http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/ en Don Calame Copyright 2010 2010-07-24T22:43:45+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/sparing_no_expense/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/sparing_no_expense/ So, since BEAT THE BAND is coming out on September 14th—which is just 52 short days away—I thought I’d start some heavy duty promotion. You can see my first shameless plug in the picture below. It was fairly pricey to hire the plane out and all but I think the few minutes the good people of NYC got to see my message will translate directly into mega book sales. Of course, it might have been smart to tip people off as to what “Beat the Band” was supposed to mean, but what can you do. After my wonderful visit to the Burial Park last week I decided it would be a good idea to lose a bit of weight. Just, because, you know, all the pastry eating that goes along with being a writer (an occupational hazard, I’m afraid) has taken it’s toll on my waistline. Plus, I need to fit in the suit I purchased eight years ago so that I can wear it to my step-son’s wedding in September. You might not know this about me (or maybe you do, but I’ll assume the former) but I REALLY love my food. A really good tasting menu dinner with great wine is probably in my top five best things to do of all time. In fact, if I ever find out the exact date I’m going to vacate this lovely planet of ours, I would seriously consider flying to London and going to Gordon Ramsey’s wildly-overpriced-but-amazingly-worth-it restaurant for my final meal. The other four best things of all time? Well, I’ll probably get around to telling you at some point or other. Of course, now watching my food so that I can shed my winter coat has taken precedence over eating truly fabulous food. But that’s not to say I’m not cooking some good meals. In fact, I made probably the best eggplant parmesan that has ever been tasted by human (and dog, because Scooter demanded his share) lips. I could be all modest and say that it was just simply tasty. But I’m not going to do that because it wouldn’t be true. I made my own tomato sauce and carefully sliced the eggplant into thick slices (a secret I learned from my friend at Zambri’s Restaurant - the best Italian in Victoria by a Canadian mile) and breaded and fried the pieces. I layered it all carefully with parmesan and mozzarella cheese and baked the hell out of it until the top was crispy-licious! I wish I had a way of sharing it with all of you because you would have been impressed. What else? Let’s see. I’m still in love with my iPad. So many great apps to play… I mean… work with. If you haven’t bought one yet, you should. Going through serious hockey withdrawal. It always hits mid-July. But luckily I’m waist-deep into Book Three of my Swim the Fly Trilogy. I’m not sure I should call it The Swim the Fly Trilogy but I don’t have a better name for it right now, so we’re stuck with that. I guess that’s about it for now. Oh, yeah, I’m reading THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin. It’s a big long fat book but really well done. It’s vampires after the apocalypse but that doesn’t do justice to it at all. I’ll recommend it right now even though I’m only half through, just because the writing is so good. It’s scary vampires. The way they were always meant to be. Prattlings 2010-07-24T22:43:45+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/of_gravesites_and_grandeur/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/of_gravesites_and_grandeur/ I have no idea what the grandeur part of that title means but I do have some wonderfully exciting news to report about graves. And no, it has nothing to do with the new Twilight movie. Yesterday my wife and I went on a lovely field trip to a burial park. Yes, they do call it a burial park. Just like an amusement park but less amusing. Think of a water park and remove the fun slides and wave pools and replace those with tombstones and mausoleums. That’s right. You’ve got the picture now. Even though we are nowhere near the age one thinks about dying (well, actually, I think about dying quite a lot. How I might go. If it’ll be in a plane crash or an earthquake or if my heart will explode or if I will simply go mad and start drooling and forget my name and all my internet passwords) BUT my wife thought it prudent for us to make all the arrangements for our inevitable passing (because we’re all going to go sooner or later) so that our families wouldn’t have to worry about it when we do “move on” and so that there wouldn’t be any arguments or fisticuffs over where we should be planted and what type of headstone (color, design, engravings, etc) we should have. Thus, our jaunt to the burial park to choose and pay for our gravesites. This is only part one of the process. We still need to choose a funeral home and a casket (can mine be in the shape of a hockey net?) and a headstone. Well, wouldn’t you know it. All the cozy shady tree lined nooks of the graveyard were already “occupied.” And so, we had to settle for the new “wing.” In a spot behind a recently built meditation circle, next to a young sapling of a tree that will be grand (ah ha! there’s the grandeur I promised you!) in a hundred years or so. Here’s me standing on the spot where one day I will be buried. Pretty neat, huh?! I suggested to my wife that we might want to consider getting our headstone put up immediately (well, after the two months it takes to carve the thing). Just so that we know it’s there waiting for us and so that nobody else can steal our perfectly chosen spots. This way, we can go visit our plots, even have a picnic lunch (it is a park after all) and enjoy our gravesites while we still can!!! Prattlings 2010-07-16T19:38:12+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/michigan_library_associations_thumbs_up_award_2010_honor_book/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/michigan_library_associations_thumbs_up_award_2010_honor_book/ I can’t tell you how excited I am this morning. But I’ll try. I just received an email from Pat Hemingway, a chairperson for the Michigan Library Association’s Thumbs Up! Awards, informing me that SWIM THE FLY has been chosen as one of three Honor Books in the 2010 Awards. I’m not going to tell you who the actual winner was, or what the other two Honor Books were, because I haven’t seen the official announcement on the internet yet and I don’t want to give anything away (well, except for the fact that Swim the Fly was chosen as an Honor Book). I will say, however, that I feel incredibly lucky to be in such great company. It’s super cool that the book has been recognized like this. Not only because it’s my very first novel, but also because there is so much of me in Swim the Fly. So an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to all the Michigan teens and librarians who read and enjoyed the book enough to vote for it!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. In other cool news, the iPad. Yes, I got one. And it’s better than I ever imagined it could be. It is probably my favorite gadget ever. Yes, yes, I know that everyone says it’s just a big iPod Touch. But that’s the very reason it’s so amazing. The iPod Touch is great. The iPad (at four times the size) is four times as great. It’s impossible to describe really why it’s so magically wonderful, but it is. And this is from one of the skeptical people. Because, honestly, I wasn’t sure what I would use it for. Now, I’m not sure if I could live without it. I use it for practically everything. Research, and outlining, and for quick notes on the new book, and looking up recipes, and reading newspapers and books, and watching videos, and playing games, and checking emails, and keeping my life organized. I have to say, it hasn’t left my side in the two weeks that I’ve had it. My wife is getting a little worried about me, I think. Seriously, I was going to wait until the next generation when they added a camera and all but I’m so glad I didn’t. And finally, a belated congratulations to The Chicago Blackhawks for winning the Stanley Cup. After the Canucks and Penguins got knocked out, I was rooting for the Hawks all the way and I was happy to see them win it. The series was hard fought and exciting. And now, the hockey drought begins. Two solid months of just drips and drabs or hockey news. I’ll have to survive on the draft and free agency and trades and the NHL Network where they show all the old games.     Prattlings 2010-06-19T17:59:46+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/top_teen_fiction_at_chapters_indigo/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/top_teen_fiction_at_chapters_indigo/ Just browsing through Chapters on West Broadway today, looking for some good hockey literature to ease the pain of the Canucks and Penguins early exit from the playoffs and look what I found!!! The fabulous Glen (who I must apologize to for my wobbly handed out-of-focus iPhone shot) at Chapters was kind enough to have me sign their stock of Swim the Fly and then he looked up on the computer to see that the book is not only Top Teen Fiction in his store but NATIONWIDE! So, apparently every Chapters/Indigo in Canada will have Swim the Fly on their Top Teen Fiction table. Which is super cool!!! Anyway, I just wanted to thank the great people at Chapters/Indigo for their support of Swim the Fly. It put a big smile on my face today to see the book displayed on that table and made me that much more excited about getting to work on the third book in the series. Prattlings 2010-05-28T23:09:22+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/things_that_are_over/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/things_that_are_over/ Some happy things and some not so happy things to report. First, let’s dispense with the negative. As far as I’m concerned the Stanley Cup Playoffs are done. Over. Finished. Oh, I’ll watch the Finals, sure. And I’ll pick a team to root for even if my heart won’t be in it. Maybe Chicago. Maybe San Jose. A team from the Western Conference (yes, Chicago is in the Western Conference for all you hockey neophytes and no it doesn’t make much sense) The Vancouver Canucks have been eliminated. