Happy Rotten Day!

Hi kids - the day has finally come. It's Something Rotten On-Sale Day!

(And there was great rejoicing.)

I don't know about you, but I was at one of the hundreds of midnight parties held across the country last night to celebrate the unveiling of Something Rotten. This event wasn't held at a local bookstore of course, it was held in my hotel room in Cartersville, Georgia, where I'm slated to do school and library visits all day today, but it was a raucous party nonetheless. And yes, in case you are wondering, I did wear a costume--I dressed up as Hagrid, the bearded, big-hearted groundskeeper Horatio befriends at Wittenberg Academy.

Seriously, today is the day Something Rotten officially goes on sale, and if you're not already planning to join me at a launch party or signing in the next week or two, now is the time to go get your copy. Does that mean you can run down to your local Borders or Barnes & Noble to grab a copy? Alas, no. Neither of the two big chains brought Something Rotten in, and while I'm thankful to B&N for supporting Samurai Shortstop, I now say . . . forget 'em! There's never been a better reason to support your local independent bookseller than this, and the chances are very good that your local indie will have Something Rotten on the shelf. The Penguin sales reps, who meet with and sell to the independent booksellers across the country, chose Something Rotten as their kids book of the season to highlight and get into stores, and they've been terrifically supportive. Something Rotten will be well represented everywhere but the chains--and of course it's available at many fine online retailers as well.

As before, I'd love to see some Something Rotten sightings. If you've got a camera on your cell phone (like Horatio!) send me the pick via the e-mail link on the right here on the blog and I'll post it with your name.

Thanks for your support! Now I have to go get dressed up in my Hagrid the groundskeeper costume for my school visit today . . .