In which I ramble on about the paperback and stick to my new habit of using mostly pointless footnotes

added some color to my
hair to help spread the word. fn1

Yep, just me again,

trying to get the word out fn1 

about the paperback release

of my book,


THE PULL OF GRAVITY!

(while also annoying you with some more pointless footnotes because I can).

After all, I'm excited about the book coming out in paperback and you should be, too.

Why?

Um, because you should read it and now, if you haven't, it is uber-affordable and has that groovy cover.

But don't take my word for it. This guy, for example, seems to love it:

Just a teacher in Michigan who is the bomb. fn2

or this smart lady, Cindy:

Er, don't pay attention to KAL, Cindy is the important one.  ;)

So, see, most people who know about it and read it, love my little book. fn3 

And, it's got pretty much everything:

A road trip;

A dying kid;

Star Wars and Steinbeck;

Wax lips, Slinkys, a hotel room and troll dolls; and

A princess (Buttercup), a pirate, a gentle giant, R.O.U.S., the Pit of Despair, some Iocane powder, and a Spanish swordsman who seeks revenge on the six-fingered man. fn4

Oh! And, of course, a little romance.

So, if you want all that, then you want to pre-order the paperback (officially on sale 2/5), and you can do so at all your favorite on-line stores, or, better yet, walk into your nearest B&N or other INDIE bookstore soon and ask for it by name. fn5

In other "ME" news, I'm trying to Tumbl(r) more fn6, so if you want to, you can find me HERE. An awesome dude that I love and adore to total bits and pieces, named Justin (but I won't tell you his last name) hooked me up with a better Tumblr page so I can seem just a little less lame. THANK YOU, thank you, thank you, Justin!! :)

So, yeah, I think that's it. If you buy the paperback, there's a fun "Go Fish" Author Q&A in the back, where they ask me questions and I, um, answer them, I suppose. fn7

So, yeah, now that's it. So, go to it.

Buy my book. (please)

Tell your friends.

Tell them to tell their friends and their friends to tell their friends and then add in that nice little infinity sign.

Oh, and if you're local, come get a copy signed and eat cupcakes with me at the Huntington Public Library on 2/10. All of the details are HERE.

Now, scat. That's enough of you. You heard me.

xox gae

p.s. Oh goodness, I almost forgot, for the cost of a comment, you can enter yourself in a PAPERBACK GIVEAWAY here!!! (thank you, Kelly!)

essential footnotes:

fn1 Hadn't you heard about the word?  

fn2 he is, of course, only the bomb if being the bomb is still a good thing. otherwise, he is so not-anything-like-the-bomb.

fn3 or, you know, at least two people.

fn4 that is, too, all from MY book. I don't know what you're talking about.

fn5 The Pull of Gravity, yo.

fn6 You young un's think you're so hip and cool with your Tumblr, and I'm down wit dat, but truth be told, all I ever think of when you say Tumblr is this:

which just shows you how old that I am. :)

fn7 of course, some of those answers are lies. If you want the real answers, you may email me at g.polisner@gmail.com but only if you know what the questions are. ;)

Class of 2K11 in New York City: Tattoos, Tater Tots and the Stuff that Legends are Made of.



Because nothing says "let's get frisked" like a Crown Victoria

The shoes and the henna
make the girl...

It was a frisky week (fine, forgive me, I groaned for you, but it went with the photo over there <-----) as the Class of 2K11 hit the streets (bookstores, libraries, and, yes, funky hotspots) of NYC armed with our books, our nerves and our senses of humor (and, okay, some of us, ahem, with a constant change of shoes).  

I started my whirlwind 2 1/2 days in NYC with a late-night pitstop for drink(s) with the infamous (and fantastic) David Macinnis Gill, author of Soul Enchilada and Black Hole Sun who I tweet with on a regular basis but had not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person. In a short visit, we wandered aimlessly up and down escalators (both of us) with my luggage (David, insisting) and got ourselves booted out of a ritzy nightclub for not being well-dressed (if you guessed David, you're wrong -- that one was me, I did offer to do a quick change in the bathroom, but David preferred to continue to wander aimlessly until we lucked into a spot that would have us).

