Maryrose's Blog, All Year 'Round (now illustrated)

Welcome!

 

Hello! I'm Maryrose Wood, and I'm the author of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series.

Below you'll find a list of my upcoming festival, bookstore and library appearances. You can use the links at right to get information about my Skype and school visits to elementary and middle schools.

You'll also see a link to The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place site, which is the place to go for excerpts, awesome online games, discussion guides, contests, videos and more.

And, for teens, check out the beautiful Poison Diaries site, where you can create your own diary of poisonous plants. 

I love hearing from readers, parents, teachers, librarians, and anyone who enjoys my books (or any books, really). You can send me an email by clicking the email me link at right, or follow me on Twitter at @Maryrose_Wood.

Happy howls,

Maryrose

p.s. - Remember, book 3, THE UNSEEN GUEST comes out on on March 27th!

Where I'll be

Happy Groundhog Day! Some news to bear in mind:

Incorrigibles Book 2, THE HIDDEN GALLERY is now in paperback!

Incorrigibles Book 3, THE UNSEEN GUEST, will be in stores March 27th. Soon! So excited.

Are you interested in an Incorrigible Author visit? I have some dates available for school visits in spring 2012, so please email me at mw@maryrosewood.com if you'd like to share some howls together. Also now booking dates for the 2012/2013 school year.

(List updated on Feb 2nd) 

• FEBRUARY •

Wednesday, February 8, 6 – 7:30 PM
Teen Author Reading Night
Jefferson Market Branch of NYPL
(Corner of 6th Ave and 10th St, NYC)
Featuring:
Kate Ellison, The Butterfly Clues
Madeleine George, The Difference Between You and Me
Jennifer Hubbard, Try Not to Breathe
Peter Lerangis, Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am
Barnabas Miller, Rock God: The Legend of BJ Levine
Carley Moore, The Stalker Chronicles
Maryrose Wood, The Unseen Guest

• MARCH •

The Incorrigible Author Tour, Take 3! Check back for details.

• APRIL •

        Thurs, April 5 (via Skype)
        Blue Valley Southwest High School
        Library Breakfast Club
        Overland Park, KS

Tues - Fri, April 17 - 20
Texas Library Association
Annual Conference
Houston, TX

Thurs, April 26
Children's Librarians Association of Suffolk County
Keynote address: "Children and Fiction (with apologies to Virginia Woolf)"
Stony Brook, NY

• MAY •

Sat, May 5th, 10 AM – 4 PM
Hudson Children's Book Festival
Hudson, NY

What's next for the Incorrigible children? Browse inside THE HIDDEN GALLERY and find out.

THE HIDDEN GALLERY will be in stores on February 22nd, but you can read the beginning right now. Ahwoo!

I'm reading this Wednesday at the NYPL, with E. Lockhart, Melissa Kantor & other fab authors.

NY area people, come hear me read from The Hidden Gallery on Wednesday, along with some wonderful author pals. We'll read from our new books and then take Q&A. Fun! Please join us.

Teen Author Reading Night
Wednesday, February 9th, from 6-7:30 PM
Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library
425 6th Ave., at 10th St.

Gwendolyn Heasley – Where I Belong
Melissa Kantor – The Darlings are Forever
E. Lockhart – Real Live Boyfriends
Michael Northrop – Trapped
Maryrose Wood – The Hidden Gallery, Book 2 in THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE series

Sweet! THE HIDDEN GALLERY is a Junior Library Guild selection, Indie Next pick, and more.

February is a short month, as months go, but it is action-packed. It begins with my birthday – thank you, Facebook and other friends. I am swimming happily in your beautiful birthday greetings.

Then there is Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day, noble holidays both. There’s a week of midwinter recess for schoolkids here in New York (ignore the shouts of jubilation coming from my son’s room).

But, best of all (to me, anyway), THE HIDDEN GALLERY comes out on February 22. That’s 02/22/2011, for the numerically inclined.

And there’s more good news. I have recently been informed that THE HIDDEN GALLERY...

Is a Junior Library Guild Selection. Fist pump!

AND

Is on the Spring 2011 Kids' Indie Next List. Happy dance!

AND

Will have a starred review in ALA Booklist.

PIROUETTES AND COLLAPSES IN DELIRIOUSNESS!

Thank you, February! Now, about that snow…

Xo

m

Inscribe your calendars! Incorrigible pub dates and author appearances, coming very soon.

Happy new year, everyone! I know I'm a bit late with first post of 2011. Do not panic! In between blog postings I am still here, typing madly away, muttering to the dog and drinking too much coffee. Occasionally I say, Aha! Or, Mmm. Or things unprintable. It's all part of the job.

If you feel you require daily proof of my existence (as I sometimes do), please follow me on Twitter.

Now, to the news. Important Dates Loom! I will wait while you fetch your pencils...

