I spent lunch hour on February 22, 2010 at the Overseas Family School and it was fantastic. A group of about five authors and illustrators spoke to groups of children about writing, the writing process. It was a fantastic hour filled with lots of questions from some very insightful kids.
At first I was not sure as to what to expect from the session. Should I prepare a speech, a written statement of what I was going to say, or should I just have a rough out-line and wing it the rest of the time. You never know what you're going to expect when it comes to kids. After all, they are wonderfully unpredictable, aren't they?
I have to thank Janette Cox for arranging a fantastic session and for inviting me to be a part of a wonderful experience. I met some very talented writers: Grant S. Clark author of Monkey Magic: The Curse of Mukada and Ben Morley author of the recently released The Silence Seeker. Please pick up a copies of these books if you haven't done so already. I can't wait to see more stories from these two gifted writers and I was actually humbled and honored to be included in the session with them.
All the writers were seated seated in different sections of the library and groups of kids would come by to listen to us. I brought along copies of The Littlest Emperor and Monkey:The Classic Chinese Adventure Tale as well as copies of There's Soup on My Fly to get things started. I read out some passages from the books, asked questions and I handed out custom made bookmarks to the kids. Thankfully I had printed more than enough book marks were a hit with the kids. And at the end of the session the kids asked us for our autographs. That's something I've never quite gotten used to here. I'm just little old me, why on earth would anyone want my signature? But I've been repeatedly told that I should sign my books as it's just like an artist signing a painting. Huh? I know, right. I get the artist thing but I just don't get the signing thing.
Which is kind of ironic because a few days later I found myself standing in line at Borders Books at a Mitch Albom book signing. But hey it's Mitch Albom, the world-famous author who penned "Tuesdays with Morrie". There are some people who may think that book is facile but they'll be pleasantly surprised when they actually read it. I read it years ago and I've been a fan ever since.
After waiting for about an hour Mitch arrived and he spoke to his fans, encouraging any writers never to give up and keep plugging at it. He also spoke about kindness, charitable and human nature, and how we can all make a difference.
I was the second in line and of course after acting like a starstruck groupie, I gave him a copy of 'Soup' hoping some of his best-selling magic would rub off onto me. Hasn't worked yet; still waiting. Check out a clip I took of the Albom at the signing.
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