Sunday, May 03, 2009

Me at LeakyCon and Harry Potter in Paris

Leaky readers will already know this, but for others who might be interested, I'm delighted to announce I'll be half of a keynote conversation at the upcoming LeakyCon 2009 near Boston, on Friday, May 21, discussing the writing, editing, pleasures, pains, and nature of YA literature with John Green. Yes, that John Green, the brilliant author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns, and the head wrangler of the awesome troupe of Nerdfighters. So assuming I am not utterly silenced by fangirldom, this should be a lot of fun. Tickets are $20 with a LeakyCon registration (I don't think they're available without), and can be purchased at the second link above.

And here are two Harry Potter-related pictures from my time in Paris -- first, me at number 51, rue Montmorency*, former site of the "maison de Nicolas Flamel":


* Ten points to the first reader who can guess what other work of children's literature I thought of when I saw this name -- and no, it's not the series published by Scholastic.

And then I noticed this interesting juxtaposition of elements on the front of the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur:


Coincidence? Or the mark of a French seeker of the Hallows (perhaps even Monsieur Flamel himself)? Who can say?

12 comments:

  1. Were you thinking of THE ALCHEMYST, THE MAGICIAN, and soon-to-be-released SORCERESS?

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  2. Tricia took my guess!

    But wow--LOVE the Hallows observation.

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  3. It's like Harry Potter meets The Davinci Code... what a fan fic...

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  4. Nope, sorry. The one I have in mind is a considerably older work of children's literature.

    And Christina, my sister and I saw the Amorina gelato place you mentioned (I think it was you) across from the Centre Pompidou -- Best. Gelato. Ever. Thanks so much for the rec!

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  5. Whoa--it IS the Hallows!

    BTW, there is a real place in the Alps called Grindelwald. Some friends of mine (all red-haired, with many children) vacationed there recently...

    I was going to guess Eleanor Updale's Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman series, but I see it's Scholastic.

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  6. The Montmorency family from A Little Princess, who turned out to be the Carmichaels?

    I hope it is! I loved all the long fancy names Sara gave them. The copy I actually have at home is Scholastic's Apple Classics paperback version.

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  7. Wow (ref: the second picture). Makes you think that Harry's world might just be real after all...

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  8. Ding ding ding! S got it -- the Montmorency family from A LITTLE PRINCESS.

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  9. Oh I'm too late. I thought you might be thinking of Anne of Green Gables's Lady Cordelia de Montmorency.

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  10. I was wrong too -- my first thought was of DEREK THE KNITTING DINOSAUR.

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  11. Wow. I actually "whoaaa"-ed at the second picture. Amazing!

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  12. yeah truly a great site.I really enjoyed my visit.

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