Speaking of St. James and Let's Eat Pie!

I'm in New York at this very exactly precise moment and will blog that soon. But first, there's this . . .

Last week, on the very exactly precise same day that I drew pictures in the park with author/illustrator Mark Crilley . . .



. . . I traveled to St. James School in downtown Los Angeles . . .



In honor of my coming, they arranged for the In-N-Out truck to be there . . .


(Or maybe it was there for a fundraiser.)

Before my presentation snooped around the library, while Peepy made new friends . . .



Soon it was time to be interviewed by these inquisitive video journalists . . .



While I was being asked questions, my Peep set up the projector . . .



Oh man, those St. James kids are smart and talented! Look what happened when I asked, "How many of you know String Theory, can bake a flourless chocolate cake, and can wrestle an alligator while reading a book?"



Speaking of books, the Smithsonian's Book Dragon has some great things to say about WARP SPEED.




CLICK HERE to read the review.



Speaking of books, some more -- BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) has been nominated for the 2012 Magnolia (Mississippi) Children's Choice Award AND it's also on the Master List for the Sunshine State Young Readers Award !!!! (I think we should all celebrate this by eating pie. Specifically, Mississippi Mud Pie and Key Lime Pie.)



BTW, one of Bobby's best friends is named . . . ST. JAMES!!! And I went to St. James School to speak!!!


(That's St. James on the right. The boy, not the school.)

Here's a awesomely (sp?) cool review of the book from ProseandKahn.

Alright! Like I mentioned at the top of this blog -- New York (and the fabulous BEA aka Book Expo America) is up next. In the meantime, can you guess who this famous actor is on the right?


(Here's a HINT.)

Plus, look who got to have their picture taken with Peepy!



Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.

CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!

Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Lisa Yee

Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!

Email:

Or you can click this for a RSS feed...

Drawing Pictures in the Park with Mark

So then, I decided to hop on a train to San Juan Capistrano . . .



It's about an hour-ish from Los Angeles, and the last time I was there, I had a spectacular literary encounter with my childhood idol, Mary Calhoun.

I was wandering about the park, when LOOK! I came across these lovely books basking in the cacti . . .



I was about to grab them, when this fellow, author/illustrator, Mark Crilley, ran past . . .



Of course, I gave chase, but he was (almost) as fast a runner as Marley Sandelski, the Star Trek geek in WARP SPEED who gets beat up everyday. Speaking of which, here's a Lovely Review of the book from GuysLitWire. (It includes me speaking Klingon.)

Anyway, Mark scrambled up a tree to elude me . . .



But that was okay, because the cacti still had two books left . . .



What a surprise! They were BRODY'S GHOST, a new graphic novel series created by . . . you guessed it, Mark Crilley!

Now then. Here's a Jeopardy!-worthy question for you. What does this man have in common with Mark and Me?



Here's a hint(s) . . .



Nope. He's the identical twin of these two. However both of the men, above, have had characters named after them in my books! (That's Mr. Kinnoin and Mr. Glick.)

Which means . . . the thing in common, that Mark and I didn't know when we first met in cyberspace, this is not a run-on sentence, was that we both named a character after Dr. Gary Seto in books that we had written!!!

He's in a book in Mark's AKIKO series and in SO TOTALLY EMILY EBERS .

Is that totally Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, or what?



Here's Mark signing a book for my doctor . . .



Why, look! It's a totally professional video I shot using my new iPhone . . .



I noticed that Mark was doing that show-offy thing that artists do. You know. Draw. So when I signed WARP SPEED for Mark, I thought I would intimidate him and draw, too . . .



If you like to draw, CLICK HERE for Mark's YouTube Channel and you can learn to draw as well as me! Or maybe better.



Hey! Are you in New York? Are you going to BEA? If so, come see me!!!

I'll be at the American Girl booth signing KANANI books on Wednesday from 1 - 2 pm, and on Thursday from 11 - noon!!!

Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.

Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Lisa Yee

height=26 width=132 alt="Google Groups">

Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!

Email:

Or you can click this for a RSS feed...

Meet My (Not So) Scary 7th Grade Teacher

"Is there a teacher who made an impact on your life?"

When someone from Brightwood School, were I attended first grade thru 8th, interviewed me, I replied, "Of course it would be Mr. Glick, but I'm sure he's no longer there."

Mr. Glick was my 7th grade teacher, and even though it had been YEARS since I was in his classroom, I never forgot him.

He scared everyone. He was loud and strict and demanded so much from you, and students quivered in his presence. And by the end of the school year . . . no one wanted to leave his classroom. He became "that teacher." You know, the one you never forget.

Here's what he looked like way back then . . .




So, during that phone call, I was shocked to find out that Mr. Glick was still teaching.

I contacted Mr. Glick and asked him if I could have his permission to portray him in STANFORD WONG FLUNKS BIG-TIME. When he said yes, I beefed up the role of "Teacher Torturer," as Stanford called him.

In the paperback AFTER WORDS version of the book, I talk about Mr. Glick . . .



Mr. Glick retired a few of years ago, but that only lasted four months. He has a passion for teaching, and soon found himself as a substitute in North Carolina.

Last week he was back in Alhambra, CA substitute teaching there, as he does from time to time. I was lucky enough to catch up with him.

Would he be the same, I wondered? Would he still challenge me to live up to his high standards? What if he found out that I goof off a lot when I should be writing?



Later, Son came home. He's in middle school and about the same age I was when Mr. Glick was my teacher. Son had heard the stories about how strict Mr. Glick was, and then found out firsthand . . .



Did homework get done fast that night? You bet.

After, Mr. Glick went out to dinner. Imagine! Going out to dinner with your teacher? If when I was twelve, someone said, "You will dine with Mr. Glick someday," I would have thought they were nuts.



It was a great meal, but an even greater evening because I got to be with Mr. Glick.



Here's to all the wonderful teachers out there! If you have one that made an impact on your life, find them and tell them.



BTW, if any of you are going to BEA in NYC next week, come by and see me! I'll be at the American Girl booth signing KANANI Girl of the Year 2011 books on Wednesday from 1pm - 2 pm, and also on Thursday from11 a.m. to noon!!!

Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.

CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!

Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Lisa Yee

height=26 width=132 alt="Google Groups">

Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!

Email:

Or you can click this for a RSS feed...