There have been lots of great developments and goings-on lately.
I've taken over as the director/leader/coordinator (what is the title, anyway?) of the Young Willamette Writers. I'm very excited about this position. The Willamette Writers is the largest writers' organizaton in Oregon, and one of the largest in the United States. Its purpose is to provide support and encouragement for current and aspiring writers. Young writers are not overlooked!
The Young Willamette Writers meets at the same time as the adults (7pm on the first Tuesday of every month) to hear from professional writers about topics related to craft and the industry. Upcoming guests are Tom Hallman, Jr. of the Oregonian, Lisa Nowak (Running Wide Open) on outlining, Amber Keyser (Angel Punk) on transmedia, Anne Osterlund (Exile) with a topic yet to be decided. What a great year we're going to have!
I'm in the middle of teaching a workshop at the Lake Oswego Library for 4th-6th graders. We've had lots of fun with my And then... stories as well as Chris Van Allsburg's book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. I'll be doing a one-time workshop at the Albina Library in December.
SCBWI is hosting the 4th annual authors and illustrators gala, "Flap Flap!" on November 3. At this event, 15 authors and illustrators (including yours truly) will have four minutes to tell about their books. Come hear backstories and good tidbits from the authors themselves. This is a great time to get some Christmas shopping done as well.
Finally, I was honored to have my book discussed on Dan Patterson's blog after he used it subbing in a 5th grade class. Thanks, Dan! Glad you had fun with it!
First off, there will be NO STORYTIMES July 12, 13, 14. I'll be on vacation.
Second, I'm very happy to announce that the Friends of the Library approved my request to lead a series of four workshops for elementary and middle school students based on the stories in my book. Details about dates and times will come later.
Preschool Storytime
This week we had fun with turtles. No, we didn't have any real ones - sure wish we did. Our fingerplay was:
I Had a Little Turtle
I had a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in the water
And he climbed on the rocks.
He snapped at a minnow.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a mosquito
And he snapped at me.
He caught that minnow.
He caught that flea.
He caught that mosquito
But he didn't catch me.
We read:
Franklin in the Dark, by Paulette Bourgeois. Franklin learns to compensate for his fear of the dark. An excellent lesson for all of us.
The Turtle and the Monkey, by Joanna and Paul Galdone. I'm afraid I said this was an African tale, but it's actually from the Philippines. The two characters do awful things to each other, but I tried to point out to the children that it all came out of an unwillingness to share.
Splash!, by Ann Jonas. This is a great book for introducing mental math. It's fun to see which kids really "get" it - our future math whizzes.
I told the story on the flannelboard of "Uwungelema," the magic word that makes the fruit fall from the magic tree.
Toddler Time
Tuesday, July 5 was interesting! I guess all the little ones slept in from the fireworks the night before. Only one child came at 9:30, and three at 10:15! The rest of the week was pretty lightly attended, too.
Our books were:
The Seals on the Bus, by Lenny Hort. It was fun "singing" this book together.
Spot Goes to the Park, by Eric Hill. At the end, when Spot's mother tells him to say "Thank you," to the duck for returning Spot's ball, Spot says "Quack, quack." I asked, "What do you think that means?" One little boy said, "Give it back!"
Baby Time
I've had extra fun the last two weeks because a mom has been coming with her twins. I get to have a live baby to bounce on my lap instead of teddy bear!
My book arrived on my doorstep today! Hooray! I'm afraid I screamed so loudly I scared my daughters, but they celebrated with me once they knew what was going on. I'll have copies for sale at Storytime if anyone would like one.
I just found my not-yet-released book on Amazon! That was a very weird moment, but quite exhilarating! I won't be released until July, but seeing my cover right there with the Amazon banner was so cool! It's on the Amazon.ca and Amazon.uk sites, but not Amazon.com. I have no idea why. It's also on Overstock.com with a decent description of it. Amazon says it is #485,305 on the bestseller list, which amuses me since it hasn't sold any copies yet.
Since Scholastic hasn't told me about any of this, I wonder where else it's available for preorder?
I enjoyed my time immensely at Young Willamette Writers last Tuesday. Thanks, Corey, for asking me to join you! Seven of my daughter's critique group buddies joined me at the meeting, and I thank them for being so willing to participate and get the energy going. I read three of my stories to them, and they furnished the endings in various ways: out loud, taking turns adding one sentence at a time, then on their own. Their stories were quite creative and hilarious with alien hamsters, lots of slime and screaming like a girl. I'm hoping some of them will be posted on the Young Willamette Writers website soon.
The evening renewed my confidence in my book, that it will be a good tool for teachers in the classroom, and that kids will have a great time with it. It's so hard to be patient!
The Willamette Writers is the largest writers' organization in Oregon, and one of the largest in the U.S. They also host the "Young Willamette Writers" for youth who are interested in writing. My daughter attends these monthly meetings with several of her friends from her critique group that she started at her school (Veritas School in Newberg).
I'm particularly excited about November's meeting this Tuesday, as I get to be the guest speaker. I'll be using my cliffhanger stories for some fun writing activities. After I read a story, we'll have a few kids tell the ending aloud. That's always what gets the kids in the mood to have their imaginations run wild (see "Alien Ants"). We'll write some story endings and share them with each other, and spend a few minutes talking about the benefits of critique groups for aspiring authors. I'm really looking forward to this!
I'll be sure I'm there, Mrs. Klepinger!