BOOKCON

Saturday, June 2, 2018

SHOW
DAILY

CONGRESSMAN

JOHN
LEWIS
GETS GRAPHIC

TAYE DIGGS
LOVES YOU MORE THAN...

CHUCK
PALAHNIUK
ADJUSTS YOUR
EXPECTATIONS

THE LUMBERJANES

GO BACK
TO CAMP
THRILLS,
JUSTICE, AND MORE
INSIDE

YOUR TBR PILE

IS BEGGING
YOU TO VISIT
BOOTH
MUST LOVE BOOKS
#1938
SEPTEMBE OCTOBE OCTOBE JANUARY
R 2018 R 2018 R 2018 2019
TURN THE PAGE
VISIT BOOTH #1938 FOR ARC GIVEAWAYS, GAMES, AND EXCLUSIVE SWAG!

TODAY’S AUTHOR EVENTS

10:45AM
PANEL WITH HOLLY BLACK
ROOM 1E14 4:45PM
AUDIOBOOK PANEL
2:00PM WITH LAINI TAYLOR
SIGNING ROOM 1E16
BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
AUTOGRAPHING AREA TABLE 10
AVAILABLE AVAILABLE

10:00AM ARCs 10:30AM TAKE A CHANCE! WIN AN ARC! 11:30AM CARDS

SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER

12:30PM SWEETS & TREATS 1:30PM BOOKMARKS 2:30PM NOVL SWAG

JUNE OCTOBER AVAILABLE OCTOBER

3:30PM TAKE A CHANCE! WIN AN ARC! 4:30PM DOODLE! 5:30PM PINS & PENCILS

JUNE JULY AUGUST OCTOBER AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER OCTOBER

Follow @TheNovl and @LittleBrownYR for daily SURPRISE giveaway alerts!

Limited quantities for all giveaways; while supplies last.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
!
CELEBRATE AT BOOTH #2121
with swag and sweet treats, and don’t miss our face painting,
button making, giveaways, and more throughout the weekend.

PRE-ORDER-PALOOZA!
ALL-DAY GIVEAWAY
Show your proof of pre-order for Bridge of Clay,
Catwoman: Soulstealer, Skyward, or The Dark Descent of
Elizabeth Frankenstein to get an Underlined beach towel.*

10:00-11:00 AM 11:30-12:30 PM
GIVEAWAY: GIVEAWAY: 1:00-2:00 PM
ZUSAK’S BACK! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNDERLINED! GIVEAWAY:
Build a bridge with us in Sign up for the Underlined THE DARK DESCENT
anticipation of the long- newsletter to score a free tote OF ELIZABETH
awaited novel to receive a bag, and celebrate our first FRANKENSTEIN TATTOOS
collectible Bridge of Clay birthday with rice crispy treats and AND FACE PAINTING
typewriter journal. new Underlined swag!

2:30-3:30 PM
GIVEAWAY: 4:00-5:00 PM
GET YOUR CRAFTIVISM ON WITH GIVEAWAY:
™ & © DC Comics. (s18)

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING CATWOMAN: SOULSTEALER

AUTHOR NICOLA YOON! SAMPLER AND DC ICONS BUTTONS
Pick a design inspired by some of Stop by for a chance to win a
our favorite reads and make your purr-fect DC Icons swag pack!
own button!

GET YOUR BOOKS SIGNED BY YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS!

10:30-11:30 AM 12:00-1:00 PM
ERIKA L. SÁNCHEZ WADE HUDSON
AND CHERYL
Art used under license from Shutterstock.com

Autograph Area:
Table 4 WILLIS HUDSON
PRH Signing Table

BRANDON
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SANDERSON
4:00-6:00 PM 4:45-6:00 PM
BRANDON SANDERSON MARISHA PESSL
Autograph Area: KARA THOMAS
Table 5 Autograph Area:
C L A I M T H E S TA R S
Table 6
Sampler!
*US Residents, 13+. Ends 6/3/18. See terms at http://bit.ly/2v9AMbu.
 14 Taye Diggs and Shane W. Evans: Fathers and Friends
CONTENTS
The actor and his lifelong friend collaborate on powerful and
passionate picture books.

16 Adjust Your Expectations: Chuck Palahniuk

Palahniuk is back with his first novel in four years:
Adjustment Day.

18 Abbi Jacobson on the Move

Broad City’s star opens up in her third book, I Might Regret This.

22 Checking In with the Lumberjanes

Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Brooklyn Allen discuss their
Lumberjanes chapter books.

24 Four Sci-Fi Authors Talk Reality, Identity, and

#FearlessWomen
Charlie Jane Anders, Seth Dickinson, S.L. Huang, and

20
V.E. Schwab discuss reality, identity, and fearless female
characters.

28 Who Says Princesses Don’t Wear Black?

Meet the the duo behind the Princess in Black series.

32 Social Media Poetry Explosion

Poetry is going viral, and the poets of [Dis]Connected can tell
Welcome to BookCon! You’re in for an you why.

exciting day packed with readings, 36 Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Work of Empathy
panels, interviews, signings, and activities. Nguyen has edited a groundbreaking anthology of essays on
the experiences of refugees.
There’s plenty to see and do for everyone,
including some of the hottest kids’ and
YA authors; mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, and
thriller masters; stars of stage and screen;
and big-name literary lights. Here’s our
look at some of the writers and events
you won’t want to miss.

4 Show Highlights
These are our top picks for today.
14
6 John Lewis Marches On
38 The Comforts of Horror
Meet two of the cocreators of Run, the next installment of
Marisha Pessl, Kara Thomas, and Kiersten White understand
the graphic autobiography of Congressman Lewis.
why horror appeals to all ages.
10 Meet Four Social Justice Warriors
40 Mysteries and Thrills in the Age of Fake News
Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, and
David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Brad Meltzer, and Walter
Jacqueline Woodson discuss social justice and positive
Mosley discuss popular fiction in the age of Trump.
representation in YA literature.

44 What to Do Tomorrow
Let us help you plan your second day at BookCon with a look
at tomorrow’s big events.
Publisher Joe Murray, Editor Craig Teicher, Art Director Jamison Jones, Copy Editor
Sonia Jaffe Robbins, Contributing Writers Matia Burnett, Dianna Dilworth, Elyssa
East, Gabe Habash, Claire Kirch, Hannah Kushnick, Beth Levine, Addie Morfoot,
Diane Patrick, Calvin Reid, Bogi Takács, Production Manager Michele Piscitelli,
Sales Coordinator Deena Ali, Published by Publishers Weekly.

2 THEBOOKCON.COM
 The much anticipated new novel from the
#1 New York Times bestselling author of

THE BOOK THIEF

ON SALE
10.9.18

STOP BY BOOTH #2121

#BridgeofClay
TO LEARN MORE

Meet Lion Forge award-winning and
up-and-coming authors at Booth #1802a!
Summit Vol. 1:
The LONG WAY HOME
IN STORES NOW!
Ask Amy Chu all about
STEMinist astronaut Val!
Today from 11:00AM–12:00PM
This is a taco!
IN STORES NOW!
Laugh with the squirrel-loving,
taco-eating duo, Andrew
Cangelose & Josh Shipley!
Today from 12:45 PM–1:45 PM
UPGRADE SOUL
SEPTEMBER 18
Meet Ezra Claytan Daniels,
winner of the 2017 Dwayne
McDuffie Award for Diversity
in Comics!
Today from 2:30 PM–3:30 PM!
SHEETS
AUGUST 28 978-1-5493-0292-3
Find out what all the buzz is
about by meeting up-and-
coming middle grade author
Brenna Thummler!
Today from 4:00 PM–5:00 PM!
© 2018 The Lion Forge, LLC., CATALYST PRIME™, and all associated distinctive designs are trademarks of
The Lion Forge, LLC. SUMMIT™ © and TM The Lion Forge, LLC. This is a Taco © 2018 Josh Shipley and
Andrew Cangelose. Upgrade Soul © 2018 Ezra Claytan Daniels. Sheets © 2018 Brenna Thummler.
4 PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM
978-1-941302-68-2
978-1-941302-72-9
978-1-5493-0292-3
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Alas, you can’t be in two—or
three or four—places at once,
so here are our picks for your
can’t-miss events, readings,
panels, and activities.
ALL DAY 10:45 AM–12:30 PM
The Diary of a Wimpy Stanning Up:
Kid Getaway Experience Channeling Fandom
SHOW FLOOR into Original Fiction
Fans of Jeff Kinney’s block- ROOM 1E16
buster middle grade series Six authors whose fan fiction
and their families can take a has led to book deals discuss
trip into the world of the most the craft.
recent book, The Getaway. Join
11–11:50 AM
the Heffleys on their family
Horror! Thrills!
vacation in this walk-through
Murder! Oh, My!
re-creation, featuring photo ops,
See p. 38.
videos, games, contests, and
more. And come back tomor- 11:45 AM–12:30 PM
row to meet Kinney himself! Novel Suspects: David
Baldacci, Sandra Brown,
Walter Mosley, Brad
Meltzer, Megan Abbott
See p. 40.
NOON–12:45 PM
Marching Along with
Congressman John
Lewis
See p. 6.
12:30 –1:15 PM
Love Them More: Taye
Diggs and Shane W.
Evans
See p. 14.
12:45–1:30 PM
BookCon Family HQ Tor Presents: LGBTQ+
QUEUE HALL Authors on Gender and
The Family HQ will feature Identity in Science Fic-
readings, workshops, and tion and Fantasy
See p. 26.
activities for younger readers
and their families throughout 12:45–1:45 PM
the day. Cassandra Clare Spot-
light Session: The Dark
Artifices
MAIN STAGE
Bestseller Clare talks with Kelly
Link about her Mortal Instru-
ments series and the upcoming
third book in her current Dark
Artifices series. at BookCon
1:30–2:15 PM
Tor Presents: #Fearless- Today’s Giveaways*
women In Tor Science
Fiction and Fantasy
10:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.
See p. 26
Book Bar Book Bar
1:45–2:30 PM Booth #2175 Booth #2175
Refugee Writers on
3:45–4:30 PM 11:15 a.m. 3:15 p.m.
Refugee Lives
Chuck Palahniuk: Must-Have YA: Too-Real YA Reads
See p. 36 Series Starters Booth #2339
One-on-One
2:15–3:15 PM Booth #2339
See p. 16.
4:30 p.m.
Magic and Power:
3:45–4:30 PM 12:45 p.m. Grow Up and Read a
Cassandra Clare, Romance!
Wonder Women: Kid
Brandon Sanderson, Buzz Books Booth #2339
Lit Stars Pack Power
Marissa Meyer, Tomi Booth #2339
in Prose
Adeyemi
See p. 28.
MAIN STAGE
Four fan favorites discuss 4–4:30 PM
two key elements of the Diverse Voices in Today’s Author Signings
fantasy genre. Mystery
DOWNTOWN STAGE
2:30–3 PM
Walter Mosley, Joe Idle, and
Lumberjanes to the Max! Julie Kagawa
Kellye Garrett talk about shat-
See p. 20. Booth #2339
tering sleuth stereotypes.
10:15 a.m.
4–4:45 PM
Heartthrobs Unite!
Romance Writing Comes Laurie Forest
to Life Booth #2339
ROOM 1E10
Five superstars of the romance
10:15 a.m.
genre discuss how it’s done.

