Tour Stuff, Swag Update, & The Distracted Cashier Who Flies Planes While You Sleep

First, a recap of

1. THE DREAM THIEVES graphic novel is coming out in a month (August 4).

2. I will be on tour! Several stops are almost sold out, so don’t wait to grab tickets.

   

   Current appearance slate:

   8/4: New York, NY. 6pm

   8/5: Cincinnati, OH. 7pm.

   8/6: Fort Collins, CO. 6pm.

   8/7: Portland, OR. 7pm.

   8/8: San Francisco, CA. 6pm

   8/9: San Diego, CA. 3pm

   8/17: Staunton, VA. 6pm

3. Personalized copies are available if you pre-order from Parnassas Books. The deadline for personalization is JULY 14. You can also order signed backlist (my previously published books) from them at the same time .

4. UK copies with signed bookplates can be found at Mr. B’s.

What happens on tour? You arrive and get a signed book with your ticket, then I talk for a half hour, then the signing line forms, and then, if you want to get your book personalized and/or talk to my face for thirty seconds, you join it! Usually there is time for one or two books from home to be signed too. Usually, a bookseller will take your phone as you get to the front of the line to snap a photo for you as we chat. Meanwhile, you have made friends in line and acquired a book that smells like Sharpie and my signature. Memories!

Speaking of memories, I’m going to try to drive that Portland-San-Francisco-San-Diego leg. Do you think I will make it? I am making myself a banger playlist. Remember when I drove the Camaro on tour and broke down 100,000 times and maybe actually even died in Kansas and am maybe in a purgatory where I believe I’m writing this blog post but I’m actually haunting a Denny’s?

Sadly, because I have to fly there from Colorado, I’ll be using a rental car this time, which means I’ll probably make it safely to the stops with neither swagger nor incident.

Now:

When I posted about pre-order and tour swag earlier, it turns out I was horribly confused, so I am now posting EXACTLY what Penguin Teen has told me so that you can be sure you have the real deal.

1. CHARACTER BUTTON PACK

   If you want the nifty button pack, you have two options. Come to one of the official tour stops (New York, Cincinnati, Fort Collins, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego)(note: Staunton is not part of the tour), or pre-order from Parnassus (note, orders after release date from Parnassus are not eligible).

   

2. CHARACTER CARDS & SIGNED BOOKPLATE

   To receive the new character cards and signed bookplate, you must pre-order from . . . somewhere. Anywhere. In the U.S., that is. And then submit the receipt to Penguin Teen, who will send out your cards (they will arrive after the release date, separate from your book). This is the biggest thing I was wrong on: if you pre-ordered from Parnassus, you won’t automatically receive them, please make sure you submit your receipt here.

   

I’m really sorry for the confusion.

Finally,

I went to the bookstore the other day. The young cashier was distracted, but he eventually snapped to when I got to the check-out. We got to talking about my book selections, where he revealed that he was training to be a pilot, and had in fact just completed a night flight recently. I just want you to know he’s over your heads while you sleep. That’s it. That’s this whole section.

• I’m listening: “A Big Part of a Big Sun” by deLaurentis. “Loss” by Phoria. “Carrie” by Ugovhb. “jealousy” by pstasinski & RJ Pasin.

• I’m reading: INTO THE DEEP, by Robert D. Ballard.

• I’m doing: taking the Stiefvater dogs for their annual check-ups.