Holidays and Hibernation
Hi beautiful everyone!
I feel like I need a writing cave to hibernate in for the next couple of months, but before I bury my head in Book 16 and my Other Book I Keep Hinting At, I wanted to do a quick end-of-2024 post!
First of all, we have announced our exciting announcement, which is that Scholastic is organizing something we are calling FanWing Fest for spring 2025!
The idea is we’ll pick 3-5 cities, partner with a bookstore or library, and have a day in each one of dragon activities and book talk and fun! Mostly I want all the lovely readers I’ve met to meet each other, because you’re so awesome, and hopefully there will be lots of fun things to do (costume parade! trivia contest! maybe I will read a thing ack no promises depends on how hibernation goes!). 😊
Right now you can help us pick the cities and submit your art for a booklet of FanWing art (eeeee I’m so excited about this part!) at this link:
Weigh in (and/or submit your art!) soon, because we have to close both submissions in January to have time to make all the decisions and print the booklet!
I will probably not be doing any events between now and then (other than my rescheduled Baltimore event) because (as I may have mentioned) I should be writing (ack!) . . . but at least there is a new graphic novel (Book 8: Escaping Peril) out on Tuesday (with maybe my favorite cover yet?)!:
Hopefully your closest indie bookstore has it, or I’ve also signed copies of it at Newtonville Books and Belmont Books, if you’re looking for a signed book. 😊
I also wanted to share a few of the charities I love (in case you’re thinking of donating to charity as a gift to someone this year!) — please click on the links to find out more about each of them!:
International Rescue Committee
Last but not least, three recommendations that have made me happy this year:
In TV: Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld is making my Buffy the Vampire Slayer-bereft heart so happy; the voice actors include Ali Wong and Bowen Yang, and it is so funny and twisty and great!
In books: Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy (which starts with A Deadly Education) is AMAZING and the third book was exactly the right thing for me to read in November. The heroine could be an incredibly powerful evil sorceress but she is trying so hard not to be, even though so many things make her mad. I love her voice, I love the supporting characters, I love the magic school full of wizard-eating monsters they’re trapped in (I mean, I love it in a “oh cool” way, not in a “I want to go there” way!). I recommend these books passionately!
In newsletters: I subscribe to a wonderful newsletter called Fix the News which sends out regular updates about good news in the world — including medical breakthroughs, conservation victories, climate progress, and (often really cool) technological discoveries. You can visit their site to check out past newsletters (including 86 Stories of Progress from 2024), and subscribe for free — or if you become a paid subscriber, they donate a portion of it to small charities around the world making a big difference. It is a dose of hope and an antidote to the rest of the news! And a gift subscription would make a great last-minute present if you need one! 😊 (I gave one to my dad a few years ago and he loves it!) 😊
OK, I should stop there and get this posted — I’m sending you all hugs and hope and dragons who love you, and I wish you restful holidays and hibernation with lots of time for reading!
What I’ve Read & Loved Recently
