Amanda L. Davis's Blog, page 4
September 22, 2012
On Tour Still
Sorry for the lack of updates!
We've been pretty busy on tour. The past couple days we've just been driving through. We're working our way from Ontario to Manitoba, and it's a pretty long drive!
I've just been chillin' in the car, getting a bit of writing done and lots of sleeping. Looking forward to the next events coming up in a few days
September 18, 2012
Updated Count
Here's an updated count of my signings and such. :)
Number of Speaking Events Total: 120
Number of Signings: 24
Number of Interviews : 19
Places Spoken In:
Florida
Kansas
Texas
New Mexico
California
Washington
British Columbia
Montana
Colorado
Nebraska
Missouri
Indiana
Wisconsin
Michigan
Illinois
Georgia
North Carolina
Maryland
New York
New Jersey
Virginia
Ohio
Ontario
Places signed in:
Georgia
Texas
New Mexico
Oregon
Washington
British Columbia
Colorado
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Michigan
Florida
Maryland
Ohio
Ontario
Number of Speaking Events Total: 120
Number of Signings: 24
Number of Interviews : 19
Places Spoken In:
Florida
Kansas
Texas
New Mexico
California
Washington
British Columbia
Montana
Colorado
Nebraska
Missouri
Indiana
Wisconsin
Michigan
Illinois
Georgia
North Carolina
Maryland
New York
New Jersey
Virginia
Ohio
Ontario
Places signed in:
Georgia
Texas
New Mexico
Oregon
Washington
British Columbia
Colorado
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Michigan
Florida
Maryland
Ohio
Ontario
September 16, 2012
Tour Day 12 - 9-16-12
We had another day off today. This has been an interesting tour in the way of day offs. We've had a lot more of them than usual, and it's kind of throwing me off!
Today we drove from Waterloo to Ontario
Uneventful 1 hour drive. When we arrived most of us went swimming.
Today we drove from Waterloo to Ontario
Uneventful 1 hour drive. When we arrived most of us went swimming.
Tour Day 11 - 9/15/12
Two events today, and I didn't get any pictures of the first! Hannah posted some on our daviscrossing blog, though, so you can see those there.
Our first event was a book signing at Gospel Lighthouse book store in Waterloo, Ontario.
Then we had a talk to a homeschool group in Waterloo. It went fabulously.
Setting up
I think the talks went really well. My dad spoke for almost 2 hours on the fantasy genre and then I spoke for about 10 minutes about my journey to becoming an author. One lady said I made her cry. I hope that's a good thing.
September 14, 2012
Tour Day 10 - 9/14/12
Just one event today!
And I didn't get pictures. If you would like to see pictures, check out our other blog that Hannah updated - www.daviscrossing.blogspot.com she posted pictures, I think. I haven't read it yet.
We had an earily-ish morning and headed off for a 2 hour homeschool writing seminar. My dad spoke the entire time, I didn't say a word! Except to answer a question here or there when no one else will. I'm the Star Wars expert. :)
After the talk a family took us out to lunch and it was raining quite a bit. Then we headed back to our hotel room and each did our own thing. Writing, whatever.
Hannah and I walked .5 miles to a McDonald's and picked up smoothies for us all and then walked back. It was dark, but there were street lights and we had a cell phone. And Hannah knows karate. ;)
Tomorrow we have a book signing and another talk, which I probably will speak at. Can't imagine why I wouldn't. Have a good night!
And I didn't get pictures. If you would like to see pictures, check out our other blog that Hannah updated - www.daviscrossing.blogspot.com she posted pictures, I think. I haven't read it yet.
We had an earily-ish morning and headed off for a 2 hour homeschool writing seminar. My dad spoke the entire time, I didn't say a word! Except to answer a question here or there when no one else will. I'm the Star Wars expert. :)
After the talk a family took us out to lunch and it was raining quite a bit. Then we headed back to our hotel room and each did our own thing. Writing, whatever.
Hannah and I walked .5 miles to a McDonald's and picked up smoothies for us all and then walked back. It was dark, but there were street lights and we had a cell phone. And Hannah knows karate. ;)
Tomorrow we have a book signing and another talk, which I probably will speak at. Can't imagine why I wouldn't. Have a good night!
Tour Day 7 - 9/11/12
Another day of events!
