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Our students were so jazzed to meet Amy Ignatow, author of The Popularity Papers. She started by telling 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students about both of her books. We had over 25 requests for her books the follow day, so she did a great job!

Kids love her drawings, the friendship story and how she writes like Julie & Lydia are keeping a journal.

Next, she told us about the steps she goes through when drawing - first planning out her drawing, then doing it in pencil. After tracing over her pencil lines in ink, she fills them in with different colors.


Kids loved her funny story about the Staring Squirrel. You see, there was this squirrel who used to stare intently at Amy though her studio window. It was down right creepy! But, as she told the kids, when you stare at something day after day, you realize that it's the perfect time to draw it. Kids had fun looking at the picture Amy took of the Staring Squirrel and the comic she drew for her local newspaper.


From all the students at Emerson, thank you very much for coming visit our school! From a happy librarian, thank you for helping our students get excited about reading! And a special thank you to A Great Good Place for Books for helping us buy books for the event, and to Abrams Books for sending Amy our way!

If your child likes reading funny stories about friendships and school, check out The Popularity Papers!

Please note that if you make a puchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books (at no cost to you). Thank you for your support!

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Slowpoke has gotten a couple more positive reviews, from Booklist :

“Pearce’s succinct text will amuse emerging readers with her only slightly exaggerated references to the hectic pace of modern life. Ritchie’s fluid, cartoon-style illustrations are equally adept at conveying the story’s speedy absurdities…and its more relaxing moments”

and from School Library Journal (scroll down after clicking on the link).

Also, I just found out that Slowpoke now has an Accelerated Reader test (you have to enter the title into the search feature to see it).

Last week, I did a Skype author chat with Carver Elementary School in Florence, SC. It was really fun. The students are third-graders and had all read Slowpoke ahead of time. Their teachers helped them compile questions about the writing process. I missed being able to interact in person with the kids, but it was a good experience. The learning goes both ways with these kinds of things, and it’s always great to hear from readers. I’d like to do more of them in the future. For tips on hosting a Skype author chat, check out this article. If your school wants to host me, please contact bettyasmith (at) bellsouth (dot) net and put “author visit” in the subject line.

The picture above is me on the big screen in Carver’s library. Special thanks to librarian Debra Heimbrook for working with me on this inaugural Skype chat.

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Just finished the most amazing Skype classroom with Mr. Brian Kelley's eighth grade class! I spoke for about half an hour and the kids asked questions for the next 15 minutes. Mr. Kelley had to cut off their questions to get them to the next class. They were thoughtful, listened so well and had tons of great questions.

Thank you, Patton Middle School in Kennett Square, PA, for hosting me! I hope to visit you again one day!

If you'd like to set up a visit via Skype visit www.jessicaburkhart.com and check out my contact page. You'll find all the info you need to get started.

Happy Friday!

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Tips for Skype Author Visit: Be Prepared

Before I did my first Skype Author Visit today, with a school in Arlington, VA, I went through several fine-tunings of my setup. These are all small tweaks, but I felt like they were important to let me relax and enjoy the presentation.

Turn Your Office into a Video Studio

Lighting. My office is a dark attic, perfect for writing, but not good at all for a video studio. Looking around for tutorials on lighting for video shoots, I saw that it was important to have three types of lights.

Main light at about 2 o’clock to light one side of the face. It needs to be strong enough to light up your face without glare. Because I have an attic office, I just use a shop light and bounce it off the nearby ceiling.

Second, you need a bounce lighting or a smaller light that adds shadows and depth to the opposite cheek. I just used a piece of foam core.



My normal overhead lighting is pretty high because of the attic space, so it worked as a great back-light on the top of my head; this light is important because it will separate you from the background better. Some tutorials recommended 3x or 4 x the normal lighting.

Camera. With the lights in place check the camera settings.

