I am SO excited about this book!  Writing it was by far the most fun I’ve ever had writing a book.  My brilliant editor, David Levithan made the process of writing and re-writing completely painless –which is no small feat.  Then there was the AMAZING “Pie Palooza” party at Scholastic to celebrate the release of the ARC (Advance Reader Copy).  I got to go to ALA in New Orleans, where I spoke to hundreds of wonderful librarians about the book and ate –you guessed it – A LOT of pie.  And today I received a starred review from School Library Journal, to add to the one I received from Kirkus earlier this week.  My head is spinning from it all.  So how did I celebrate all this good news?  By baking a pie of course!  I would have taken a picture of it, but Jim, my fiance polished it off before I could get my camera out.  I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am to everyone who helped in the making of this book – from the people who shared family pie recipes with me, to the folks at Scholastic who have done everything and more to support the book, to my family and friends and…am I gushing?  Sorry, I can’t help it.  I am overjoyed.  I’ll be on tour this fall and hope to have an opportunity to meet some of you along the way.  In the meantime, send me your favotie pie crust recipes!!!!!!!

The very first review is in…Here’s a little taste of what Richie’s Picks (one of my favorite book blogs) had to say about PIE…

“PIE, set in Ipswitch during the summer of 1955, is a high-spirited, hoot of a whodunit for upper elementary and middle school readers.  This tale is going to inspire a mess of pie baking in your neck of the woods…Those who are familiar with a certain famous and esteemed children’s literature award are going to get quite a belly laugh out of reading the history and details of the national pie making award that Polly wins an unprecedented thirteen times in a row.  And as sure as life imitates art, I bet that there will be a passel of people dishing about PIE when the year-end lists are being compiled.”

I had SO much fun writing the book PIE, that I guess it should come as no surprise that I’m also having fun getting ready to send it out into the world.  My fabulous, amazing, incredible editor, David Levithan arranged to have a “Pie Palooza Party” at Scholastic to celebrate the release of the ARC (Advance Reader Copy).  He and I donned a couple of homemade gingham aprons (which I picked up at a thrift store in Nebraska during a recent author visit) and best of all there was lots of, you guessed it, pie!  In keeping with the message of the book, which is all about doing things for the joy of doing them   – some of the good folks at Scholastic actually took time out of their busy schedules to bake pies for the party.  I baked several varieties myself – the most popular of which seemed to be the lemon chess (recipe contributed by my Aunt Jane) but my personal favorite of the day was an oatmeal pie, which sounds a little weird, but actually tasted like a big oatmeal cookie.  Yum, gotta get that recipe!

I am beside myself with excitement to announce that Hollywood has discovered my book!  Things are still very much at the beginning stages – but there is a script and….it’s wonderful! Hooray!  The super talented writer Garry Williams has done a great job of capturing the spirit of the book, while transforming it into a terrific screenplay.  All the other details are still top secret, but as soon as I have anything to report, believe you me, I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops.  Keep your fingers crossed that Heidi and Mama and Bernie will be hitting the big screen soon.

Every day I receive e-mails from kids asking questions for book reports or class projects they are doing based on my books.  Many of the answers to these questions can be found on my website.  The ABOUT ME page has a lot of useful info and so does the BIO page.  For kids who are writing about So B. It there’s a whole section called “Are you doing a book report?”  Go to BOOKS, then NOVELS, then SO B. IT and you will find the link in the upper right hand corner of the page.  If, after you’ve explored those pages, you still have questions –this is an excellent place to ask them.  I check my BLOG every day, and this is also a place where you can see the kinds of things other kids are asking and the answers they have received.  So, go ahead and ask!  SW

Mmmmmmm. Hot from the oven. Looks delicious, doesn't it?

Peanutbutter Raspberry Cream Pie - before adding the whipped cream.

WEDNESDAY, August 4, 2010  I just finished writing the first draft of my new novel, PIE.  It’s with my editor, David Levithan now and while I wait for his comments, I’ve decided to try out the 16 pie recipes I’m including in the book.  The recipes have come to me from all over the country and I’ve had a ball collecting them.Tonight I made peanutbutter raspberry cream pie. My friend Rachel Yoder sent me the recipe.   Rachel is a teacher from New Berlin, IL whose school I visited a few years ago.  This recipe is a Yoder family favorite.  I served it to my son Nat and his friend Nick tonight and they LOVED it.  It’s kind of like a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk all whisked together into a pie.  Yum!  If you have a favorite pie recipe, please send it to me, or post it here on my BLOG.

