Nerd Camp Indy was my first nerd camp and it was such fun. Met wonderful authors, teachers and librarians and was the grateful recipient of Hoosier hospitality.

With some of the organizers of #NerdCampIndy: Laura West, Carolanne Benson and Caitlin Zonder (not pictured, Sarah Ewing). These teachers and librarians were inspired by their visits to Nerd Camp Michigan to come up with their own. This was year two of Nerd Camp Indy and I was so happy to get to be a part of it. #HoosierHospitality

Honored to be on a panel with Hoosiers Saundra Mitchell (All Out) and Mike Mullin (Surface Tension).

Shared a signing table (and some fun) with Tamara Bundy, author of Walking with Miss Millie.

With Laura Martin (Float) and Rob Harrell (Monster on the Hill).

My first session at #nerdcampindy was listening to Shirley Mullin (owner of Kids Ink Bookstore) book-talk some of her favorite books and talk about what’s new in kid’s literature. Later in the day, Carolanne Benson (librarian and Scotswoman) showed me major Hoosier hospitality by taking me across town to Kids Ink itself. Bucket list item checked!

A Scotswoman’s license plate!

The magic of #nerdcampindy encapsulated.

Got my first welcoming email from Laura West to come to Nerd Camp Indy. She was even more delightful in person!

Thanks for having me #nerdcampindy!! (And thanks to the Indiana Library Federation for nominating The Infinity Year of Avalon James for a Young Hoosier Book Award).

I was on the organizing committee of LitFest Pasadena this year and was tasked with curating the Middle Grade and Young Adult events. Honestly, I didn’t have any idea what I was signing up for — but I’m so glad I did! The people who put LitFest together, headed up by director Rosalind Helfand, are wonderful. And I got to meet so many authors who I admire and adore. Here are some of the highlights:

At our Kickoff Party on the Friday before the festival, I got to hang with fellow Middle Grade authors Sally Pla, Armand Baltazar and Henry Lien.  I’m not going to lie, some fangirling took place!

Then the lovely Danielle Davis arrived …

I got to moderate the Middle Grade panel at the Pasadena Playhouse  on Saturday. With Tom Rogers, Jennifer Torres, Armand Baltazar, Danielle Davis and Sally Pla. Love all their books and was thrilled to moderate. Plus, the questions from our very inquisitive audience were fantastic!

The Pasadena Playhouse Courtyard after the panel.

Then, we were joined by Tracy Holczer and Henry Lien for the Read Aloud Event. As you will see, it climaxed with Henry’s every enthusiastic reading of Peasprout Chen!

Danielle Davis reads from Zinnia and the Bees.

Tracy Holczer reads from her upcoming novel, Everything Else in the Universe.

Sally Pla reads from Stanley Will Probably Be Fine.

Armand Baltazar reads from Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic (with his amazing illustrations – thanks Henry!)

Jennifer Torres reads from Stef Soto, Taco Queen.

That’s me. Reading from Open If You Dare.

And Henry Lien reads from Peasprout Chen to the delight of the audience!

Somehow I didn’t get a pic of Tom Rogers at the Read Aloud (although he read beautifully!) so thought I’d post this cool guy photo taken after all was said and done. (Thanks to Tom’s wife, Jen, for many of these photos!)

On Sunday, we had the YA panel with, can you believe this line up: Cecil Castellucci, Brandy Colbert, Isabel Quintero and Jeff Sweat. Moderated by the lovely Jennifer Brody.

Then at the YA Read Aloud, the panel was joined by Amber Benson, BT Gottfred, CB Lee and Amy Spalding. What a congregation of YA greatness!

The closing party was a blast even though my feet hurt.

Looking forward to the next LitFest Pasadena in May 2019!!

I set my book, Open if You Dare, in the neighborhood where I grew up in Atlanta. We moved from that neighborhood, called Gainsborough, when I was twelve. While writing this book, I realized how much loss and fear I must have felt upon leaving the only neighborhood I had ever known. This was my childhood home, where everything had happened. I guess I had placed my sadness in an unmarked drawer which flew open when I started writing about it.

