The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend April Lurie. Her new novel, The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine (Delacorte, 2008) was officially released yesterday. This is my favorite of April's books--she strikes just the right balance of humor and drama. And I'm not the only person that likes the book--it's already been nominated for the BBYA list!

Check out an excerpt from the book here.

The Newness

I hate starting a new project. Every time I start something new, the following thoughts pop into my head:

1) Why am I doing this? I don't get paid enough to be this miserable.
2) I'm such a hack. No wonder ____ said _____ about my last book.
3) I could write a novel about ___, but ___ has already done it.
4) I could write a novel about _____, but ____ could do it so much better than I could.
5) I should write something funny.
6) I should write something serious.
7) I should write a fantasy novel. Yeah, Hakim Potter at the Deathly Ghettos.
8) I should write a middle grade, so that I can win a Newbery.
9) I should write an adult novel. That way I could be on Oprah.
10) I should just quit while I'm ahead.

Eventually I'm able to push through these thoughts and get something down on paper. Sometimes it just takes a while. A long while.

In other news, I wish I had something more to add about the sale, but really, there isn't much more to say, at least not now. My editor feels pretty confident that we can get the revisions done in enough time to make the Fall 09 schedule. I'll be sure to let y'all know when something exciting happens.

Rhombus continues to do well--thanks to everyone who's purchased the book or requested it from the library or posted a positive comment about it. A few weeks ago, I uploaded the Discussion Guide for My Life as a Rhombus, created by the multi-talented Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think.

The Path of the Righteous

A lot of you guys have been asking me to write a novel from a male point of view. Well, be careful what you wish for...

From Publisher's Marketplace:

MY LIFE AS A RHOMBUS author Varian Johnson's THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS, about a preacher's son who has to make some big decisions about who he is and who he wants to be when his childhood crush returns to town, all grown up into a gorgeous and troubled teen, to Stephanie Lane at Delacorte, by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger (NA).

Details are still sketchy, but here's the important info:

1) It'll be a hardback.
2) We're shooting for a Fall 09 release.
3) The title may or may not change.

More news soon...I hope.

Checking In

Just checking in to post a few updates:

1) New reviews: We got good reviews from both KLIATT and The Edge of the Forest. I especially love this part of The Edge of the Forest review:

"Johnson's book strikes a good balance; it's gripping and sensitive at the same time. It doesn't oversimplify; it doesn't pull punches. And, perhaps most importantly, it does not pass judgment."

I love that readers and reviewers "get this" about Rhombus. It gives me faith that I did something right.

2) Updated website: I've added a couple of pages to the website -- a dedicated calendar page and a page on school visits. If you see any misspellings, please let me know.

3) On the Vermont College front, I wrote my first picture book last month. It started off at about 1500 words, and by the time I submitted it, I had cut it down to 1070. Now Rita wants me to trim off at least 200 more words.

4) Among the many books that I read last month, the one that stood out the most was E. L. Konigsburg's A View from Saturday. I'm not quite convinced that it has a plot, but I don't care. It's a great story. I see why it won the Newbery.

5) I hit the big 3-1 today. I celebrated by filling out paperwork that I had neglected for the past month.

6) Congratulations to both Paula Yoo and Sara Zarr for getting nominated for the 2009 ALA BBYA list. Of course, they're both great writers, so I'm not surprised in the least.

7) Thanks to everyone that saw me at all of my book signings and at the South Carolina Book Festival. And thanks for buying books!

8) Likewise, I had a great time talking to the students at Darlington High School and at Gardner Betts last month. Talking to those kids reminded me why I started writing in the first place.

Okay, back to work!

Book Signings and Interviews

Thanks to everyone that came out to my book signing at Barnes and Noble this past weekend. Not only was it a great success, but it was also nice to catch up with old friends. Austin authors and friends that dropped by include Cynthia Leitich Smith, Greg Leitich Smith, Jeanette Larson, April Lurie, Brian Yansky, Frances Hill, and Brian Anderson. (Note: Mrs. V did a beautiful job with all the table decorations.)


This morning, I was happily greeted with my interview in The State, South Carolina's capital city newspaper. I'll be back in SC this upcoming weekend, and will be participating in a number of events. I'll be discussing and signing copies of My Life as a Rhombus on Thursday, February 21st, at Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Florence, SC. On Saturday, February 23rd, I'm scheduled to participate in a young adult panel at the South Carolina Book Festival. Alan Gratz, author of Something Rotten (Dial, 2007) and Samurai Shortstop (Dial, 2006) will also serve on the panel; the panel moderator will be Dr. Sam Hastings, Director of the University of South Carolina School of Library & Information Science.

