Evacuation

We got a call around 1 a.m. Sunday morning from our neighbor Carolyn, who lives farther up the mountain. There was a fire at the Unimin Quartz Mine down the hill from us, she said, and we were being ordered to evacuate. I hurriedly woke the girls, we threw together some clothes and some things to do should we be forced to be away from home for more than one night, and hit the road for a motel in Marion, about a half an hour from where we live.

There was nothing online about the fire before we left, but by the time we had gotten to our motel the Asheville Citizen-Times had already posted something:

Residents within four miles of the Unimin plant near Spruce Pine have been ordered to evacuate after a "major fire" broke out at the facility Saturday night.

The fire continued to burn early Sunday morning.

The plant, which mines quartz products, is located about two miles north of Spruce Pine on N.C. 226.

"It's been a major fire," Spruce Pine Mayor Ralph Hise said.

Fire departments from at least four counties, including Avery, Mitchell, Yancey and Burke, have responded to the blaze.

Residents on the Bakersville side of the blaze have been told to evacuate to Bowman Middle School, and emergency operations were still being set up on the south side near Spruce Pine.

Spruce Pine government officials were gathering at town hall at 1:15 a.m. Sunday to determine their response to the evacuation. Downtown Spruce Pine, including the town hall, fall within the four-mile evacuation radius.

Kudos to the Asheville C-T for hopping on this one so quickly.

When we went to the car, the air was thick with smoke and the smell of chemicals--which is, I'm assuming, the real reason for a four-mile-radius evacuation. The scary thing is, if we didn't know Carolyn, our neighbor up the hill, we might never have known. We couldn't even find anything about it on the radio, scanning up and down both the AM and FM dials.

We're safely ensconced in the motel now, and I really should get some sleep. More updates as I get them -

UPDATE: The fire has been contained, and miraculously no one was injured. We were allowed back to our home the following morning, although emergency vehicles still lined the highway outside the plant.

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John Green at Malaprop's Bookstore

Printz Award-winning--and now bestselling--young adult author John Green was in Asheville today to sign books at Malaprop's Bookstore, and the family and I drove down to see him and get our books signed.

John and I first met at a Penguin authors reception at ALA a few years back, and we've run into each other on the circuit every now and then and gone on to become better friends online. And because this was one of his more low-key events--that is, he wasn't up on a stage with his brother Hank in front of an audience of hundreds of Nerdfighters--I actually got to chat with him for a minute.

He even brought cookies. Or perhaps his mom brought those. His parents live just outside Asheville, which is why he was here during Thanksgiving weekend.

John signed his new book Paper Towns, as well as hardback first editions of both Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines--both bought before, I might add proudly, the Printz medals they would later win. John assures me that my copy of Alaska is worth $40--an assertion I will soon put to the test on eBay. (Kidding.)

Smile like you mean it, Jo! When you're a teenager you'll win big points for this picture. Great seeing you, John--catch you next time!

PAPER TOWNS GIVEAWAY! My acquisition of a new, signed hardback of John's latest, Paper Towns, means I can replace the Paper Towns advance reader copy I picked up at a convention earlier this year. But I'm not throwing it out--I'm giving it away! To enter, just post a comment to this blog post! I'll choose randomly from the posters and arrange to send the winner this free signed galley! Contest deadline: Saturday, December 6, 2008.

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Tutorial - How to Split Stitch

Another tutorial? Already? Yes - that's right folks. I have big plans to get a kit listed by tomorrow too - and then it's at least one free pattern or tutorial every week until the new year when I launch my new and improved website. Alan asked if my intern was going to do all this. Since my intern is imaginary it's unlikely that she'll be very helpful. I'm hoping that putting this goal out there in writing means I actually get it done.

