Good news is golden!
Wenny Movie Japan
We had a blast in Japan! I flew there with my husband, Tom. We met my
agent, Irene
Kraas, in the airport and were driven to a five star hotel.
On the morning of day one, we viewed the Wenny Has Wings movie
(Remember That Sky opening in Japan April 26th) in the Sony studio
which just happened to be right across the street from our hotel.
Irene and Janet in the hotel room getting ready to view the movie.
Note the comfy kimono.
The movie was brilliantly done. Somewhat different from the book but
that’s to be expected. The actors were perfect for their key roles:
Yutaka Takenouchi as the father, Miki Mizuno as the mom, and the
brilliant young actor, Ryohie Hirota as Will and the little, Riko-chen
as Wenny. (see poster in earlier blog).
Two days of intensive interviews with help from the interpreter,
Yoshiko Okura, followed the film -- newspapers to manga to magazines
(including Newsweek Magazine Japan) to TV spots. It was a whirlwind and
Irene Krass was there with me through it all. We drank gallons of water
to keep going!
We left for a school visit and TV spot at Kabara Junior High School
where I played the song a wrote for Wenny "You Had To Fly". We
had a terrific time getting to know the kids there. Note the green
slippers!
Sony Studios not only put us up in a top Tokyo hotel, they also took
us to dinner after the interviews. Here we are with the producers,
director, Shin Togashi (on my left), Sony senior publicist, Miki, and
senior vice president of SonyMusic.
On day three we were free to become tourists. After another night in
Tokyo, Irene joined us on the bullet train to Kyoto.
Irene and Janet in front of Temple Gate
It rained on the day we toured Kyoto temples but we braved the
weather. Tom caught this shot of Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion in the rain.
Irene sped back to the states. Tom and I took the train with Drew
to Koyasan where we stayed in the temple two nights, went to early
morning Buddhist services, visited the historic graveyard, and hiked
steep trails through a cedar and bamboo forest.
A wonderful trip.
Traveler may you walk well . . .
Arigato
Awards:
WENNY HAS WINGS Won the 2005 Mark Twain Award! I'll be heading off to Missouri
in April to accept the award and make a speech -- quite happy about that.
New Fantasy Books on the Way:
Fantasy fans will be happy to hear that my books
will be on the fantasy shelves in bookstores and libraries soon! THE BEAST
OF NOOR: Book One of the Noor Chronicles will be out with Ahteneum Books
in July 2006. My editor, Susan Burke, who worked with me from the very
beginning on BEAST, just told me the UK rights for THE BEAST OF NOOR have
already sold to Simon & Schuster UK! The book will be out in the UK in
October 2006. O Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay! as Lewis Carroll says.
Isn't good news golden?
More Fantasy Books:
My agent, Irene Kraas, recently sold my YA medieval
fantasy novel UNDER THE ROSE to Harcourt in the US and to Faber and Faber
in the UK. Callooh! Callay! Neither house likes my title. Kathy Dawson,
editor extraordinaire at Harcourt came up with DRAGON'S KEEP and asked
what I thought of that. The odd thing is DRAGON'S KEEP was my original
title for the tale. Do I like it? Yep!
DRAGON'S KEEP will be out with Harcourt in Spring 2007. Faber and Faber
will bring it out (under an altogether different title?) in Fall 2007. I
met the Faber and Faber editor, Julia Wells, on my WENNY HAS WINGS UK tour
and she's a delight.
More Noor:
I just sent THE ANCIENTS: Book Two of the Noor
Chronicles to Susan Burke at Atheneum. THE ANCIENTS sequel to THE BEAST OF
NOOR will be out in 2008. That makes a book a year! More
news will be posted here as it comes in. For now I have lots of writing to
do!
WENNY HAS WINGS
Wins the 2005 Mark Twain Award! Is a Borders Books “Original
Voices” Choice
WENNY HAS WINGS is
also up for the:
Mark Twain book Award 2004-2005
William Allen White Award 2004-2005
Georgia Children’s Book Award 2004-2005
Go Wenny!
anet
Lee Carey 