I did two school presentations in Cambridge Ontario yesterday. What a treat is was to do readings so close to home. I tend to cluster my school readings on Wednesdays whenever I can. Last Wednesday it was a full day in Guelph, and the Wednesday before that I was all the way to Whitby, which is a huge long drive for me.
The Cambridge students were fantastic. I love it when kids ask thoughtful questions. One student asked why the baby had to die in a particular scene I read from Nobody’s Child. Good question. Because in the real situation that scene was based on, the baby did die. Another student asked, “How do you come up with the exact perfect words to use when you’re writing?” I told her that I see the story in my head and I just describe what I see.
Another neat thing about yesterday’s presentations was that James Bow came to sit in on one of them.
I “met” James Bow when he joined my private kidcrit group in Compuserve’s Books and Writers Community:
http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&tsn=4&tid=50942&webtag=ws-books
I was so impressed with his writing that I contacted my editor at Dundurn and forwarded the first few chapters of James’ novel (with his permission, of course). Dundurn loved it, and they’re publishing it in May! James just unveiled the website for his new book here:
http://unwrittengirl.ca/
James wanted to see how to do a school visit. Years ago, I sat in on a wonderful school visit by Barbara Haworth Attard:
http://www.barbarahaworthattard.com/
I urge every new writer to sit in and watch how a seasoned writer does school presentations.
Marsha Skrypuch
www.calla.com
That is so cool, Marsha! You must feel really good about helping someone get published like that! 😀
Hi Maggie,
Yes, it thrills me every time I can help someone break in like this.
Have you helped more than one?
Yes. Another friend, Linda Gerber, has her first book coming out in this series:
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Search/AdvSearchProc/1,,S215,00.html
I was approached by a literary agent’s assistant in the US who was aware of my online critique group and knew of the stellar writing being done there. She asked if any of my writers would be interested in pitching for this series. A bunch did, and Linda got a contract. I am so pleased for her. I’ll write more about this when her book comes out.
Hi Marsha,
Your school visits sound like so much fun. Let me know if you are ever in York Region. I’d love to sit in if that’s allowed.
I wanted to say thank you for encouraging me to apply for the Toronto District Library Artist Exhibit. I submitted my portfolio soon thereafter. I received a letter this week to say I’ve been chosen to go before the selection committee in April.
So, see? Add artists to the list of people you help!
Thank you!
Hélène B
Congratulations, Hélène!!!
Hi Hélène!
That is fabulous news! Congratulations!! Fingers crossed for you.
I’m doing presentations in Mississauga on Tuesday. That’s probably too far away for you though, right?
Re: Congratulations, Hélène!!!
Thanks Marsha,
Even if I’m not selected, it’s still pretty cool to make it this far.
I’m available on M and W while the kids are in school. They’re not in school full time yet. I imagine how productive I will be when that happens (g).
If you have anything semi-local to me on those days, I would love to join you. Have fun tomorrow!
Hélène B
Re: Congratulations, Hélène!!!
You’re not kidding it is! I am so pleased for you!!
I’m impressed that you can carve out time with such young children, Hélène. I didn’t start writing novels until Neil was in school full days.
I’ll let you know when next I’m in your area. I usually do readings on Wednesdays. I’m not doing any readings during March, so that’ll be a good break to get some writing done.