Monday Update: Go for it! The Sammy Short is now working at sammykeyes.com. I hope you enjoy it!
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Earlier this week I was really looking forward to sharing some things with you today. But little monkeys have been throwing wrenches and I'm feeling a little deflated. Plus some of you regular readers have already discovered half of what I have to share, so you beat me to the punch!
But here's the news (complete with monkey wrenches): Girls Life (GL) has a double page spread in it about Sammy Keyes. It's an "advertorial" placed by Random House, and the first time they've done something like this, so I'm really jazzed about it. They immediately got some excited reader feedback, so that was very cool, too. I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think. Does the girl in the pictures like Sammy to you? All these years we've avoided having a "likeness" for her, so everyone's got their own picture of what Sammy looks like. I think the interview's fun, and this is where they've launched the "exclusive Sammy Keyes Mystery"--that short mystery I wrote about in earlier posts.
Which brings us to monkey wrench #1: I was planning to post the image of the ad, but I've been told it's "exclusive content" for two months, so I have to send you off to find the magazine on your own.
And monkey wrench #2: When you go to sammykeyes.com to crack codes to unlock the links to the mystery chapters, the codes crack fine, but the links don't work! Aaagh!
The good news: I alerted RH of the problem and received an e-mail tonight assuring me they'd fix the problem first thing tomorrow morning. So if you've already checked in and tried, try again tomorrow. (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/sammykeyes/)
I've also worked this week on getting ready to go on tour....blog tour! Instead of packing, I've been typing responses to questions posed by 7 different blogsites. The "tour" kicks off on Monday, May 31st and will go to a different blogsite each day for a week. This is another first for me, and it'll be interesting to see how it goes and what the response is. It's a Sammy Keyes blog tour, the moderator of each blog has sent me questions or a discussion subject which I am working on responses to. They then will post the response or Q&A on their site at a given day. Most of the readers of this blog are already familiar with questions like, "What gave you the inspiration for Sammy Keyes?" so I was pleased that there were some really unusual question posed. (Like, "Have you ever solved a mystery of your own?") There have actually been a few questions that I've never been asked before, so I know there will be tidbits throughout the tour that you will find interesting. I hope you will all follow along (and that you'll leave lots of pro-Sammy comments at each site!).
Monkey wrench#3: It's a little one, really, but after the broken link for the mini-mystery I'm like, hello? I was going to include the link to the first blog tour site tonight since the tour kicks off in a week, but the URL I was provided doesn't work! Aaagh! I'm sure it's just a typo, but sheez. So as soon as I hear back from RH, I'll add it to the comment section.
So yeah, a few frustrations along the way, but we'll get it figured out and then there'll be a new mini-Sammy for you to enjoy and a Sammy tour I'm hoping you'll join me on. Be my entourage! :-) My bodyguards :-) My Sammiacs!
Or just tag along. I'd really love the company.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
What's A Few Monkey Wrenches?
Monday Update: Go for it! The Sammy Short is now working at sammykeyes.com. I hope you enjoy it!
````````````````````
Earlier this week I was really looking forward to sharing some things with you today. But little monkeys have been throwing wrenches and I'm feeling a little deflated. Plus some of you regular readers have already discovered half of what I have to share, so you beat me to the punch!
But here's the news (complete with monkey wrenches): Girls Life (GL) has a double page spread in it about Sammy Keyes. It's an "advertorial" placed by Random House, and the first time they've done something like this, so I'm really jazzed about it. They immediately got some excited reader feedback, so that was very cool, too. I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think. Does the girl in the pictures like Sammy to you? All these years we've avoided having a "likeness" for her, so everyone's got their own picture of what Sammy looks like. I think the interview's fun, and this is where they've launched the "exclusive Sammy Keyes Mystery"--that short mystery I wrote about in earlier posts.
Which brings us to monkey wrench #1: I was planning to post the image of the ad, but I've been told it's "exclusive content" for two months, so I have to send you off to find the magazine on your own.
And monkey wrench #2: When you go to sammykeyes.com to crack codes to unlock the links to the mystery chapters, the codes crack fine, but the links don't work! Aaagh!
The good news: I alerted RH of the problem and received an e-mail tonight assuring me they'd fix the problem first thing tomorrow morning. So if you've already checked in and tried, try again tomorrow. (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/sammykeyes/)
I've also worked this week on getting ready to go on tour....blog tour! Instead of packing, I've been typing responses to questions posed by 7 different blogsites. The "tour" kicks off on Monday, May 31st and will go to a different blogsite each day for a week. This is another first for me, and it'll be interesting to see how it goes and what the response is. It's a Sammy Keyes blog tour, the moderator of each blog has sent me questions or a discussion subject which I am working on responses to. They then will post the response or Q&A on their site at a given day. Most of the readers of this blog are already familiar with questions like, "What gave you the inspiration for Sammy Keyes?" so I was pleased that there were some really unusual question posed. (Like, "Have you ever solved a mystery of your own?") There have actually been a few questions that I've never been asked before, so I know there will be tidbits throughout the tour that you will find interesting. I hope you will all follow along (and that you'll leave lots of pro-Sammy comments at each site!).
