I went to North Carolina and all I got was this major award nomination

[rj_anderson]

This past Thursday I flew down to the AASL (American Association of School Librarians) conference in Charlotte, NC to meet some fellow debut2009 authors, hang out with my agent, drive up to visit cesario, and maybe, if all went well, get to sign a few of my books at the AASL PitStop. Those were my expectations, and they were modest and practical ones, and I had no idea that there was even the possibility of anything more. Especially since I'd left my laptop at home, my Canadian cell phone doesn't work in the US, and I wouldn't have access to e-mail or Internet until I got back Sunday night.

So I was wholly unprepared, when I met the Debs for breakfast on Friday morning, to find out from carrie_ryan that Knife has been nominated for one of the most prestigious children's book awards in the English-speaking world. The Carnegie Medal. We are talking the British equivalent of the Newbery or the National Book Award, people. C.S. Lewis won it for The Last Battle. So did Richard Adams for Watership Down.

I may have stared blankly at Carrie for about thirty seconds before I started flailing. And then I spent the whole weekend in a happy daze and I haven't come down since.

Congratulations to my fellow nominees sarahtales (The Demon's Lexicon) and halseanderson (Chains)!

Comments

[lkmadigan.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

*grabs your hands and jumps up and down*

BTW, I was moaning to Jenny on Saturday night about how much I want to read FLASH BURNOUT. I'm delighted to see it attracting so much good attention!

[alawston.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

Knife has been generating consistent buzz in the UK ever since its publication, I'm really not surprised it's starting to attract prestigious award nominations.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Well, that is lovely to hear, since very little of the buzz reaches me on this side of the pond. I am dependent on kind souls like yourself to let me know!

(And your icon cracks me up every time.)

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

That's completely amazing. Congrats!!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

YATTA!!!!!

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

You were nominated for a Carnegie? That's incredible! But also incredibly well deserved.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *beams*

[serenasnape.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely amazing, congratulations!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[the-gentleman.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I used to do Carnegie award reading groups at school (we held an award ceremony and tried to second-guess the actual decision) and I was always impressed with the quality of the books. So yeah, that's pretty amazing!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

The stupidity of me is that I was all emo about not being eligible for the Newbery, and I had completely forgotten about the fact that I was still eligible for the Carnegie. Clearly I need to pay more attention to the UK side of things!

And thank you.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

HELLO, B&N and Borders.

That's all I have to say.

(And congratulations, of course! :)

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

You think so? I don't know... my experience so far has been that US publishers and big chain stores don't pay much attention to anything that happens outside the US. Maybe if I won the Carnegie (not that I expect to!) they would notice, though I'm a bit skeptical even about that. But I would be delighted to be proven wrong!

[karenhealey.livejournal.com]

Oh my God! The Carnegie! Congratulations!

(And I am certain Knife is *way* better than The Last Battle.)

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Heh. One of these days I really must get around to writing my essay about why I love THE LAST BATTLE. Though if I were choosing just one of the Narnia books to win the Carnegie, admittedly, that one would not be my choice. (I'm much more fond of The Silver Chair.)

And thank you so much!

[tltrent.livejournal.com]

wooooo! Go RJ, Go RJ! :)

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

What wonderful news! Congratulations on the amazing nom, and good luck!

[kristin-briana.livejournal.com]

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[fandoria.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's awesome! Congratulations on the nomination.

[sarah-prineas.livejournal.com]

Yay! Congratulations!

[ewein2412]

that is bloody absolutely FANTASTIC news!

*vicariously biting nails*

[risti.livejournal.com]

Oh WOW! Congratulations, and I have to say, I'm not all that surprised... You deserve that!

[mcamy.livejournal.com]

Oh, congratulations!!

[bittervillager.livejournal.com]

Rebecca, I can't even tell you how excited I am for you. Congratulations!

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's awesome! Congratulations!

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

Oh, and thank you for answering my question awhile back. Your choice made a lot of sense.

[wahlee-98.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely fabulous, but not entirely unexpected. After all, the book is awesome. :D

[haworth-attard.livejournal.com]

Congratulations Rebecca! Well done!

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to YOU, jellybean. I was so excited to see your name!

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

Hee congratulations!

Very prestigious! Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are nominated this year too.

If you haven't been in Chatzy yet, have a looksee :D

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks for letting me know about the Chatzy conversation! I love me some sounis, I really do. And it was fabulous meeting Checkers on the weekend.

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

REBECCA!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I CAN'T STOP CAPSLOCKING AND GRINNING FOR YOU! I am so thrilled, and this is so huge, and so utterly, absolutely deserved, because Knife is phenomenal! *hugs, twirls, dances* Eeeeee!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Your reaction is everything I could have wished for. :D :D :D

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[miladygrey.livejournal.com]

That is so amazing! Congratulations, and I'll be rooting for you! You're in peerless company, too.