School Presentation: How and Why To Do Them

On Thursday I was at Los Altos High and had the pleasure of talking to three English classes--one senior and two sophomore sections. The kids were so wonderful that it made me nostalgic for those classroom days when I taught English.

In the 40 minutes I had, I told them a little about who I was and what I wrote, read from two of my YA novels, then gave them a 10 minute writing exercise, saving the last 5-10 minutes for Q and A.
I based the exercise on beginnings. A few weeks before I'd submitted sample beginnings of stories I'd written, they'd read them and we discussed what I call the EICE, /ice/, formula. Credit for this goes to Stein in Stein on Writing, and I keep it posted above my desk.
Excite the reader's curiosity about the character or relationship.Introduce the setting and tone.Create images for reader.Evoke emotions.
They wrote, trying to follow the formula and produced some great beginnings.
The best part of this kind of presentation is that you not only engage with young readers, you also have the chance to meet their teachers and talk to school librarians. As a result of my presentation, my books will be on Los Altos library shelves.
I left bookmarks, business cards and some postcards with my book covers on them. The students snatched those up, so I'm hoping they'll be interested enough to follow through with a visit to my website and that they'll be curious enough about my books to read them.
Of all the promotion I do, this is my favorite.

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Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
Two and Twenty Dark Tales (Anthology story: Into the Sea of Dew
Published on March 10, 2014 07:00
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