#TSOLG Paperback Palooza: Five Random Questions with Matt Blackstone

Matt Blackstone, toeing it. . . 

To celebrate the paperback release of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO -- now out on shelves everywhere!!! -- I'll be hosting a reading and writing (!!) Author Palooza on April 19th at the Huntington Public Library. That's less than three weeks away!

Several amazing kidlit, MG and YA book authors will be joining me for the fun and hands-on writers workshop, and I thought it would be nice to get to know them -- and me -- a little in the weeks leading up to the event. 

You may read all about the event HERE on the facebook event page, and even if you can't come to the event live, please  join the page and follow the fun.

So, on to the getting-to-know-them part of the festivities... 

I've asked each guest author to answer five random questions from a big list I provided. Many of their answers are quite entertaining! (Sometimes I chime in with my own answer to the occasional question in pink ...)

Up today, guest author Matt Blackstone.

author of SORRY YOU'RE LOST  

and A SCARY SCENE IN A SCARY MOVIE. 

I invite Matt (beg him to come)  to ALL of my 90-Second Read events because he's one of my all-time favorite guys to listen to read aloud.

Seriously, I'm telling you, Matt alone is worth the price of (the totally free)  admission. You are getting way more than your money's worth.

You can read all about Matt HERE. 

Now on to Five Random Questions with Matt Blackstone... 

1. What did you want to be when you grew up? 

No brainer: professional athlete.  It's why I practiced my signature day in and day out in middle school.  What, we were supposed to be learning something in middle school?  Oh.  Well, I learned how to make a professional-looking signature for the day when the Phillies drafted me.  That big day, when after years of hard work on the JV team, varsity team, and college team paid off.  Wait, what?  I didn't make the JV or varsity or college team?  Well then what did I practice my signature for?  (Yes, signing books is cool, but somehow not as cool as being Derek Jeter).

              

2.  What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you? 

Anything embarrassing is good writing material.  When I was in elementary school, my dad used to walk down the stairs in his underwear the morning after a sleepover.  It was humiliating.  So I wrote about it in A SCARY SCENE IN A SCARY MOVIE: 

Even though I am firecracker mad at my mom for bringing Phil back, it’s not my mission to make her late today.  No, today’s mission is to ask Gio what to do about Phil.  I unlock my door and walk to the kitchen for breakfast. 

somewhere in these pages,
Matt's father roams...

And lose my appetite immediately. 

Phil, in his large white underwear, with his large stomach drooping over the elastic strip, is flipping pancakes. His hairy chest and hairy back and hairy stomach and hairy legs and hairy feet have gotten—hairier. 

The sizzling batter is bubbling.  It smells like burnt butter. 

Phil, with all of his red chest and back and stomach hair, is standing over the griddle, manning my breakfast, and I don’t know scares me the most: Phil being in my house, Phil being in his underwear, or all Phil’s hairs falling in the pancake batter and hiding in all of my pancakes and then burying themselves in my stomach until I choke on them and Mr. Head has to give me the Heimlich maneuver which won’t work because he doesn’t know the Heimlich maneuver so the nurse will have to rush me to the hospital in a screaming red and white ambulance until the doctor reaches down my throat and says, “There we go, kiddo, I got it.  You swallowed a hair, probably belonging to a large man, most likely from the large man’s back, and this large man, as confirmed by DNA testing, is your father.”     

“Good morning, sport,” Phil says, licking pancake batter with his right index finger.  “Don’t forget your breakfast.

3. What's the cruelest/funniest thing you ever did to a sibling?

I poured applesauce on his head for a very good reason: Because.

4. What unique skill do you possess?

I can't help but think of Liam Neeson in this clip from TAKEN talking about his unique set of skills.  Liam and I don't share the same skills.  My skills are more in the writing, reading, and making funny noises categories.  They are a lot less intimidating than Liam's skills. 

5. Do you appear in any of your books? If so, which character is most like you?

If you liked my books, then I am the likable characters.  If you didn't like my books, I don't appear in any of my books.

So, there you have it. . .  a few random things about author Matt Blackstone. 

Hope you'll check out all his books, and if you're anywhere local, that you'll join us at the Huntington Public Library on April 19th for the reading, book signing and, if you're a tween or teen writer, the hands-on writers workshop with all these fabulous authors! 

Registration begins April 6th! 

And don't forget to order a paperback copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO. 

xox gae

My Writing Life: Candy Land

Okay, fine, no, I'm not really going to do another nostalgic board game comparison. But last night was an "author happy night" so I was thinking that the writing life isn't always a game of Chutes & (Chutes and Chutes and Chutes and SEEMINGLY ENDLESS CHUTES FOR GOD'S SAKE!) Ladders, but sometimes, it's actually more a game of Ice Cream Floats, Gum Drop Mountains, and Lolly Pop Woods, and I get to be Queen Frostine for the evening. 

The window of the Huntington Public Library

Take last night, for example.

First of all, there is nothing better about being a YA writer than the people I get to hang out with.

At 6:10 pm I anxiously picked up Nova Ren Suma (Imaginary Girls) and Christopher Grant (Teenie) from the Huntington train station. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see them! There is this really amazing bond that seems to exists between writers who admire each other.

Secondly, there are few things more Queen Frostine than walking up to the venue to find yourself announced on a movie-esque poster in the window! -------------------------------->

I mean, seriously? That does not get old.

At 7 pm, in front of an audience of about thirty, including a surprising amount of tween and teen boys -- which always thrills me since The Pull of Gravity is narrated by a teenage boy --  Nova, Chris and I joined up with our other dynamic YA writer pal, the totally HI-LARIOUS Matt Blackstone (A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie),  and newcomer to our group, Selene Castrovilla (The Girl Next Door) and I got ready to to moderate another one of our 90-second-sampler hours.

I love moderating, though it's pressure-filled too, especially with the 90-second format which requires me not only to read and moderate, but also to time all the readings and be ready to "ding out" any overly-verbose author if the strict limit is exceeded.

So imagine how Mr. Mint it was to see an enthusiastic hand shoot up in the front row belonging to a bold kid named Richie who wanted to know if he might be the evening's official Keeper of the Bell.

Richie got to advance five spaces!

Of course, once that bell reaches your fingers, well, let's just say that Richie was just itching to ring that bell.

He mostly showed great restraint. And most the authors timed their readings well within the limit. In fact, only one of us (I won't name names  *coughs* ) went over and had to invoke the "I'm allowed to finish the sentence I'm reading," rule.

Hint: it wasn't Matt Blackstone, who shows here why he's one of my favorite authors to listen to read aloud:

Afterwards, we took some great questions from the audience, including from my writer pal Mike Sullivan (Necessary Heartbreak) who was there with his lovely daughter and wanted to know how and where we each get our best writer mojo juices flowing. Here's a snippet of Chris and me answering that question (I love how Chris describes his "manna from heaven):

 Afterwards, books were sold and signed, and cupcakes were eaten, as we shared in the giddiness that made us all feel like we'd made it to the palace of King Kandy.

from l - r: matt blackstone, christopher grant, nova ren suma, me and selene castrovilla.

  - gae