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been eliminated. The New York Islanders eliminated themselves waaaaaaaay before the playoffs even started. I could go on a long hockey rant about the piss poor play of my favorite players on my favorite teams but that would just be sour grapes. Roberto Luongo has given me much to cheer about the last few years. Quadruple that for Sidney Crosby. Not so much anyone on the Islanders but what are you going to do? You can’t have everything all the time. Sometimes other people have to win. That’s the nature of sports. If your team won all of the time it would get pretty boring. So, I will leave it at that and move on to things more positive. Like the fact that the moving is OVER!!!!! We’ve moved. We’ve unpacked. We’re finished. Well, mostly. There are a few little bits to sort out still but the bullet train has slowed and we’re coasting into the station. I must say, I’m exhausted. But in a very satisfied way. The new writing room looks great. The house is beautiful. Life is good. And more good news. Look what just arrived at my doorstep. That’s right. It’s the galley (or ARC, as they say in the Biz) of BEAT THE BAND. (photo credit to my editor, Kaylan Adair, as I was too lazy to take a shot of the one that’s sitting on my desk) How cool is that cover? I’m pretty pleased, I must say. It’s one of the best things about being an author. Getting that book in the mail. Seeing how it’s going to look on the page. Of course, getting the actual hardcover is even more fun but this is a very cool preamble. Now I’ll just cross my fingers that people enjoy it. Finally, I’m going to start actually committing new words to paper. Which means, hopefully, a third book to complete the trilogy. I’ve got a story in my head and hopefully my editor will like the treatment and sample chapters I’ve yet to write. We shall see, we shall see. But I’m getting antsy to start writing again and so I will end this blog and get to work. Prattlings 2010-05-14T22:21:40+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/la_festival_of_books_and_calabasas_high/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/la_festival_of_books_and_calabasas_high/ Just back from my three day whirlwind tour of Los Angeles, Calabasas, and Encino. First things first. I must apologize to the Los Angeles Kings for coming down to L.A. and rooting for Vancouver so passionately and loudly at the Staples Center that the Canucks took my cheers to heart and won the game. There. I said it. I feel so much better. Now I can move on and start watching the second round of the playoffs. All right, on to the good stuff: I had a phenomenal time at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The Kids Are Alright panel with Meg Cabot, Rosalind Wiseman, and Robin Benway was a blast. We were up there for an hour but it felt like only a few minutes. I wish we could have spent another hour answering all the great questions people were asking. And as long as I’m wishing, I wish I could have gone out to dinner with the authors on this panel afterwards because they were so fun. And also, a BIG thank you everyone who got a book and came to talk to me afterwards. I love meeting readers and future-readers of my books! On Monday I got a chance to visit two AP English classes at Calabasas High. The English teacher, Diane McEvoy, was super cool. The students in her class are really lucky to have her as their teacher. And she gets extra points for dressing up as T.C. Boyle, one of her favorite authors, during a “Dress As Your Favorite Author” day. She showed me a picture and it made me smile. And get this, when she sent the picture to T.C. Boyle, he wrote her back and thought it was fantastic! (By the way, saw T.C. Boyle in the lobby of my hotel. I wanted to go up to talk to him but I chickened out!) The students in both English classes were awesome. They asked interesting questions and the class periods just flew by. I must admit that I have a tendency to blather on a bit and go off on these long and winding detours, but the kids stayed right with me the whole time, which was a credit to their will power and long attention span!!! To top the whole weekend off, I got to visit the Barnes and Noble stores in Calabasas and Encino where they had me sign stacks of the new paperback edition of Swim the Fly. The staff at both stores were wonderfully embracive and kind to me. Now, it’s off to finish up the packing, so I’ll leave you with a few shots from the weekend. Once again I was without fancy-cam so the photos lean toward the grainy side. **************************************************** Um, me and Meg Cabot anyone? How cool is that! (She is incredibly nice, by the way) Somewhere out there exists a picture of me, Meg, and Rosalind Wiseman, though not on my camera apparently, which I’m a little bummed about. Can you believe how many people came to the festival just to see little old me? Okay, so they were there to see Meg, Rosalind, and Robin as well. Still, I must apologize to those who couldn’t get into the panel. Next time we will have to hold it at the Staples Center. Here’s one where someone bumped my elbow. It kind of makes me want to take Dramamine. My good friend Chris polishing his Cup (he won our Fantasy Hockey pool this year) And just so I don’t get inundated with requests, here’s Chris hoisting it. Finally, a shot of my friend Ron with his Scooter look-a-like. Prattlings 2010-04-28T22:37:38+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/nevada_is_my_new_favorite_state/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/nevada_is_my_new_favorite_state/ Just got official word that SWIM THE FLY has been nominated for a NEVADA YOUNG READERS AWARD 2011. It’s between Swim and four other books and the final voting is May 2011. So, this will be my first official campaign blog. I have a year to get the word out to all those fantastic kids in Nevada (who just so happen to be the best kids in the entire world - and I’m not just saying that). So thank you! Thank you! Thanks you, children of Nevada!!! In other - not quite as exciting news - the hockey playoffs have begun. I am officially rooting for the Vancouver Canucks and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I have to chose a team from both conferences so that I am “invested” in whoever will come out of each conference. Also, there’s Sidney Crosby, who we all know is the greatest currently playing hockey player in the world (see the 2010 Olympics).  