We had a total of five talks this busy day. The first two talks were at St. Philips school in Petrolia, Ontario. We spoke to 5th and 6th grade - I believe - for a total of two talks.
I didn't have any pictures that were very post-worthy, so you don't get any pictures from there.
Next was a public high school in Petrolia. We taught a short writing workshop with 9th graders first, and 10 minutes into it the fire alarm went off!
Don't worry - it was a scheduled drill and they had warned us about it.
So after the drill we all filed back in and got back to work.
In the background of this picture the slide shows a small section of Project 'R' :)
These kids were great and seemed to really like our presentation.
Signing books
The second group of kids also seemed to really like our talk and were quite interactive with us as we spoke.
They especially liked the sword.
No authors were harmed in the making of this photo
This young lady's name is Anica and she looks quite similar to Monica from Precisely Terminated!
The teacher (Who I seem to not have gotten a picture of) was a great help to us at this event. She was super enthusiastic and really nice, which is always great to see!
And that's all the pictures!
After our event we went to Trinidi's Parable bookstore in Petrolia. We had another talk at the bookstore and an hour or two of signing books. Then the owner of the book store invited us to her house for dinner, which we really appreciated.
At dinner I demonstrated my mimicry skills, and they were quite amused. I don't do that for people often.
After dinner we fetched some ice cream. I think we deserved it after 5 talks! Or my dad did anyway. I talked 5 times, yes, but not nearly as long as he did. :)
We had a total of five talks this busy day. The first two talks were at St. Philips school in Petrolia, Ontario. We spoke to 5th and 6th grade - I believe - for a total of two talks.
I didn't have any pictures that were very post-worthy, so you don't get any pictures from there.
Next was a public high school in Petrolia. We taught a short writing workshop with 9th graders first, and 10 minutes into it the fire alarm went off!
Don't worry - it was a scheduled drill and they had warned us about it.
So after the drill we all filed back in and got back to work.
In the background of this picture the slide shows a small section of Project 'R' :)These kids were great and seemed to really like our presentation.
Signing booksThe second group of kids also seemed to really like our talk and were quite interactive with us as we spoke.
They especially liked the sword.
No authors were harmed in the making of this photo
This young lady's name is Anica and she looks quite similar to Monica from Precisely Terminated!
The teacher (Who I seem to not have gotten a picture of) was a great help to us at this event. She was super enthusiastic and really nice, which is always great to see!
And that's all the pictures!
After our event we went to Trinidi's Parable bookstore in Petrolia. We had another talk at the bookstore and an hour or two of signing books. Then the owner of the book store invited us to her house for dinner, which we really appreciated.
At dinner I demonstrated my mimicry skills, and they were quite amused. I don't do that for people often.
After dinner we fetched some ice cream. I think we deserved it after 5 talks! Or my dad did anyway. I talked 5 times, yes, but not nearly as long as he did. :)
Tour Days 8 and 9
The past two days we've had off from events.
The first day we hung out in our hotel and got some writing and emails done. I also got caught up on blog posts and basically just relaxed.
I found this fun sign in the bathroom.
You know you're in Canada. . .
The second day (9/14) we spent some time in the hotel then unpacked the van, repacked the van, and headed off to our next hotel so we could be in the right location for our talk today.
Cool socks were mandatory.
Hannah wasn't pleased with me taking lots of pictures.
We did a small stopover in London, Ontario to stop at a gluten free bakery. Cupcakes were needed, you know.
They were tasty, at least, my mom and I thought so. Hannah didn't like them and my dad doesn't eat GF.
After we arrived at our hotel and got settled in my parents and I went on a hike on a nearby trail. I took pictures.
Geese!
It was quite pretty, as you can see. We came back, ate dinner, and I wrote some letters and now I'm going to bed. We have a 2 hour long talk tomorrow and then I think we're hoping to do some more hiking.
Tomorrow should be interesting. One - we've had a short break, sort of throws us off our groove, and two 0 we've been asked that no one wear any sort of latex or plastic to this talk because someone is coming who has a severe allergy. So we can't bring pencils or rubber bands or anything. I hope we don't make a mistake and land this person in the hospital. That would be very bad.
On another note.
We're going to have a contest soon, so keep a look out!
The first day we hung out in our hotel and got some writing and emails done. I also got caught up on blog posts and basically just relaxed.