Another day, another pie. Today I made blueberry pie with a lattice crust.

Hailey and I made a cherry pie together.

THURSDAY, August 5, 2010  It’s a rainy day up in the Catskills.  A perfect day for making PIE!  I just pulled this blueberry pie out of the oven and the whole house smells wonderful.  I hope that Natty and Nick have room for more pie.  On FRIDAY, August 6, 2010 I tried out my friend Amy’s buttermilk pie.  I swear I could have eaten this whole pie by myself.  Not everybody was as crazy about it as I was though so I thought I’d better make a more traditional pie for the family dinner we had on Saturday.  Hailey, my step daughter came for a visit so she and I made a sour cherry pie together.  It was a big hit.

Buttermilk Pie!!!!!

And as if we didn’t have enough pies to choose from, my friend Dan showed up on Sunday with the most delicious peach pie I’ve ever tasted.  It takes a lot of time to make a peach pie with fresh peaches.  You have to dip the peaches in boiling water to loosen the skins, but in the end it’s worth the effort because the taste is out of this world.

No canned peaches- this pie is made with real peaches, each one peeled and sliced by Dan/

Dan Lebson - master pie maker!

I have to say I’ve really been enjoying doing all of this baking.

You've heard of crumping? This is crimping.

And it’s been a lot of fun sharing recipes with friends.  However, this week I’ll be here at the house with just Mia, our dog for company, and as much I think she might enjoying eating pies, I’m going to take a little break from baking for a few days.

AUGUST 23, 2010

The notes are back from my editor, David Levithan and I’m now hard at work on the 2nd draft of PIE.  Does this mean I

Apple blackberry pie

have no time for baking anymore?  Nope.  This weekend I picked the last of the blackberries from the bushes near my house in the Catskills and whipped up an apple blackberry pie.  My friend Dan taught me a new way to crimp the crust.  What do you think?

Two things I love- my son Natty and cherry pie.

I received a bunch of sequels to So B. It in the mail today.  The 5th graders in Mr. Yannias’ class in Chicago Illinois came up with some great ideas for what might have happened if Heidi’s story had continued where I left off.  Some of my favorites were: Heidi grows up and becomes a doctor who can cure Bernie’s agoraphobia and Mama’s grave gets struck by lightning and she comes back from the dead.  How cool is that?! My favorite title for a sequel:  ”THAT’S IT”.  I had a great time reading the sequels and writing to the authors.  When Mr. Yannias asked if I’d be interested in doing this again next year I said- YES!

Two big packets of fan mail arrived today.  One from some fifth graders at South Mountain School in Milburn, NJ and another from some kids at Crane Elementary School in Henrietta, NY.  I really enjoyed reading the letters, and seeing the beautiful art work.  Keep those letters coming!

I received a very cool handmade book in the mail today.  Two girls from Clintonville, Wisconsin, who identify themselves only as TWO HUGE FANS were sweet enough to send me the book so I could read it.  It’s called, It B. So and it’s their version of what might happen in a sequel to So B. It.  My favorite part is when Zander asks Heidi if she wants to go to the movies with him, and to seal the deal he offers her a devil dog! How brilliant is that? Thank you, TWO HUGE FANS for taking the time to send me the book.  I have to agree with your teacher’s comment on the cover – Magnificent!!

I sent my friend Amy in Austin a copy of my new book, AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS and she totally made my day by sending me this email.  To get the right flavor you should read it in a southern accent if possible:  ”I just adore this book!  It’s like putting on my favorite old pair of jeans to read your work – just love that voice of yours and your writing is amazing and beautiful.  Not sure how you come up with this stuff but I love it!  Bless that Verbena’s heart. I am almost finished reading it and will pass it along to the girls this weekend.  They can hardly wait to read it!  Jack is great – love it when he shakes so hard that he falls down!!!  Can just picture that!  Can’t wait to talk about it all too.  I am a huge fan! and very proud of you.  So glad I found you!! xoxoxo”

I LOVE YOU SISTER GIRL!

I look forward to chatting with you about books, and author visits and whatever else is on your mind. After you’ve had a chance to look around my site, let me know if you have any suggestions for how I might improve it to better suit your needs.  If you’d like to post  a comment, be my guest, but please include the name  of your school in your message so that I’ll  know it’s not Blog spam.  Thanks!