5–5:45 PM
Women of Mystery and Sasha Alsberg
Thriller Booth #2175
ROOM 1E10 11:30 a.m.
Five female writers discuss **Books will be available for purchase in
booth #2339
the long tradition of women in
mystery and breaking into the
2:45–3:30 PM male-dominated thriller genre.
Kelsey Miller
One-on-One with Abbi Booth #2175
5:15–6 PM . . p.m.
.
Jacobson 2:00
The Poetry Connection: AAuthor
u Kelsey Miller will host Friends trivia
See p. 18.
Stories from Today’s LOOK FOR THEI’LL BETEN-FOOT CARL
with
witt giveaways and samplers of her Fall’18
release THERE FOR YOU
3–3:45 PM Most Popular Poets displayed near the south entrance to the
Social Justice Warriors: See p. 32. Javits Center. Limited promotional
Redefining Youthful Sarah Morgan
giveaways at noon daily May 30–June 3.
Rebellion Booth #2339
See p. 10. 2:15 p.m.
#ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLETHING
*While quantities last

JUNE 2, 2018 5
AART-PW-BookCon.indd 1 5/21/18 11:30 AM
 CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS
MARCHES ON Run, the next installment in Lewis’s graphic autobiography, pubs this fall
R
ep. John Lewis, a renowned
figure in the civil rights
movement and the history of
American social justice, will
continue the retelling of his extraordi-
nary life in Run: Book One, extending
the story begun in the March trilogy,
the first graphic work to be awarded
a National Book Award. Two of his
cocreators—cowriter and congressional
staffer Andrew Aydin and artist Afua
John Lewis ©Eric Etheridge
Richardson—discuss bringing this story
vividly to life using comics.
Run: Book One picks up Lewis’s
story roughly where the March saga
left off, in 1965, after the events of
the Selma to Montgomery marches
that ended in a violent confrontation,
6 THEBOOKCON.COM
with hundreds of nonviolent marchers
attacked and brutally beaten by Ala-
bama state troopers on the Edmund
Pettis Bridge. “Run: Book One starts
two days after the Voting Rights Act is
signed into law in 1965,” Aydin says,
noting that, while the legislation was
being enacted, Lewis was in jail after
being arrested in Georgia while trying
to integrate a white church.
Aydin says the book will look “at
the forces of white supremacy, which
were using the civil rights movement’s
tactics against [civil rights workers].”
In the wake of the Voting Rights Act,
Aydin says, “The Klan led the largest
hooded march in decades. We’ll show
that challenges to the Voting Rights
Act began days after it was signed into
law. We can draw a line from then to
the challenges [to voting rights] we
see today.”
“The Vietnam War will be a huge
part of Run, and there’s a shift in the
civil rights movement’s focus,” Aydin
explains. “The focus became, how do
you use the right to vote—it became,
how do we secure political power.”
The book will also examine the events
surrounding the Lowndes County
Freedom Organization (perhaps the
first African-American group to call
itself the Black Panther Party) and its
efforts to become an independent po-
litical party and run black candidates
for office.
At the time, Lowndes County,
Ala., had a majority black popula-
tion without a single black citizen
registered to vote. The party used
the Black Panther as the symbol of
its efforts toward “black power,” and
Huey Newton requested the use of the
emblem for the revolutionary organi-
zation he launched in Oakland, Calif.
Citing Martin Luther King and the
Montgomery Story, a historic 1957 civil
rights political comic that Lewis has
claimed as an inspiration, Aydin says
comic books again influenced the civil
rights movement in Lowndes County.
“The Student Nonviolent Coordi-
nating Committee created a series of
crude comics on various issues: how
to register to vote, what to vote for.”
Once again, Aydin says, “guided by
history, I get to highlight a little-
known comic as another example of
using comics to educate and inspire
people to do something important.”
Aydin also praises the addition of

Afua Richardson to the Run creative
team. She’ll work in conjunction with
Nate Powell, the March artist. “He’s
doing the first 10 pages of the book
and the two artists will share a cool
double page spread that will transition
the art to Afua,” Aydin says. “This is a
bigger book than she’s ever done, and
she’s going to be star.”
A highly regarded African-Ameri-
can comics artist, Richardson has
published works for Image and
Marvel. She says that being chosen
to work on Run “is like winning the
lottery to go into outer space.”
“This book is about John Lewis
and all the others [in the civil rights
movement] you don’t hear about who
were also beaten and shot fighting for
our rights. There’s a lot of pressure to
“This book is about
John Lewis and all
the others [in the
civil rights move-
ment] you don’t
hear about who
were also beaten
and shot fighting
for our rights.”
do this story justice, but it’s a good
pressure,” she says.
As Aydin continues to work
on Run, he talks about the death
of his mother, who raised him
alone, and the impact that working
with Lewis and March has had on
his life. His mother died shortly
after March won the National
Book Award in late 2016. “She
was 70 years old, and I was
supposed to have more time with
her,” says Aydin.
But, he continues, “The
night we won the NBA, I asked
her, ‘In your wildest dreams, did
you ever have a fantasy that I’d
grow up and win a National
Book Award?’ She said, ‘Sweet-
heart, I love you with all my
heart, but no!’ ”
Aydin says, “I surpassed
my mother’s wildest dreams
for me, and she was able to
see it while she was still alive.”
Calvin Reid
Today, noon–12:45 p.m. Andrew Aydin
and Afua Richardson will appear with Rep.
John Lewis on the Downtown Stage.Today,
2–3 p.m. Lewis, Aydin, and Richardson
will be in the Autographing Area.
JUNE 2, 2018 7
 MEET THE AUTHO
Don’t forget to stop by Abrams Booth #2207 for

PHOTO
OPP WITH
ADA, IGGY
& ROSIE!

10:00 AM 10:30 –11:45 AM 11:00 AM–12:00 PM

ARC GIVEAWAY Viet Thanh Nguyen
joined by all members of the
For fans of Supernatural,
Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives panel,
Six of Crows, and One of Us Is Lying
signing finished copies of The Displaced
ABRAMS BOOTH #2207
AUTOGRAPHING TABLE #2, #3, #5
Andrea Beaty
Celebrate the first chapter book in
the Questioneers series.
Exclusive sneak peeks and giveaways:
tote bags & Rosie bandannas
ABRAMS BOOTH #2207

11:45 AM–12:30 PM 12:00–12:45 PM

Thi Bui
author of The Best We Could Do,
in discussion on the Defying Borders
panel with fellow authors
ROOM 1E16
The creative team
John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Afua Richardson
will be in discussion on the Marching Along with Congressman John Lewis
DOWNTOWN STAGE
SIGNING 2:00–3:00 PM
RUN samplers • AUTOGRAPHING TABLE #5
RS TODAY JUNE 2
exclusive discounts and giveaways all day long!

COLLECTIBLE
POSTER WITH
SNEAK PEEK!

1:00 PM
POSTER GIVEAWAY
BOOKCON EXCLUSIVE: a first look at
#1 New York Times bestselling author
A. G. Howard’s epic new fantasy
ABRAMS BOOTH #2207
1:45–2:30 PM
Editor of The Displaced, Viet
Thanh Nguyen,
joined by contributors Thi
Bui, Porochista Khakpour,
Joseph Azam, Novuyo Tshuma,
Ingrid Rojas Contreras in discussion
on the panel Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives
ROOM 1E16

WIMPY IS COMING
10.30.18
Pre-order your copy today!

FREE
BACKPACK!

2:30–3:00 PM
Cocreators Mariko Tamaki & Brooklyn Allen
will talk about their bestselling middle-grade series on panel ALL DAY
Lumberjanes to the Max! • DOWNTOWN STAGE Don't miss the
SIGNING 3:15–4:15 PM interactive experience for
Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power! and Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up Diary of a Wimpy Kid
AUTOGRAPHING TABLE #3 BOOTH #1657

abramsbooks.com/BookCon
 MEET FOUR
SOCIAL JUSTICE
WARRIORS
The award-winning authors Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, Angie
Thomas, and Jacqueline Woodson will join podcaster and activist
DeRay Mckesson to discuss social justice and positive representation
in young adult literature. We asked them to explain the writer’s role in
promoting social justice.