• Tilt. Is it capturing your full face? I also position the screen showing small shot of myself as near the camera as possible, so I am mostly looking at the camera.
• Reverse Image. I also found it better to reverse or flip the image that I’m seeing of myself. That way, if I reach up to touch my hair, it looks right to me.
• Zoom. Zoom in or out until you get a shoulder shot. I like it zoomed out enough so you can easily see my gestures, because I talk a lot with my hands. It also gives a small window into my office and sometimes, I got questions about my unabridged dictionary which is on a book shelf behind me.
• Color balance.
  • Set the white balance first.
    Click on Auto-focus on the white balance. Hold your foam core or other white object about where you’ll be seated. Let the auto-settings work. Then, click OFF the auto-focus, forcing it to stay at that setting. My office has windows, so I do this check each time I do a video, to allow for differences in light coming from the windows.
  • Then set brightness, contrast and color balance to your liking. I like to balance the color closer to the b/w side, so it’s not glaring.

Turn Yourself into a Movie Star

Make-up. With 3-4x the light, you’ll need makeup. I’m a m

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Yo-Yos v. Author

When I first started doing school visits, I was uncertain, trying to figure out what to do and why. That’s when I had a near encounter with a yo-yo.

I went to a rural elementary school a week after a yo-yo company had performed at the school. The yo-yo people had charged the school $1000 to perform, and then got to sell yo-yos, too. The school paid me nothing as an author to visit the school and present my children’s picture book. Author v. yo-yos and the Yo-yos won. Heck, I even had to pay for my lunch that day.

I thought about that many times since then.
Yo-yos educational value: entertainment.
The educational value of my presentation: literature, literacy, writing, reading.

Yesterday, I did a school visit and I’ll be doing another next week. When I go to schools, I’m aware that I must be entertaining, but I’ve also refined some of my goals

Goals for School Visits

Foster reading and writing by making it fun, easy, accessible. I often do small group writing sessions with students. My favorite is when the students are some of the most discouraged about writing.

This month, I got to teach a class of mostly discouraged writers. We drew a map, wrote specific name places, and imagined the setting. Then, students put a finger on the map and moved around the map while telling a partner a story. Then they put their finger on a different place on the map and told the story a different way (revision in the oral stage!). Finally, they wrote their story. At the last, I asked for a volunteer to read and one girl immediately responded and read a great story. Yes, there were misspellings and a few grammar mistakes she needed to correct later; but the story was great. Teachers later told me they were astounded that this particular girl volunteered to read, because she was so shy. Confidence and joy in her writing, that’s what the girl gained that day.

Yes, it’s easy for me to come in and do a one-shot boost for a kid like that. It’s harder to do the day-to-day grind of preparing her for testing. But maybe, that one day of confidence and joy will carry her through the testing.

Help teachers enjoy reading and writing with kids even more. Teachers enjoy the enthusiasm that students have for books in the preparation for my visit, during my visit and in the aftermath. It’s a time to break the mold and have fun.

Help school community celebrate literature, something too seldom done! Several years ago, I was asked to speak at a fall reading kick-off at an elementary school. The theme for the school’s fall reading was travel and my book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was perfect way to start the excitement. The librarian was amazing! When I walked into the school auditorium, every kid was waving a tiny American flag. They sang patriotic songs and were already studying large US map displayed in the library.

Now, I’ve been to sports pep rallies and they are fun. But a pep rally for reading? This was fantastic. The entire school – led by a librarian, par excellence, supported by enthusiastic staff and administration – was building a culture around a celebration of literature, reading, writing, literacy. Amazing. And still too seldom seen.

I’m no longer bashful about charging for school visits. Yo-yos are fun for a day and quite entertaining, no doubt. But as a writing teacher and author, I remind myself that I also have something of value to bring to a school. I take it seriously and work harder during a school visit than I do any other time. Why? Because one shy girl volunteered

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One of the really great things about SCBWI Conferences is getting to know other authors. Katie and I met Hester Bass at our very first SCBWI Conference three years ago. At that conference, Hester relayed (make that, shouted and sang) her Cinderella story of selling her book The Secret World of Walter Anderson to Candlewick Press.

