy.
And if that’s not enough to entice you, I’ll give you one more word: sombrero.
Oh, yes, people. SOMBRERO.
You’ll just have to read the full story for yourselves. 