KWAME ALEXANDER Rebound

Kwame Alexander
©Portia Wiggins Portraiture
I try to write books where young people see themselves and
feel more connected to their peers and each other. The idea
of writing books that promote social justice for me means
taking responsibility for writing books that help young people
to imagine a better world and then making those books avail-
able for not just brown and black kids but for all kids.
The books don’t segregate themselves, people segregate
the books. Sometimes teachers and librarians have a book
with black characters so they make sure that black read-
ers read it. Well, that is cool, but I need to make sure that
all readers read it. Teachers don’t just give Moby-Dick to
their white students—we all had to read it. In order for us to
understand and respect each other and to treat each other as
if we are connected, which we are, we have got to know each
other. How do we know the people who don’t act, dance,
think, pray like us, if they are not in our community? I posit
that the best way to do that is by discovering lives that are
outside of ours between the pages of a book.

10 THEBOOKCON.COM
 Queens Rule
and booktubers are cool!
EXCLUSIVE meet-and-greet with CLAIRE LEGRAND,
author of the MUST-READ fantasy of 2018, Furyborn,
and BookTubers Tashapolis,
A Clockwork Reader, Maureen Keavy,
and Hailey in Bookland!
A
Buzzfeed
“31 YA Books
You Should Each participant will
Absolutely Read receive a free signed copy
This Spring”
of Furyborn, a tote bag, and
a photo op with the group.

Don’t Delay!
EVENT OPEN TO THE First 50
PEOPLE AT THE BOOTH!

Saturday,
june 2 at 10 :00 a.m.
SOURCEBOOKS BOOTH #2039

TARDY TO THE PARTY? Signed copies of Furyborn will be available

for purchase at a discounted rate immediately after the event.

Shop SOURCEBOOKS BOOTH #2039

Where Being Bookish Reigns Supreme!

MY WEEKEND
IS ALL
BOOKED.
is my
my

$20 AADDICTION
DDICTION
DDIC TION
$15 $2
My Weekend Is All Booked T-Shirt Fiction Is My Addiction Tote Bag Books Are My Bacon Button
 eL s s o ns
VISIT
M E AUS
N I N GAT
MY PATH TO A
O ff ic ia
be re
l cover
le a

J u l y 2 0 18
to
se d in

BOOTH #1639
FUL LIFE

Supermodel, entrepreneur,
activist, & philanthropist

SPIN
G I STO E LWIN
E Jason Reynolds

B ÜWEEKEND
ALL N D C HLONG! EN
©Ben Fractenberg

JASON REYNOLDS Sunny

shares her unexpected path to When we say social justice, we seem to be talking about an

Spin evprize
e s h a pwhhl
e d h e r for
life a
self-discovery and the lessons outcome, without talking about the process to achieve said
that ha outcome. So, what writers can do is spark, further, and/or
chance win bbks, prize create context and framework around the process attached

packs, and more from a our

to social justice. Writers can say the tough stuff, and some-

imprints!
times, for whatever reason, pages become pillows for the
issues to lie on. These pillows don’t necessarily soften the
blow, but they can build intimacy around tricky conversa-
tions to sometimes make them feel safer.
Books don’t yell. If anything, they whisper. And when

SIGNING SUNDAY 6/3

one is whispered to, the feeling tends to linger. It lives
within for a while. But when one is yelled at, it’s only the
initial blow that stings, then comes the natural reaction to
Sheryl Berk & Carrie Berk defend oneself, and nothing changes. The fight for equity
11:00 - 11:45 AM has to sit in your stomach. It has to swim in you and tether
itself to your being in order to matter. It has to operate
like a whispered secret. The job of my work is to foster
discourse, validate experiences and identities, challenge
norms and biases, and trigger empathy. All of these intrin-
sic things are necessary in order to make the feet move
toward a tangible outcome.
If you expect me to connect to life in Europe when I’ve
only known Brooklyn, you should also expect resistance.
But if you show me myself first, I’d be more willing to learn
about you. Validate my own life—or help me do it through
story—then I’d be more than open to listening and learning
about yours. Comparing and contrasting is necessary when
it comes to human growth and wholeness, but we need
options in order to do so.

Today, 3–3:45 p.m. Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, Angie

Little BeeBooks BuzzPop Yellow Jacket Thomas, and Jacqueline Woodson will speak at the panel “Social
ON SALE OCTOBER 2, 2018
Justice Warriors: Redefining Youthful Rebellion” in Room 1E10.
Weldon Owen Bluestreak Books

IglooBooks Bonnier Zaffre

12 THEBOOKCON.COM
 Meet Our Authors at BookCon!
ANGIE THOMAS The Hate U Give BOOTH #1521
I am an author who uses my art as my activism. I have no
problem being called a social justice warrior, but I am a
storyteller first and foremost. Story is one of the greatest ways SATURDAY
to build empathy with people. After 320 pages of walking in
the shoes of my characters, I’d like to think that you’d have
some empathy for them. If my role as a social justice warrior
is to build empathy with the stories I tell, I guess I am a social
justice warrior.

MAURA MILAN* WHITNEY STEWART

11:00am 2:00pm

Mindfulness Session
followed by Signing

Angie Thomas
©Anissa Photography

KATHERINE LOCKE*
4:00pm
JACQUELINE WOODSON Brown Girl Dreaming
I think that through the characters I create, people see parts SUNDAY
of themselves—or the selves they hope to be one day. Talking
about realworld situations and creating characters that have
what could be realworld experiences gives readers a context
for the present, past, and future. Social justice begins with an
understanding of all of this.

Dianna Dilworth and Claire Kirch

ANNE GREENWOOD BROWN

11:00am
And don’t miss a special
cookie delivery from Zogby
each day at 1:30pm!

*Ticketed event only; tickets distributed at show

opening on Saturday morning at 10am

ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY

Publishing award-winning children’s books since 1919
www.albertwhitman.com
Jacqueline Woodson
©Carlos Diaz

JUNE 2, 2018 13
 Taye Diggs and Shane W. Evans:
Fathers and Friends
The actor and his lifelong friend have channeled their deep
bond into a series of powerful and passionate picture books
Taye Diggs and Shane Evans have
been best friends since childhood.
In recent years, they’ve been col-
laborating, Diggs writing and Evans
illustrating, on beautiful, warmhearted
children’s picture books—first Mixed
Me and Chocolate Me, both of which
deal accessibly with complex issues of
family and identity. Their new book is
I Love You More Than..., a love letter to
kids from parents who must be away
from their kids more than either of
them would like. They talked about
how their friendship affects their
collaborations.
‘I Love You More Than…’ really
feels like it was written to help
parents who have to be away a lot
discuss these issues meaningfully
and honestly with their kids. Can
you say a bit about the impor-
tance of that kind of conversation?
Diggs: I think it is so important for
parent and child to be able to express
themselves. Especially these days,
when everybody’s on their device, and
you have so many different perspec-
tives and people trying to talk to you.
I think it’s really important that you
14 THEBOOKCON.COM
can just talk to each other in language
that is easily understood. I’m always
encouraging people to not necessar-
ily view this writing as specifically for
kids. It’s a certain language that I think
we can all understand, and I would
love for people to take what they will
from the simplicity, but at the same
time realize that there’s kind of an-
other level of emotion and feeling.
Evans: This is a complex topic. There
are times people must be away. There
are times during a day where we must
go to school. There are times when
we must go away for a period of days
or weeks. There are times and people
being sent away for good. There are
times when connection is not prom-
ised. How do we stay and remain con-
nected in love during those times? At
first this was a book about two people,
then I started to draw and wanted to
see more into these characters’ lives.
I know the heart of the author well
enough to know he wanted me to
present a big vision—that we should
know that we are always connected.
You two have been best friends
since childhood. Can you say a
bit about what it’s like to grow
up together, watch each other
become fathers, and then make
books together?
Diggs: We’ve always considered each
other family. Because we know each
other so well, we don’t have to go
through the normal patterns that most
people would in a situation like this in
that I just know Shane, Shane knows
me—we just accept each other’s cre-
ativity. Whatever he puts down, I just
know that it’s going to be something
interesting and brilliant.
Evans: We know the best of one an-
other in such a way that “best friends”
means that very thing: we know the
best and sometimes the not-so-best of
the other person... love always shines
the light. When you look through this
book, you will see that. Taye and I
have been through
some, I will say
“stuff,” and as adults,
those challenges
can seem more real
than the simple idea
of love. But to have
that person you can
reach out to and
say, “I have an idea,”
is key. I am always
learning something
from this friendship
and partnership.
Taye and I are also
both fathers who
understand that
for a father to say
“love” to a child is a
lifetime experience and commitment,
full of ups, bigger ups, downs, bigger
downs, and all the middles.
Craig Teicher
Today, 11 a.m.–noon. Taye Diggs and
Shane W. Evans will appear in the Auto-
graphing Area. Today 12:30–1:15 p.m.
Diggs and Evans will be on the panel
“Love Them More: Taye Diggs and Shane
Evans” in Room 1E10.
 @bookcon SATURDAY, JUNE 2 ND
SUNDAY, JUNE 3 RD

SATURDAY 6/2
10:30-11AM Downtown Stage
#1 New York Times bestselling authors P. C. CAST & KRISTIN CAST and House of Night
narrator CAITLIN DAVIES take the stage to discuss love, fantasy, and #HoNLost!

11:15-12:15PM Autographing Area, Table 11

Following the on-stage event, P. C. CAST & KRISTIN CAST will sign giveaway copies of Lost
exclusive sampler.

