How to use this Page

The talented Roxyanne Young took these photos of my talk on Middle-Grade and Chapter Books at SCBWI-San Diego last weekend and kindly gave me permission to use them. My school visit/speaker page needs a massive updating and I’m so grateful to have some recent images to include.

Apparently I talk with my hands a lot? What’s funniest to me is that this Boston Bay slide was onscreen for barely a minute. That’s an awful lot of glasses-waving going on there.

The rest of my slides were all about other people’s books—my favorite things to talk about, as you know. Here’s a taste:

(Just a sampling from the Chapter Books part of the talk.)

Speaking to the COSMO group in Columbia, MO

Today, I have a few things to share with you about Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg: a story about my recent “book tour” , a story from someone who bought the book, and a quick lesson on VOICE, one of the 6 + 1 traits of writing–so let’s go!

Going On a Book Tour
Last week, my good friend, who is just like a mother-in-law to me (that’s a story for another post!), Pamela Anderson from Columbia, MO invited me to stay at her house with my two-year-old and speak to her COSMO group (diabetes research) and Pachyderms (the first club ever in the U.S.) and then organized a breakfast for me of old friends–all to promote my book. My husband came, too, and the trip was a huge success! I was worried about my talk because I was used to speaking to either groups of writers, teachers, or kids; but I tied the story of taking 11 years for my book to be published (FIVE after I signed the contract) to never giving up and following your dreams. People seemed to really relate to it, even if they weren’t writers because when I finished talking, there was actually a line to buy a copy of my book! I met the most interesting and nice people–one woman was almost 90-years-old and had been researching her family on the Trail of Tears for over 30 years. Her determination and spirit made my trip. The breakfast with old friends was so great, and my two-year-old came to that–I was a little worried about this, as she is not in the “patient” stage. But even she was so good and ATE, too. (You mothers of toddlers know what an accomplishment this is.)

I am so thankful to Pamela Anderson (the retired air traffic controller, not the actress) for organizing AND my husband Rick and my good, good friend Michelle Pfeiffer (I swear–I have a friend named Pamela Anderson and Michelle Pfeiffer–both married last names!) for helping me with KB!

A Cool, Heartwarming Story
My mom’s friend, Bobette, bought a book for her grandson, Gavin. He is in fifth grade. My mom and Bobette have been friends for longer than I’ve been alive (not telling you how long that is!); and I’ve met Gavin before, but he lives in a different state–so I don’t know him well. Anyway, as the sweet kid that he is, he took my book to his fifth grade teacher and said that he HAD to read if for independent reading because this was written by a family friend. The teacher was reluctant–this is understandable because she has NO IDEA who I am–but agreed to read the book to see what she thought. (What an awesome teacher!) After she finished reading it, she agreed Gavin could read it, and even better–she put my book on her reading list. WOW! Thank you!

A Lesson in Voice: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing

This is a quick lesson you can do with ANY book, not just Finding My Place. But it works better with novel length books.

1. Once you and your students have read at least half of the book, they should be familiar with the main characters’ voices. For example, in Finding My Place, students should be able to recognize Anna, Sara, James, Mrs. Franklin, and possibly Dr. Franklin and Stuart, too.

2. Review what VOICE is. This is such a hard concept for children to understand–there is an overall voice to the book, which is Anna’s in FMP, but then each character also has their own voice. Voice is the way the words sound together, and authors have their own distinct voice. For example, you can easily tell the difference between my book and one written by Mark Twain! (HA!)

3. Each student should have a piece of paper, numbered 1-10. You, the teacher (or students can take turns doing it to) or parent, read a line or two from FMP–it could be Anna’s narrative or dialogue OR dialogue from one of the main characters. Then ask students to write down whose VOICE they think that is.

4. After revealing the correct answers, discuss with students how they knew that Mrs. Franklin said what she did or that it was Anna speaking–what is different about the VOICE?