So here's the new tutorial. This time I'm showing you how to sew a split stitch - my favorite stitch for embroidering lines. I used it on this dress.
I like that it has some texture to it - when it's done it looks kind of like a little braid on the surface of the fabric. Nice. It's also substantial enough to cover any marking lines on the fabric.
One note - I'm not using an embroidery hoop in the tutorial. That's because I'm working on felt and felt is sturdy enough not to need a hoop - just be careful not to draw your stitches too tight. If you're doing this stitch on regular fabric - use a hoop.

If you'd rather view the tutorial on Flickr the link is here.

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Tutorial - How To Whipstitch

New Note! In 2011 I'll be launching the Shiny Happy Sewing School - offering weekly video tutorials for beginning sewists of all ages. Sign up for my newsletter or "like" Shiny Happy World on Facebook now so you don't miss a single thing! And if you know someone who wants to make "Learn to sew" one of their New Year's resolutions - please forward them the link. Thanks! And happy sewing!

Now back to my original post. . .
Ever since I saw the niftiness of this tutorial over at Betz White's blog I've been wanting to use the same service for mine. No more scrolling through endless tutorial posts!

We've all been under the weather here at Gratz Industries so I've been doing lots of hand sewing in front of the fire and you will be seeing several felt tutorials, patterns, and even kits over the next couple of days. Without further ado - here's my first fancy-schmancy tutorial - How to Whipstitch! This is my favorite stitch for joining layers of felt. Some people don't like it because your stitches are straight on one side of the project and slanted on the other - but that's just fine with me for most things. If you want straight stitches on both sides you need to use the more-fussy blanket stitch - tutorial coming soon.

Please let me know if you have any trouble viewing the slideshow. If you want to see it bigger you can also view it here on Flickr. Enjoy!

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When "recreational" becomes essential

We have what I would call a "recreational fireplace." That is, we do not require our fireplace to heat our house--we just have it to warm the living room and provide ambiance while we watch episodes of Top Chef on YouTube.

But yesterday's forecast called for freezing rain and heavy snow overnight. We've been through this up here before, and, in our experience, freezing rain and heavy snow means we will very likely lose our electricity.

Possibly for days.

Perhaps even a week.

In fact, that's what happened to us in the first month we lived up here. We lost our electricity for a solid week. And boy did we love having that "recreational fireplace" then.

So rather than trust to the "recreational" pile of wood I usually keep by the fireplace, I went outside yesterday morning and began chopping wood. LOTS of wood. And about a half an hour after I started, the cold--though not yet freezing--rain set in, and I knew I couldn't quit.

I stack the firewood by size: large and medium...

And small.

So now we have enough wood laid in to survive the apocalypse.

Provided it is a very short apocalypse.

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Alan Gratz is the new Frank Zappa?

If young adult literature is the new Rock ’n’ Roll, as some suggest, then author Alan Gratz is Frank Zappa, and his smart, droll remakes of Shakespeare’s tragic hits – Hamlet and Macbeth – should win new converts to the old bard’s gems.

Thus begins perhaps the best, most flattering review I've ever gotten in print for one of my books. And this from the Christian Science Monitor, no less--a big-time daily! The comparison to Zappa is funny--particularly because I wore a similar imperial mustache back in the Seventies:

(That isn't photoshopped. I swear.)

I'm tempted to quote the whole review here, as it's pretty terrific, but I'll just highlight a few lines and let you click through if you're interested:

Gratz’s new novel intended for older teens, Something Wicked, based on Macbeth, comes on the heels of his first remake, Something Rotten, based on Hamlet.

In that first book, teen sleuth Horatio Wilkes finds something rotten in Denmark, Tennessee: His best friend’s father has just been murdered.

Though the tale follows most of Shakespeare’s original – with a dash of evil environmental pollution thrown in – Gratz succeeds in remaking Horatio into one funny, fresh dude.

Horatio is even better in “Something Wicked.”