Okay, here we go:

January 25th is pub day for THE MYSTERIOUS HOWLING in paperback. It is so cute! It has extras! Look in the back and you'll find Jon Klassen's "outtakes" for his genius illustrations. Great stuff.

February 22nd is pub day for THE HIDDEN GALLERY. Oh, my! I am so excited about the continuing adventures of Miss Penelope Lumley and Incorrigible children. Also, it sports the best tagline for one of my books, ever:

Mystery. Mayhem. Delicious Desserts.

I mean, right?

I'll be making appearances throughout the next few months, with howling and book signings galore. More to come; in the meantime save these dates.

On February 9th I will read from THE HIDDEN GALLERY at the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library as part of the awesome Teen Author Reading Night series. 6 PM.

March 9th: Books, Bytes & Beyond, Glen Rock, NJ, 4 PM.

March 11th: Barnes and Noble, Princeton, NJ, 6 PM.

From April 13-20 I will be on the Incorrigible Author Tour, Redux. Me, THE HIDDEN GALLERY, five cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta). Details to come soon.

If you fancy yourself an Incorrigible sort of person, you may click here to pre-order THE HIDDEN GALLERY from the bookseller of your choice. Thankawoo very much!

 

"Liebe ist unheilbar," indeed: check out the German POISON DIARIES cover.

I admit: there are times I lose patience with the whirling vortex of time-suck that is the Internet.

Yet there are many other times—like when I urgently need to look up, say, what sort of plants might grow on a windswept hilltop moor in northern England—that I say, way to go, Internet! Gosh, you know everything. With pictures, too.

And then there are the times when I just squee at the magic of it all, because if not for a bit of idle poking around on the Internet, I might never have gotten an early look at this: the German cover of The Poison Diaries.

That's Die Poison Diaries to you, pal.

p.s. — In case you're wondering, Liebe ist unheilbar means "Love is incurable."

How do I know? My Google translator, of course!

The #Incorrigible Twitter contest winners announced!

Thanks for your patience, Incorrigible tweeps! I have been a busy bee these last few weeks and have been looking forward to the day when I could sit down and choose the WINNERS of the #Incorrigible Twitter contest.

And, guess what? Today is that day!

Now, let me just say: you guys have some seriously incorrigible habits. It made me feel good to know, for example, that my secret urge to buy trashy magazines with headlines like “FORTY WAYS TO LEAVE HIM DAZED AND WONDERING” or “DOMINATE YOUR MUFFIN TOP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE” at the supermarket checkout line and read them cover to cover while lying in bed eating cookies does not even come close to the shocking behavior revealed herein.

It wasn’t easy, but I’ve selected five winners and one Grand Prize winner. Winners will get a button that says “I’m Incorrigible.” The Grand Prize winner gets a button plus a signed ARC of The Hidden Gallery, book II in the Incorrigible Children series.

Winners, you are just impossible! Please email me at mw@MaryroseWood.com with a mailing address where I can send your prize. If you happen to be a kid, ask the Grownup In Charge before you send me your mailing address, okay?

AND THE WINNERS ARE….

1) Most #incorrigible spelling and grammar-related tweet

A competitive category. I admit that I was impressed by @LizzieKFoley’s entry:

I can never spell incorrigible correctly, and I refuse to use a dictionary #incorrible #inccorigble #incorrigible

But the winner is @bythebrooks, who confessed:

I write on public signs and fix the grammar mistakes. #incorrigible

Excellent! Keep up the good work, @bythebrooks!

2) Most #incorrigible food-related tweet

This was the toughest category by far. I hate to say it, but so many of you are freaks about food. Some of you eat cold pepperoni in bed. Some of you eat muffins with spoons. Some of you take the last bite without even asking if other people want it. You also steal M&Ms and hide your kids’ chocolate in the laundry room. For shame! I had to narrow it down to three finalists before I could choose a winner.

@msheatherwebb  because I put a spoonful of peanut butter in my mouth & then squirt dark chocolate Hershey's syrup in after. #incorrigible

@wendytoliver I bite the heads off my food whenever possible. Watch out, gummy bears and E.L. Fudge cookies! #incorrigible

@jakethegirl My favorite food is Stovetop Stuffing. #incorrigible

Oh, yeah! Stovetop Stuffing. You win, @Jakethegirl!

