July Challenge

Last November found me, as usual, in the throes of orchestrating final rehearsals, mounting our high school's fall play, and suffering the subsequent mental, physical, and emotional elation and exhaustion that follows intense art-making. Thanks to that, plus a good dose of Thanksgiving food stupor, I did not join the 563,484 amazing writers who participated in NaNoWriMo. 

But I wanted to. 

I really wanted to.

Crest of National Novel Writing Month (November)

July is my chance to give it a try.

My first novel, which turned into the SPOTD series, took six years to finish. How on earth can I do a 50,000 word novel in a month? I guess we'll find out.

Two Weeks to the Party -- Above Ground

I remember fondly the wide open basement space of the old Willmar library. Each summer, once a week, my mom shuffled the three of us kids to the top of the stairs, we descended, and she promptly took off for a half hour of "me" time. Waiting for us downstairs was story time.

I hate basements, but I loved that basement.

In two weeks, the Montevideo-Chippewa County Public Library will host an open house book signing for Super Power of the Day: The Final Face-Off. Our "space" won't be in a basement, but it will be one I love. Seriously, what could be more fun than hanging out in a LIBRARY? Surrounded by stories...that's my heaven.

An April Book Signing!

Every time I stop in to the local library my buddies behind the counter ask when we'll have an Open House book signing for the final book in the SPOTD series.

This week we decided:

This is wonderful timing. The launches of volumes 1 and 2 were heralded by much local press and interest, but attention for volume 3 was thwarted by busy-ness on my part. A local event would be cause for press releases and coverage... A great opportunity.

Just think. By then the snow will be gone, the sun will be shining, the trees will have leaves, the tulips will be popping, and finches will be building their nests.

Of course, we all thought the snow would be gone by now. And it's not. So maybe I shouldn't make any predictions on the weather front. I take it back.

There will be snacks.  THAT I am sure of.

Where did March go?

It was wonderful to meet so many great little readers and their families at the Montevideo PTSA Letters & Art Night way back in February. It feels like that happened last week. What's wrong with my internal calendar? In any case, here's a shot of my good friend Monica and me set up to share SPOTD with our guests.

We gave out piles of stickers, chatted with everyone who wandered by, and even sold a few books.

After the first hour (pizza and art stroll), I was invited to read a few pages of SPOTD: Origins of a Sixth Grade Superhero during the "Celebrity Reading Time." I strolled down the Sanford Elementary hallway looking for  my assigned room of upper elementary... WAIT! THOSE ARE TINY KIDS! SOME OF THEM CAN'T EVEN TALK (much) YET! WHO ORDERED 3 TO 5-YEAR-OLDS FOR MY READING ABOUT A SIXTH GRADER? I TEACH 18-YEAR-OLDS AND HAVE NO CHILDREN OF MY OWN.

WHAT DO I DO?

I learned a lot.

First, I learned that a teacher is a teacher, whether the learners are itty bitty or a few months from university. Engaging them with questions, focusing on them so they know you are listening to their answers, and presenting info in little chunks works with any age. Once I started, my instincts kicked in.

Second, the first few pages of the novel are BRILLIANT for kids to act out. Whenever I read an auditory image, we paused and made the onomatopoetic sound together. Whenever I read a visual image that the kids could mime, we paused and used our bodies. There were claws and growls and squeaks and whooshes and baseball throws and knocks. Such fun!

Finally, and I always knew this, I remembered how much I love to read aloud. It's my favorite. Students in my high school classes know they won't often get called on to read aloud because I hog all the action.

Thanks to the Montevideo PTSA for organizing this wonderful event. You are spreading the love of books and learning to a new generation. I was proud to help out.

Letters and Art Night

Happy February!

It's always sweet to turn my calendar to February, the month of my birth, the snow moon (February 14th this year), and the anniversary of Snow Moon Publishing, which is now three years old. I've accomplished my goal to publish the SPOTD series (one book per year) and look forward to setting and reaching many more writing goals.

But first, a little meet and greet.

Monday, February 10 from 5:00 to 7:00, join me and other Montevideo H-list* celebrities for a night of pizza, reading, and art. It's an ECFE event to be held at the Sanford Education Center here in Montevideo.

Pictures to come!

*H-list = Hometown

Encounters of the Fan Kind

As a newbie to the world of "being recognized," I don't always respond perfectly.

Just before Christmas, I ran into a young fan at the mall in my original hometown. He shyly did the slide-closer-to-Mommy's-leg move as I chatted with his mother. I hesitated to engage him, although I'm perfectly capable of kneeling down and asking a few questions. In the moment, I felt fear. Specifically, an unreasonable fear that if I asked him how he liked the ending, I wouldn't get the answer I wanted to hear – even though he had written me this lovely note after reading volume 2:
 

In retrospect, I realize that I need to get over myself.

Lesson learned: Have a few open-ended questions ready to go and ASK THEM. It was definitely a lost opportunity.

This past weekend, I ran into a home-schooling mother who is reading the series to her kids. They've just finished volume 2 and are eagerly anticipating a dive into the final book. She was effusive in her praise. She loved the ending of the first book, which felt concluded (to her) despite being only the end of part 1. She appreciated how the characters are learning to see from others' perspectives. And she said that her kids were pretty into the story, asking her daily, "What do you think the SPOTD will be today?" And instead of letting her ramble on (basking in the praise), I jumped in and talked over her. I explained my favorite parts and told her why I thought she'd like the last book. In retrospect, I would have enjoyed hearing more from her and less from myself.

Lesson learned: When I meet ultimate fans, I need to step back and shut my trap.

Thankfully, I don't always respond imperfectly when surprised by a reader's attention. Several times in recent weeks I've run into fans who requested volume 3... and voila! Turns out I had copies ready to sell or give away within walking distance. I also graciously accepted my book club's wish to put The Final Face-Off on our reading list for 2014.

Resolution for 2014

It's only January, which means I'm doing well on my 2014 resolution for writing. That's the thing about January. No stamina required (yet).

The big commitment: To do something each month in 2014 to market the SPOTD series.

January:
I contacted my dream agency with a request for representation. They asked for an upload of the text, which meant selecting a book from the series to send. My favorite book is #2, probably because it has the most classic superpowers (flying, invisibility, strength) and because Chase's inner journey ramps up as the veil of youthful self-centeredness starts to fall from his eyes. The story becomes less about a kid playing with superpowers and more about the superpowers playing with him.

But I think #3 is the strongest of the three books, so that's the one I sent. I loved putting together the puzzle of the whole series, and in the third volume, everything that happened in #1 and #2 has extra purpose and weight. Plot points and details that may have seemed extraneous earlier are suddenly indispensable. And I'm especially proud of both my temporal manipulations: the events foretold in precognitive flashes and the events affected by time travel to the past. Trust me, a lot of thought went into avoiding temporal paradoxes. I'm proud of the results.

I have one confession regarding the submission. Before I sent it, I clicked the "exclusive" button -- less to show my commitment to this particular agency (although, as I said, it is my dream agency) and more to let myself off the hook for further agency contacts in January.

Resolution =  check