He’s a witty, snarky, self-deprecating king of one-liners and inside jokes who never met a metaphor he couldn’t make amusing:

“[A]s awkward as Michael Vick at a PETA rally,” “as white as a suburb,” “as black as a telemarketer’s soul,” “deader than the Confederacy,” a nerdy father and son are “two peas in a pocket protector.”

It’s impossible not to laugh – or at least smile – your way through Horatio’s take on the world. Author Gratz challenges readers, keeps them turning pages, and makes every word count.

Many thanks to reviewer Elizabeth A. Brown. May your car never get a flat in the rain and your children never need orthodontics!

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Swell Stuff: Lego Fashion Show

JCDC Versus LEGO from Four H on Vimeo.

Check out this great video I found at Craftzine. The designs are by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

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Snow Day!

Last night the forecast called for snow flurries after midnight. This is what I woke up to.

For the second time this week - snow day!

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Swell Stuff: Bamboletta

Look at these amazing dolls I found via Junior Society! I'm not normally a doll person, but I just love these. Sally (pictured above) is being offered as a giveaway - to enter the drawing just visit this post and leave a comment. I just love her wild red hair and the freckles dusting the tops of her cheeks - just like Jo's summer freckles. And that little half smile is perfect - it could mean so many things.

Sally is fabulous - but possibly even more fabulous are these fairies. The wings are removable, I love the tunics, and the hair is just amazing. I know Jo - with her current fairy obsession - would LOVE these. Sadly for me - happily for her - the maker is already all booked up for custom orders for the holiday season. But do not despair! Folks can find some of her already-made dolls at these places. Maybe next year we'll get a custom fairy. What I'd really love is a pattern to make my own. Wouldn't it be fun to make a whole flock of fairies? Maybe I'll at least make some removable wings for Jo's Kit doll. It's not quite the same but it would still be pretty cool.

So visit the Bamboletta site and blog and enjoy all the handmade goodness.

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Meet Eric George

I have a shadow today, and it's not just my five o'clock shadow from never shaving. His name is Eric George, and he's a senior at Mitchell County High School. As a graduation requirement, he has to follow around a professional in the field he's most interested in, and then he has to be interviewed as though he's applying for a job. Obviously I didn't have to apply for this cushy job I've got, but we're going through the motions for his grad requirements.

So today he's going to hang out with me while I do my author thing--which means he either gets to watch me sit quietly at my computer for four hours while I write a chapter, or we can sit in the living room and watch Columbo reruns. DVD here we come!

No, seriously, we're not going to watch TV, and he's not going to watch me write. (Which would be creepy anyway.) Instead, I'm showing him all the other stuff I have to do as a writer--like blogging, updating my school visit flier, and sending out my monthly newsletter. Fun! I'll drive him to a more practical profession for sure.

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Google Alerts Round-up

My weekly vanity check!

Ms. Fischbuch at G.S. Lakie Middle School thinks Samurai Shortstop has terrific curriculum tie-in potential and enjoyed Something Rotten.

A young reader at Norwich Middle School gives Samurai Shortstop five stars, and wishes it were longer.

And of course my fifteen minutes of fame on EW.com, where Something Wicked is currently winning (losing) in a battle of best opening lines.

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Alternate Endings: The Sound of Music

Wendi and I watched the film version of The Sound of Music with Jo for the first time yesterday, and we all enjoyed it. (Wendi and I had of course seen it many, many times.) What surprised me most on this 40th (!) anniversary DVD was a deleted scene found on the extras disc. Apparently the original movie did not end with the von Trapps happily singing their way over the mountain in their escape from Austria to Switzerland. The original ending was a bit more bittersweet, but it didn't play well with test audiences and so was cut from the final edit of the film. Here's what happens:

As in the theatrical release, Maria and the Captain wed, and their honeymoon is cut short when Germany annexes Austria as part of the Anschluss. The Captain is called into military service by the Nazis, and he and Maria engineer an impromptu escape after performing with the children at the Salzburg Music Festival. With the help of the nuns at Maria's former convent the family is able to elude the soldiers who pursue them, although they learn that the main border crossings have been closed. Despite the Mother Abbess's concerns about the rigors of crossing the Alps into Switzerland, the von Trapps see no other option. Maria, after all, grew up on that mountain, and "could never get lost on it."