2-2:30PM Blackstone’s Booth 1911

Meet New York Times bestselling author ORSON SCOTT CARD (Ender’s Game)!
Signing and ARC giveaway of his forthcoming holiday novel, A Town Divided by Christmas

3-3:30PM Blackstone’s Booth 1911

Meet New York Times bestselling author SHELLEY SHEPARD GRAY!
Signing and ARC giveaway of Take a Chance, the first book in her new romance series The Bridgeport
Social Club

SUNDAY 6/3
10:30–11:30AM Blackstone’s Booth 1911
Meet Edgar Award–winning author ADRIAN MCKINTY!
Signing and giveaway of McKinty’s The Cold Cold Ground, MP3 CD, book 1 in the The Sean Duffy series

11:30-12:30PM Blackstone’s Booth 1911

Meet USA Today bestselling author NICHOLAS SANSBURY SMITH!
Signing and giveaway of Hell Divers III: Deliverance, the third book in the acclaimed Hell Divers science
fiction series

Visit us at booth #1911 or go to BlackstonePublishing.com

 Adjust Your
Expectations

A Conversation with Chuck Palahniuk

16 THEBOOKCON.COM ©Allan Amato

C
huck Palahniuk is back with his first novel in four years, Adjustment
Day, which depicts America on the brink of war as the government
threatens to institute a military draft. But after a revolution that over-
throws the leaders in power and a “Declaration of Interdependence”
is made, America splits into separatist states. Palahniuk discusses fear,
love, and just how close we are to the dystopia of Adjustment Day.

When did you come up with the
idea for ‘Adjustment Day?’ Were
there any particular trends or
events that inspired the novel?
My inspiration was the book Sons and
World Power, written by the German
academic Gunnar Heinsohn [in 2003].
He makes a compelling case for the
idea that all major events in human
history are triggered by a “youth bulge.”
Basically, if a certain percentage of the
male population is between the ages
of 15 and 30, educated and well fed,
they will all seek higher social status.
This brings about world exploration,
colonialism, and revolution. In light of
the Arab Spring, I wanted to explore
how the youth bulge of the millen-
nials and Generation Z might alter
history. Plus, I had the idea for a good
romance—between Shasta and Walter,
two star-crossed lovers who spend the
book searching for each other in the
ensuing chaos.
cant role in the novel. What are
you afraid of, and did you want to
incorporate any of your own fears
into the story?
I fear what so many fear: the grim
possibility of living a safe, orderly,
well-planned life and never discovering
my fullest potential as a human being.
Scarlett O’Hara was set to be a simper-
ing Southern belle, but the Civil War
delivered her to a bigger future than she
could’ve ever imagined. We all hope to
be tested by such a disaster.
There’s a metafictional element
in the novel involving your own
works, such as when alt-right men
use ‘Fight Club’ for their own inspi-
rational or instructional purposes.
“I fear what so many fear: the grim
possibility of living a safe, orderly,
Bible and the Quran to promote their
personal agendas. No book is beyond
misinterpretation; consequently I never
give it a thought.
Do you think satire has become
more difficult since the 2016
election?
Satire is always cheap and easy. But to
mix moments of satire with elements of
genuine melodrama and heartfelt emo-
tion—that’s the bigger goal. Pure snark
alienates the reader very quickly. As
does cleverness. No, I want laughs, but I
also want to be Boris Pasternak.
‘Adjustment Day’ depicts an Amer-
ica that has gone to hell (yet there
is the sense that people wanted it

Your novel includes something well-planned life and never discovering

called “the List,” a site in which us-
ers can post those they believe are
dangers to society, who are then in
turn in danger when their names
are voted up the ranks. Is it based
on anything you found in your
research?
I’ve chased sites such as The Daily
Stormer all over the web. It’s a slog
trying to keep current, and arrange
meetups with the Hotep Nation and all
the various racial realist, racial separatist
people, but that was part of my re-
search. An author has to stumble down
all the dark paths.
Fear—of others, government,
power, information—plays a signifi-
my fullest potential as a human being.”
Do you think about how your this way). In reality, how far away
books are received by readers, and do you think we are from the dys-
has your awareness of your readers topia you present in the novel?
changed at all during the course of Just let the government institute a
your career? military draft, and things will fall apart
Don’t overlook the fact that the leftist in an instant.
Antifa also loves Fight Club and
Gabe Habash
organizes fight clubs to train their
members in the sweet science of
punching fascists. My background
Today, 12:30–3:30 p.m. Chuck Palahniuk
is journalism. Instead of inventing, I
will sign autographs in the Autographing
report. Trying to “fix” people by steer-
Area, and 3:45–4:30 p.m., Palahniuk will
ing them with social engineering and a
read from Adjustment Day in Room 1E14.
message is the worst type of self-cen-
sorship. Look how people interpret the

JUNE 2, 2018 17
 Abbi Jacobson on the Move
Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson opens up in her third book,
I Might Regret This

Abbi Jacobson, cocreator and costar of ‘Broad City’ is one of the few
Comedy Central’s Broad City, made a popular entertainments that Today, 2:45–3:30 p.m. Abbi Jacobson
solo drive from New York City to L.A., actually has a very conscious will appear in conversation at “One-
seeking time, space, and breathing feminist point of view. Was it on-One with Abbi Jacobson,” in rooms
room. The problem was, no one told difficult to get heard at first?  1E12/1E13/1E14.
her brain, which refused to shut up When we started, we were definitely
during the entire drive. The result is compared to any other show with
her third book, I Might Regret This: a female lead. It took us a bit to be
Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities and taken seriously, for people to un-
Other Stuff (coming from Grand Cen- derstand what we were trying to
tral Publishing in the fall), a collection do. I think, unfortunately, that’s
born during the long haul. still the case in a lot of the
industry, but it’s changing for
Is writing very different for you sure—we’re making room.
from performing?
Even though I think of myself as vul- The #MeToo move-
nerable on Broad City and other proj- ment started after
ects I’ve been a part of, this feels differ- ‘Broad City’ had been
ent. It feels more intimate, more direct, on a few years. Do
and more open. Writing this book was you think, in a way,
quite the process for me, and I learned the show helped
a lot doing this, about myself, about grease the wheels?
writing, about everything. Any female rep-
resentation is so
What do you hope readers will very important
take away from this book? in making this
I hope they feel like they were right movement grow
there on the trip with me. I hope and create real
they relate to some of the things I’m change, but I
writing about, and feel less alone can’t take credit
or are emboldened to try and take for greasing the
some time for themselves and think wheels. I’m doing
about their own lives. I hope it makes my best to hop on
them laugh—at least when I was trying and keep it going.
to be funny.
Beth Levine

Let’s talk ‘Broad City.’ What’s in

store for next season?
It’s a pretty intense one. Now that
people know it’s our last season, it’s
hard to reveal too much, but I’m so
happy with what we have in store. 

Abbi Jacobson
©Comedy Central

18 THEBOOKCON.COM
 Instantly borrow eBooks, audiobooks, comics,
and more, 24/7 with your library cards.

hoopladigital.com

Meet the Authors

Saturday and Sunday
RACHEL HOLLIS JULIE KAGAWA SARAH MORGAN SCOTT WESTERFELD
9:30am - 10:30am 2:00pm - 3:00pm 10:00am - 11:00am 1:00pm - 2:00pm

BOOTH #2539

Checking In with the Lumberjanes
Camp is in session! Writer and graphic novelist Mariko Tam-
aki and illustrator Brooklyn Allen are at BookCon to discuss
their chapter book series based on the Lumberjanes comics
For Mariko Tamaki, getting the chance
to write original chapter books about
the campers of Qiunzella Thiskwin
Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp
for Hardcore Lady Types has been
pretty dreamy: “I was a massive fan
of the comic since issue 1. I loved the
characters and the whole concept.”
Tamaki describes the Lumberjanes as
“a series about five kids at the coolest
camp ever. It’s fantastical, but also very
much grounded in what it’s actually
like to be at camp, with badges and
“The hope is to bring the world of Lumberjanes
campfires and ghost stories and wil-
derness and the odd Greek deity and/
or magical creature thrown into the
mix.” Unicorn Power, the first chap-
ter book in the series (published by
Amulet), released in 2017; the second
book, The Moon Is Up, hit the shelves
last month.
Brooklyn Allen is the original illus-
trator and cocreator—with Grace Ellis
and Shannon Watters—of the Lum-
berjanes comics (published by Boom!
Studios). Illustrating in the chapter
book format has been an adjustment
for Allen, but a happy one: “It’s a
bit of a 180 from comics, where the
story relies 100% on the illustrations,
to carefully picking moments out of
a 200-page book to visually empha-
size,” Allen says. “It’s been a lot of fun
20 THEBOOKCON.COM
to sort of slow down and approach
everything at a more thoughtful pace.”
Allen often describes the Lumberjanes
as “ ‘Girl Scouts with monsters,’ and
then I stumble over whether or not
any of the fantastical beasts really are
monsters—they’re almost always just
misunderstood or a soon-to-be-friend.”
When it comes to inventing these
fantastical creatures, rules are pretty
to people who haven’t picked up the comic or
aren’t into reading comics—yet.”
much off the table: “The camp is only
limited by our imaginations, so in
many ways it’s whatever strikes our
fancy. Sometimes there are creatures
that work really nicely to develop
a character—for example, challeng-
ing Mal’s fear of water with a lake
monster, or teaching April lessons
about compromise and friendship via
discovering mermaids,” says Allen.
Tamaki pulls from vast sources,
wherever her reading takes her: “I
try to mix it up so in each books it’s
never just one thing.” For the first
book, she immersed herself in reading
about weather and mountains. For
L. Mariko Tamaki R. Brooklyn Allen
the second, in which the camp holds
a Galaxy Wars competition, Tamaki
sought out all things astronomical.
She also has a go-to “massive book of
Greek, Egyptian, Viking, and Norse
mythology, which is way interesting.”
So far, Tamaki and Allen have
seen the chapter books draw a lot
of readers already familiar with the
comics. “There’s definitely comics fans
in there. I think we’re getting a really
diverse group,” says Tamaki. Allen
adds, “There seems to be quite a bit of
crossover, but the hope is to bring the
world of Lumberjanes to people who
haven’t picked up the comic or aren’t
into reading comics—yet.”
What’s next for the Lumberjanes?
“The third book is going to focus on
Ripley, and it’s going to be all about
theater, biology, and very mysterious
eggs and the mysterious people who
love them,” Tamaki says.
And after that? According to Allen,
“The mysteries of the universe are vast,
and Lumberjanes are always down for
adventure, so, truly, who can say?”
Matia Burnett
Today, 2:30–3 p.m. Mariko Tamaki and
Brooklyn Allen will appear on the panel
“Lumberjanes to the Max!” moderated by
Kathy Tu on the Downtown Stage.
epic space opera
praise for glynn stewart
“ACTION, CHARACTER, HEART, AND MYSTERY
WOVEN MASTERFULLY TOGETHER.”
- Jason M. Hough, NYT bestselling author
of Zero World

“THOROUGHLY ENGAGING SPACE OPERA...