For those of you that haven't checked out Cynsations lately, please do. Cynthia Leitich Smith is hosting the SCBWI Bologna 2008 interview series, which so far has included interviews with Tracey Adams of Adams Literary and Steven Chudney of The Chudney Agency. The SCBWI Bologna 2008 interview series will include 32 sequential question-and-answer interviews with agents, editors, art directors, publishers, authors, illustrators, and other publishing types about the international youth publishing scene, and will be hosted at both Cynsations and at Cynthia Leitich Smith's MySpace blog.

Coming to a Book Store or Book Festival Near You

For those of you that don't know, I've got a new book out, and it seems to be doing pretty well. I also have quite a few author appearances scheduled, with more coming in every day. So while all of this makes for a very tired Mr. V, it also makes for a very happy Mr. V, as I love talking to both teens and adults about books and writing.

I was all set to write a little about my SCBWI talk yesterday, but Cynthia Leitich Smith at SpookyCyn seems to have already beaten me to the punch (Thanks, Cyn). For those of you that didn't get a copy of the handout, email me and I’ll send you a copy. Books referenced in the talk include Millicent Min, Girl Genius (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2003) by Lisa Yee, An Abundance of Katherines (Dutton, 2006) by John Green, Hard Love (Simon and Schuster, 1999) by Ellen Wittlinger, and Tantalize (Candlewick, 2006) by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

In other news, things are still rolling at The Brown Bookshelf. We've had some great interviews so far—and we're only 10 days into February. Be sure to stop by and check us out there!

Speaking of the Brown Bookshelf, team member Don Tate has some really good news: he just signed with a literary agent (um...my literary agent), and he just got his contract in for first book as a writer. Yay Don!

Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see Brown Bookshelf co-founder Paula Chase-Hyman's books So Not The Drama (Dafina, 2007) and Don't Get it Twisted (Dafina, 2007) FACE OUT in not one, but two local B&N's.

I've got a bunch of books building up in the queue to be read, including Sweethearts (Little, Brown, 2008) by Sara Zarr and Good Enough (HarperTeen, 2008) by Paula Yoo. Paula actually sent me a great picture of her doing the "Rhombus" pose. (Note to self, maybe this is a contest in the making...)

I would post of picture of me doing the same for her book, but as you can see, that might be a little difficult. : ) Both Sweethearts and Good Enough have been getting great buzz and reviews, and I genuinely like both authors, so I’m really looking forward to reading both books.

Like I said before, I'll be all over the place this month (see the website or see below), with more events coming in April and May. I plan to post a page on my website in a few months with more information concerning school, conference, and festival visits, but for now, just email me if you're interested in booking me and have questions concerning fees or schedule.

And please note, the book signing on Feb 16th is at 2:00 PM, not 11:00 AM as originally indicated on my website.

Feb 16, 2008 at 2:00 (please note time correction):
Book Signing
Barnes & Noble - Round Rock, TX
La Frontera Village
2701 Parker Road Bldg A Suite 700
Round Rock, TX 78681

Feb 21, 2008 at 7:00:
Book Signing and Discussion
Barnes & Noble - Florence, SC Magnolia Mall
2701 David Mcleod Blvd #1200
Florence, SC 29501

Feb 22-24, 2008:
South Carolina Book Festival
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center
1101 Lincoln Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Feb 29, 2008:
Book Discussion
Gardner Betts Juvenile Detention Center

Apr 26, 2008:
Austin SCBWI Conference
The University of Texas Club
2108 Robert Dedman Drive
Austin, Texas 78712

More Reviews

I'm knee-deep in finishing up my work for The Brown Bookshelf's 28 Days Later campaign (be sure to check us out starting Feb 1st), so I'll have to make this quick.

First of all, I just got back from my 10 day winter residency for the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Program for Writing for Children and Young Adults, and I'm happy to say, all of the workshops and discussions and reading were great. The best thing about this residency was that, except for the cold, I knew exactly what I was getting into this time. And, I'm really excited to be working with award-winning author Rita Williams-Garcia this semester.

While I was up in Vermont, we got a few new reviews for My Life as a Rhombus. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books gave Rhombus a Recommended review--I'll post a blurb from the review next month, after the print edition of the journal is out. In addition, the good folks at TeensReadToo.com gave the book a Five Star, Gold Award for Excellence! Be sure to check out their review at their website, or on Amazon.com.

While those reviews are nice, my favorite review comes from a teen reader that emailed me to say, "...I really want to thank you for writing such a great book...You Rock!"

Good stuff, right?