Sprinkle Fairy Dust

No, I don't write fantasy, although I do write children's picture books, as well as novels. You'll get the gist of the fairy dust soon.

While dining with my husband at Nicola's, our favorite restaurant, the chef, Nicola Gilardi (who is well aware that I write children's books) pointed me out to a young couple and their first-grade daughter. They were sitting one table over and I could see the young girl's mouth fall open as the chef told her about me. (This is how young children react to authors. It's precious.)

Luckily, I had some bookmarks in my purse and asked the parents for their daughter's name. At first I spelled it Landry (should have asked) and handed it to her. I asked if I had spelled it correctly. The mom said, "No, but that's okay." I assured her it wasn't okay and found another bookmark in my purse.

I then made it out to Landrie and autographed the bookmark. I asked the young girl where she went to school and let Landrie know about my upcoming contest for SANTA'S SECRET. As hubby said, her eyes were as big as pizzas and she nearly trembled with excitement. I gave her a hint (the same hint I'll give everyone when I announce the contest) and told her I'd be in contact with her teacher.

We proceeded to eat, and after a few minutes Landrie (who was wearing my favorite leopard print, by the way,) brought over a beautiful page she had carefully colored while her parents were enjoying wine. She addressed it to me and signed it, so now we both have a treasured keepsake.

Have you sprinkled any fairy dust lately? Please do. It'll come back to you.

Inspiring Children

In late March, I read to second graders at Greenwood. Their curious minds always delight me and remind me why I write children's books in addition to novels. I always leave schools with a smile on my face.

After I read my book, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?, I asked the students what they wanted to be when they grew up. After all, I wrote this book to inspire children to dream big! One by one, they answered very specifically with careers such as professional tennis player to marine biologist to attorney. These were high achievers!

Then, I explained how to create a story starting with either a plot or a character. We decided our main characters would be a pig and a dog. The students named them Petunia (the pig) and Cookie (the dog). I talked about using the five senses when writing so the reader could really put themselves into the story--to show the story and not just tell it. I also talked about creating conflict to make the story interesting and a bit about pacing (i.e., removing the boring parts). When we talked about conflict, the students came up with some hilarious situations for the animals, and storylines took off in many directions.

I suggested they each write their own ending since they had the "bones" of the story. I was delighted when a boy (toward the end of my talk after we had moved on) raised his hand with yet another suggestion about the pig and dog's dilemma. He was really thinking about his story--and HE was the one in the beginning who told me he didn't like to write! Success.

Toward the end, we danced to a theme song that I'll talk about in a future post. Finally, there was a short Q&A where the students had insightful questions such as: "How did it feel to become published?" and "How long did it take to write your book?" and "How did you work with the illustrator?" in addition to many more very grown-up questions.

It was a great day. Thanks to Cecily Cornelius-White and Avery White for inviting me--and for taking me to lunch afterward!