THAT MANAGES TO BE FUN WHILE KEEPING
THE TENSION LEVEL HIGH. I’M READY FOR
THE NEXT.”
- Cat Rambo, President of SFWA

advanced praise for

“An Admiral opposing his own mother’s regime
on moral grounds and orchestrating a revolution
to free his people, featuring a space fleet and
exile into the unknown reaches of the universe?
Yes, please!”
- NetGalley Reviewer

On Sale July 17
ISBN: 9781988035 307
Faolan’s Pen Publishing
faolanspen.com
 Meet your favorite authors at BookCon!

Tomi Adeyemi Leigh Bardugo Kami Garcia

Saturday at 12:15 PM
Autographing Area, Table 1 Saturday at 2:00 PM Saturday at 5:00 PM
Autographing Area, Table 6 Autographing Area, Table 1
Sunday at 11:15 AM
Autographing Area, Table 5

Marissa Meyer Anna-Marie McLemore

Saturday at 3:30 PM
Sunday at 11:15 AM
Autographing Area, Table 6
Autographing Area, Table 7
Sunday at 11:00 AM
Autographing Area, Table 10
Immerse yourself in the ultimate fan experience!
Visit us in the Crystal Palace!
Get exclusive swag Snap a pic
Pick up copies of
from the hottest in the photo
the latest books
series booth

Vote for your favorite Check out the

Win advance PublishINK
covers
books! Tattoo Parlor

Uncover your next obsession

FierceReads.com @FierceReads
 FOUR SCI-FI
AUTHORS TALK

REALITY,
IDENTITY, AND Four sci-fi authors—Charlie Jane Anders,

#FEARLESSWOMEN Seth Dickinson, S.L. Huang, and V.E.

Schwab—will appear in not one but
two panel discussions. Riffing on the
panel titles, we asked them how reality,
identity, and fearless female characters
influence their work.

CANDLEWICK PRESS BOOTH #2021

SATURDAY, JUNE 2
12:30 p.m. MEG MEDINA 1:30 p.m. SHANNON HALE & DEAN HALE
Signing Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass Signing The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation
in the Candlewick booth in the Candlewick booth
*First fifty people in line will receive a free copy of the book *First fifty people in line will receive a free copy of the book

WONDER WOMEN: KID LIT STARS PACK POWER IN PROSE

KATE DiCAMILLO SHANNON HALE MEG MEDINA T. R. SIMON JESSICA SPOTSWOOD

10:15–11:15 a.m. Signing 3:45–4:30 p.m. Panel

in Autographing Area, Tables #7 & #8 located in 1E16
Books available for preorder at the Strand

SUNDAY, JUNE 3
10:30 a.m. JESSICA SPOTSWOOD 1:00 p.m. STEVE LIGHT
Signing A Tyranny of Petticoats Signing Black Bird Yellow Sun
in the Candlewick booth in the Candlewick booth
*First fifty people in line will receive a free copy of the book *First fifty people in line will receive a free copy of the book

@candlewickpressbooks @candlewickpress @candlewick

K.D. photo by Catherine Smith Photography. S.H. photo by Jenn Florence. M.M. photo by Petite Shards Productions. J.S. photo by C. Stanley Photography. Join the search at BookCon.
Waldo © DreamWorks Distribution Limited. All rights reserved. Waldo illustration © 1987–2018 by Martin Handford. Visit Booth #2021 on Saturday for more information.

24 THEBOOKCON.COM
 CHARLIE JANE ANDERS
The City in the Middle of the Night, Jan. 2019
When I started reading about tidally locked planets, which
have a permanent day side and a permanent night side, I be-
came obsessed with the idea of someone living between these
two extremes. In The City in the Middle of the Night, the main
character, Sophie [who lives on the day side], discovers that
there are intelligent creatures living on the night side of the
planet, and figures out how to communicate with one of them.
The most important thing about my experiences as a
Charlie Jane Anders
©Tristan Crane trans and queer person has been community. This means
that when I start creating a fictional world or a fictionalized
version of the “real” world, I think about communities rather
than just a handful of individuals against a backdrop.
Also, this is a book about relationships between women.
All of the major characters are women, and their relationships
are complicated and thorny. I’m interested in how we treat
the people we love.

TM

MEET YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS AT BOOTH #1902!

Peppa Pig will greet little fans,
pose for pictures, and more!
MEET Mavis & Johnny
Saturday, June 2nd
12 pm - 3 pm Sunday, June 3rd
Sunday, June 3rd
1 pm - 4 pm

ilable
Books ava ase
for p u r c h

™ and © 2018 Sony Pictures Animation Inc. All Rights Reserved. Peppa Pig © Astley Baker Davies Ltd/Entertainment One UK Ltd 2003.

Phoe
nix
PIP
Visit our interactive photo booth throughout Book Con to pose with
the PJ Masks, PAW Patrol, Elmo, and more!
@pikidsbooks www.pikidsmedia.com

JUNE 2, 2018 25
 eL s s o ns
VISIT
M E AUS
N I N G AT
MY PATH TO A
FUL LIFE
O ff ic ia
be re
l cover
le a

J u l y 2 0 18
to
se d in

BOOTH #1639
Supermodel, entrepreneur,
activist, & philanthropist

G I STO
SPIN E LWIN
E Seth Dickinson

B ÜWEEKEND
ALL N D C HLONG!
EN
shares her unexpected path to

Spin
t h a t h aev prize
e s h a p whhl
e d h e r lfor
ife a
self-discovery and the lessons

chance win bbks, prize

packs, and more from a our
imprints!

SIGNING SUNDAY 6/3

Sheryl Berk & Carrie Berk S.L. Huang
11:00 - 11:45 AM

V.E. Schwab
©Jenna Maurice

Little BeeBooks BuzzPop Yellow Jacket

ON SALE OCTOBER 2, 2018
Today, 12:45–1:30 p.m. The first panel is “Tor Presents: LGBTQ+
Weldon Owen Bluestreak Books Authors on Gender and Identify in Science Fiction and Fantasy”
in Room 1E16. Today, 1:30–2:15 p.m. The second panel is “Tor
IglooBooks Bonnier Zaffre Presents: #FearlessWomen In Tor Science Fiction and Fantasy” in
Room 1E10.

26 THEBOOKCON.COM
SETH DICKINSON
The Monster Baru Cormorant, Oct.
When you live in a society with a lot of cruel, evil systems,
how do you find success—and maybe even help make some
change—without becoming part of that evil yourself? Baru
knows the system she’s part of is evil, but she’s trying to stay
at BookCon
undercover long enough to reach a position where she can
make real change.
Today’s Giveaways*
The inspiration for the series was the argument that
certain kinds of people couldn’t be protagonists in epic 10:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.
fantasy because they’d be “too oppressed.” I wanted to Book Bar Book Bar
write an epic fantasy about a woman who faces down every Booth #2175 Booth #2175
conceivable kind of prejudice and still tells an interesting and
11:15 a.m. 3:15 p.m.
powerful story.
Must-Have YA: Too-Real YA Reads
Series Starters Booth #2339
Booth #2339
S.L. HUANG 4:30 p.m.
Zero Sum Game, Oct. 12:45 p.m. Grow Up and Read a
It’s intentional that I’m writing a pulpy action thriller with an Romance!
Buzz Books Booth #2339
extremely diverse cast, because I want people who look like
Booth #2339
me and love like me to get to play in escapist thrill-ride fic-
tion. It’s no fun if people of color and LGBTQ+ people only
get to be portrayed in stories about prejudice or coming out.
We should get madcap adventure tales, too!
Most of all, I just want the problems the characters
Today’s Author Signings
grapple with to spark thought in my readers. If they walk
away from my books arguing with each other about them,
I’m happy. I don’t so much want to dictate what people take Julie Kagawa
away from the books as hope that they do take away some- Booth #2339
thing, even if it’s just a rollicking good time. After all, I’ve
10:15 a.m.
always considered it one of the greatest compliments a writer
can get when people tell me something I wrote made a bad
day into a good one. Laurie Forest
Booth #2339
10:15 a.m.
V.E. SCHWAB
Vengeful, Sept.
While there’s a supernatural element to the Villains se-
ries—the so-called superpowers—the heart of these books is Sasha Alsberg
an examination of power in a much more grounded sense: Booth #2175
agency, identity, ambition, and perception. Every character
11:30 a.m.
is driven—sometimes to madness—by their want, and what **Books will be available for purchase in
they’re willing to do to get it. booth #2339