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So, yesterday was pretty much a fantastic day. I know there's nothing more irritating than hearing someone else is having a good time, especially if it coincides with you (or those you love) NOT having a good day, but so it goes.

Yesterday, I got to go out to Red Wing, Minnesota to take part in the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Minnesota Children's Book Authors & Illustrators. It's a really cool festival of sorts that takes place out at what I can only describe as an artist's compound/haven. It's got a whole bunch of old buildings and apparently writers/artists/musicians, etc. can rent these cool old houses for the day to get away from everything and just work on their art.

But, one day a year, it's like they open the floodgates and let a bunch of kids, teachers, librarians and everyone else who's interested in children's literature and illustration in. They had people walking on stilts, face painting, music, magic, books, books and more books.

I'd been asked by the people I work with at Picture Window Books months ago if I'd like to come out and read from my new book IF I WERE THE PRESIDENT. I'm no veteran to readings or school visits (having only done one each so far) but I was more than honored. The idea was, I'd come out, talk a little bit about writing, read the book and then sign some if people wanted me to.

Red Wing is about an hour away from my house and while I would have loved to bring Laura and the boys out there, we decided it was best if this was a solo trip. Jake's been a little crabby the last week, so we thought we'd spare the rest of the people at the festival his crazy antics. I was scheduled to read at 2pm and then again at 3pm.

I got there at 1pm and got to meet one of the people I'd only known through e-mail and Facebook face-to-face. I helped set up the Capstone Publishers stand (Picture Window Books is one of their imprints) and was floored by how much stuff they produce. Gotta say I was pretty giddy about seeing my four books front and center.

The interesting thing about the stand was that we had all these books there, but we weren't allowed to sell any of them. The Red Balloon Bookshop, which is probably our most famous kid's book store in the cities, had a place set up inside where they were selling all sorts of books, most of which were from the authors that were there to read and do signings. So, a bunch of people would come by to look at the cool books and want to buy them but we had to tell 'em. "Sorry. Only Red Balloon can sell book here, today." Never one to disappoint, we ended up giving some of the books away.

Good PR, I tell you. Very few people went away disappointed.

Anyway, pretty soon it was time to get to the room where I was going to read.

Now, I should say this. I was definitely the little fish in a bigger pond. Most of the other authors were bigger names for sure and got sort of 'top-billing' and big ol' autograph tables and all that fun stuff. They had me in a really cool classroom of sorts in the basement which looked like something I would decorate. Cool pictures of musicians, artists, etc...were all over the walls. There was inspirational messages, etc. Etc. The room was down in the basement, so my editor (Shelly) went around and roped people into coming and hearing me read.

I gotta admit, I was worried it was going to be a little like the scene in This Is Spinal Tap where they have a record signing event at a music store and no one shows up. Thankfully, Shelly was able to find a bunch of people and we were underway.

Before I started, a little guy walked up to me, eyes as big as saucers and nervous as all get-out. He said something I couldn't hear. I said: "I'm sorry. What did you say, buddy?" He was maybe two years old or just shy of it. He tried again and I think he was scared to death. His mom said: "He's trying to tell you his middle name is Kingsley, too."

I was floored. How awesome is that?

So, we talked about our names and where they originated from, etc. (for the record, 'Kingsley' is my great, great grandfathers last name. He had all girls, so the name died with him) Apparently, this little guy doesn't even go by his first name, just Kingsley. Very cool.

One of the things we did for each reading was have a drawing for a couple of my books. I ended up reading both IF I WERE PRESIDENT and PATRICK'S SUPER SOCKS and then giving 'em away right after. Sadly, little Kingsley didn't win one.

