Author visits

Just got back from three days in the Rio Grande Valley. I was there to do school visits. It’s always a pleasant experience to meet the children and their teachers and librarians. Some of these schools had never had author visits before and they were thrilled to have one. At one school, the librarian had arranged for the top ten AR readers to have lunch with the author (that’s me). At lunchtime, they rushed in, full of questions and in awe. (Made me feel so humble).

I knew in advance about the luncheon, so I brought brightly-decorated journals for each one and autographed them, which delighted them. We ate pizza and talked about writing. They shot questions left and right. They were so eager to find out how writers come up with stories, how and when they write, how it feels to have a book out, if we get to meet famous authors, etc.

I had a brief writing exercise for them and they did not disappoint me. They came up with excellent ideas for stories and knew about conflict and resolution. They even did a little dance for me about “action verbs.” How can any author resist such enthusiasm? It made my day.

On the drive back to San Antonio, I saw acres and acres of sunflowers. Couldn’t resist taking a picture.

“Children are the hope of humanity. If they are going to change the world, they have to start off optimistically. I wouldn’t consider writing a depressing book for children.” – William Steig