A Writer's Week #111: School Visit!

This week I was able to do one of my favorite things as an author--make a school visit. Because life has been so hectic this year, these trips have been all too few. On Friday, though, the stars aligned and I was able to pay a call on Mrs. Robinson's 5th grade class at Middlebury Elementary.

It was a whole lot of fun (as usual). The class had really great questions and provided fantastic input. We talked about ideas and where they come from. The students were influenced by many things--personal experience, books, music, movies, their imagination, games. The list went on and on. I shared some of my inspirations for The Deliverers Series. This year, I'm incorporating a view visuals, such as my stone owl, Stig, a stone lion, and my Chinese dragon that was the inspiration for The Golden Dragon of Ang. I handed them around. Then I showed them my journal and we all chatted  about where we record our ideas.


Next, it was time to take a look at my blog where they got a chance to see some of Christian and Abigail's posts. We took a little tour of Calendria, the Did You Know and the Here Be Pirates pages, too. It seemed like they enjoyed that and I hope some of them will visit from time to time.
Reading Crew

Then it was time to listen to a reading from The Golden Dragon of Ang,  the third book in the series. It was fun to read to the kids. I've only read my own stuff to classes a few times. Every time I do, I marvel at the ease with which narrators like Jimm

Singer do all the character voices. Even though I've got them in my head, it's difficult for me to get them out properly.

At the end, it was time for bookmarks and pencils. It was really great getting to spend time with the kids and answering all their questions. A big thank you to Mrs. Robinson for having me for the third year in a row. By the way, she and her co-author Jessica Haight have a book coming out in a little over a year. It's called the Secret Files of Fairday Morrow. Stay tuned for more info on that as the publication date draws nearer.

What's Christian Reading?; The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow

Christian is an avid 4th grade reader. This post is about what he's reading. This is by no means an actual review, just his comments on whatever book he's reading at the time.

This week, Christian is reading a very special book, The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow, by J. Haight & S. Robinson. Christian was lucky enough to obtain a copy of this wonderful book, although it is not yet available in stores. If you'd like to find out more about this great book, go to Fairday's Blog to find out all about it and to read the first few chapters.

So, without any more chatter, let's see how Christian liked the book.

Here's what Christian says The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow is about:

"The book is about a girl named Fairday Morrow who goes to live in a house that she doesn't really want to go live in, because she's moving away from her friends in Manhattan. The house is in Connecticut, and is really creepy and old.

"After they get to the house, they find a mirror. When she first sees it, she thinks she sees a pair of ruby red high heeled sneakers disappearing behind a door in the mirror. She invites her friend Lizzy over to spend the weekend. They try to solve a mystery surrounding the Begonia house, by gathering clues, like a hairbrush with a strand of hair, and a picture with writing on the back

"One day, when Fairday is babysitting her little sister Magro, Margo crawls into the mirror. Fairday pulls her out and she's holding a ruby red high heeled sneaker. This adds to the mystery of the Begonia house, and gives them another clue.

"She interviews Larry Lovell, who is an old guy who used to be a reporter and knows a lot about the house. After that, many strange things happen. I won't give it away, but it's an interesting mystery with lots of magic and suspense."

What did you like most about the book?

"It's kind of hard to say because it was all really good. I would say I really liked the part when they thought that they saw a red haired figure standing in the mirror. I also liked the pictures a lot."

Was there anything you didn't like?

"I liked it all. I hope there's a sequel because I really liked the characters, and I wonder what the next mystery will be."

So, how does Christian rate The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow by J. Haight & S. Robinson?

He gives it five out of five flaming monkey heads.