After the reading, I went upstairs to check out the place where The Red Balloon was selling books. I wanted to meet Lise Lunge-Larsen, who is an expert on Trolls and when writing THE TRUTH ABOUT TROLLS, I e-mailed her to clear up some questions I had. As I was looking through the books, Kingsley and his mom came by and told me they couldn't find my PRESIDENT book to buy. We were told they'd have it to sell to people and, conversely, let me sign them for anyone interested in that sort of thing.

"They said they left them back in the cities," Kingsley's mom said.

I was bummed by that, but it just so happened I had an extra copy in my laptop bag. I gave them my copy and she wanted to pay for it, yadda yadda. I told her I wouldn't hear of it. She then asked if I'd sign it and I said:

"Of course!"

I cracked open the book and wrote: "From one Kingsley to another!" and then signed my goofy signature.

Later on, I got to meet a really cool guy. He was an older dude named Ted who came by the Picture Window Books booth and was looking at all of the books laid out. Ted asked:

"You write any of these?"

I was almost a smart alec and said: "Any? Dude. I've written ALL of these." But I didn't. I smiled and pointed toward the ones at the front of the set up.

"I've written 4 of them, up there."

Ted asked if I did the illustrations and I told him what I tell a lot of people who ask me that. "Nope. I couldn't draw a picture to save my life."

Anyway, we got to talking about stuff. Turns out Ted's an illustrator and we talked about how despite the obstacles we have this need to keep doing what we love instead of saying: Eh...I'll never make it. Guess I'll watch Seinfeld re-runs.

He then asked how long I'd been at it. I told him since I was in 2nd grade, which is pretty much accurate. I wrote a story called Stick Man's First Voyage Into the Black Hole and I've never looked back.

Somehow we got on the topic of other books and I told Ted that even though I was asked to write a ballerina book (ahem) I was also given a chance to write a firefighter book. I told him I was a firefighter/EMT celebrating my 6 year anniversary on 9/11. He sort of laughed and said:

"That's a heckuva date for anniversaries." Ted then pointed down to his left leg, which I hadn't noticed until then was fake. He went on to explain that on the day the World Trade Center fell, he was in a life-altering crash. He was driving a bus with a bunch of special needs kids and another driver going in the opposite direction jumped over the center line and took them out. A bunch of the kids didn't make it, but four did. Ted's left leg was another casualty.

We talked for a long time and Shelly ended up giving Ted a copy of PATRICK'S SUPER SOCKS and I signed it for his grandson. I asked him if he had a card because it would be cool to keep in touch with him. He said he didn't, but asked me to wait there for a moment. Since his booth was right next to ours, it wasn't a problem. I do have to admit feeling bad that he was headed back to his car, just to get a business card.

When he came back, he handed me a giant, hardboard print of some of his work. It was this really cool picture of a bunch of tropical fish that's going to look insanely cool on the wall somewhere in our house (I'm thinking Jake's room). He said he wanted me to have it and we shook hands and said it was truly great to talk to each other. And you know what? It was.

I went home a little later, listening to the newest Eels album (Hombre Lobo), hurrying home to go see Patton Oswalt (stand-up comedian) on a date with my wife and some friends.

Yeah. Not a bad day/weekend.

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A while ago public television of Sacramento contacted me because they had heard author Erin Dealey said during a presentation something about me: that I learned English watching Sesame Street.

KVIE, the public station from Sacramento eventually came to my house and filmed a testimony where I explained how that happened. I know that my testimony was aired in Sacramento because once I went to do a school visit there, and some parents were telling me how they had seen me in their TV, although it took me some time to figure out what they were talking about!

I have just found out that CPB received earlier this year a PRWeek award for their My Source initiative in which KVIE had participated with one of their spots, and there, featured in the news, is the spot they made with me.




You can take a closer look at article here, and can find more filmed testimonies here.

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I was greeted this morning by the friendliest Media Specialist, Leonora Flietas, at Norma Bossard Elementary in SW Miami. This beautiful school is only 3 years old, and the library is fantastic!

