Eric Luper's Random Musings

If anyone who reads this blog is in New York City, I'll be down on Monday. I'm going to a political event at a restaurant called Dip on 29th and 3rd. Really, it's just an informal cocktail hour and meet-n-greet. My close friend, Darius Shahinfar, is running for Congress and I'm going to show a bit of support.

I'm also going to meet my editor during the day. I can't wait to see FSG's new offices (and maybe pick up some ARCs!!!).

In any case, if you are interested in some free hors d'ouvres and some time to chat face to face, drop me a note via my website and I'll get you on the list for the triple-secret VIP members-only mezzanine level. It's supposedly a really cool place. And it would be great to meet some of you guys!

Hope to hear from you!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with the 7th and 8th graders at Hudson Middle School. What a great bunch of young men and women. We began the day with lunch (how can a day begin any better?) and I had the chance to sit and chat with teachers, administrators, and a few authors and illustrators. And I had the chance to eat the yummy wraps donated by a local deli.

Here I am between Caldecott Honor recipient, Barbara Lehman, and author and blogger extraordinaire, Nancy Castaldo.



Then author, Liza Frenette, came along so we took another picture.



We were scheduled willy-nilly all over the building so it was great to have the chance to spend time with them. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to see any other presentations with the exception of about 3 minutes of Nancy's:



Then it was off to my auditorium.



Now, imagine this auditorium filled with 150 energetic 8th graders. Then imagine it filled with another 150 7th graders. Here I am talking to them.



I talked about how a book is born, in other words how an idea for a book becomes a novel sitting on the shelves. I talked about the writing process, the submission process and the editorial/publishing aspect of things. Afterwards, I found out that Todd Strasser had been there earlier in the week and he talked about many of the same things I did. Grrr.

But everything was good after that when several of the teachers took me to Spotty Dog Books, one of my favorite bookstores in the world, and bought me a beer. Yes, you read that right. They have beer in a bookstore. If there is a heaven, there is a Spotty Dog Books there.

On the way to my visit to Hudson Middle School, I had to cross the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. I love the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. It's really high, gives a great view of the Hudson Valley, and has such literary relevance. Here's a pic:



As I approached Hudson, I noticed I had about an hour to spare, so I stopped here:



Center of the world? Perhaps not, However, Olana was the home of Frederic E. Church, famous American landscape painter. He really was an interesting guy and he had a wicked cool house. Really, it's more of a fortress. And it overlooks the Hudson Valley like a sentinel. Check this thing out:



And check out the view (this is a cloudy day...there are MORE mountains back there):



Another pic:



What a great region for writers and other artists. There is so much creative history around here! Now, I just have to figure out how to sell enough books to afford a house like that. More about the actual Hudson school visit later!

On Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to speak at the annual dinner for the Children's Literature Connection. Now, this was a very special event because December 2007 saw the passing of children's literature champion, Micki Nevett. She was a dedicated librarian, active in children's literature associations, and on last year's Newbery Committee (apparently, she was a strong advocate for Wednesday Wars). Her passing is a great loss to children's literature.

Anyhow, the good people of the CLC decided to start an annual award called the Micki Nevett Sparkler Award. This trophy and cash award are given to a true champion of children's literature as well as to the library of his/her choice.

All my photos came out crappy, but here is one of the better ones.



In honor of Micki, two young women sang a tear-jerking song from Gregory Maguire's Wicked and everyone was sharing stories of her. Needless to say, it was daunting to get up there and do my thing after all this. But I did my best. Fortunately, I spoke during dessert so people were in somewhat better spirits. There were around 60 people there, all of whom had some interest in children's literature (author, illustrator, teacher, reading specialist, librarian, etc).

I spoke about my Muse, my Inner Critic and the creative process... and how they battle it out in my head. I was nervous about this one because I had scrapped my original speech and rewrote everything at around 4pm that same afternoon.

Here I am talking from far away. If you look closely, you'll see rear views of artistq, Kyra Teis, and Coleen Paratore. You'll also see my empty seat at the right where a penny appears on the table. That penny meant I won the yellow flowers in the center of the table! Yay me.



Here I am closer up but still far away. I'm actually wearing a tie:



I enjoyed speaking at the event and hope to do this talk again in the future. I felt very unpracticed and know I will knock it out of park next time I do it. And if you were there, I hope you enjoyed it!