3) Most #incorrigible Harry-Potter related tweet

Only one entry in this category, but it’s a winner. Congrats to @basheemadory, (AKA The Tweep Who Lived), who asserts:

When you say "serious" I say "Black." #incorrigible

4) Most #incorrigible philosophical tweet

This one made me think very deep thoughts, and surely that is worth a button. You win, @martinkozicki, for sharing this:

Because I think funerals are funny, but clowns are sad. #incorrigible

5) Most #incorrigible teacher tweet

Do teachers text in class? According to my contest entries they do! Even so, the winner in this highly educational category is @amylovestrees, who says:

I allow my students to use swear words if they can find them in Shakespeare. #incorrigible

DRUMROLL!!! And the Grand Prize of a button plus signed Hidden Gallery ARC goes to…

Once again, it’s @bashmeedory, for this succinct gem:

I still play pokemon games and I'm 17. #incorrigible

Sweet! I will send prizes as soon as I get your mailing addresses. Congrats to all the winners!

Twitter contest! Why are you #incorrigible? Make me laff & win a button or an ARC.

I believe that life is all about trying new things. To prove it, I am about to do something I have never, ever done before.

That's right! I am going to have a Twitter contest! WHOO HOO!

Why? Because HarperCollins sent me a big bag of cute buttons that say "I'm Incorrigible." You must have one, they are adorable. They simply scream Contest Bait.

Here's what to do: To win your very own "I'm Incorrigible" button, tweet why you are! For example:

I wear socks to bed! #incorrigible

I read at the dinner table! #incorrigible

Make sure you include the hashtag  #incorrigible so I see your entry. Remember, the thing that makes you #incorrigible is that naughty habit that you have no intention of breaking.

Enter as many times as you dare. Make me laugh a lot and you will get a BUTTON!

Make me HOWL and you will get a HIDDEN GALLERY ARC!

Winners will be announced right here on this blogaroonie. In like, a week or so.

Please retweet like mad! Just thinking of all your secret bad habits that are about to be revealed is make me drooly.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Tweeters!

xo

m

 

Incorrigibles Book II, The Hidden Gallery, revealed at last! Read on for tantalizing tidbits.

How I heart Jon Klassen, that Incorrigible illustrator! I am delighted to share with you the cover for the second book in the ongoing adventures of the three Incorrigible children and their plucky young governess, Miss Penelope Lumley: The Hidden Gallery.

As you might surmise from the picture, in The HIdden Gallery our brave heroes decamp to London. They have no choice, really, for in the wake of the disastrous holiday ball at Ashton Place (which was blood-curdlingly described in Book I, The Mysterious Howling), the repairs to the house are so extensive that everyone must move out temporarily—including Lady Constance and Lord Fredrick. 

And to London, of all places! Penelope is tremendously excited, as you might well imagine:

...Penelope had never been to London. However, she had read a great deal about it: a noisy, odorous, fogbound city where gaslight made the nighttime bright as day, yet the air was so thick with coal soot that the daytime was dim as dusk, and where poor orphans were likely to have terrifying encounters with escaped convicts, but were just as likely to inherit large fortunes willed to them by long-lost relatives they never knew they had. Surely such a paradoxical place would be well worth a visit.

Believe me, it is. Within these pages the children hear an alarming prophecy from a semi-toothless soothsayer, and Penelope makes the acquaintance of perfectly nice young man. Cultural excursions to palaces, museums and the theater do not go off precisely as planned. Penelope's guidebook to London (a gift from Miss Charlotte Mortimer, whom we will meet) proves to be full of surprises. There is an adventure on a velocipede, a crushing series of disappointments involving the London General Post Office, a poem by Mr. Robert Burns, and a dessert so indescribably delicious that it literally cannot be described.

Luckily for all of you, many of these episodes are depicted within the book in pictures by Mr. Klassen that are evocative, charming and hilarious by turn.

The Hidden Gallery will be in stores Feb 22, 2011. Click here to preorder from the bookseller of your choice.

And stay tuned for news of The Incorrigible Author Tour, Redux. Dates and details to come, but Los Angeles, San Franciso, Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix, you'd better start practicing your howling now.

Ahwoooooooo!

 

 

 

 

Come see me at the Princeton Children's Book Festival on Saturday, September 11th

I am very happy to be returning to the Princeton Children's Book Festival this year. Come hang out with all these neat authors (including featured author R. L. Stine), get books signed, hear readings and more.

It's tomorrow, Sept 11th, from 11 AM – 4 PM in lovely Princeton NJ, at the Princeton Public Library.

Details here. Hope you can come!

Don't rush me, back-to-school sales! It's still August, and I'm featured all month at the Ultimate YA Reading Group

If you followed me on Twitter, you would already know that I'm the August Featured Author at the not-to-be-outdone, super-Ultimate YA Reading Group.

Go to their site and you will find:

• Seven little-known facts about moi (one involves the Taj Mahal)

ª Part 1 of an interview, in which I reveal the no-fail cure for writer's block.

• Part 2 of the same interview, in which I talk about Twilight Chapstick and give more advice about writing that I hope some of you will find useful. 

Please check it out. And follow me on Twitter, already! You should follow the fabulous Ultimates too: @UltimateYAGroup.

