No More Pencils, No More Books
One of the coolest things about being an author is getting to meet your fans. Up until last week, I didn’t really know I had any. Yes, I have family and friends who support me and have said and written very nice words about my first children’s book, Misadventures of Princess Sydney. I am forever thankful to all of them. I’m also thankful to you, the reader of this blog, especially if you’ve found the book. What I mean about fans is my target audience – the 8-12 year olds of the world – and meeting them in person. It all started with my first ever book signing back in January of this year and a little girl named Chandra.
My new best friend, Chandra, was visiting friends that weekend and came to the signing. Being the little go getter she is, Chandra brought the book back home with her across the Snoqualmie Pass, just into Eastern Washington. She ended up bringing my book to her first and second grade class at Easton School where her teacher, Mrs. McCoy, began to read the book to her students. In April, each member of the class wrote me a letter (remember hand written letters?) and mailed them to me. In the letters, each student explained how they liked my book and asked if I would be able to come out for a visit. Well, they asked if the star of the book, Princess Sydney, could come too.
Last week my wife and I packed up the car, dogs and all, and we made the hour-long drive to the school.
This wasn’t just about meeting the dogs, it was to be a presentation about the book and how it came to be. I must say, I’m not the best at public speaking. In school, I tried to avoid it as much as I could. However, I was so inspired by the letters the students wrote, I didn’t want to let them down. With help from my amazing wife, we put together a PowerPoint deck. Upon our arrival at the school, a member of the local paper was waiting to greet us. My book manager had a great idea to try and engage the media. It worked and just before we met the students, I had my first interview as a writer. I may use the word, cool, a lot in the blog post. It was very cool.
Finally, it was time to meet the students. After a quick hello to the class and parade lap from Sydney, she was my opening act – I started the presentation. Suddenly, my nervousness was gone. Images appeared on the screen and I started talking. I went through each slide and did my best to ask the children questions along the way. I was thrilled to see all of their hands go up in the air each time I had a question for them. I wasn’t sure what to make of a grown man talking to kids about a book. I can tell you now – it was awesome! The open dialogue continued and before I knew it, forty five minutes had gone by and my time was up.
I thanked the students for letting me visit. I hope the kids had fun and maybe learned a thing or two along the way. I know I sure did. If you work really hard and set goals for yourself there’s nothing in this life that you can’t do. Take me; I was once a first and second grader just like the kids in the class I visited.
I had hopes and dreams just like they did. I worked hard, still do every single day, and found myself sharing my experiences and a book about a dog named Sydney to a new generations of kids who, many years ago, looked just like me. I’ve seen the future, I looked into their faces, and the future looks bright.
Thank you to the faculty and students of Easton School for a day that will live with me for the rest of my life – and why wouldn’t it?