Monkey wrench#3: It's a little one, really, but after the broken link for the mini-mystery I'm like, hello? I was going to include the link to the first blog tour site tonight since the tour kicks off in a week, but the URL I was provided doesn't work! Aaagh! I'm sure it's just a typo, but sheez. So as soon as I hear back from RH, I'll add it to the comment section.
So yeah, a few frustrations along the way, but we'll get it figured out and then there'll be a new mini-Sammy for you to enjoy and a Sammy tour I'm hoping you'll join me on. Be my entourage! :-) My bodyguards :-) My Sammiacs!
Or just tag along. I'd really love the company.
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59 comments:
Yes! I tried the codes today, and was horribly disappointed when I saw the "this link doesn't work" page. But hurrah! They're going to work tomorrow!
And shucks. I JUST stopped my Girl's Life subscription (mainly because I didn't really have time for it anymore), and then THIS comes out!!! Gahh!!!! Is the advertorial in the issue w/Demi Lovato on the cover?
Yes! Can't wait for the blogtour! I'll actually be able to "go" to one of your tours! For once!
I want to come on the tour too! Just wondering, are you planning to look at all the Sammy Keyes fanfictions on fanfiction.net? There awesome. You should read them some time.
I have seriously never heard of the magaine Girls Life. Is it good?
I can't wait until Random House people fix the mystery thing! I am dying to solve that thing!
yeah, i saw the GL thing. i was at my friend's house and she had a bunch of magazines fanned out on her desk. i started to flip through them, and thought i was dreaming when i saw "Sammy Keyes" at the top of a page. i gave myself several paper cuts trying to flip back to the right page. i was laughing out loud the whole time i read.
".... why does heather hate you so much? she seems okay."
"are you serious? here, let me take off that blindfold."
i got so over excited about it that i printed copies of it and framed one so it hangs by my bookshelf.
i was wondering, did you write the answers to these interview questions? or did someone at random house make the whole thing up? and by one of the sammy pictures, it says "all photographs by conner parsons" is that your son?
those pictures of sammy are exactly how i imagined her. brown hair, ponytail, high tops, of course.
and for the sammy keyes mini mystery crack code thingy, i'm glad they're fixing it. i got all of them EXCEPT 8. i'm having trouble with that one.
so i gotta go now. it's late and i'm sleeeppyy.
good luck with you're blog tour. hope you have a lot of fun when it starts.
bye bye
Cool I definitely wanna tag along!
Gah I wish I could get my hands on one of those magazines... They don't sell them here.
Oh hurray! I FINALLY get to crack the code in the morning!
YES! It finally works!!!
I updated the blog post and added a graphic. The Sammy Short is working--hope you enjoy it!
Haha-I finished all of the codes, but 8 was the hardest. It was actually a good story. You're the only author who could make a short story like that awesome :)
Okay. So. I'm getting some updated thingy on my computer right now so if this dosen't work, I will literally scream. Its gonna take soooo long. *sigh* I'm waiting...and waiting..still waiting..
STILL WAITING!
Sooooo totally buying that magazine issue! Is it the May one or the June one? Probably June, but just wanted to be sure...?
And I'm gunaa go read the thingie now. xD I'll comment more laterrrrr. (:
Sammiac. Hmm. That sounds like what my friend Karen calls me. She actually calls me a Cammyiac..or something like that..my computer hates me. It really does. I have the link thingy tabbed and its been like that for over ten centuries. And I still can't figure out number eight. *faces the sky* What have I done to deserve this inhumanity?!...forget it.
It's the June/July issue. Like, 4th page in.
for the 8th clue: Write down the letters from your phone keypad, stacking them on top of each other (in groups of 3/4 like what's on your phone). Then work from th top 3 down. It'll show itself to you! It's kinda slang. You can do it!!
ARGH I MUST see that issue! Now!
But anywayz the story was awesome! I loved it! It'll keep me going for another couple of weeks while I wait for Wedding Crasher, anyway. :-)
Gosh you're good at mysteries. How exactly do you make up the plot? Or is this going to be semi-answered in your blog tour? Can't wait for that, either!
Okay I just read it like an hour ago-- it's actually downloaded onto my phone so yepp.
I just told my parents to grab me an issue whenever they go out next, I'm too lazy to go out, although maybe I should right now but even with five days left of school, my english teacher decided to bombard us with homework. Goody. :/
The blogtour sounds fun! Hold on, let me reread all that stuff so I better understand...