I suppose my identity affects the kinds of questions I

ask, and the depths to which I ask them. It also affects the Kelsey Miller
kinds of stories I like to tell and the characters I want at their Booth #2175
center. I’ve always felt like an outsider, so much of my work . . p.m.
2:00 .
AAuthor
u Kelsey Miller will host Friends trivia
involves recentering the narrative around characters often
relegated to the narrative periphery. LOOK FOR
with
THE TEN-FOOT CARL
witt giveaways and samplers of her Fall’18
release I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU
Vengeful is an examination not only of power but spe- displayed near the south entrance to the
cifically of the forms that power takes when given to—and Javits Center. Limited promotional
stripped away from—women. It focuses on three very dif- giveaways at Sarah Morgan
noon daily May 30–June 3.
ferent female leads who have been erased from their own Booth #2339
narratives in one way or another, and looks at what and how 2:15 p.m.
#ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLETHING
they’re willing to take that space back.
*While quantities last
Diane Patrick

JUNE 2, 2018 27
AART-PW-BookCon.indd 1 5/21/18 11:30 AM
 The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate ©Text copyright © 2017 by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. Illustrations
copyright © 2017 by LeUyen Pham. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
Who Says Princesses
Don’t Wear Black?
The duo behind the Princess in Black series have created a world
where princesses can throw tea parties and fight monsters

T
he Princess in Black books follow mild-mannered Princess Mag-
nolia, who loves hanging with her friends, including Duff the goat
boy, a crew of princesses also named after flowers, and her unicorn
Frimplepants. But whenever a monster attacks the goat pasture,
she dives into her secret tunnel, makes a quick change, and emerges as
the Princess in Black, a superhero ready to drive the monsters back into
Monsterland. She’s had five book-length adventures so far, with a sixth
due out in September.
Shannon and Dean Hale, the married duo behind the series of transi-
tional chapter books, talk about the series’ origins, the books’ audience,
and their collaborative process.

28 THEBOOKCON.COM
GENTLEMEN GENTLEMEN GEN-
TLEMEN GENTLEMEN GENTLE-
MEN GENTLEMEN GENTLEMEN
GENTLEMEN GENTLEMEN GEN-
TLEMEN GENTLEMEN
GENTLEMEN GENTLEMEN GEN-
TLEMEN GENTLEMEN GENTLE-
MEN GENTLEMEN GENTLEMEN
GENTLEMEN GENTLEMEN GEN-
TLEMEN
Visit Insight Editions at BoothGENTLEMEN
1648 for an AWESOME Giveaway
This year we will be giving away a devilishly dashing prize that’s dressed for the occasion:
a 5-foot by 8-foot banner of The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So put on your
best suit and hover over to the Insight Editions booth to enter this once in a lifetime
giveaway. But if you win, take a page from Buffy and scream as loud as you can.
That’s not all, Scoobies! We’ll also have our entire line of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
products on display for the first time ever, including Sunnydale High Hardcover Ruled Journal,
The Official Grimoire, and Slayer Stats. So seize the moment, cause’ tomorrow you might be dead!

/INSIGHTEDITIONS WWW.INSIGHTEDITIONS.COM
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
 How did you guys start writing the Princess in Black series?
Shannon: Since this is a superhero book series, you need a

BOOTH #2038
proper origin story. When our oldest daughter was four, she
was wearing this butterfly skirt, and she was pointing to the
different colors, and she said, “mama, pink is a girl color, and
purple is a girl color, and yellow is a girl color, but not black.”
My first reaction was, where does she get this? She’s only
ITH four, and people are already telling her that certain colors are
FREE W
H A SE gendered? I said, “Girls can wear black. I wear black,” and
PURC
WHILE she looked at me like I didn’t really count as a girl. I was a
S
SUPPLIE mama. And then I said, “Batgirl wears black,” and I thought
LAST!
that would convince her. Then she said, ”Princesses don’t
wear black.”

So that was the spark. How did you go about creating
the character and world of Princess Magnolia?
Shannon: It was very important to me that it was not an
either/or scenario. She likes wearing pink dresses and glass
slippers and having tea parties. And she likes to be in a cape
and mask fighting monsters. And she doesn’t have to chose.
Visit booth #2038 for author
signings, photos in a GIF Do you ever worry that a story about a princess will
booth, giveaways, and appeal more to girls than to boys?
discounted books! Dean: That a book is about girls does not necessarily mean
it’s a book for girls.
SATURDAY, JUNE 2
Shannon: Who doesn’t like a story of a monster-battling
10:00am
Tote bag giveaway
hero? But make it about a girl, in fact a princess. And that
could help boys find from a very early age that they can enjoy
11:00am
FREE ARC Signing: Sam Maggs stories about girls and, hopefully, not grow up under the
Girl Squads weight of that limitation.
12:30pm
Signing with Purchase: Ashley Poston These books are great for new readers. They’re easy
Geekerella to read, but they also help build reading skills. How
2:00pm conscious are you of that?
Book Con Exclusive Shannon: I try to use a lot of compound words. Because
Signing with Purchase: Andrew Shaffer it’s a way to have a big word that can be broken down. And
Hope Never Dies
they’re so fun. Whenever we use words that might not be
3:30pm
familiar, we make sure that we repeat them at least once
Book Con Exclusive
Signing with Purchase: Fred Van Lente somewhere else, usually three times, just to help to reinforce
The Con Artist that word or concept. And most of the time these books are
read with adults. So it might be an opportunity for the parent
to say, this is what this means.
SUNDAY, JUNE 3
10:00am
How does your collaboration work? Do you write
Tote bag giveaway
together? Is it easier or harder to write these books
11:00am
than the books you each write alone?
FREE ARC Signing: Gabrielle Moss
Paperback Crush Dean: It helps going into it knowing who the boss is. We
established that it was Shannon. We’ve collaborated on a lot
1:00pm
FREE ARC Signing: Grady Hendrix of books now. What I’ve noticed ends up happening is that
We Sold Our Souls one of us becomes more attached to a certain character or
story. And we become sort of a steward of that chunk.

Shannon: We do extensive chapter by chapter outlines. We

quirkbooks.com | /quirkbooks do that by spending a lot of time going on walks or sitting in
a room together and hashing out ideas. That’s a big part of

30 THEBOOKCON.COM
 Visit Workman in Booth 2007
for free giveaways, author signings,
and to celebrate the launch of our
partnership with Pipsticks!

Free tote with any book purchase

or newsletter sign-up!

SATURDAY, JUNE 2
10:30–11:30 a.m.
Sara Farizan, Here to Stay
BookCon Autographing Area,
Table 10
11:00 a.m.
You Are the Everything
by Karen Rivers, Giveaway
11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at 1E16
Sara Farizan, Defying Borders Panel
1:00–2:00 p.m.
Sara Farizan, Here to Stay, In-booth signing
2:00–2:30 p.m.
Brain Quest Challenge for Kids
With prizes, all ages welcome.
Shannon and Dean Hale BookCon’s Family HQ
2:00–3:00 p.m.
Nova Ren Suma, A Room Away from
the process. That could take a month. Then, we divvy up the the Wolves, In-booth signing
chapters and figure out who’s going to write the first draft of
each one. Then we put it all together. And usually I’ll do the 3:00–4:00 p.m.
first pass in revision, read through it. Adele Griffin, Tell Me No Lies
In-booth signing
Dean: You mean take away all of my awesome ideas. Then SUNDAY, JUNE 3
I’ll put them back in, in the next draft.
10:15–11:00 a.m., Location: 1E10
Tracey Baptiste, We Need Diverse Books Panel
Shannon: He just overwrites just a little bit.
10:30 a.m.
Dean: But it’s hilarious... (Don’t) Call Me Crazy by Kelly Jensen, Giveaway
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
So what’s next? At the end of ‘The Princess in Black Tracey Baptiste, The Rise of the Jumbies
and the Science Fair Scare,’ due out in September, BookCon Autographing Area, Table 6
there’s a cool surprise. Can we look forward to more
princesses becoming superheros? BookCon special! Everything
Shannon: We’re just going to have a whole kingdom of in our booth is 20% OFF!
superheroes. It’s not going to stop.

Craig Teicher

Today, 1:30–2 p.m. Shannon and Dean Hale will be autographing

at Booth 2021. Today, 3:45–4:30 p.m. Shannon Hale will moderate
workman.com . @workmanpub
the panel “Wonder Women: Kid Lit Stars Pack Power in Prose” in
Room 1E16.

JUNE 2, 2018 31
 SOCIAL
MEDIA
POETRY
EXPLOSION
Poetry is going viral, and the poets of
[Dis]Connected can tell you why

Social media poetry is suddenly everywhere: on Instagram,

Facebook, Twitter, and increasingly in print, too. These
short, snappy poems, often accompanied by illustrations,
are shared by countless readers every day. The better
known social media poets can have online followings that
number in the hundreds of thousands.

32 THEBOOKCON.COM
 Any one ca n
b e t h e h er o
in h is or h er
own life

MEET IZZY EZAGUI

(and his dog, Punch, too!)