A brief night's sleep, and I was off to meet my fellow Classmates for our first group appearance in the city at the Seward Park Library. There I "moderated" the panel where we did brief readings from our books and were peppered with brilliant questions from our audience: a class of scarily-smart seventh graders from the Spence School in NYC. 


Geoff Herbach and Carole Estby Dagg arriving
at the beautiful park where the library is...

Herbach with the tools of the trade
in hand: coffee, cell phone, backpack with book.

Amy Dominy, Angie Smibert and Kiki Hamilton
(more fabulous shoes. See? I was not alone).

A crazy-decadent lunch was had (can you say coconut fried chicken sandwich with chipotle mayo? omg, yes I did!) and we were off to our next event at the Grand Central branch of the NYPL. Talk about a teen friendly place! There we did a sort of roundtable (sans table) chat with the teen librarian, Anna, and a few rapt listeners (sorry, no photos!) and we were off to event number three at the esteemed Books of Wonder, NYC, where we were joined by some more Class of 2K11'ers and greeted by a fabulous display of our books: 



Amy Fellner Dominy (OyMG)
in front of the great BOW display



Sheila O'Connor (Sparrow Road)
BOW display

Hmmm, aren't they sweet bookends?

(yes, yes, I know two "right" bookends. Sue me).




Some terrific and hard-working YA bloggers who showed up at our BOW event!
we were thrilled and grateful. <3

Out to dinner with my sister and home for some sleep before Day 2 kicked in.

Day Two: First to Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker Street, where the totally hilarious Sam Osterhout and deliriously delightful Robin Reed of Radio Happy Hour entertained us with "dramatic performances" of excerpts from our books, sometimes joined on stage by the talented Geoff Herbach (Stupid Fast), a/k/a Nacho Dip, playing both male and female roles. If my assistant editor's cell phone suffices as a video recording device in a loud, dark, red room, you might be lucky enough to see The Pull of Gravity performance later this week! ;)

All this, mind you, while we feasted on pizzitas, taquitos, edamame and tater tots served with three different dipping sauces (someone else has those photos, maybe they will follow?!).

Class of 2K11 with Sam Osterhout and Robin Reed of
Radio Happy Hour.
Photo credit, Rick Kopstein

Me, hamming it up
 after a tater tot-Lucky Charms fueled rush
Photo credit: Rick Kopstein

Each mini performance was followed by a rapid-fire style interview of the authors that mostly (refreshingly) had nothing to do with our books. I was "lucky" to get a Lucky Charms question -- a subject on which I am a self-proclaimed expert.

*Much to my better judgment, if it exists, video may follow on this topic as well* 


Finally, we were off to Larchmont, NY via Metro North railroad where the best part was almost, but not, meeting the wonderful Francine and Rose of The Voracious Reader Bookstore who stuffed us with pizza and had multiple displays of the Class of 2K11 books gracing her magnificent bookstore (I can't find my photos, but maybe other Class members will share...). Our henna artist was there, and, so, in a moment of lull, I presented my back and neck and I believe I am now covered in ocean waves. Photos were taken of that too, so hopefully those will surface.

Suffice it to say, it was a parade of an appearance, and we were all exhausted by the time it was over.

So exhausted that one of us (names shall not be mentioned...ahem...) forgot her cell phone at the desk of The Voracious Reader, a fact not realized until 3 blocks and several flights of stairs later, as we arrived on the Metro North platform back to the city with only a few moments to spare.

Which is when the real magic of the week happened, and we learned that Geoff Herbach is not only a mess, but he really is as STUPID FAST as his main character!

I'd show you photos, but he was too fast to snap them, so you'll have to believe in the legend.