I had the chance to share my program with a class of 36 1st graders. The school chose to hold a lottery and picked one class to meet me. We danced, sang, learned about the plants and animals of Costa RIca and all about the rain forest. These were the cutest, happiest, most inquisitive kids. They were polite and so friendly. Every time I share my book with kids, I am reminded how much energy and enthusiasm they have. And more than anything, they like to have FUN! Each of us (adults) can certainly learn from them.

Thank you Leonora and all the kids and teachers for inviting me into your beautiful school and putting a smile on my face for the rest of the day!

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About the book:

Benjamin and his best friend Andy love being different from the other kids. They like being able to read each other’s minds and use their telekinesis to play tricks. In fact, they are getting set to spend their entire summer doing just that when Benjamin's mirror starts talking. Suddenly, he's looking at eight weeks of summer school someplace which can only be reached by a teleporter hidden in his hallway. And the summer only gets stranger.

At school, Benjamin discovers he isn't really human but something called a telegen. It turns out the powers he always thought made him special only make him normal. But then the mysterious Emerald Tablet chooses him as its champion, and all chances of an uneventful summer (well, as uneventful as summer school on a hidden, submerged continent can be) disappear.

Where did you get the idea for The Emerald Tablet?

Bad 80s TV! Seriously :)

The idea of kids having extra sensory powers came from a show I used to watch in the early 80s called The Power of Matthew Star (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Powers_of_Matthew_Star). Matthew Star was uber-good looking, from another planet, and had awesome powers. Something about this show stuck with me—how he was a kid who acted like a normal teenager but had these extra abilities he had to hide from the general population. I wanted to have powers like that, and I think kids these days do, also.

What was your writing process for this novel?

In writing, I get out a first draft normally as fast as I can. In the case of The Emerald Tablet, the first draft took about 3 months but was followed with a couple years of revisions (interspersed with writing the next two books in the trilogy).

I relish revisions. Love them. Especially when I get awesome feedback like I received from my editor. When I get feedback about adding scenes, moving things around, and cutting, I get excited, view it as a challenge, and dig in!

What’s the best thing about being a debut author?

All my friends are so excited for me. I think there’s probably nothing like a first book. With authors who’ve written 20 books, I can’t imagine people sending them emails, telling them how excited they are. But with a first book, everyone is excited! I’m guessing more on the 20^th book it’s like:

Author: “I have a book coming out next month.”

Friend: “Another one?”

Author: “Yep.”

Friend: “Did you see the manicure I got yesterday?”

Author: Sigh.

Your bio says you’ve read Gone with the Wind seven times. What do you like so much about the book?

The clothes! I wanted to wear the big hoop skirts and talk like Scarlett O’Hara. And also, with Gone With the Wind, there was the movie. I loved seeing how things were left out of the movie that seemed important in the book. Scarlett had two other children in the book for Pete’s sake. I was astounded and fascinated to see no mention of them in the movie. I couldn’t believe they were allowed to do that!

Are you at all like your characters? If so, how?

Of course, I think there’s a part of me (or who I want to be) in all my characters. But of the five kids in The

Emerald Tablet I’m the most like Heidi Dylan. She’s this spunky girl who says what’s on her mind. She’s not the prettiest girl in the world. She’s not the best at everything. Heck, she can hardly lift a brick with telekinesis. But she can read minds like no one’s business. And in Book 3…well, you’ll just have to wait to find out :)

The cover for The Emerald Tablet is gorgeous! What was your reaction when you first saw it?

Thanks! It was like falling in love all over again. I got my cover at the beginning of the year, but it was a totally different cover. The ARC cover was gold with the earth in the middle and characters from the Lemurian alphabet around the sides. About in May my publisher told me there was going to be a different cover. I looked around on a stock photo site and saw the picture of Bangkok at night. I sent the link to the publisher, and I guess they liked it because it’s the one used on the cover of The Emerald Tablet.

