I’m in SoCal all next week and am so stoked to be there! Hope to see you at one of these great events with numerous rad authors, lots of books, and awesome coffee…
Monday 3/25, 7:30 PM, Skylight Books in LA, with Cecil Castellucci, Jennifer Bosworth, and Sherri L. Smith. Presented by The Los Angeles Review of Books. Coffee by Intelligentsia.
Wednesday 3/27, 7 PM, Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, with Robin Benway, Debra Driza, and Shannon Messenger.
Thursday 3/28, 6:30 PM, L.A. Central Library (Meeting Room A), with Cecil Castellucci, Sherri L. Smith, Aaron Hartzler and Margaux Froley.
Friday 3/29, 10 AM, Torrance High School ANNUAL AUTHOR FAIR, with too many awesome authors to list them all here.
Saturday 3/30, 8 AM to 8PM, Disneyland for the YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH, with 15 other rad YA authors.
In ROOTLESS, Banyan builds trees out of scrap metal, creating beautiful forests for people who crave some semblance of nature in a future where no nature survives. But throughout human history, there have been many different types of “tree builders”. This blog series will introduce you to some of them…
… HI-TECH TREE BUILDING …
Banyan builds trees to “give people something to believe in”. Something beautiful that reminds them of the way the world once was. I’ve explored in previous posts some of the ancient tree building traditions, but in this installment, I’d like to share some real-life tree building that’s happening right now – using state of the art technology. Check out these amazing artificial trees in Singapore that were designed to generate solar power, act as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collect rainwater. Banyan would be proud! Read more about these tree builders here.
Scientists are also working to build artificial trees that soak up carbon dioxide from the air using “leaves” that are 1,000 times more efficient than actual living leaves that use photosynthesis. Read more about this project here. Crazy Cool!
In the next installment, I’ll be introducing you to some real-life tree builders who are artists much like Banyan himself! Speaking of which, the tree building in Singapore looks like how I imagine some of Banyan’s trees might look, especially at night …
Just throwing it out there to Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm and Disney… they’ve got their screenwriter for Episode VII (Michael Arndt) and they now have their director (JJ Abrams). I remain eternally optimistic about the whole thing… and I’m officially going on record to volunteer my services for the Episode VII novelization! I never thought I’d want to write something that wasn’t my “own” story but for this, I’d definitely make an exception! And to be honest, I don’t just love Star Wars, I get Star Wars… and I already have an idea of the “voice” I’ll use to best capture the galaxy far, far, away. As far as I can tell I’m the first author to offer their services for Episode VII “on the record” … so, Ms. Kennedy, thanks for your consideration!
Did you know there are two Star Wars inspired easter eggs hidden inside ROOTLESS?? They’re so hard to find that even people who knew to look for them have missed them. But they’re in there… let me know if you can find one or both! And MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU all!
Just a quick update—from my screen to yours… I’m working on THREE new books at the moment (unusual for Mister-Can’t-Multi-Task me) I can tell you that two of them have dragons in and one of them is ROOTLESS Book 3! In other cool news… over the holiday period I was awarded a FLYING START by Publishers Weekly along with five other authors who debuted last Fall. I’m really stoked about ROOTLESS being recognized in this way and PW did a cool interview with me that you can read here.
I’ve also updated the site with some great new reviews and blurbs for ROOTLESS, some fun new pictures and music, as well as my upcoming author appearances in Colorado and Southern California… including Disneyland with my awesome mate Shannon Messenger! I’ll also be doing an online chat with Young Adult Books Central on the evening of March 14th, so I hope to see you virtually or somewhere out on the road. To get an idea of what that might sound like you can listen to a podcast of me at Denver’s Tattered Cover last month!
Finally, I’m still giving away a signed hardcover per week to one lucky visitor to the site who emails me the names of all seven hidden clues! If you already have the book and want to try to win a T-shirt instead… just let me know in the email. I’d like to keep running this contest as long as possible, but will at some point run out of copies/shirts/stamps so get in while you can. CHEERS!
I don’t believe in “bests” when it comes to this stuff… it’s meant to be subjective, right? So, instead, this is my list of “favorites” from 2012…
Favorite Novel: The Raven Boys byMaggie Stiefvater
When I started this book I kept thinking “this isn’t really my thing” … and yet I couldn’t stop reading, maybe in part because I enjoyed the Scorpio Races so much last year. Anyway, by the end, I couldn’t put the book down, and I’ve probably thought about it more after-the-fact than anything else I’ve read this year. Characters I cared about, an original story… but it’s those forest scenes, I think… “fenced by one thousand different shades of green fastened to a million wind-blown claws.” Beautiful.
Favorite Debut Novel: Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
I loved that this book didn’t remind me of anything else. The world felt fresh and real, the characters were badass, there was a cool environmental message in there, and Kristoff doesn’t pull any punches. Looking forward to the next one!
Favorite Album: Lonerism by Tame Impala
I loved their first LP so much and fell in love with this one right away. Haven’t been able to listen to too much else since it came out, to be honest. Shiny, spiky, big and beautiful. The production’s amazing, the playing swirly and spot-on, but the melodies are what keep me coming back.
Favorite Single: Bad Girls by M.I.A.
I love her. I think she’s beyond brilliant. A true artist and big-mouth, and a true star. ’I had a handle on it/My life, but I broke it’ … such a cool line!