I found this fun sign in the bathroom.
You know you're in Canada. . .
The second day (9/14) we spent some time in the hotel then unpacked the van, repacked the van, and headed off to our next hotel so we could be in the right location for our talk today.
Cool socks were mandatory.
Hannah wasn't pleased with me taking lots of pictures.
We did a small stopover in London, Ontario to stop at a gluten free bakery. Cupcakes were needed, you know.
They were tasty, at least, my mom and I thought so. Hannah didn't like them and my dad doesn't eat GF.
After we arrived at our hotel and got settled in my parents and I went on a hike on a nearby trail. I took pictures.
Geese!
It was quite pretty, as you can see. We came back, ate dinner, and I wrote some letters and now I'm going to bed. We have a 2 hour long talk tomorrow and then I think we're hoping to do some more hiking.
Tomorrow should be interesting. One - we've had a short break, sort of throws us off our groove, and two 0 we've been asked that no one wear any sort of latex or plastic to this talk because someone is coming who has a severe allergy. So we can't bring pencils or rubber bands or anything. I hope we don't make a mistake and land this person in the hospital. That would be very bad.
On another note.
We're going to have a contest soon, so keep a look out!
September 13, 2012
Tour Day 6 - 9/10/12
(This is Amanda again!)
Today was one of our more busy days - but definitely not the busiest!
We started out at Maranatha Academy and spoke there once to the high school assembly. They were receptive and seemed to like us. That was our first time dealing with Canadian money, so that was definitely interesting. I didn't realize they have two dollar coins. :)
After Maranatha we trundled off to UMEI (Which stands for something, but I've forgotten what - sorry!). Our van is very heavy laden with books right now, and that created an interesting story on another day (9/11) which I'll tell you about then.
We spoke to one group of classes at UMEI.
No, they weren't invisible. They're just not here yet.
The school was large and quite interesting. It felt very old, and one had to take the stairs to get to almost anywhere in the building. They were in the oddest places, but I found it quite cool. I would have taken pictures of them, but I felt kind of conspicuous walking around with a camera, so I didn't.
The students were attentive and well behaved and seemed interested in the talk.
Keeping track of books sold (Inventory, you know)
Then we drove off to our next event - a book store.
On our way to and from UMEI we drove by farm after farm after farm, and many of the farms had these cute 'Honor Stands'. They had produce out for sale with little locked boxes - trusting customers to pay for the produce they picked out.
We haven't had apples in months, and we noticed apple trees by the road, so we looked for a stand with apples - but mostly they had potatoes and peppers and such. Finally, when we were leaving the town, we stopped in a gas station and a man had a stand set up there (He was there, too) and he had all sorts of fruit and vegetables all fresh from his farm.
We picked up some raspberries and some apples. They were quite good. He had nectarines, peaches, and grapes as well, but I don't think those would travel in the van well. The raspberries won't either, but they fit in the cooler. :)
When we were finished with that short stop we continued on to our next event, which wasn't for another few hours. We had a signing at a book store at 7 for a 'Librarians' Tea'. The store had church and school librarians from all over come out to see the store's new products and to hear us speak. My dad did most of the talking, of course. He usually does. He has more to say than I do. :)
The librarians were great to talk to and they asked plenty of questions and purchased lots of books!
We didn't finish there until late and were quite happy to get to our hotel that evening.
Today was one of our more busy days - but definitely not the busiest!
We started out at Maranatha Academy and spoke there once to the high school assembly. They were receptive and seemed to like us. That was our first time dealing with Canadian money, so that was definitely interesting. I didn't realize they have two dollar coins. :)
After Maranatha we trundled off to UMEI (Which stands for something, but I've forgotten what - sorry!). Our van is very heavy laden with books right now, and that created an interesting story on another day (9/11) which I'll tell you about then.
We spoke to one group of classes at UMEI.
No, they weren't invisible. They're just not here yet.The school was large and quite interesting. It felt very old, and one had to take the stairs to get to almost anywhere in the building. They were in the oddest places, but I found it quite cool. I would have taken pictures of them, but I felt kind of conspicuous walking around with a camera, so I didn't.
The students were attentive and well behaved and seemed interested in the talk.
Keeping track of books sold (Inventory, you know)
Then we drove off to our next event - a book store.
