Saturday, May 19, 2012

May Author Visit








On May 11th 2012 I had the pleasure of visiting Ethan Allen school in PA. It was a great time and the kids were wonderful, kind and enthusiastic. I participated in their Career Day by telling them a little about what it is like to be an author and then I shared Teresa's Shadow with them. I also brought with me autographed copies of books they purchased ahead of time. (Psst - for those who didn't have a chance to buy the book, I left a few copies at the library. Check it out and enjoy the story!) I enjoyed running into students throughout the day and hearing their kind feedback and stories they shared. One group of girls even said "Happy Mother's Day".  I would gladly visit them again!




While I was there, the older kids submitted questions they wanted to ask me. I only had time to answer a few of them. However, I thought they were ALL excellent questions. So, what to do?   I decided I will answer all the questions right here on my blog. I will answer one per blog post. So keep coming back to look for the next question. If you have a question you don't see here over time, feel free to leave one in the comments section and I will add it to my list.






So here it goes.

 Question # 1 :How did you think of the ideas and titles for your books?

That is a great question. I'm often asked how I came up with certain ideas.  Most of the time a thought or a concept comes to me and the story starts there. For example in Teresa's Shadow all I knew was I wanted to write a bed time story. But I didn't want just ANY bedtime story. I wanted something new and different.  From there, the characters began to develop and ideas grew over time. Eventually I had a basic storyline and I filled in details every time I revised it. Many times the final story is very different from the first draft.


Stay tuned for Question #2!


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

We are in the middle of the best literary week in the world - Children's Book Week organized by the Children's Book Council. You probably love books - children's books at that. So what can you do to celebrate Children's Book Week?

  • Check your local libraries to see what events may be going on.

  • If you are a teacher, maybe your class can create a  children's  book written by your room. Then each child can take turns throughout the year to share it with their family (this is a great way to keep Children's Book Week going for longer than a week.
  • Read some favorite children's books to your child. Give them an extra book this week at bedtime!



    And finally, stop by my facebook page and tell me how you are celebrating Children's Book Week and what books you are reading. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Teresa's Shadow Joins Be There Bedtime Stories

As an author, teacher and enthusiastic supporter of reading, I am pleased to share this good news with you. My second picture book, Teresa's Shadow, joined the website Be There Bedtime Stories.









 This website is all about connecting children with families who are far away from each other, like a child and a grandparent, or a child and their military parent. Now, these adults can "be there" for a bedtime story. The website will tell you what they do and how to participate. It is a fantastic idea, which I'm sure will catch on around the country.
 
If this is something you think you're interested in, check out Teresa's Shadow at this great website: Teresa's Shadow at Be There Bedtime Stories

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