SATURDAY, June 2
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Exhibit Booth 1607
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Exhibit Booth 1607

Sunday, June 3
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Autographing Area Table 1
1:15 PM – 1:45 PM Downtown Stage
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Exhibit Booth 1607
PROMETHEUS BOOKS • WWW.JUSTIZZY.COM
 “I’ve made connections with so many amazing
people ever since I started posting my poetry
online, both writers and readers. We don’t
see each other as competition, but instead,
we support and lift one another up.”
Visit us for a signed copy
BOOTH #2249 | Saturday 11am
An Imprint of New Harbinger Publications
newharbinger.com 1-800-748-6273
34 THEBOOKCON.COM
The anthology [Dis]-
Connected: Poems &
Stories of Connection and
Otherwise, edited by Mi-
chelle Halket and published
by Central Avenue Publish-
ing, presents the voices of
many of these poets, from
some of the biggest names,
like Amanda Lovelace, to
relative newcomers. The Iain Thomas
BookCon panel “The Poetry
Connection: Stories from Today’s Most Popular Poets,” will
feature several poets, most of whom are contributors to [Dis]
Connected, in a discussion led by Michelle Halket.
Many of the first, and now well-known, poets on social
media, like Warsan Shire, Nayyirah Waheed, Yrsa Daley-
Ward, and Rupi Kaur, were women of color, especially Black
women immigrants to the U.K. Their poems discussed such
topics of marginalization as misogyny (including sexual
violence), racism, mental illness, and the migrant experi-
ence. These authors often turned to social media after facing
exclusion from traditional publishing, and they paved the
way for many other poets from a variety of backgrounds and
gender orientations. As panelist K.Y. Robinson says, “Women
of color have spearheaded this movement, and I hope their
contributions aren’t erased. Their brilliant work inspired me
and countless others to self-publish. We need more marginal-
ized groups telling their stories, especially [now].”
The community that has grown around poetry on social
media strives to produce an inclusive atmosphere while at the
same time engaging with difficult topics. “With my art,” says
Amanda Lovelace, “I always aim to create a safe place where
other queer people can see themselves reflected.”
Both the anthology and the panel discussion focus on
connection and its reverse, disconnection—themes that are
integral to the social media poetry experience. Contributor
Cyrus Parker says, “I’ve made connections with so many
amazing people ever since I started posting my poetry online,
both writers and readers. We don’t see each other as competi-
tion, but instead, we support and lift one another up.”
Global connection is part of this poetry and of [DisCon-
nected. As South African panelist Iain S. Thomas puts it,
“[Some readers] want you to be the South African version of
someone who already exists, the South African Lee Child, the
South African Margaret Atwood, the South African Jonathan
Franzen. I made a decision a while back that I would rather
be the world’s Iain Thomas.”
As social media communities develop and new technolo-
gies arise, poetry adapts. This process is ongoing and can
be witnessed in [Dis]Connected, too. Social media poetry can
have a specific aesthetic, and it often includes visual elements,
Nikita Gill
such as illustrations or unique ways of shaping and present-
ing poetic lines. A number
of the contributors to the
anthology have a design
background.
Today, 5:15–6 p.m. The “The Poetry Connection: Stories from Today’s
Several of the stories
Most Popular Poets” panel will be on the Downtown Stage.
in [Dis]Connected, which
were written in response
to the poems, have fantasy
elements, from selkies to
dragon taming, and still
engage with the serious
themes of the authors’
poetry. As author Amanda
Lovelace explains, “By presented by
taking an issue like intimate
partner abuse and putting PRE-ORDER-PALOOZA!
and
it in the context of a world
constructed from scratch
with characters and a magic
system to become invested
K.Y. Robinson in, we’re finally able to
make connections that we Stop by BOOTH #2121 and
weren’t necessarily able to make [otherwise]. It’s about giving
your reader a fresh perspective free of their own everyday
The Spark is the most compelling
show us your proof of pre-order
for any of the below titles to score
distractions.” The magic can also be present in the mundane, passage of your book.
an Underlined beach towel!
like in Nikita Gill’s story. Gill says, “Perhaps your next door
neighbor was a magical being all along, and we just missed
it until now. I wanted to explore this disconnect within us as Hear more than 20 writers and
humans that makes us miss what could be something that poets read their Sparks!
changes our lives.” Another contributor, Trista Mateer put
it this way: “At the root of everything is truth, whether it’s
™ & © DC Comics. (s18)

short, fabulist fiction or confessional poetry.”

Now we can follow these poets in their quest: on the Zusak’s back Join the
panel discussion, while reading the anthology and their col-
lections, and in the follow-up volumes that Michelle Halket is
10.9
Today at 12:30 PM
A new thief is
on the prowl
Defiants
11.6 Meet the
real monster
8.7 9.25
already planning.

Bogi Takács
Booth 2721 @GetUnderlined
GetUnderlined.com
US Residents, 13+. Ends 6/3/18.
See terms at http://bit.ly/2v9AMbu.

JUNE 2, 2018 35
 Viet Thanh
Nguyen The Work
of Empathy

Meet the Pulitzer-winning
editor of a groundbreaking anthology of
essays on the experiences of refugees
Visit us for a signed copy
BOOTH #2249 | Saturday 11am
An Imprint of New Harbinger Publications
newharbinger.com 1-800-748-6273
T
he Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, a startling
anthology of essays by various authors, was the brain-
child of Abrams executive editor Jamison Stoltz. He
was, according to the anthology’s editor, Viet Thanh
Nguyen, “moved by the protests against the Muslim ban at
New York airports” partly because his wife was a refugee
when she came to the United States, and he wanted to do
something to help people in that situation.
He recruited Nguyen—the Pulitzer Prize–winning author
of the novel The Sympathizer, the scholarly study Nothing
Ever Dies, and the short story collection The Refugees, all
about the experiences of refugees from Vietnam, from which
he and his family fled in 1975—to help create a book that
would raise awareness of issues surrounding displacement
and funds for refugees.
Nguyen and Stoltz brought together “17 refugee writers
who were already established, and asked them to write about
their own lives or the lives of refugees they’ve encountered.”
The contributors are, Nguyen explains, “standing in, to a
certain extent, for 66 million displaced people in this world,
about 22 million of whom are classified as refugees by the
United Nations,” says Nguyen
The result is The Displaced, which was released by Abrams
in April. A portion of its proceeds will benefit the Interna-
tional Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization
that offers assistance to refugees. The contributors and their
stories vary widely: Fatima Bhutto describes a visit to an
immersive virtual reality installation designed to simulate the
experience of crossing the Mexico-U.S. border; Ariel Dorf-
man rhapsodizes about the joys of a pan–Latin American
grocery store in his adopted home; Joseph Azam remembers
the significance of name changes to his experience of cultural
assimilation; Aleksander Hemon narrates the story of a fellow
Bosnian refugee who changed his name from Kemal to Ke-
malemir to remain connected to his deceased brother, Emir.
What these writers and their stories have in common,
Nguyen says, is that “their refugee experiences have left them
with a deep empathy for human beings and refugees.” With
gentle irony, he points out, “They’re overlapping categories.”

36 THEBOOKCON.COM
 am. I have to keep on talking about being a refugee because
the temptation to pretend that I’m not a refugee is very strong.”
He wants The Displaced to speak to, and encourage
the aforementioned empathy among those who distance
themselves from refugees. “I think the ideal intended readers
for this book are people who don’t care about refugees”—he
laughs a little—“or people who hate refugees or people who
may have ambivalent feelings about refugees, but who are
going to enact policies that punish refugees in one way or
another. But I think, sadly, these people are not likely to pick
up the book.”
He also hopes to reach refugees and former refugees who
are or want to be writers. “Out of that population of 22 mil-
lion officially classified refugees, some percentage of those
people are going to become writers, which means they’re
readers or want to be readers. This book would hopefully val-
idate their experience to them and let them know that they
will eventually have that opportunity to write about what
they have been through or what they are going through.”

Hannah Kushnick

Today, 1:45–2:30 p.m. Hear Viet Thanh Nguyen and his fellow
contributors in Room 1E16.

F+W
“Am I, personally, for example,
a refugee, even though I was a
refugee 40 years ago? I person- AND YOU ARE
ally think that I am.” INVITED!
Nguyen describes writers and readers in general as being
“engaged in the work of empathy.” What unites the entries in
this volume, he says, is the implicit, sometimes explicit, claim
that the act of empathy—which is so crucial for becoming a
writer—is also crucial for identifying with refugees, or recog-
nizing their humanity and maintaining our own humanity in
the face of this extraordinary crisis.”
The relationship between refugee identity and literary
identity is part of the discussion he’s looking to have at
BookCon’s panel “Refugee Writers and Refugee Lives,” which
brings Nguyen together with four contributors from the book.
“What does it mean,” he asks, “to go from being a refugee
to being a writer, and once you’re a writer, can you still call MEET SHARKEE & BREMNER ILLUSTRATOR
yourself a refugee, or have you been completely made over
into something else?”
JOHN GRAZIANO
This ties into larger questions about who can be consid-
VISIT US AT
ered a refugee. “Am I, personally, for example, a refugee, even BOOTH #1644
though I was a refugee 40 years ago? I personally think that I

JUNE 2, 2018 37
 The Comforts of

HORROR These three YA authors understand why horror appeals to all ages

Kara Thomas (The Cheerleaders), Kiersten White (The Dark Descent

of Elizabeth Frankenstein), and Marisha Pessl, whose first YA novel
is Neverworld Wake, talk about the benefits of reading scary books,
navigating boundaries in YA fiction, and finding their stories.

