Guest Post From D.J. MacHale!!

Hello everyone!! Sorry I've been MIA lately, but I came back from my conference sick, so I've been trying to take it easy. I'm back now to bring you a guest post from D. J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon series, and the new series, Morpheus Road. The first book, The Light, is available now from Aladdin. I'll post my review of the title tomorrow. For now, let's hear what D. J. has to say:

One of the great things about being an author is that I get the opportunity to travel all over the country (and sometimes to other countries) where I can meet the readers of my books.

Someone once asked me what my favorite part of writing was and the answer was simple: When somebody comes up to me and says: “I loved your book”. Man, it doesn’t get any better than that, and travelling around gives me the chance to experience that.

When a new book comes out I go on a tour for a few weeks to visit as many schools and bookstores and libraries as possible to meet readers and to talk about the new book. I have to admit that the travelling itself can get tiring. Lots of airports, lots of flying time, lots of fast food, lots of cars, and lots of hotel rooms. The only thing I don’t get lots of is sleep. I’ve found that when I leave a hotel room I have to force myself to stop, turn around and register what the room number is because I’ve often forgotten what room I’m in. It all kind of blends after a while. But the amazing thing is that the second I get to a school or a bookstore, it all gets better and I find that I’m just as energized on the last stop as I was on the first.

Another great benefit is that I get to make new friends. Now that I’ve been doing this for a few years, I’m getting back to some spots a second and third time and seeing many friends I’ve made along the way.

I’ve also found that when I’m on a book tour, I’m not the only one who is doing the travelling. At most every stop there is at least one parent, or grandparent, whose kid has twisted their arm to take them to come and see me, and sometimes they’ve driven quite a few hours to get there. So to all of you awesome fellow-travelers, I salute you!

There’s only one real downside to travelling like this and I have yet to figure out the best solution: There’s never enough time to do laundry!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! If you'd like to know more about Morpheus Road or any of D.J.'s titles, check out his website here. And be sure to visit Frenetic Reader for the next stop on the Morpheus Road tour.