I just discovered this very cool page about Big Slick that was put up by Macmillan Publishing Company. I'm proud to have Macmillan as a parent company for my publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This is not because I think they have sound business practices or are overly kind to the authors. This is not because I think they have a great corporate culture. In fact, I know very little about Macmillan aside from the fact that they are huge.

The reason I'm happy about Macmillan is their name reminds me of the scariest robot in movie history:



Say hello to Maximillian, the evil robot from Disney's 1979 movie The Black Hole. This floating robot, complete with the spinning blade that comes out of a panel in his stomach, kept me up nights when I was a kid. It terrified me then and I'm afraid to watch the movie now. I'm afraid to watch the movie now not because of how scared I'll be, but because I know my memory of Maximillian is far cooler and far scarier than the real Maximillian is bound to be.

Also, check out this short, sweet review of Big Slick by deenaml. High praise to be called "Ferris Bueller's Day Off meets Illegal Poker Tournies."

Now, I must prepare my speech. I was asked to give a talk at the 2008 Annual dinner for the Children's Literature Connection. It's tomorrow. Yikes! Wish me luck. The CLC is a great little organization and one that if you live in upstate New York or western Massachusetts you should look in to.

I went to the Tulip Festival today. Naysayers were balking about how the tulips would be past-prime, but as far as I'm concerned it was one one of the best years ever. Over 200,000 tulips blooming and a big festival... What could be better?

Here are some of my amateurish pix...

Here are some tulips (or pinksters as they are called someplaces).



More pinksters...



Pinksters in the shape of a peace symbol.



Wow, it's just amazing that colors like this exist in nature.



Other bright colors.



Faraway shot. Bye-bye pinksters!



The Spin Doctors were in the house singing Pocket Full of Kryptonite.



There were tons of arts, tons of crafts, and tons of foods that are bad for me.



Here is the boathouse, which mysteriously had no boats. However, it did have a stage with bands. Also, last night they started a new tradition. They floated a giant tulip out into the pond and lit it on fire. A bit disturbing to me, but whatever. If you look closely, you'll see the double dutch team doing their thing.



Here I am with author of Spitfire and fantastic blogger, Kate Messner. Boy, she's a lot taller in person than she looks on her website. Heck, I met her in the fall and she wasn't that tall back then!!! Maybe it wasn't Kate after all! That bearded bastard had me fooled!



And here is my dream house. That third-story windowed room looks right out over Washington Park here in Albany. Wouldn't that be the perfect writing room? Just a small desk and a comfy chair. And a mini-fridge. And lots of chocolate. That would be cool. Oh, and a lock on the door. And some good lighting, but also some candles for mood. Did I mention the chocolate?

It's been a decade. It's been a decade since Harry Potter first made an appearance on the New York Times Bestseller List. But according to this story, this past week is the first week since then that there is no Harry Potter on the list.

JK, it was a good run, but now it's time to make room for someone else!!!

Not sure why I find this clip funny. I think it's a combination of:
1) the repetition
2) the sound of the frog flopping
3) Peter's bland expression
4) Peter's emotionless persistence
5) the sheer morbidness
6) I find Family Guy inherently funny

I guess it's just an odd humor week for me....

Happy weekend, and for all you mothers out there...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Winter in Albany is terrible. We get hammered with snow and it's cold cold cold. But come May, I remember why I like it here and the feeling gets stronger every year. I went out to my backyard today to procrastinate from writing and was overwhelmed by the blooms that popped up overnight. I took some photos. Remember all of these are from my yard:

Here is the blanket of purple flowers that lives next to my infernal pond:



If you are not familiar with my infernal pond, you have not been reading my blog long enough! But here is a better photo of it. Those are lilypads in the middle:



Here are some big, fat lilac blooms:



And here are some purple little diddies living next to Benedict the gargoyle:



These are cherry something bushes. I forget. They don't make cherries, but they make some very cool tiny white flowers:



These are dandelions. My son says that God invented dandelions so kids would have something to pick. Hence I leave the dandelions for them:



Here is a wider pic of the backyard. Isn't that bench just in the perfect place?



Here I am by the Victorian gazing ball:



A short stroll around the front reveals the rhododendrons:



And another rhododendron. This one getting some action rom a huge fuzzy bumble bee. That sucker is the size of a dumptruck, I swear. Look closely, Loree Burns. I don't charge much for my photographs!