But while the movie we know and love ends there--with the family hiking up a sunny, grass-green mountain to the strains of "Climb Ev'ry Mounatin"--the original follows the von Trapps into the heights of the Alps, where winter has already set in. Without food or water or appropriate clothing, the family fights for survival. A starving Friedrich, the older of the two Von Trapp boys, falls to his death in a chasm while chasing a doe, a deer, a female deer. Maria challenges the surviving von Trapps to buck up with a reprisal of the first-act tune "I Have Confidence," but the Captain is angry at Maria for getting them lost in the mountains and their relationship becomes strained.

Heavy snows set in, and the Captain leaves the family behind to seek help. While they await his return, Liesl gets frostbite and loses three fingers. Brigitta, who dearly loved to read, ironically becomes blind. In a desperate attempt to call for help, Maria leads the children in the yodeling bits from "The Lonely Goatherd," but only succeeds in bringing down an avalanche. As the days pass and no rescue arrives, the remaining von Trapps are forced to eat Gretl, the youngest of the von Trapp children. To make the situation more "palatable," Maria sings a new song called "No One Will Know."

Later, just as little Marta goes to sleep for the last time, hunters find Maria and the surviving von Trapps and lead them to a popular ski lodge that was, shockingly, mere yards away from them in the storm. Worse, Maria has led her new family not into Switzerland but into Italy, where they are captured by fascists. The Captain is never found and is presumed dead, and the film ends with Maria trying to lead her four disheartened step-children in another round of "My Favorite Things" as a truck takes them away to prison.

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Something Wicked on EW.com!

Imagine my surprise when today's Google Alert included a link to Something Wicked on ew.com! That's the web site of Entertainment Weekly, to which Wendi and I were long-time subscribers until we ran out of money. (Read: Until I, the author, became the primary bread-winner.)

This entry on ew.com's "Popwatch Blog" lists the opening lines of three current novels, and asks readers to vote for their least favorite. It's an odd way of phrasing things, and I must confess that I blithely scrolled down to the poll and clicked my own novel, thinking, "Oh! I think mine's the best! I'll vote for it!" before realizing, to my horror, that I had just voted my own novel's opening lines as the worst of the three.

What can I say? I'm an idiot.

So now I'm calling upon all you loyal Gratz Industries readers--go to ew.com's Popwatch blog and avenge my shame! Just remember to vote for one of the other intros--assuming, of course, you don't think mine is actually the worst. At first, I worried that this blog was saying, "Look, all three of these suck. Which sucks the worst?" But now I'm just feeling glad Something Wicked is on EW's radar, odd poll or not.

Right now, I'm winning--or, that is to say, fewer people have voted my intro the suckiest. Be sure to scroll down and read the comments too--my opening lines are getting some nice reviews down there.

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Snow Day: You Sank My Battleship!

It's the second snow day of the season, and I'm introducing Jo to the pleasures of Battleship.

She's onto my carrier. In her first take-down, she sank my battleship! She is merely an ensign at this point, but by the end of the day, I expect she'll be an admiral.

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Kentucky Book Fair 2008

Saturday I journeyed to the land of Lincoln (he was born in Kentucky in a log cabin he built with his own bare hands) for the Kentucky Book Fair. Held annually in Frankfort, the one-day book fair features more than 150 authors and routinely draws 4,000-5,000 readers from all over the region.

They really pack the authors in, often three to a table, and by mid-day the aisles were so crowded you could hardly move. I sold a bunch of books, and got to talk about all my novels with a lot of families.