I just reread it. Sounds like fun! :) Earlier this year some blog, some authorof a book (I forgot) gave me a "Blog award" for the Cammy blog... I dunno, I was confused but I went along. So anywhoooo,
Yupp, thats it. I shall now raid the GL website in search of anything and everything. Adieu.
Bahahaha, the side bar on the GL website has a Sammy Keyes ad, I love that. xD
Sorry for the repetitive posts. I saw the picture, but I'm still buying the issue. PER.IOD.
What else? Nothig. Oh, the story was great/ :)
-Sterphyee
GAAAAH! Everyone keeps saying about how awesome it was but I haven't read it because my computer HATES me! I never did anything to it! I treat it nice! I CLEAN it every day! And when its being stubborn I let it take its time and I say please and thank you! What more does it want?! I hope my computer can read this! hint hint!
Oh thats so cool. Yay.
Hahaa I remember you talking about that once, about your computer. I'm so mean to my laptop, whenever it takes longer than thee seconds to load I swear at it and get so mad. xD I'm soooooo impatientttt.
I don't even have the Girl Life issue! And the code thingy STILL isn't doing anything si I'm STILL waiting! I wanna read it! Both of it! Darnit! Karen was right...karma is real. This is what I get for saying on my blog that my cousin looks like Ke$ha. I don't think it can get any worse so...Vashti Genesis DeJesus looks like Ke$ha! She's gonna kill me...she even said so...
Haha, how I treat my computer makes me seem like a terrible person. The computer is the only thing that I curse severly at. It's the stupid thing's fault though. Sure, it never gives me viruses, and it loads pretty fast, but there is still something wrong with it. There is this problem with the zoom, at one point i couldn't fix it, and when I turn the volume down a LITTLE it mutes it. There's a lot more, but usually I blame the computer if a virus comes onto it, or if a program won't let me on it. I have a really bad temper-like, REALLY bad-so I once hit the computer. Don't even scold me. It didn't break, but I've always wondered if that was why the computer that I punched stopped working earlier than it should have :)
Yup, there's a link for SK on there.
Haha yeah I'm so mean to my laptop. I named it, it's Sean. And my phone is Nat. (There the 3OH!3 members: Sean Foreman, Nat Motte) :D
Speaking of names,
Cammycrazygirl: You know my creepy "Teenage Minds: What Jealousy Does to the Innocent" SK fanfic? Remember Cali? The reason I used that name is because my best friend, Alex, her nickname is Cali. And I used Chace for the dude because of Chace Crawford. I looooove Chace Crawford cuz she plays NATE in Gossip Girl and my boyfriends name isssss NATE <3 :D
Okay I totally need that magazine nowwwww.
Oh, did the post mean that another mini story is in the magazine? I was confused abou that line..
Karma is aaaaaaalways out to get me. xD Trust me,..
i read the story, and i was laughing and laughing at the part where heather..... well, i won't give it away. (:
great job, btw
WHO INVENTED KARMA?! WHO'S FAULT IS IT THAT I STILL HAVENT READ THE SHORT STORY?! IMMA SUE THE COMPUTER COMPANY!
FadedxRainbow: You need to borrow access from someone else's computer. Your school probably allows the random house site! Give up on your computer and find another. This is no karma thing. This is a computer thing! Go! Find! Print! (And then ... laugh! At least I hope you will.
Thanks, everyone for the nice reaction. Short is harder than I thought, so I'm glad you liked it!
PS Excited about the tour! I'm glad you're coming with me! I will post the first stop on Sunday. This will be fun :-)
YES! FINALLY! Thank you so much! You're amazing! I FINALLY read it! I had to go on my parents' computer which is OLDER than mine and it worked in two seconds!
I printed it all out and put it in a binder, so I dont lose the order. I'll probably put tab dividers and put the other short stories when you write them....
Ps- Mommy is in the hospital! Sooooo happy, new baby! :D Paige,Stephy,Siera,and _________! (We havent decided on a name...)
Name her Sammy! Haha!
Seriously, I wish your mom speedy labor and you lots of happiness with the new sister!
OMG what if I *did really name her Sammy?
OMGOMG I am so totally suggesting Sammy to my parents.
Hold on, let me text it to them....
Okay done. Texted my dad. :P And thanks!
She was just born. (:
Wow. Thanks for letting us know. Be really, really, nice to your mom. It's called labor for a reason!
Yeah, I'll be nice to herrrr! I'm getting calls like a freaking OMG-she-was-booooooooorrnnnn!
My LA teacher even called me- I was so freaked out. She hates me because I stall the class but she goes. Too. Slow. On. Everything. Seriously we are the ADVANCED HONORS CLASS we can understand what the word *speculate means! (Thats my favorite word.. it just is..)
I speculate that I like to speculate.
I wont see the baby till tomorrow after school, and she has no name yet. I suggested Sammy, btw. Hopefullllyyyy.... hmmmm.