On our way to and from UMEI we drove by farm after farm after farm, and many of the farms had these cute 'Honor Stands'. They had produce out for sale with little locked boxes - trusting customers to pay for the produce they picked out.
We haven't had apples in months, and we noticed apple trees by the road, so we looked for a stand with apples - but mostly they had potatoes and peppers and such. Finally, when we were leaving the town, we stopped in a gas station and a man had a stand set up there (He was there, too) and he had all sorts of fruit and vegetables all fresh from his farm.
We picked up some raspberries and some apples. They were quite good. He had nectarines, peaches, and grapes as well, but I don't think those would travel in the van well. The raspberries won't either, but they fit in the cooler. :)
When we were finished with that short stop we continued on to our next event, which wasn't for another few hours. We had a signing at a book store at 7 for a 'Librarians' Tea'. The store had church and school librarians from all over come out to see the store's new products and to hear us speak. My dad did most of the talking, of course. He usually does. He has more to say than I do. :)
The librarians were great to talk to and they asked plenty of questions and purchased lots of books!
We didn't finish there until late and were quite happy to get to our hotel that evening.
September 12, 2012
Tour Day 5 - 9/9/12
We had another easy day this day. After attending church with our host family we drove up through Michigan and stopped and saw my mom's cousins and aunt who she hasn't seen in a very long time.
All her aunt's children (My mom's cousins) and my aunt were nice (I had never met them before), and we spent some time talking. My mom's aunt is 92, but she still lives in her own home.
We stayed about 1 1/2 hours then headed for Canada.
We drove through a long tunnel, and I tried to get some pictures, but the camera was misbehaving.
Right before we entered.
This tunnel ends right at the border crossing of Canada and the US, that's why it was pretty backed up and the traffic was stop and go.
The GPS stopped working, too, since it couldn't talk to the satellites.
We arrived safely in Canada with no problems at the border crossing. The guard was nice and greeted us in English and French, and we gave him our business cards - he seemed interested that we were authors (They ask you all sorts of questions at the crossing).
When we arrived at the hotel there were 22 boxes of books waiting for us. The Canadian distributor of our books had shipped them ahead for us to pick up. And we had to unpack those boxes and repack them in a certain way that we like and then load them into the van. That took over an hour, but I didn't get any pictures taken because I was busy packing books! It was an . . . adventure.
September 11, 2012
Tour Day 4 - 9-8-12
Tour Day 4 was a pretty easy day for us, and we were thankful for that because we didn't get in to our lodging until about 1 in the morning!
We stayed with my dad's friend from high school and his wife. They're very nice and we've obviously known them for a long time.
They had this pretty fountain and garden out front that I thought picture worthy.
We just sort of chilled for a while at their house before going to the Baker Book House in Grand Rapids. They had a very nice set up for us.
Don't mind my dad - he's just texting. Don't worry, no customers were there at that point.
The store had these cool figurines made in Kenya. There was this lion and an elephant, ostrich, and Giraffe. They were made out of soda cans and telephone wire.
A fan who came out to see us. It was good to meet you, Jessi.
After we finished at our book signing we raced to the post office, packed up all our books and shipped them out to Washington state. We were going into Canada the next day and we can't take our books across the border without paying import taxes - so we shipped our books ahead of us to our next US destination - to a friend's house. There they will stay until we arrive.
We barely made it to the post office in time, too. The post office closed at 3 and we arrived at 2:30 with about 12 boxes to ship. The postal workers weren't pleased, but they did their job quickly and efficiently, and the last box was paid for and labeled at 3:01!
Then we went back to our friend's house and hung out with them for a while. A good day.
And so I don't forget - -- Here is a pretty accurate count of how many talks I've done (As of 9/11/2012)
Number of Speaking Events Total: 114
Number of Signings: 23
Number of Interviews : 19
Places Spoken In:
Florida
Kansas
Texas
New Mexico
California
Washington
British Columbia
Montana
Colorado
Nebraska
Missouri
Indiana
Wisconsin
Michigan
Illinois
Georgia
North Carolina
Maryland
New York
New Jersey
Virginia
Ohio
Ontario
Places signed in:
Georgia
Texas
New Mexico
Oregon
Washington
British Columbia
Colorado
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Michigan
Florida
Maryland
Ohio
Ontario