Each time I see it, I love it even more! The colors are just so outstanding.

What book are you reading now?

Two currently:

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (JB Note: I still need to read this!)

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (JB Note: I heart this series!)

What’s next for you? Spill!

The second book in The Forgotten Worlds series, The Navel of the World, is scheduled for publication in Fall 2009, and the third, The Necropolis, is scheduled for publication in Fall 2010.

I’m working on a MG urban fantasy series with an Egyptian theme and also on a YA urban fantasy more based in mythology.

About the author:

P. J. Hoover grew up in Virginia visiting museums and dreaming of finding Atlantis. Prior to writing full time, PJ worked as an electrical engineer in Austin, Texas, where she lives with her husband, two children, Yorkshire terrier, and two tortoises—King Tort and Nefertorti.

More information about PJ Hoover and her books can be found at www.pjhoover.com.

Find P.J.'s blog at http://pjhoover.blogspot.com and purchase THE EMERALD TABLET here!

P.S. P.J.'s also a member of The Class of 2k8. Check them out, too!

All right! Want to win an ARC of P.J.'s book? She's giving away TWO ARCS! To enter, leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or both places! I'll draw a winner on Monday and if you're the lucky one, you MUST email me by that Wednesday with your address. Otherwise, I'll draw a new name. Good luck! :)

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Terry in her dress

Authors and organizers

Sweet bread, pan dulce, for 600 people

aguas frescas of delicious flavors

My amigo Rene Colato full of stories

And the High School mariachi band that made me cry

And then, one afternoon, when we were free from school visits and festival, we, eight children’s books authors and two organizers, crossed the border and, if only for a few hours, my Corazon was where it belongs: We were in Mexico.

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Please welcome author Melissa Walker!


What’s the message you hope readers gain from reading either VIOLET BY DESIGN or VIOLET ON THE RUNWAY?

I don’t know if there’s a message, necessarily, but I do know that I want the books to be about more than stacked heels and It bags (although those are always fun to throw in the mix). The fashion world has serious sides—the weight issue, the competition among girls, the sometimes over-the-top party scene—and I hope that watching Violet struggle with navigating those things will resonate with readers.


What’s your writing process like?

When I’m really working on a book with a deadline, I eat breakfast, then write. I don’t allow myself to have lunch until I have 1000 words on the page. They don’t have to be good words, but they have to be there. I do that five days a week; afternoons are spent working on magazine stories. Of course, I let myself enjoy the perks of being freelance sometimes! But in general, I am pretty consistent with the 1000-word rule.



Do you have a favorite part of the writing process?

I like the part when I’m done. Seriously. The other parts are hard.



Does your background in teen magazines help you write novels?

Definitely! I honestly think it was the ELLEgirl audience who inspired me—they were such smart, funny girls and I got to the point where I wanted to write more for them.


What’s your must have fashion item?

It’s not very exciting, but I have seven little black dresses. Is that overkill? I even went swimming in one after a friend’s wedding—and then I wore it to a book party! So I guess that one’s my favorite. It’s a Luella Bartley dress from the very first Target designer series, and it’s resilient.



What’s next for you?

I’m finishing up VIOLET IN PRIVATE, the third book in the series, and I’ll hopefully start working on a new idea soon… um, when I think of one. I’m open to suggestions!

Here's Melissa in her little black dress!

Thanks for stopping by! Melissa is generously giving away ONE signed copy of Violet by Design. If you want to enter, leave a comment here or on LiveJournal within the next 24 hours. So, you've got until 10:15am on Thursday (3-6). Good luck!

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I am booked to visit Edison Charter Academy the end of May, and in preparation for the event there is some delicious fundraising happening in the streets of San Francisco. Just take a look!

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We are pleased to bring you another poem by Noah Levin (an OUP employee also!) Feast your eyes below.

by Noah Levin (more…)

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