And here are a few tulips:



Albany was settled in the days of yore by the Dutch and as such we have a long relationship with the tulip. In fact, this weekend is Tulip Fest here in the capital city of New York. Imagine over 200,000 of these suckers in our downtown park! All the colors of the rainbow. Really, it is a sight to behold. For a great image of just a part of the tulip display, click here.

The great thing is that after the tulips wither, they dig up the bulbs and sell them to residents of the city to plant in their own gardens for next year. Very cool.

Weather permitting, I'll get some shots of my own. It's music, art, crafts, rides, a little booze, and a lot of flowers. They also crown the Tulip Queen who then has many duties for the year to come. Duties befitting the Tulip Queen. If you're planning on going, look for me on Saturday!

I just finished a major Freaks and Geeks marathon. Like so many other shows in my past (Cheers, Curb Your Enthusiasm. The Office and others) I had a sense I would like this series, but never got around to planting myself in front of the TV to watch it when it first ran. I did catch a few assorted episodes and have always wanted to see them all. I finally got my chance.

For those of you who are not familiar with the series, it's mostly about a group of geeks (grouped to the right in the above photo) and a group of burnouts (grouped to the left in the photo) coexisting in high school in 1981. The two groups have the common tie of a brother/sister pair played by John Francis Daley and Linda Cardellini one of whom is a geek and the other of whom is a newly inducted but good-girl-at-heart freak.

If you watch the series, you'll catch sight of plenty of other famous actors before they became famous. This show was a major career springboard for a slew of people.

Well, the whole shebang, all 18 episodes are out on DVD, and I took the opportunity of getting it out of the library. Freaks and Geeks is great. And it's bliss for a YA author. Great writing. Great acting. Great tense situations. Great unexpected twists and turns. Interesting and engaging primary and secondary characters. Tons of laugh out loud humor and many poignant moments. And a super soundtrack. Just a stellar show overall.

If you are an aspiring or accomplished writer of teen literature, I highly recommend you watch it.

If you are a librarian, I highly recommend you add this series to your collection.

Now, for what I want. . .

I want a Freaks and Geeks reunion show. I would love to see a reunion show set in 2004 at the 20-year high school reunion of Sam, Neal and Bill. I'm sure some clever writer could figure out a way to get the whole gang back together. I want it, now someone make it happen. And if somebody from Freaks and Geeks related TV-land reads this post, know that I would be great for the job.

I happened upon this video this morning. I'm curious what your reaction is to it. Do you find it cruel? Do you find it funny? Do you have some combination of emotions regarding it? Is it cruel in its funniness? Funny in its cruelness? Is it the video generation gone too far? Do your best to parse out your reaction and tell me in comments.

As for me, I feel terribly guilty finding aspects of this funny and at the same time I would NEVER do it to anyone. Nor do I think this guy should have done it in the first place.

Check out this dapper bloke:



Yes, it a picture I took of myself with my cell phone. I accidentally left the digital camera in my car, which is why ALL of the photos in this post are going to be fuzzy, underlighted, and all-around crappy. Anyhow, I had the opportunity to attend a benefit for Saratoga Bridges, an organization that "has many resources and programs to serve individuals with disabilities and their families including: Day Services, Family Support Services, Residential Services, Service Coordination, Medical Services, and Supported Employment in Saratoga County, New York."

Coincidentally, the event took place at the Saratoga Springs State Park Hall of Springs, which I blogged about here and appears in my forthcoming novel, BUG BOY. In fact, if you look at the first photo in that entry, you'll see the building where this event took place.

Here is a crappy photo of cocktail hour. It's a huge rectangular bar with a huge flatscreen in one corner and giant brass chandeliers. Everyone sipped mint juleps, munched on exotic cheeses and watched the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. Yay for Big Brown (who I bet on) but it was a terribly sad day as I'm sure you've heard. They had to euthanize the second-place horse and the only filly in the race, Eight Belles. Here is a great website if you're interested in the derby horses or want to see a replay of the race. Big Brown was amazing. I've had my eye on him ever since I saw him run at Gulfstream Park in Florida. That horse started in the 20th post position and ran 4-wide the whole way, which had to have added a good 1/8 mile to his run and he still beat the whole field of 19 other horses by 4 lengths! Anyhow, here is the crappy photo of the cocktail hour:



Then came the ball itself. Take a look at this crappy photo of the grand ballroom. Just massive and splendorous and very Truman Capote with a splash of Gatsby:



The guest of honor was baseball player, Daryll Strawberry. Sorry for the low-quality photo but take my word for it: the tall guy is Daryll Strawberry looking quite dapper, but not particularly Gatsby:



