Journal

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A quick last few days roundup

A quick one, on the run, from the Scottish Northwest (where I am for another 24 hours). 

The Amanda Palmer & Me show at Chapters was really fun. Apologies to anyone who couldn't see or hear, or who turned up, looked at the crowds and went away again. I don't think anyone was expecting 500+ people to turn up in Dublin, not even me. I gritted my teeth and made an "only one thing per person" rule, which made the whole event only 5 hours long, if you count the time we spent faffing about with a printer before starting late. (Memo to self. If you are going to be reading something odd and unpublished, print it out ahead of time.) Amanda sang three songs, I read three or four short deadamandapalmery stories, and we signed for a lot of nice people. (Also, an extra-special thank you to the Chapters staff, who went above and beyond.) (Cheryl Morgan reviews it here.)

And now I'm in Scotland (just for the day) and when last heard from Ms Palmer was changing planes in Kuala Lumpur on her way to Australia. It's a strange and refreshing thing to have a friend who travels as much and as oddly as I do.

Best news yesterday was an email from my editor letting me know that The Graveyard Book is at # 1 on the NYT childrens hardback list and that Coraline is #1 in paperback. I've never done that before.

At the Coraline premiere I sat next to Bruno Coulais, the composer. There's a lovely interview with him at http://www.filminfocus.com/article/an_interview_with__em_coraline__em__composer_bruno_coulais
and another of the Coraline artists is putting design stuff online: Katy Wu.

Things that make me smile:  is this a Disney thing or can they just not count and/or add at ABC? (I'll leave it to you to find the error):
1. NEW! Friday the 13th (Warner Bros.) - $45.2M; 3105 theaters; $14,560 PTA

2. He's Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros.) - $23.3M; 3175 theaters; $7,359 PTA; -29%; $58.8M cume

3. Taken (Fox) - $22.2M; 3109 theaters; $7,141 PTA; -6%; $80.8 cume

4. NEW! Confessions of a Shopaholic (Disney) - $17.3M; 2507 theaters; $6,902 PTA

5. Coraline (Focus) - $19.1M; 2320 theaters; $8,236 PTA; -9%; $39.3M cume

Labels: , ,