I recently received two thank you notes–one in a roundabout sort of way–from children about my book, Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg. I thought I would share them here. These are my first ones from kids, and so I’m super excited! I am not changing spelling and or punctuation when re-typing, and I am not sharing names .

This one is from my friend, Becky, who bought the book for her niece. . .

Dear Aunt Becky and Uncle Ron, Thank you for the Book “Finding My Place” I Loved it! Love, G

This one is from a friend of my mom’s (and mine!) that goes to her church. The friend bought the book for her granddaughter.

Dear Miss Dill, I really, really loved your book. I learned lots of stuff like people had to live in caves. My mom and grandma and I really think it was a really good book. It was a really intresting book. Thank you for signing my book. I am going to share your book with my class. Your friend, M. R.

There is not a sweeter thing than notes like this from kids. It brings a huge smile to my face. I am busy scheduling school visits and writing conferences. If you are interested, you can find information at http://www.margodill.com and click on “Speaker Information.” To find out about Finding My Place, where to buy it, and an excerpt, please see: http://margodill.com/blog/finding-my-place.

photo found on Flickr.com by woodleywonderworks

When an author is invited to speak at a conference–Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, Science Teacher’s Association, School Librarians Association, etc–it’s a great opportunity to connect with an audience who is already inclined to like your books. You need to be ready to maximize your efforts at such a speaking engagement.

Darcy Pattison on Read Across America Day 2011

Don’t miss our next free teleclass for writers!

Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 8:30-9:30 pm ET (Note that this is East Coast time; please check for the correct time in your time zone. Also note that this is PM, not AM!)

Topic: 5 Tips for Finding Story Ideas That Sell with Diana Burrell. Dread coming up with story ideas? Feel like every idea you think up has been done a million times before? Diana will share with you some of the best strategies she has used herself to come up with story ideas that sold to national magazines, newspapers, and websites. There will be time after the class to ask your questions about generating salable story ideas. Diana and Linda will be making special offers for teleclass attendees only!

About Diana: Before she became a full-time freelance writer in 1999, Diana Burrell spent over 10 years working in advertising and marketing, both on the agency and client sides. The one thing she loved was coming up with ideas and concepts, whether naming a new caulking product or developing national trade show promotions. She learned how to generate vast numbers of ideas quickly, sort through them, and refine the best ideas into concepts that excited customers. This skill has served Diana well as a freelancer for magazines and newspapers such as Parenting, Oxygen, Family Circle, Clean Eating, The Boston Globe, Psychology Today, The South China Morning Post, The Atlantic Food Channel, and more. As the co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, Diana’s no-holds-barred advice has inspired many aspiring and working freelancers. Diana teaches an e-course called Become an Idea Machine: How to (Painlessly) Build Up an Inventory of Story Ideas to Sell to Magazines through the Renegade Writer blog.

Conference number: 218-895-0763

Passcode: 2244#

**This is not a toll-free number. If you have unlimited long distance, you won’t pay for the call, but if you pay for calls by the minute, it will appear on your bill.**

Here is the link where you can access the participant keypad controls. This will tell you how to mute the call, how to get help, and more.

If you’re interested in taking part in the call, please e-mail me at [email protected] with “RSVP Ideas” in the subject line to let me know just so I can get a rough tally of how many people to expect. I may also e-mail you materials if we decide to have “handouts.” (If you prefer to remain totally anonymous, that’s fine too.) Don’t worry if I don’t reply to your RSVP — if you send it, rest assured that you’re in!

Also, if you’re interested in receiving free teleclass notices via e-mail, please subscribe to the teleclass e-mail list here.

Thanks so much, and we look forward to seeing you there! [lf]

I was fortunate enough to speak at Baker College of Allen Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The staff wanted me to explain how King's life influenced my own. I talked about the freedoms that I have because he fought so hard in the face of adversity. I shared that because he protested, went to prison and even died for civil rights I am able to have small blessings like a Diet Coke at a cafe.
I realize that the national holiday is over but I want to implore the readers to remember that when you stand for something and fight hard enough you not only change history but you create a new future for others.
Read something great!