That's it for now. Hopefully some more fun stuff to follow. <3

Love to all,

- gae

TPoG Book Release Party, Recap

A friend pointed out a copy of True Grit in the background.
Indeed, I felt like I had some grit that day.

I remember when my book launch was about 8 months away and I was walking through Book Revue, the place of my future release party, and planning all the distracting gadgets and gizmos and high tech presentation things I might do to keep an audience interested: Toys, power point presentations, planted questions, and hoopla. You know.

But in the end, on May 10, before a crowd of about 100, I stood up alone, without any tricks and spoke from the heart about my journey to publishing The Pull of Gravity.

In truth, my hands shook a little, but I didn't lose my breath or my place (as I thought I might) and a part of me even managed to enjoy it. Each time I looked out into the sea of faces, I saw people I knew and loved: my parents, my sister, my neighbors, my children, and my unbelievably talented writer friends like, Mike Sullivan, Christine Beth Reish, Megan Bostic (who had surprised me all the way from Seattle!) and James King. It was a sea of warm faces, indeed, that looked back at me, interested and engaged.

The amount of help and support and encouragement I have received
from friends and family continues to boggle my mind (in a good way) :)

After I spoke about my journey to getting published, I showed my brief book trailer (thank you again, Selbern Narby!) then read aloud from Chapter Two of The Pull of Gravity. The audience laughed in the right places and clapped when I was done. Phew.

My son on the right, working the projector like a pro!

During Q&A, the questions came faster and more furiously than I could have hoped. No need for canned ones. I had to eventually say, "Okay, only two more!" and honestly, that part was fun! I mean, who doesn't like to be asked about one's work?

Nobody doesn't, that's who! :)

There was even a guy in the audience who might as well have been a plant who asked me the perfect Of Mice and Men connection question. If I ever see him again, I'm sure I owe him $20. ;)

Nothing sweeter than being in it together.

When I finished, my hubby came up to congratulate me, and he was beaming (right through his own nerves which I'm sure were kicked in, because he was about to perform). An exchange of kisses and he took center stage to perform with the group he sings with out in Port Jefferson, Long Island through the Performing Arts Studio called Thursday's Blend.

Of course, we temporarily dressed them all in upside down troll t-shirts and renamed them The Pull of Gravity Band.

:)

The crowd was regaled with John Mayer's Gravity (get it? ;)) and Elvis Costello's Every Day I Write the Book, among others, while I signed close to a hundred books, periodically glancing up to be surprised by a friendly face in the line that I hadn't seen in years. 

If any of you want to see a replay of the day, you can find it here... starting at about 15:34 minutes in. Thanks to my friend, Rick Kopstein for hooking me up to livestream and taking awesome photos of the evening. http://www.livestream.com/rkopstein/video?clipId=pla_d7b475bd-1469-45b1-aab8-8f4323936c44&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

All in all, the day was everything I had hoped for. The love and support and enthusiasm of friends and family continues to bowl me over. This journey would be NOTHING without you.

A happy Anne

A rapt (?) crowd

Some teens and the awesome Anne Davidson
who took care of me at Book Revue

TPoG cake and cupcakes!

My lovely, lovely friends.

Oh me, oh my. . .

APPEARANCES (Open to all):

Saturday, May 14 @ Book Revue, Huntington Book Release Party! 5-7 pm

Sunday, May 22 @ The Huntington Public Library with members of the Class of 2K11 3-5 pm

Wednesday May 25 @ Books of Wonder, NYC with Class of 2K11 6-8 pm

Thursday, May 26, Voracious Reader, Larchmont with Class of 2K11 6-7:30 pm

Thursday, June 16, Harborfields Library, Greenlawn, NY t/b/a

Long Island Bookstores Carrying TPoG

Book Revue, Huntington
Barnes & Noble, East Northport
Barnes & Noble, Walt Whitman Mall, Huntington
Best Bargain Books, Pt. Jefferson
Blue Door Books
Chapter One Books, Oceanside
Dolphin Bookshop, Pt. Washington