38 THEBOOKCON.COM
When writing YA horror and
thrillers, is any subject matter off
the table? Do you feel an obliga-
tion to provide a sense of resolu-
tion and levity for readers?
Thomas: There are subjects that I
personally won’t touch, but I have
seen sensitive and taboo issues
handled with great care in YA. I have
my own boundaries with violence, in
terms of how I describe it and to what
extent. Unsolved crimes are some of
my biggest sources of inspiration. I
think it’s interesting when a reader is
able to fill in the gaps themselves for
some story threads.
White: You can cover almost any-
thing as long as there’s an undercur-
rent of hope. I like to end on a note
that gives my main characters power.
Whether or not they’re meeting a
happy ending, they’re not victims.
Pessl: Teens have the emotional
bandwidth to handle a full range of
subjects, maybe even more so than
adults, as they tend to be less rigid in
their thinking and more questioning.
[As a teen], books gave me a sense
of connectedness, humanity, infinite
possibility. That’s what I want to give
my readers.
What do you think draws read-
ers—particularly teens—to read
scary or unsettling books?
Thomas: It’s normal for teens to be
drawn to darkness and to have
questions about things they
don’t understand. And
then, unfortunately, you
have the young readers
who have experienced
some of the things I’m
writing about—murder,
incarcerated parents,
poverty. It’s good
for kids who are
experiencing them
to know they’re
not alone.
Marisha Pessl
©David Schulze
White: I read horror when I’m feeling
the most overwhelmed or sad. I find it
oddly comforting! And reading it also
allows you to play out those scenarios
in a nonthreatening way. What would
I do if it were me? How far would I
go? Watching characters go through
the very worst can be empowering.
Pessl: The other day, my two-year-
Kiersten White
old made up a story about a machine
that lived on the stairs, and she
happily announced the machine was
“scary.” It made me realize that to get
outside our comfort zone, to be afraid
and to survive, is part of our life
experience.
Are you prone to
nightmares? Do they
inform your stories?
Thomas: I was the
kid who couldn’t go
to sleep unless my
parents proved to
me that the doors
and windows were
locked. I think it’s
why I became
fascinated with crime stories—it’s as if I
feel like writing gives me control over
all the terrible things that happen in
the world.
White: For years they were really
awful. But once I started writing more
intense books, those dreams shifted.
Instead of constantly being chased, I
was figuring out how to turn the tables
on what was pursuing me. By claiming
these elements in stories, my dream-
ing consciousness was also allowed to
claim them and retake the power.
Kara Thomas ©James Shaw
Pessl: I am a working mom with a
one-year-old and a two-year-old, so
when I go to sleep, it’s a blackout, as if
I’ve left Earth and been jettisoned into
outer space. When I wake up, I have
no recollection of my journey across
the universe.
Matia Burnett
Today, 11 a.m.- 11:50 a.m. Marisha Pessl,
Kara Thomas, and Kiersten White will be
on the panel “Horror! Thrills! Murder! Oh,
My!” on the Downtown Stage.
JUNE 2, 2018 39
 MYSTERIES AND

IN THE AGE OF FAKE NEWS

THRILLS
David Baldacci, Sandra Brown,
Brad Meltzer, and Walter Mosley
Today’s headlines seem to be taking cues from the pulpiest
novels. Four prolific mystery/thriller authors who will appear
on a panel today in conversation with Meghan Abbott, talk
about where their stories come from, how they manage fact
and fiction in the era of fake news, and their writing life.

gather to discuss the role of the writer IN THE BOY’S CLUB: SANDRA BROWN
Brown has published close to 80 books, 68 of which have
of popular fiction in the age of Trump become New York Times bestsellers. Her next novel, Tailspin,
will be released in August.

Don’t miss Author and

world-renowned Actor,
Omar Epps signing free
copies of his memoir, From
Fatherless to Fatherhood!

Author Signing
June 2 2:00 - 4:30
Booth #1528
*while supplies last

From novels and memoirs to photobooks and coloring books, Lulu is the original DIY
self-publishing platform, with free tools for all of your publishing and distribution needs.

40 THEBOOKCON.COM
 What kind of daily routine do you keep to maintain
such a prolific publishing schedule?
I’ve kept an office for years since early in my career because
I had two young children. I have male colleagues who say,
“Social media, all of that stuff. Oh, my wife does that for
me.” But I don’t have a wife. That’s how it is for professional
women. We still have to coordinate home and family with
the job.

How do you determine if an idea will work?

When I determine the one thing that I know that the reader
does not—that’s when I know that the idea has become a
story. It’s like the piece of marble that Michelangelo saw
when he made David.

“When I determine the one thing

that I know that the reader does
not—that’s when I know that the
idea has become a story.”
Sandra Brown ©Andrew Eccles

TM

MEET YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS AT BOOTH #1902!

Peppa Pig will greet little fans,
pose for pictures, and more!
MEET Mavis & Johnny
Saturday, June 2nd
12 pm - 3 pm Sunday, June 3rd
Sunday, June 3rd
1 pm - 4 pm

ilable
Books ava ase
for p u r c h

™ and © 2018 Sony Pictures Animation Inc. All Rights Reserved. Peppa Pig © Astley Baker Davies Ltd/Entertainment One UK Ltd 2003.

Phoe
nix
PIP
Visit our interactive photo booth throughout Book Con to pose with
the PJ Masks, PAW Patrol, Elmo, and more!
@pikidsbooks www.pikidsmedia.com

JUNE 2, 2018 41
 PLUS ÇA CHANGE: WALTER MOSLEY Yellow journalism built
In Down the River unto the Sea (out earlier this year), award- America. It sounds like I’m
winning writer Mosley delved into policing, the criminal talking about contemporary
justice system, and New York City’s grittiest milieus. His next stuff, but really, this stuff
book, John Woman, will pub in August. goes all the way back.

Your latest book seems very inspired by current events, It seems there is an
particularly issues with policing and Black Lives Matter. increasing awareness of
I was on a panel of mostly journalists and me. They kept on issues with policing, at
talking about Trump and his notion of fake news. After 10 or least in some corners in
15 minutes, I said, excuse me, I’m sorry, I don’t like Trump America.
any more than the rest of you guys, but I’m a black man It’s one thing to be in
in America, I’ve been listening to fake news for 400 years. popular culture—all of these
things kind of fall under Walter Mosley ©Marcia Wilson

that. It’s another thing for

“I don’t like Trump any more things to be different.

than the rest of you guys, but FACT FINDER: BRAD MELTZER

I’m a black man in America, Bestselling author Meltzer’s latest book is The Escape Artist.
His next book, The First Conspiracy, is set to be released in
I’ve been listening to fake news January 2019.

for 400 years.” Your books often feature lesser known places or
people that are part of the American experience. How
do you find your material?
I was working on our TV show, Lost History, at an Army
museum when they told me that the U.S. Army has a painter
on staff who paints disasters as they happen. I was like, “That
sounds like the craziest person in the world.” I knew right
presented by then that’s where my character, Nola, came from for The
Escape Artist.

and
A N D YO U A R E “You can tell a good story by the
INVITED! ones that after four or five years
are still with you.”
The Spark is the most compelling How do you know when a particular fact or secret
passage of your book. world is the one that you want to explore in a book?
Years ago, I was doing research on one of my thrillers, The
President’s Shadow. I remember finding some footnote that
Hear more than 20 writers and said there was an assassination attempt on George Wash-
poets read their Sparks! ington. I just couldn’t shake it. You can tell a good story by
the ones that after four or five years are still with you, so in
January we’re launching my first adult nonfiction book about
a secret plot to kill Washington called The First Conspiracy.

Today
JOHNat 12:30 PM
MEET SHARKEE & BREMNER ILLUSTRATOR
GRAZIANO
STAYING AHEAD OF WASHINGTON:
DAVID BALDACCI

Booth 2721
VISIT US AT Bestselling author Baldacci’s most recent book is The Fallen.
This November, Long Road to Mercy will pub with a new
BOOTH #1644 female lead, FBI special agent Atlee Pine.

42 THEBOOKCON.COM
 David Baldacci ©Guy Bell

Today, 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Sandra Brown, Walter Mosley, Brad

Brad Meltzer ©Michelle Watson, Catchlight Group Meltzer, and David Baldacci will be on the panel “Novel Suspects”
in Room 1E14.

“Allow young students to also

pick some of their own books
to read, and encourage them to
read for fun, to instill a lifelong
love of turning the pages.”
PRE-ORDER-PALOOZA!
Washington, D.C., has obviously changed under the
new administration. How has it affected your writing,
if at all?
With D.C. now, I’m competing with headlines. I think I’ve Stop by BOOTH #2121 and
got an outrageous, over-the-top idea, and then I read about show us your proof of pre-order
it actually happening in the paper the next day. Something’s for any of the below titles to score
got to give. an Underlined beach towel!

You were recently quoted in the ‘Orlando Sentinel’

regarding your Wish You Well Foundation as saying:
“I don’t know how you have a democracy if you have
people who can’t read.” What steps do you propose we
take to become a nation of readers?
™ & © DC Comics. (s18)

Put more money—not less—into education. Allow young

students to also pick some of their own books to read, and
Zusak’s back Join the
encourage them to read for fun, to instill a lifelong love of 10.9 Defiants
A new thief is 11.6 Meet the
turning the pages. on the prowl real monster
8.7 9.25
Elyssa East
@GetUnderlined US Residents, 13+. Ends 6/3/18.
GetUnderlined.com See terms at http://bit.ly/2v9AMbu.

JUNE 2, 2018 43
 What to Do on Sunday
Just one day of book overload isn’t enough. Come back tomorrow
for more. Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN: THE NOVEL

The creators of the smash hit
Broadway musical want their
story to reach as many people
as possible, so, with the help of
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND
a novelist, they’ve turned it into
JAMES PATTERSON
a book. Hear from all four of
In an unprecedented
them tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. in
collaboration, the former
Room 1E10. MARISSA MEYER
president and the bestselling
Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles
novelist have cowritten a
series won her legions of fans.
thriller, The President Is
Her new trilogy is set in a world
Missing. They will launch the
of good and bad superheroes.
book tomorrow at 11 a.m. on
She’ll talk about how she writes
the Main Stage
on the panel “NaNoWriMo: The
Power of Writing with Abandon”
at 12:30 p.m. in Room 1E07.

TOMI ADEYEMI
YA readers have been falling in
love with Children of Blood and
Bone, Adeyemi’s debut, which
delves into West African
mythology to create an
allegorical adventure. She’ll
©David Burnett
participate in the “We Need
Diverse Books” panel tomorrow
at 10:15 a.m. in Room 1E10.

NICOLA YOON
With Everything, Everything
and The Sun Is Also a Star,
Yoon has taken the YA world
by storm. At 4 p.m. tomorrow
in Room 1E14, she’ll talk about
what it’s like to watch her books
become films. MEET WIMPY KID AUTHOR JEFF KINNEY
©Sonya Sones Kinney, creator of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, will meet fans and
answer questions at 3:15 p.m. in Room 1E10.

44 THEBOOKCON.COM
 H A P P E N I N G T O D AY
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