The official announcements have been made, and the registration has opened up. The conference I am speaking at in Austin can now be signed up for. It is being sponsored through the local Austin SCBWI on April 25, 2009.

I will be speaking at both breakout sessions and doing critiques. Apparently the critique spots are already starting to fill up quickly so if for some reason you are deadset on working with me, you'll want to go ahead and get your registration in. A downloadable copy of the registration packet is available here.

See you all in April!

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

I'm back from my first presentation to 7th and 8th graders. Though it was a little odd speaking to people who sat in chairs instead of on the rug at my feet, things went very well. I heard one great class trip story, and I got into a discussion of essay writing with a small group of guys, which has given me food for thought. Though, honestly, I've thought about essays before.

I also ate lunch in the cafeteria at the class officer's table. These kids were in leadership groups, student council, and drama club. Also sports, I think.

This was not the crowd I ate lunch with when I was in 7th and 8th grade. Or in high school. Or college. Yes, we are talking a truly unique experience here.

I will be leaving sometime this afternoon for the Great North where tomorrow I will be spending the day speaking to 7th and 8th graders. This is the first time I've been invited to a middle school, though I have led some workshops at a writers' conference for students in 6th through 12th grades. I've been assured that the secret to dealing with young people of this age is to never show fear.

I'm afraid I won't be able to do that.

I will try to apply what I've learned in my martial arts classes to this situation. I will keep my chin down so that I won't appear to challenge anyone and so that I won't be exposing my neck. I will guard my core. I will remember to breath.

Oh, yeah. That's going to work.

I've been spending a lot of time this past month preparing for a couple of speaking engagements that involve new material. Today I had a speaking engagement at which I discussed...my speaking engagements.

I was a guest of the Connecticut Library Consortium at its Children's Librarians' Roundtable (Southeast)'s Authors@The Library Programming Showcase. Whew. Six children's authors did presentations about their work and their programs for children.

You know how you go to a social event and you feel that you were either over or underdressed? Well, for once I was dressed just fine. However, all the others kids had great (sometimes really great) PowerPoint-type presentations describing their presentations or they had lovely visuals of other kinds. Like a giant whale, in one case.

I had to try to hold these people with the power of my personality. I began with my Suze Orman impression and later went into my little riff about how I can't understand why other people don't find the Puritans fascinating or enjoy original sin humor.

Yeah, I had them eating out of my hand.

Katie Davis, who I sort of know through the ABC listerv, was there, though I arrived too late to see her presentation. We did get to speak and shake hands, so that we sort of know each other beyond the listserv now.

I did hear Dana Meachen Rau's presentation, though. (We're both on the New England SCBWI listserv.) She gave a very good talk on her school and library visits. What I found particularly notable is that she has a number of presentations for kids in pre-k through grade 2, a group I'm preparing to speak to at the end of this month. (Dana speaks to older kids, too.)

There were three other speakers today, but they were all nonfiction writers. I'm going to save talking about them until next Monday and do a Nonfiction Monday post.

I'm going to be taking part in Read Across America programs at two different schools this year. I'm going to be a Mystery Reader in a fourth grade classroom on Feb. 29. Then on March 3, which is actually Read Across America Day, I'll be doing the Gail thing with the third and fourth graders in another school as part of their Read Across America observance.

I've been working away on preparing for my humor talk for New England Roundtable of Children and Young Adult Librarians. It's supposed to be an hour, but I can't seem to get past 37 minutes more or less.

It takes me a long time to prepare for speaking engagements because I suffer a bit from performance anxiety. I like to have the speech written out well in advance so I can rehearse like mad. Back when I still offered traditional slides as an option, I would rehearse with my own projector in the dining room every day leading up to the event.

I like to be performance ready. My fantasy is to be able to have a wide array of writerly things I can talk about on the drop of a dime.

Of course, there's a reason why I call that a fantasy.