Hello (and OMG!) from Colorado!

This trip is really proving to be memorable!  I arrived in Colorado, ready to do a school visit and speak at the Colorado Reading Association conference. At the conference, I have two sessions: one by myself on revision and a panel with Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass on writing realistic fiction for children and young adults.

However. . .   

It's bitterly cold here in Colorado, and the school I was scheduled to visit this morning canceled school.  If this were a school I could drive to, I would just reschedule it. But I can't do that with this one.  I feel badly that the kids were ready and excited for me to come, but there really isn't anything we can do.

And the wintry mix and snow in the Midwest and on the East Coast has meant many of the authors scheduled to come to this conference will not be able to come--including Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass.  We're trying to arrange Skype for them, but if not, I'll have to do a 90 minute program on my own. Which I can do, but I know that audience is going to be so disappointed if Wendy and Jordan aren't there.  So that's hard.

I suppose it's a blessing that I have today off  to put that back-up program together--just in case.   

And the hotel fire alarm went off at 5 am this morning.  As I woke up, I thought, "OH NO! I have to go outside and wait for the firetrucks? In sub-zero temperatures?  At five in the morning?"

The problem was in the pool area, so the hotel let us stand in the lobby. I said hi to a group of teachers--all of us wearing snow boots, winter coats and pajamas! :-)

But I had a lively and delightful supper last night with Toni Buzzeo and Kevin O'Malley. Kevin and I have spouses who take care of our kids so we can do events.  The only way I can do school visits and conferences is because my husband is home with my son with autism, and we talked about what a challenge is to be self-employed and juggle all the details and schedules of a family.

Kevin told us he tries to sketch 10 things every day.  And he gives those sketches away to people he sees or meets. He whipped out his sketchpad and drew this for my husband.  


by Kevin O'Malley

And now I have a "found" day.  I'm not near downtown Denver, and it's really too cold outside to walk very far, but I'm here and I have some time. So I'm going to go downstairs and see what's possible.