A Writer's Week #9: This is What It's All About

What an interesting week I had! It was filled with aggravation, but there were many great hidden moments. I had a great time with the family over the weekend. I wrote a bunch. I sold a bunch of books. It seemed that every time I turned around, someone wanted a copy--or two. Even the stressful work week ended well. I wrote all about that yesterday. Today, the work week ended on a high note. I finished the preparations for next week's training sessions, and I was able to pay a visit to a great class of children.

That visit was truly the shining moment of my writer's week. I spent the afternoon with Mrs. Robinson's 5th grade class. What a great experience! I have to admit that I was nervous. This was my first visit to a class as a writer. I've read to classes before, but always other people's books.

This was the perfect day to visit, because it was Read Across America Day. It's a wonderful annual event, and I was proud to be a small part of  it in my first year as a published author.

So, when I drove over today, I wasn't sure how it would be. Would the kids be interested? Would they ask questions? I was slated for a little over a half hour. How was I going to fill that time? I knew that Mrs. Robinson had read the first chapter of The Deliverers to the class yeaterday, and had asked them to think of some questions. But, really, how many questions could they ask?

I felt reasonably safe. I planned to read chapter 2. That should generate some interest. If nothing else, it would kill some time. Then, they'd ask a few questions, and time would be up. A respectable presentation, but nothing really spectacular. After all, it wasn't like J.K. Rowling was visiting, how into it could they get, right?

The fact is, I never got the book out of my bag. From the moment I sat down in front of them, they asked one question after another. And they were great questions! They asked where I got my ideas, who the characters were based on, how long it took me to write the book.

A half hour later, the questions were still coming. I handed out some bookmarks and pencils. Then they asked me to sign their bookmarks. What a great day! As I've said in the past, this is what writing is all about. When you can connect with the reader, and see that you've touched them in some small way, you know you're doing something right.

I want to give a big thank you to Mrs. Robinson and her entire class for making me feel so welcome, and for being so interested. I learned a lot about all of them, and I hope they learned something about me and the writing process! I'll have some pictures in a future post. Stay tuned.

What? Oh, how did the writing go this week? It started out great, but with everything that was going on, I couldn't turn in the monster writing week that I had hoped. Still, I wrote a little over 2,000 words on the new book, bringing me into chapter 20. I'm still behind my original goal, but I'm not sweating it much. I also sent the book in progress to Daniel Vogel to read so he can begin to think of ideas for a cover.

So, things are moving right along. I wonder what next week will bring...