See? There I am talking. You can tell because my mouth is open and pizza is not going into it. The book fair was a long drive for me--almost fourteen hours, round-trip--but Wendi came along and we had a fun trip. My thanks to the organizers, and to all the readers who came out on a cold and blustery November day!

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Best Non-Required Reading 2008: Something Rotten!

Team Bonzai member Tennessee Tanuki and fellow storysmith Jordan Sonnenblick both wrote to alert me that Something Rotten appears in this year's Best American Non-Required Reading! Library Journal says, "This great volume highlights the very best of this year's fiction, nonfiction, alternative comics, screenplays, blogs, and more. Compiled by Dave Eggers and students of his San Francisco writing center, it is thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking reading."

There's no long excerpt from Something Rotten featured, but it is included on one of the many "Best" lists in the "Best American Front Section" of the book: "Best American Last Sentences of Books of 2007." Right there between William Gibson and David Hajdu, is this entry:

ALAN GRATZ, Something Rotten
"You never do get used to the smell."

Sweet!

The "San Francisco writing center" that Dave Eggers founded is 826 Valencia, by the way, which is well worth a visit, virtual or otherwise, because 826 Valencia is also San Fransico's only independent pirate supply store.

Oh, and just a reminder: the first line and last lines of Something Rotten--and all the lines in between--can still be read for FREE online here through the end of this month.

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Gratz Industries HQ: Odds and Ends

We're almost there! We have a list of things left to do on the house, and it's less than one legal pad page long. And three or four of the things on the list must be done by professional plumbers--who have been called!

This past Sunday and all day today we've worked at the list--mostly odds and ends. Last minute things that didn't get done along the way. And we're almost through! I ran through the house before dusk today taking pics of the things we've marked off the list. Remember too that for each picture of an outlet or switch-plate cover there were dozens more just like it throughout the house!

Exterior lights - attached!

Exterior outlets - covered!

First floor porch fan - hung!

Hardware chic kitchen counter - constructed!

Kitchen sink - sunk!

Switch plate covers - screwed!

First floor bathroom vanity - assembled!

First floor bathroom vanity light - installed!

Fire alarms - activated!

Jo's bathroom vanity - aligned!

Jo's bathroom vanity light - fabricated!

Jo's cloud light from her room in Atlanta - salvaged!

Second floor - swept!

Third floor fans - suspended!

Master bathroom vanity light - erected!

Master bathroom toilet room floor tiles - arranged!

Master bathroom IKEA wall sconce - hacked!

Third floor porch fan - dangled!

Third floor porch railing - finished.

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An ad featuring The Brooklyn Nine

Editor Liz sends along this Dial ad for middle-grade novels for Follett, an organization that helps libraries develop their collections. Sweet! The Brooklyn Nine gets great placement, and I'm in some very good company...

(Click on the ad to see it larger.)

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Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different

My friend Kristin O'Donnell Tubb's first novel has just come out--Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different. Congratz, Kristin! I had the pleasure of reading the first chapter of this book during a critique group session many moons ago at an SCBWI Midsouth Conference in Nashville, and I knew it would one day grace bookstore and library shelves. Here's the scoop, from her website:

Autumn Winifred Oliver prides herself on doing things her way. But she meets her match when she moves in with her cantankerous Gramps. The Oliver girls were supposed to join Pop in Knoxville for some big-city living, but Gramps’s recent sick spell convinced Mama to stay put in Cades Cove. Folks in the Cove are all aflutter about turning their land into a national park, but Autumn’s not sure what to think. Loggers like Pop need jobs, but if things keep going at the current rate, the forests will soon be chopped to bits. And Gramps seems to think there’s some serious tourist money to be made. Can Autumn’s family and friends save their homes from the chainsaw by partnering with the slick Colonel Chapman and other park volunteers?

Click here to read an excerpt!