Gainsborough was a close-knit neighborhood with a swim club, creek with rope swing and fourth of July parade. We used to run free in the summers. The summer evenings in Atlanta were filled with the magic of lightning bugs and the sound of playful children’s voices that rang out until dark.

So in this magical neighborhood of my youth, I set Birdie, Rose and Ally. The island is made-up, but the creek is not. It flooded our home several times and when I returned recently, this is where my house was:

A whole street of homes along the flood plain had been removed and yes, one of them was mine. Luckily, my goddaughter, Sierra, was there with me to ease the pain.

Across the street was a Gainsborough sign in the yard of the neighbor who used to call my mom whenever us kids were up to no good.

And here was the pool club. It’s much grander in my memory but that’s how memories work.

This was the swim club back in the day. There’s me with my sisters, Lisa and Sally.

Some of the incidents in Open If You Dare happened in real life. For instance, Zora’s accident was based on a real life accident that happened to Lisa when I wasn’t paying proper attention. The hill where the accident took place looked less steep than I remembered and I found myself very grateful that I had written the book before returning to the scene of the crime. I’ll be forever grateful to have had those years in Gainsborough and happy to share an echo of that in Open If You Dare.

I’m very excited to announce that the book launch party for OPEN IF YOU DARE will be at Once Upon a Time Bookstore in Montrose, CA on Saturday, October 21st at 4pm. This is great for many reasons (it’s a fabulous children’s bookstore and the oldest of its kind in the U.S.) but also, Maureen and the gang hosted the launch for THE INFINITY YEAR OF AVALON JAMES last October and it was one of my favorite days ever!

So, I’ll hope you come by. There will be an oh so brief reading, amazing cookies, a fun raffle, cool people and if you want, I’ll sign a book for you. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because this is happening again. Looking forward to Birdie, Rose and Ally’s debut into the world.

While I’m updating my website (which tends to take me forever!), I wanted to be sure you guys got a look at the new book — Open If You Dare. I’m really excited about this! Comes out October 17, 2017. Promise to have more info here soon 🙂

Hiya Gang –

Today was a really fun day! Fabulous book blogger Jen at Pop Goes the Reader hosted the exclusive cover reveal for my next book. She tweeted, “Past and present collide as three friends discover a mysterious box in @DanaKMiddleton‘s Open If You Dare!” Wish I had come up with that excellent one-liner!  Thanks to Jen for the awesome reveal and for putting together the ARC giveaway. You can still win a copy. Dare to click here now:

Also, humongous thanks to the cover designer of Open If You Dare, Liz Dresner, and everyone at Feiwel and Friends for their tremendous support!!

P.S. Open If You Dare is available for pre-order now and will appear in bookstores on October 17, 2017.

Spent time In my hometown of Dahlonega, Georgia, in January. Had a great time at schools there. Teachers Margaret Bennett, Ashley Boegner and my mom (former teacher) created a book club with The Infinity Year of Avalon James as their first read. Here are the students with the author’s mother. I heard from Mrs. Bennett today that the book club lives on!!

Plus, hometown signing at Giggle Monkey Toys was a blast! These amazing girls came by to get their books. They (along with the book club students) are my Avalon Ambassadors! You’re invited to be one, too.

P.S. If I’m missing a photo with you from the visit, please send it to me so I can include it here. You can reach me at dana@danamiddletonbooks.com.

In January, I had my Southern Launch for The Infinity Year of Avalon James at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, Georgia. Since I’m from Georgia, it was one of those hometown gal makes good moments and being signing-sandwiched in between Chris Bohjalian and Veronica Roth was pretty surreal! It was a great day at a wonderful indie bookstore. Thanks to Jackie, Karen, Gary and Hyphen for having me. You’re the best! And, special thanks to Chris Hamilton for these photos, making me ever thankful that I’m friends with a world-class, professional photographer. Can you come with me everywhere?