And so, I will be incredibly busy watching a fair share of hockey over the next couple of months along with packing up my house for a move to our new digs. Which reminds me, I must now get back to that packing. But not before some pictures from the road trip across BC. I neglected to bring my fancy new camera and so only had the iPhone - which does in a pinch. It’s springing outside! Cat On A Hot Tin Hood Needless to say, I passed on the rolls. Naughty, naughty Board! Prattlings 2010-04-21T19:26:53+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/interior_british_columbia_library_tour_extravaganza/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/interior_british_columbia_library_tour_extravaganza/ About to embark on an exciting tour of three libraries this week for some readings of Swim the Fly! Come one, come all on the following dates: MISSION LIBRARY       April 13: 1:00 p.m.                            Grade 10 - 12 AGASSIZ LIBRARY       April 14: 12:15                           Grade 10 - 12 HOPE LIBRARY           April 15: 1:00 p.m.                            Grade 10 - 12 Prattlings 2010-04-10T23:48:03+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/los_angeles_times_book_festival/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/los_angeles_times_book_festival/ Hey all. Just wanted to let everyone in the whole world know (because, let’s face it, everyone in the whole world is reading this blog) that I will be appearing (out of the mist) at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival on Sunday April 26th at 11:00am in Moore Hall to do a panel with Meg Cabot, Robin Benway, and Rosalind Wiseman. Come on down and have a listen. I expect this discussion to get very heated and perhaps even break out into a donnybrook amongst us panelists. Donuts may be hurled, water spilled, and computers toppled.  The panel is called “The Kids Are Alright.”  If they are referring to the kids in my book, well, then perhaps they haven’t read it. If, however, they are referring to The Who song, well, then I’m the right guy to have on the panel because I happen to be a certified expert on everything Who. Prattlings 2010-04-07T22:30:29+00:00 http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/home_sweet_home/ http://www.doncalame.com/dirty_laundry/item/home_sweet_home/ So much to write about and such a foggy head. Took home a nice souvenir from London, England. A great big United Kingdom Cold! This isn’t your ordinary sneezing and feeling rotten for a couple of days cold, either. It’s the cough-until-you-want-to-puke-feeling-dizzy-exhausted-use-up-boxes-and-boxes-of-tissues-going-on-ten-days-now kind of cold. And I don’t even have the worst of it. My wife has it three times as bad as me and I feel very sorry for her. And so, I’m not going to go on at length today but just give you the highlights of the past couple of weeks followed by some caption-less (if I can help myself) photos. So, here we go: * London was tons of fun. We saw shows. We saw palaces. We saw crown jewels. We ate some amazing food (and some not so amazing food). I worked on the copy edits for BEAT THE BAND. I wrote a blog for Teenreads. And I took pictures (see below). * Back home I have been answering questions as a virtual guest author at the University of British Columbia. It’s been a lot of fun. Most of the students of the Young Adult Materials course laughed out loud at Swim the Fly and loved it but one of them absolutely hated it. That seems to be the way with this book. Most people really enjoy it and then there are the ones who just plain don’t. * Taxes, taxes, taxes. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Had to tally up all of my fading book and movie receipts so that I can hopefully save myself a few pennies in taxes. * Came up with an idea for a third book in the trilogy and now I need to write some sample chapters and an outline to show Candlewick Press. I’ve been turning it over in my dizzy head but haven’t had the energy to commit anything to paper yet. Looking forward to getting to work on it though. * Preparing for next week’s mini-library tour of British Columbia. Always nice to go out and read for a live audience. Just hope this darn cold lifts completely by then. * Did a podcast with some friends and fellow authors (James McCann and Lee Edward Fodi) who have started a site called “Authors Like Us.” It’s a cool idea where they chat with various authors and post that chat online. Here’s a link to the podcast. Take a listen if you have some time: Authors Like Us And now for a photographic interlude: There. I managed to get through all of those pics without writing anything like: King Henry’s chubby or Bratz: The Xtreme Torture Playset. Better that you interpret each photo for yourself. And so, I will leave you. But don’t forget to pick up your supercool paperback edition of Swim the Fly that goes on sale April 13th. It’s the same great story with a brand new eye-popping cover that you will not want to be without. Prattlings 2010-04-05T19:18:09+00:00