School Visit at Thomas Metcalf Laboratory School

My friend, Lori Hahm, asked me to come to her school, Thomas Metcalf Laboratory School at Illinois State University.  I went there on November 12th and read to the kindergarten, first and second grade classes, as well as the fifth grade class for deaf and hard of hearing students.  I had a fabulous time!!  They started the day off with an all school assembly - something they do on a regular basis.  Lori introduced me there and I got a very warm welcome.

When I went into the library, I found this banner the students made.

The librarians have a tradition of having the author hide, the children do a chant and then the author pops out - it was a riot!  We did that before each group reading.  Everyone at the school made me feel so special and welcome - I really appreciated that!  What a wonderful school!  Here are some pictures of the event.

Prairie Writer's Day

Yesterday, I attended Prairie Writer's Day, our annual SCBWI-Illinois conference, and it was fantastic!  There was a great line up of editors and agents and I learned a thing or two or twenty.  The best part, as always, was hanging out with my fellow writers!




We met at Harper College and the main room we used was awesome!

There was a display of 2010 books by Illinois Writers and/or illustrators.  If you squint, you can see 1 Zany Zoo towards the top of the rack on the right :-)            

Every year, the committee chooses from among the authors whose debut came out that year and gives the lucky person Book Tour Alex.  Guess who the lucky person was?






Here's a close-up of Alex.







Pictures compliments of Bethany Robinson - thanks!

Unplanned Hiatus

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted - it feels like a couple of weeks!   Since I started writing this post a week ago, I've had a book reading/signing at Barnes & Noble in Bolingbrook, a Career Night at Stevenson High School and a weekend trip to Washington DC!  I'm determined to finish this post before all my events are history!  Here's what's coming up this month:

• On November 6th, I will be the guest blogger on Tara Lazar's blog, Writing For Kids (While Raising Them).  Once again,    she's hosting PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month), "30 days of inspiration and motivation created for picture book writers".           I'm also a participant and, at the end of the month, I'll have a file of at least 30 picture book ideas!  

• On November 12th, I'll be reading my book to the students at Thomas Metcalf Laboratory School at ISU.  A college friend of mine teaches there and asked me to come read.  It's going to be a lot of fun!  Plus, I'll get to see my son, Brian, while I'm down there.

• On November 13th, I'm attending Prairie Writers Day - SCBWI-Illinois' annual conference.  I can't wait - it's fun to see my Illinois writer friends and I always come away with so much knowledge and renewed inspiration and motivation to write! 

• On November 15th, I'm doing a reading/signing at the Barnes & Noble in Oakbrook.  I love reading my book to kids - I'm not so crazy about adults listening :-)

I hope I can keep doing events every month - we'll see how long it lasts!

57th Street Children's Book Fair

I went to the 57th Street Children's Book Fair and had a great time! I met a very special fellow author, I'Deyah Ricketts, an eight-year-old girl whose parents self-published the picture book she wrote when she was four and she's now working on a novel! We exchanged autographed books - she was so adorable!  Her book, Where are the Animals? was published by I'Deyah Books - they have a fantastic website too - check it out at ideyahbooks.com!

Book Fairs and Festivals

A fellow author on the SCBWI-Illinois listserv asked if anyone had a list of book fairs or festivals for authors to attend and/or participate in.  One reply included a link to a page on the site sellingbooks.com - Your guide to writing, publishing and marketing books and ebooks. 

The author of the article, Scott Lorenz, explains why and how book fairs and festivals can be great promotional tools for authors.  He also includes a list of the top 25 fairs and festivals.  

While you're on the site, take a look around for other great information for authors!