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A Wicked Good Review

I've been very fortunate to have each of my first three novels selected by the Junior Library Guild as books they promote to librarians all around the country. Here's their review for my latest, Something Wicked:

To some readers, the language and settings of Shakespeare's plays can seem distant and boring; conversely, some contemporary retellings that aim to make Shakespeare trendy or accessible end up stripping the emotional depth from the plays. Something Wicked, however, is an exceptional adaptation.

Horatio's friend Mac, and Mac's girlfriend, Beth, are the Macbeth and Lady Macbeth of this story. Beth's constant challenges to Mac's manhood and their mutually destructive relationship echo the play's themes of manipulation and ambition in a context that teens will easily recognize. Likewise, Horatio and Mac's rapidly souring friendship may remind teens of their own social difficulties.

The captivating murder mystery will keep readers (even those familiar with the play) guessing who the real culprit is. Alan Gratz's detailed setting, a Scottish Highland fair, is inspired, and his prose and dialogue are consistently funny and well crafted: "'You're just going to get him madder," Lucy told me. 'I'm good at that,' I told her. 'I have mad skills.'" And Gratz seamlessly incorporates a wide array of pop culture references, including the Ramones, Jackson Pollock, Magnum, P.I., and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, in humorous, intelligent ways.

Thanks, JLG!

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You Can Vote However You Like

It's finally here! Finally! FINALLY! If you haven't voted yet - get out there today! And if you need a little reminder about the issues, check out this awesome video/civics lesson by the kids at Ron Clark Academy.

They wrote the lyrics and did the choreography themselves. I personally think as many lessons as possible should be set to music. How many people still hum snatches of the ABC song when they're alphabetizing? And don't get me going on the awesomeness of Schoolhouse Rock . . .

Go vote!

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Done!

Sadly - not the house. Though I did - finally - finish all the painting. That's right folks . . . the painting is finally finished! I really wish we had kept track of how many gallons of paint we went through. Or saved all the empty cans for one impressive photo. Oh well.

So here's a corner of our bedroom. We still haven't decided what to paint on that corner piece so I guess the painting isn't totally done - if you want to get all technical. But this is just fancy finishing so it doesn't really count.
And here's Alan's office. His corner piece will say "write." We're still deciding on the font.Alan's been busy building temporary stair rails. I would dearly love to know how all the fancy homes you see in the decorating and architecture magazines pass inspection. Stairs with no risers are a big no-no (though they look fabulous and are in all the magazines) and if you want horizontal bars on your railing the gaps have to be no more than 4 inches. You know - so your cat doesn't accidentally slip through the side.
I'm convinced that most code requirements are designed to make homes as generic as possible. You should have seen the inspector when I asked about the possibility of not using sheetrock for the ceilings.
Inspector: What do you mean, not use sheetrock?
me: Well, the though of mudding and sanding over my head isn't so appealing, so I was thinking of using something else. Can I use some kind of panel - like homosote - wrapped in fabric and attached to the ceiling in a pattern, like a quilt?
Inspector: ????????????
me: Is that allowed?
Inspector: Well . . . you could use wood.
me: So our options are wood or sheetrock?
Inspector: Yes. (helpfully) You could do your fabric idea over top of the sheetrock. But you'd still have to mud the seams.
me: sigh

Wednesday is supposed to be more gorgeous weather (almost 70 degrees!) so Alan and I are planning some major progress. Updates to follow later this week.

And speaking of updates - here's the little project I did with Jo.
I have no idea when or where (or how) I acquired this pencil box with kissing babies on it. I've been using it as a portable sewing kit and I kind of shudder every time I pull it out.

A quick hit with some sandpaper, a coat of blue paint, and an image cut from a fun (but damaged) Powerpuff Girls book and I have a new and improved sewing kit. Ta daa!Jo is still working on her project. It involves lots of random images and she's not so good at finishing what she starts. Since step one of her project was dumping all of her hair accessories out of their plain white tin onto her bedroom floor, I hope I can get her to wrap it up soon. . .

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