Welcome Back to the Glam World of Children’s Book Writing! Not!
Many of you have heard about the time my skirt fell down to the ground in New York City during a major book event.
Many of you have heard about the time a reader bit someone else in line trying to grab After Obsession, my book I wrote with Steve Wedel.
Many of you have heard about the 5 million times I said the wrong thing.
But that’s not all of it.
So I won a few awards for Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend, my debut novel. Sometimes these awards ceremonies were hard to survive.
Yes, I did just write survive.
One of these times was when I won a Maine Literary Award.
The people at the awards ceremony were incredibly nice and kind. Grape-eating abounded. Brie-eating abounded. There was wine. But more importantly there was sparkling cider. The awards were held in a dark room on the seventh floor of a library. Yes, there are buildings with over three floors in Maine, thank you very much.
But I expected to be like this:
(Image from solar navigator)
Instead, I was like this:
(image from the Times)
Why?
Well, a woman who is very nice read pieces of the award winners and then presented them with the award. There were awards for poetry, published fiction, published non-fiction, published children’s book (THIS IS WHAT I WON!) and then there were awards for teen writers, which is super ultra-cool, because let me tell you that winning an award looks SOOOOOOOO good on college applications.
(Dakota Fanning right here knows that she is going to get into every college she wants.)
Anyway, I went up. I received my award. I smiled. I hugged. I went back to my seat while people applauded. I did not fall down. My skirt did not fall down. I did not say any swear words or call anyone by the wrong name.
I thought I had made it through.
I thought I was safe.
I thought wrong.
Then an ultra-cute teen went up and received her award. She went back to her seat, then the host called the teen’s name into the darkness and asked what high school the ultra-cute, ultra-good-writer teen went to.
“Scarborough,” the teen replied. Her voice flitted through the darkness.
Then the host said INTO THE MICROPHONE (!), “Carrie. What high school do you go to?”
Me:
Everyone in the audience turned their heads to stare at me.
Me:
Super cool administrator of the program started saying, “No! Carrie — Carrie — wrote –“
Me (finally capable of speech): No! I’m — I’m old.
People began laughing.
People began laughing somewhat hysterically, snorting wine out their noses.
People could not stop laughing.
Emily, my super lovable kid, pet my back, and said, “It’s okay, Mommy. They won’t remember.”
Sigh.
I remember.
And this is why I remind myself that I’m not a writer for the potential glory. I’m a writer because I love story, I love writing, and I write for kids because kids and teens are awesome.
Kate DiCamillo said, “Stories are light. And light is precious in a world so dark.”
That light makes the embarrassment worth it.
Random Marketing and Book Things
My nonfiction picture book about Moe Berg, the pro ball player who became a spy was all official on March 1 and I’m super psyched about it. You can order it!
Kirkus Review says: A captivating true story of a spy, secret hero, and baseball player too.
The podcast, DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE, had a new episode Tuesday. It’s about dialogue. It’s pretty funny. Actually, it’s super funny. Check it out.
I’ll be in Exeter, New Hampshire, on a panel for the release of THINGS WE HAVEN’T SAID.
