Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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Only at B.E.A.

So to be all author promotery and stuff at book expo america, Scott made up t-shirts for the both of us. Mine had the cover of magic or madness on the front and on the back quotes from my starred reviews. Nobody seemed to notice my t-shirt until we were waiting outside the convention centre surrounded by great piles of our book expo booty (yes, many, many books), looking like Penguin books roadies (Peeps and MorM are published by Penguin). A woman came up to me and pointed to my t-shirt and said, “I loved that book.”

“Really? I’m so pleased.”

She nodded emphatically. “I gave it a great review for booklist.”

“You mean this review?” I asked, turning around to show the back of my t-shirt.

“Oh my god,” she said, “that’s my review!”

“Thank you so much,” I said. “I really appreciated it.”

She looked a little confused.

“It’s my book. I’m Justine Larbalestier.”

Double-take. “No! Wow!”

She looked across at Scott wearing his Peeps t-shirt. “I just got that book to review. I also gave one of his earlier books a starred review. So Yesterday.”

“I loved that review,” Scott said. “Thank you!”

Double take. “You’re not Scott Westerfeld!”

Scott nodded. “I am.”

“You two know each other?” Another double take. “You’re friends?”

“We’re married,” I said.

“Oh my! What a powerhouse.”

Scott and our editor, Liesa Abrams, laughed. I blushed.

Meeting Jennifer Matson was my favourite b.e.a. moment. It was fab to finally be able to tell her how much I appreciated her review. it wasn’t just that she loved my book, it’s that she really understood my book. It meant a lot to me and it was a thrill to be able to tell her so.

Posted by Justine at 10:36, 6 June 2005 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business, Scott's books | 3 Comments »

Comments

  1. John Klima Says:

    I had a similar moment this weekend at a B&N. I was showing your book to my wife and she gave me a look like, ‘ok, so what should I know about this book?’ so I showed her the author photo. She said, oh cool. Then I showed her Midnighters 2 and said, ‘this is her husband,’ to which my wife replied ‘oh, then I know him, too.’

    I’m going to pick up your book and Midnighters 2 this week! Looking forward to them both!

    JK

    June 6th, 2005 at 11:03 AM

  2. David Moles Says:

    I’m going to collectively refer to the two of you as “the Powerhouse” from now on.

    June 6th, 2005 at 2:19 PM

  3. 3. Justine Says:

    john: thanks so much. hope you enjoy them! I’m always nervous about friends reading my work . . .

    david: referring to me and scott as “the powerhouse”–that’s a paddlin’.

    June 6th, 2005 at 2:27 PM

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