Favorite Musical Artist: Four Tet
His latest LP “Pink” was yet another classic. Kieran Hebden = genius. And this particular track might just make you cry:
Favorite Gig: theStone Roses
I grew up listening to these guys but the original line-up split before I was old enough to see them play. And I never thought I’d get to see them. I mean, they’ve long been my favorite band of all time… To be able to catch them on top form in Barcelona was the perfect start to summer and a night I’ll always remember. Can only imagine the energy at their massive Heaton Park shows in Manchester.
Favorite Continuing Comic Book Series: The Unwritten
I love this series. It reminds me a little of the book I worked on for a few years before I started writing ROOTLESS. But these guys really know what they’re doing. Great concept, great characters, and consistently awesome covers!
Favorite New Comic Book Series: Saga
I’m a HUGE Brian K. Vaughan fan, and this new series is full of so much potential, so much startling weirdness, and such wild world-building that I was hooked right away. Disturbing and beautiful, and often just fun… the two leads really draw me in, and Fiona Staples’ art totally blows me away.
Favorite Film: Cloud Atlas
I saw a lot of great movies this year but this one left me reeling like no film has in a long time. I enjoyed the book but the film took the concept and the themes and the heart of that story and transformed them in a way I found both affecting and astonishing. As always, I can’t wait to see what the Wachowskis do next.
Favorite Screenplay: Looper
This was one of those films that as soon as I finished watching it, I wanted to see it again. And as great as the performances and direction are, it’s the screenplay I think that really sets it apart. I’d love to get my hands on the shooting script. More incredible work by Rian Johnson. A violent film about breaking the cycle of violence… just the sort of paradox that the screenplay is so careful to avoid… or is it?!
Favorite Preview: Man of Steel
Really?! A favorite preview? Why not? It’s practically an art form in itself, these days. And while the final film might end up being terrible, I find this trailer works on so many levels… the use of two great pieces of music, the iconic imagery contrasted with the Malick-like focus, the sparse dialogue… it almost creates a short story on the screen. If this sort of care was taken on crafting the story of the actual film, we could be in for a real treat. And I’ve never been a big Superman sorta guy. I just think this is awesome…
Guilty Pleasure of the Year: Lana del Rey
I don’t know if she really counts as guilty-pleasure material. I mean, she’s an artist… She’s for real, right? She’s certainly controversial, and that’s usually a bonus. And at the end of the day, I had all sorts of fun listening to her debut album.
In ROOTLESS, Banyan builds trees out of scrap metal, creating beautiful forests for people who crave some semblance of nature in a future where no nature survives. But throughout human history, there have been many different types of “tree builders”. This blog series will introduce you to some of them…
… CHRISTMAS TREES …
At this time of year, a lot of people around the world become tree builders. They decorate trees in their home with ornaments and lights, and they illuminate trees outside in brilliant colors. While today this is mostly thought of as a Christmas tradition, its roots can be traced to the symbolism of evergreen trees in pre-Christian winter rites, especially with the story of Donar’s Oak, a sacred tree of the Germanic pagans. In fact, evergreen trees, garlands and wreaths were also an important symbol of life to the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews.
As discussed in this blog post, tree worship is as old as it is widespread around the globe. So it’s not surprising that decorating the home with evergreens is a custom that survived and is today celebrated by so many. I think the tradition remains so popular for the same reason that it became a tradition in the first place: the evergreen tree is a perfect symbol of life in the midst of winter, when the sun reaches the end of one cycle and begins its cycle anew.
Though not an evergreen, here’s one of my favorite sights this season…
I took the picture at Chatfield State Park, right here in Denver. With the help of the Botanic Gardens, they really put on quite a show! And yes – my wife and I do have a tree in our home. It’s a beautiful Fraser Fir, grown here in Colorado.
Regardless of your religious beliefs, I hope you’ll enjoy the trees this season. Happy Holidays… and may you burn bright the dark!
Fourteen days… Fourteen different stops… Each one featuring unique ROOTLESS content and awesome giveaways. To make it easy to see all the goodness, I’m listing the highlights and their direct links here:
This whole Blog Tour was such a blast! My personal highlight was recording the music for stop #13, but the character interview with Crow was almost as much fun to create! I also really enjoyed answering everyone’s questions, exploring the world and science of ROOTLESS, and getting to hear from others who helped shape the book. Oh yeah – and when we wrap up the Q&A with brilliant (and very busy!) Scholastic cover designer PHIL FALCO, we’ll hold a special Blog Tour ENCORE!!
A huge THANKS to YoungAdultBooksCentral.com for creating this tour, and to all the wonderful bloggers who hosted. And good luck to everyone hoping to win one of these awesome prize packs:
Now I’m off to cook some cornmeal porridge… Soljah style!
Just got my first pic sent to me of ROOTLESS out there on the shelves! Such a great feeling… and makes me want to give stuff away in gratitude!! So, before the end of November, Tweet me a picture of ROOTLESS “In the Wild”… kinda like this:
… and you’ll be entered to win one of these awesome ROOTLESS prize packs: personalized/signed hardcover, custom shirt, and bookmarks!
Easy, right?! Have fun… and MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU!
14 Days of exclusive Q&As, VLOGS, music downloads and more! Plus, at each stop you can enter to win a sweet ROOTLESS giveaway pack: personalized/signed hardcover, rad custom T-shirt, and slick bookmarks.
Monday Oct 29
Tour Kickoff at YABooksCentral.com/blog
Q&A with Chris Howard, author of ROOTLESS
Tuesday Oct 30
VLOG from Chris at BookNerd.ca
The Inspiration Behind ROOTLESS