Then came dessert. Sure there was dinner, but I figured this would be a better crappy photo:



Imagine alternating discs of white and dark chocolates with alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate mousse between them. Drizzle chocolate sauce on top and top it with a chocolate-covered hazelnut and that's what I ate. Actually, I didn't eat the hazelnut. When I tried to spear my fork through my dessert, the top layer of chocolate cracked causing the hazelnut to catapult into the air. Of course, it landed on my nice, white tuxedo shirt. It then rolled down making a dark streak from my chest to my waist. Not a good way to end the evening, but the dazzling room made up for it. The great thing is that this building was built in 1934, the very same year my novel takes place.

All the carousing was RESEARCH for my novel!

I'm expecting an additional round of editorial comments this week some time and hoping hoping hoping the changes are minimal. Then it's off to copyediting and lots of finger-crossing!

Now, check out this dapper bastard one last time:

On my way out of Saratoga, I decided to take a quick drive through Saratoga Springs State Park. This huge chunk of land was designed during the New Deal in 1933-1935 with health and culture in mind. There are meeting halls, theaters, a hotel, a public pool, an 18-hole gold course, tennis courts, mineral baths, mineral spring fountains, exercise trails, and tons of open space.

The place is just stunning. This is the Hall of Springs, where huge gala Gatsby-esque events take place. In fact I'm going to one tomorrow night, which overlaps with the Kentucky Derby. Black tie and all. I'll try to get a pic of me in a tux...



This is the main building where all the doctors used to hang out. This entire park was originally intended as a health retreat where people would come to tend to their weak constitutions. The idea is that a patient would go there for weeks or months, see a doctor and be given a health regimen, which would include daily mineral baths, tennis, golf, walks, massage, and odd tonics:



Here is the famous Victoria Pool, the first heated pool in America. You can't tell from this pic, but this pool is massive.





Here is one of the two famous lion head fountains. The lion spits water...but has not yet been turned on for the season. The pool and the lions were rennovated not long ago and people were very excited to see the lions spitting after all those years of spitlessness:



And close-up:



Nearby (just a short walk through the restaurant from the pool) is the clubhouse for the golf course. Look at those tall pines. And imagine your doctor being able to PRESCRIBE therapeutic golf for you. You could play the best courses for the cost of a co-pay (assuming they're in-network and you've already paid your deductible):



This is the view down the first fairway. Although I jest about therapeutic golf, I can understand how someone would see it as having healing properties. Just take a look:



Now, if you're still reading and are wondering WHY I'm lurking around parks like this, my book takes place in 1934, cleverly placed right during the construction of this remarkable park. And there are two pivotal scenes in BUG BOY that take place in the park. But you'll have to wait until July 2009 to read about that!

After rifling through hundreds of photos in the museum archives, I decided to wander Saratoga a bit. It's one of those small cities that has done a marvelous job of modernizing, but leaving an old town sort of feel. Heavy on the Victorian age.

Here is a really cool gas lamp in Congress Park:



And here is where the birdies live:



Here is the old, old carousel in Congress Park. It's over 100 years old and the horses were all painstakingly restored by hand. There was a huge hoopla about returning this beauty to the park after it was removed in 1933. Now that it's there, I think the detractors must have been insane.



Most people know Saratoga Springs for the horse racing, but there's also the springs. Ancient cultures believed in the healing properties of the waters of Saratoga Springs. Its extremely high mineral content was believed to have healing properties and was being actively researched all the way through the 1950s. In fact, during Roosevelt's New Deal, they built the largest mineral bathhouse in the world along with all kinds of other great fun things (see my NEXT post). There are over 100 spots in Saratoga where the water bubbles to the surface. Many of these spots have been harnessed to make these great water fountains:



Beware, the high sulphur content makes the water taste a little rotten-eggish!!!



But it's safe to drink:


Here is another spring:



And up close:



Can you feel the healing happening?

Many of you will recall my recent treks to Saratoga for fact checking for my forthcoming novel, BUG BOY. It seems as though each door I open leads to three more hallways with a door at the end of each. When does one call it quits?

I'm not permitted to share any of the old photos I was reviewing yesterday, but it was such a gorgeous day I took a bunch of pictures. Here is the library at the National Museum of Racing. The people there were extra helpful in getting me what I needed, which was time-appropriate photos of 1934 Saratoga racetrack. Cool room, right?



