Nim's Island - the blue carpet premiere

What can I say about this day? Incredible, surreal, overwhelming... the culmination of five years dreaming, planning, and working. Even though I'd already seen the film twice, and had the fun of the Australian premier at Seaworld, it still hadn't seen quite real. But a whole day of a party to celebrate it... somehow I had to believe it: the movie is done, out there, and belongs to the world. By now I've had I don't know how many emails telling me how much people are enjoying it, but on March 30 it was still very new and uncertain.

It felt a bit like a wedding day; my daughter and I had our hair done, did our makeup together, managed to eat a sandwich... and then we were all (husband, son, daughter and I) picked up to arrive at Graumann's Chinese Theater by 2:00. I knew there'd be fans and people watching, knew there'd be press - but I just hadn't imagined quite how many people there'd be; how much noise, and buzz and excitement. It was just extraordinary. I hadn't expected the press would want to speak to me, but I was photographed till I was totally confused about whether I was supposed to be looking left or right, up or down - I'm sure some of the pictures show me looking like a deer in headlights! - and interviewed (that was easier; I can always talk!) It was lovely to see how interested journalists were in the story behind the story, of how I'd written the book and how Paula had found it. It took about 45 minutes to get up the carpet, and by the end I had even more admiration for the stars and how easy they make it look.

And such a wonderful cinema; I can't imagine anything more special. In fact I can't imagine anything more special than this whole day; watching with such a huge and appreciative audience, the party afterwards; seeing everyone involved and knowing that we'd done it. I can't even describe the emotion: joy, of course, and relief, but I think gratitude was the primary one; gratitude to everyone who's worked on it, to Paula Mazur for picking it up and running with it, and becoming my friend; to Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, to Cary Granat and everyone at Walden... and to the three wonderful actors who brought my characters to life.

I have been extraordinarily lucky. I'm writing this from my parents' home on an island near Vancouver, just near the small rocky islets that inspired my island story so many years ago, and gradually coming to terms with realising that the final result of that story is now out in the world, being shared with thousands more children and families right around the world.

CUT conference & other events

The Saturday before the Nim's Island LA premier started with the CUT conference in LA at 10 am, where I met my friend Linda, who's building my website for me, and then did a "Page to Screen" panel with Mark Ryan. He's so witty and funny I'd have been happy just to listen - it was an incredibly fun panel, and I couldn't believe how quickly the time flew. It was a warm and lovely audience, including many people who've emailed me; the questions were great and I was really disappointed that I couldn't longer to meet more people. However I was due at the Discovery Science Museum in Santa Anna (? - I really should have written this closer to the time!) at noon, and we barely made it there in time.

The clue we were getting near the Science Museum was the bubbles floating through the air over the freeway... what a great welcome! It was a crazy environment inside, but I did a fun reading with a bunch of kids, signed some posters, and then we jumped back into the car to get to Borders at Torrance by 2:00. That was a very different reading, a calm and quiet environment, with some great kids who had all bought books already and read along with me. I've never had a group do that before, and it was very sweet.

But when we got back to the hotel, must admit I was very ready for a quiet evening to catch up with my family: dinner, and a walk on the Santa Monica pier.

Minneapolis and the Public Library Conference

After a few days in sunny Santa Monica, I headed for Minneapolis and the Public Library Conference. It was massive - I think there 15,000 attendees - mindboggling! And so many stands, with so many books... it'll feel like Christmas when my parcel arrives, because once I'd decided to send a box it seemed sensible to fill it properly.

Minneapolis is also the home of Lauren Stringer, the artist who's just started working on my picture book text, One Night. Her home's a fascinating old house, a type I've always wanted to live in, full of amazing art, and it was one of those rare and wonderful meetings that feels much more like picking up an old friendship than meeting for the first time. I can't wait to see what she does with the story.
One of the first books that I saw of Lauren's was 'Our Family Tree', which is quite magical - and I also really love her latest, "Winter is the warmest season".

We held a preview screening of Nim's Island for the conference attendees on the Thursday night; it was a lovely atmosphere; people laughed and clapped and asked great questions afterwards - very encouraging as to what audience reactions were likely to be when it actually came out. Best of all, at least on a personal letter, was that I was able to relax and see it as a film, separate from me, and just enjoy it, so I didn't even cry till Nim did, near the end.

I also met Ingrid Lawes, author of Savvy, at dinner after the movie. The book has gone in my box to read when I get home, but the first sentence convinced me - I predict a great future for the book, and for Ingrid.

It was also great to meet some young Nim fans at a signing at Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove, and then the many librians who came to the signing at the conference the morning after the screening.

Of course Minneapolis was a good reminder of northern winters; there was still snow on the ground, and a snow storm prediccted for the Friday we were due to fly back to LA - I was quite happy that didn't eventuate!