The Poison Diaries pub day news, contest news, sequel news! Free books and prizes, enter now.

Break out the absinthe! It's North American pub day for The Poison Diaries.

“Lyrical and lovely, a fast-paced literary gem.”— Ally Carter, New York Times bestselling author of Heist Society

“This intriguing fantasy has many tendrils to wrap around teen hearts...the haunting ending will leave readers wanting to talk about  themes of cruelty, honesty, and loyalty.” — ALA Booklist

“Wood fashions a narrative whose conventions of gothic romance intertwine with, then utterly succumb to, the brutal forces of human obsession....Absorbing.” — Kirkus

CONTEST NEWS: There are two blog contests currently going on; either one might win you a copy of The Poison Diaries.

For a chance to win a signed hardcover copy, leave a comment on my interview at Oasis for YA by midnight, July 23rd (that's Friday).

Leave a comment on my interview at Linda Gerber's blog to win an ARC. You have until midnight Wednesday, July 21st for that one.

And don't forget about the Inkpop contest, which offers some amazing prizes. All you have to do to enter is vote on your favorite stories. We're down to the top ten! Voting ends July 22nd, so please vote now.

SEQUEL NEWS: Last but not least: many of you are already asking about a sequel. The answer is yes! The Poison Diaries is the first book of a trilogy. Book II will be out next summer, and I will tell you the title as soon as I know what it is.

Now go enter those contests, quick!

I'm interviewed at the Oasis for YA. Leave a comment to win signed POISON DIARIES.

The Oasis for YA is a great blog for readers and writers of YA books. Today they've interviewed me! We talk about THE POISON DIARIES, the difference between middle grade and teen fiction, my most comical moment as an author, writing tips and more.

Read the interview and leave a comment (there, not here) to win a signed copy of THE POISON DIARIES, too.

Interviewed on 10 Stories Up blog...hope I didn't give too much away about the next Incorrigibles book....

I really enjoyed doing this in-depth interview with Canadian bookseller and blogger Lindsey Carmichael at her blog, 10 Stories Up. Such smart questions! We talk a lot about The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the role of comedy in my writing, and why big words are fun to use. I also reveal some scrumptious tidbits about the second book in the series! Do check it out.

I'll be reading from THE POISON DIARIES Wed at @ 6PM with other fab authors, at NYPL's Jefferson Market branch.

Teen Author Reading Night is here again! So much fun. Please come by; there's a wonderful lineup of YA authors reading from their new books. I'll be reading from THE POISON DIARIES. See you there.

Wednesday, July 7th is Teen Author Reading Night!

6-7:30 PM, Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, 425 6th Ave, at 10th St.

Featured authors are:

Jen Calonita, Reality Check

Sarah Darer Littman, Life, After

Kieran Scott, She’s So Dead to Us

Alyssa Sheinmel, The Beautiful Between

Jennifer Sturman, And Then I Found Out the Truth

Maryrose Wood, The Poison Diaries

I'm interviewed at Reading Rocks, the blog that proves reading really DOES rock.

Many thanks to Ariel at Reading Rocks for having me on the blog for an interview. We talk about how The Poison Diaries got its start, and what makes me giggle when I write. Read all about it here.

New POISON DIARIES book trailer is up. What do you think?

I love the new book trailer! Check it out and tell me what you think. Special shout-out to Circle of Seven Productions and the awesome High Tide Studio, where yours truly recorded the voiceover.

TV alert: my Incorrigible visit to THE BALANCING ACT is here, for your viewing pleasure.

Me on THE BALANCING ACT! I read from The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place and howl up a storm with charming host Kristy Villa. THE BALANCING ACT is on Lifetime, every weekday at 7 AM.

Read THE POISON DIARIES online, for a limited time only.

HarperTeen is going wild! For a limited time (and don't ask me how limited, because I don't know) the THE POISON DIARIES is available to read online. The whole book! Seriously!

The US publication date is July 20th, so this is really a sneak peek. (UK people, you already have the book in stores. Australian people, you will have it in stores July 1.)

Here's the link:

Visit Inkpop and enter the Poison Diaries writing contest. Forbidden love and fabulous prizes!

UPDATE!!! Submissions to the contest ends tonight.You have until midnight (EST) on Monday, June 14 to submit your entries. Come back tomorrow and start voting!

•••

To celebrate the July 20th US release of THE POISON DIARIES, Inkpop is hosting an amazing writing contest on everybody's favorite theme: forbidden love.

So start working on those stories and poems! The contest starts accepting submissions on Thursday, June 10th. Visit Inkpop for rules and more info.

The list of prizes is amazing, from iPods to gift cards to mammoth shopping sprees. You don't have to enter to win something, either—you can vote for your favorite submissions or register for random drawings.

I am looking forward to reading your genius submissions, people. So enter! Check out all the other great contests, too.