Here is a photo and memorial plaque to Tom Gilcoyne, a track historian who regrettably passed away last year. He was born in 1917 or so and remembered each track season vividly. You could name any year and would just start rattling off details. We talked on the phone several times about the 1934 season. Absolutely remarkable man. As for me, I can't seem to recall what I did last week!



Here is the Saratoga Springs History Museum. It's built into one of the old illegal casinos called Canfield Casino where they still hold events such as weddings and charity balls. I've been fortunate to go to a few parties there.



Here are a few antique gambling devices (birdcage and roulette):



And here is a really cool chair that I covet. It's like 4 chairs in one:



More fun Saratoga stuff to come!!!

Last year, I planted a little, red tree for author, Susane Colasanti. She was feeling guilty about her carbon footprint and her love of air-conditioning. So, I offered to plant a tree on her behalf so she could feel less guilty. The truth is that I was hoping a "pay-it-forward" sort of thing that would result in a seven figure book deal for me. No such luck.

Damn you, karma!

Anyhow, here is her tree last week (with baby girl practicing her mad hand modeling skills (she's going to be on America's Next Top Hand Model)):



Please note the greeninsh, anemic-looking leaves. I was worrying about that tree. That is, I was worrying about it until yesterday. Here is the Colasanti tree now:



Holy cow! That tree is twice as big as last year and mega healthy. Susane, feel free to run that AC all you want!

An amazing thing happened today.

My son is playing little league this spring and today was his first game. Every game, one parent from each team has to work the concession stand so I volunteered to do it today figuring I'd get it out of the way early. So, I donned the latex glves and apron and set to work at the grill, fryer, and hot dog roller thing.

After working for an hour, the woman at the register said, "You're an author, arent you? You write for teens."

I looked around like another author might have wandered into the concession stand and was standing behind me (David Lubar, were you hiding behind the Slushie machine?). Then, I realized she was talking to me.

"I saw an article about you in the Times Union a few months back," she said. "I remember what you look like."

So, as I was flipping burgers and making chicken fingers and pulling the wrinkly, gray hot dogs off the roller to put fresh, pink ones in their places, we talked all about BIG SLICK, my forthcoming novel, BUG BOY, and the book that I'm working on after that, which for the time being shall remain nameless!

It was the first time someone who is not a librarian or another author has recognized me as an author. And it's the first time someone has recognized me out of context (i.e. not in a bookstore, library or at a conference). Very cool. Even thoguh I was wearing a dirty apron and a hair net, I felt like a total rock star!!!

I'm not sure what the consequences are of not responding to a meme, but I'd hate to risk some sort of chain letter curse so here goes...

I've been tagged by Arthur Slade, author of all those "-ology" books like Monsterology and Villainology.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Once you've posted your three sentences, tag five people and post a comment to the blog of whomever has just tagged you.

At the risk of being cursed terribly, I'm going to change the rules. I will do this for two books and I will leave it open-ended. If you want to do the meme feel free. If not, just ignore it.

The first book is The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff:



"I'm trying to go to cheer camp," she said quickly.
The blond girl turned back to Bernetta, sucking in her cheeks as she studied her up and down. "You cheer?" she asked.

The second is Big Slick by me!!!



I feel a crunchy sort of feeling inside. I unroll the socks, and a wad of money wrapped with a rubber band tumbles out. It's no small amount, either.

Again, if you feel like doing the meme, then go ahead and let me know in my comments section! And have a great day!

d_michiko_f thinks she's cornered the market on cute babies, but I think I've one-upped her. Here is a photo of my new twin nephews.



They were born on Thursday and I went to New Jersey this weekend to see them. The irony is that they are half Chinese and their mother wants an autographed copy of China by Debbi Michiko Florence for the twins (and their proud big sister).

In other news, I am done with my revisit of my reedits. Sounds crazy, but after my announcement that I was finished, fate delivered a ticket to a sold-out event at the Saratoga Springs Public Library about Depression-Era Saratoga.



I got tons of great information about illegal casinos, brothels, and dinner clubs. About circuses and parks and rail stations. And all kinds of other fun stuff. So, it was back to the proverbial drawing board.

I finished last Thursday and sent the manuscript off to NYC. Now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that edits are being received well! And as a celebration, here is a photo of a groovy horse outside the Saratoga Library.

Somehow, I've never seen this video before. It was a great way to start my day as I laughed harder than I have in quite some time. You may call me cruel, but come on... you'll have to admit it's just a little funny.