We will probably end up naming her Jessica so we can call her Jessie. SieraStephiePaigeJessie I like that. :D We are a full house. :P
Nonononononono! Name her Sammy, Julianna, or Holly cuz I love those characters best. Sorry, I know it's a family decision and why would you name her one of those just for a silly 11 year old who didn't even know who Brittney Speares (is that how you spell it?) was until the middle of thios school year? Still, they are good names!
Yeah its *Britney Spears
And hahaha yeah, we were thinking of some diff things.
I like Holly a lot. I've always wanted to be named Hollister, you know, like the store. But people would think I'm insane. That's like naming your kid Abercrombie. And their middle name Fitch.
Abercrombie Fitch Hall. Hahahahahaah
Hollister Hall. Ewwwww. I'd rather be Stephanie Hall.
Holly Hall. No wayyyyy. Hall ruins it.
Samantha Hall. Sammy Hall. Not bad actually..
Julianna Hall, Julie Hall.. I like this one too. :)
Jessie Hall. <----- if we named my sister after my best friend ever she would DIE of happiness. ;D
I like that name too! Jessica Hall. Sounds heavenly. Okay, ignore me now. I have no idea what I'm talking about. No DONT ignore me. That would be rude. You know what you should do? Update City of Delusions. If you feel like it and have the time.
I love all of you people. You always cheer me up. You don't scare me like the seventh graders do. OH by the way, I bought a Venus Flytrap!
Oh, City of Dillusions..
ughh I got lost on that story. What do I make happen with Sammy? I am not very good with ghost stories. I was psychotic when I started that. I would gladly update Another Heart Calls, though, looooove that story. I am such a better Casey then Sammy. That is quite pathetic since I am a female. :/ Baha
Casey's mah man,mah homedawwg. No one messes with him. Or else face the wrath of his Ramen noodles.
Did anyone notice how he never ate those anyway? I kinda wanted then to sit alone so I made him hungry for like three chapters
I am so mean.
Oh well, he's mine in the story. My puppet. He shall do what is told, so that means he doesnt eat the Ramen noodles. :P
I'm dyiiiiiiing to see Baby Hall! Gahhhh
Ok great. Can you that then? Um, and if we plan to keep talking, maybe we should do it on your blog in some comments place? And thanks for commenting on my story!
There's this girl in my class that is like, obsessed with ramen noodles. Except she actually eats them :)
By the way, that was not random, I was talking about the fanfiction waaay up there ^^^^^^^^^^^
Can you update Run Devil Run? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CU I LOVE THAT FANFICTION!
-The psycho girl who is un-street smart
P.S. Wendelin Van Draanen, you should read fanfictions written by Stephanie. Read Another Heart Calls if you have time. It is awesome!
Oh, and my favorite SK ff is probably Grapevines Fire by Charlieschulz.... I dunno I was hooked. If only she would update... :P
You named her Serenity? Serenity Hall sounds like an awesome name! Upload pictures soon! Please! (I remembered my manners!)
Haha yeah, its not pronounced "Serene-ity". Its "Ser-ren-ity". The reason I said that is because two people mistook it so far. :) Kay I'l upload some pictures. I left my camera upstairs....
Yeah i know. There's a girl in my class with that name.
Gooood thing you know its annoying to tell everyone. Most people get it, a few dont. :)
I know a girl named Serenity toooo in my grade. ;P
Awwww. Serenity Hall? That's ahdorable!
Awwww, yay. I'm happy for you. I like that name too <3
I think your SK books are being replayed in my life. Lol,.. well, see, I broke up with my boyfriend, and now there's this guyyyy who's one year older than me and I *think he likes me because he talks/texts me and invited me to his pool party! <3 I am so excited but I'm taking things slow..
Just wanted to let you know how SK influences my life toooo...:)
And did someone say 3OH!3 concert tonight on my blog? OMG I'm so upset I could have gone.. wherever it is... I love them with a passion that burns hotter than the blazing sun on a hot summer day in Florida.
Wow that was deep. Baha. :P
i read some of Sammy keyes and the boyz in the band and it sounds really good!!! and i so cant wait for the new Sammy keyes book! i have read almost all of the other books at least twice!!! i cant wait for flipped the movie too!!! me and my sister are going to try to watch it as soon as it comes out!!
OMG I saw that there was a 3oh!3 concert and I was about to comment on it on your blog, but I had already commented about five times, sooo...yeah.
I couldnt have gone to the concert even if I wanted to... you say my "Pissed" post yourself and how, um, pissed i really was. :P I'm better now but my Memorial Day weekend is basically blahhhh now. x( Oh well. Four months til Wedding Crasher. :D The summer will go by as we know it!
It won't go by like that for me! I have summer homework. This is what happens when you go to a private school!
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