JOY READ: Author visits from the author's POV

As a library technician, I've booked many author visits and am used to the drama. Contacting the author or the booking agency, arranging transport / hotel / meals, following up with the author, getting students and staff pumped for their visit, setting up, the big day and ongoing promos long after the author has left.

But now I'm getting to experience the beasts known as author visits, from the author's POV. Suddenly I'm dealing with taking time off, arranging transport, confirming meals/hotel and because I'm one lucky lady - having my hubbie and my two crazy labs along for the ride.

As we reached our hotel yesterday (after a 6 hour drive), I flipped through the room service menu and found this bookmark tucked inside. How appropriate. Yes, folks, we are on a JOY READ. ;)

Packing for two adults and two crazy labs involves a ton of creative thinking - but not the writer kind. My husband managed to cram all my gear in (books, books, books, laptop, camera, not to mention hair product!), along with his stuff and dog supples: crate, "blankets", food dishes, toys, bones, leashes, etc. (We're worse than new parents, I swear.)

We have a nifty system for traveling with the dogs - we've made several long trips with them before (Salt Spring Island in BC was the best trip EVER). Higgins, our chocolate lab has the back of our SUV, and Willow, our yellow lab, is tucked in her crate. No fighting while we're on the road or playing - you have the window I want to look out of / do you want to look out this window? TOUGH!

Amidst the potty breaks and walks around road-side turnouts, I worked on my presentations, polishing documents on my laptop and getting my husband's (and high school teacher) opinion on what writing process themes would best keep grade 7-12 kids interested.

I had a great time presenting a session this morning: Author Visits to DIE for: Virtual Author Visits - talking about all things writers currently do to promote their books (booktrailers, playlists, SWAG and social media) and how library staff can tap into those readily available resources. Plus I talked up Skype author visits and the Skype An Author Network. Highly recommened for public and school libraries wanting to connect readers and authors on a budget. I hope my session sparked some ideas and would love to hear success stories...hint, hint.

From the Parkland Regional Library conference in Lacombe, Alberta, we travelled through a touristy, but tres cool town, Sylvan Lake. Talk about beautiful pseudo-sea side homes!


I could so move there in a heartbeat. Lots of funky shops along the marina, pubs and restaurants, mini-golf, waterslides, go-carts and more. Nice. Making this a true, JOY READ, we stopped in a larger city, Red Deer, and checked out the Chapters. Low and behold, Under My Skin was on their shelves! I signed the copies and left some UMS swag. A very cool moment and I snagged a Chai latte too. ;)

One stop at a farmer's field later and the dogs were in their element. Yes, they might have crushed some grass as they tromped through a section of field, but man, did they have energy to kill.

Tomorrow, I'll be presenting to students from Rocky Mountain House. A teacher has read all (or most of) UMS aloud to her grade 10 English class. I can't wait to see what kind of questions they ask....yikes! So that's it in a nutshell, lots of travel, fast food, dog walks, planning a la car, promoting reading and writing, and exploring the country. Author visits ROCK. Everyone should get to do at least one JOY READ. Right, Willow? Woof! ;)

Teachers are the real rockstars!

A big shout out to my hubbie, Shawn, and teacher buds, Jo, and Kelsey, who helped me develop my writer workshops for the Young Writer's Conference in Sherwood Park on February 27th. I would have been a big old bust without you. ;0

The kids were AMAZING. So keen/clever/cool. I could see bits of my tween/teen self in all of them. I would have loved that kind of experience as a kid. Getting to meet authors, artists - workshopping and asking questions. The whole day was food for my writer soul. I forgot to bring my camera. If I come across some pics of the conference, I'll post them later.

I have to give a big shout out to teachers...damn, you work hard for the money! I did two, 90min workshops and spent about 12 hours creating my presentation: from powerpoint slides to criteria, working the piece to peer evaluations...it was all work, work work.

But then I got to sign autographs for 30mins (370+ students in a gym with authors/illustrators). There I was with Marty Chan, Sigmund Brouwer, Mary Woodbury, Gord Steinke, David Poulsen, Patricia MacQuarrie, Rita Feutl...and more Alberta authors/illustrators. We felt like kings and really all we did was teach a few classes.

Teachers need an autographing tent at the end of EACH DAY - you guys are freaking ROCKSTARS!

Taking the Stage

Though I've been a musician, singer/songwriting for more years than I care to mention. Public speaking gives me the willies. I can't hide behind a guitar or bass or share "WE ROCK" grins with band members.

We're talking. Just me. Talking.

I've been gearing up for a few author visits and workshop presentations and I gotta admit, I'm nervous. Last year I did a few visits to the local high school and the public library's teen reading club. But those were home-town venues. I knew the librarians, hell, I knew half the kids. But the gigs I have coming up are all over Alberta and there will be no familiar faces.

As an elementary school library technician, my usual interactions with classes involves going over their overdue books - aka - holding a cup of coffee in one hand and reading from the "list of doom" in the other. It's very casual. There's storytime where I read from picture books, sure, but most of my interactions involve hunting through the stacks for that missing copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Not a lot of typical public speaking involved.

I needed more experience speaking in front of kids for longer periods and keeping their attention. So what's a newbie author/elementary school library technician to do? Why, go from class to class in her school and talk about writing of course! I sent an email out to the teaching staff offering myself as a resource to present a short spiel on any writing related topic: character development, plot, hooking readers, editing, you name it.

I've had a blast presenting to the kids, discovering what they were currently writing and fostering the love of the written word. As a bonus, I've also logged in some extra "stage" time. Thanks to my school for being so supportive! The lesson from this? Take whatever steps you need to, to feel comfortable with the various roles an author has to play. If you're having fun - so will everyone else.

On that note (sorry, lame segue) the Class of 2k10 has a lot of fun planned for February - SWAG giveaways! All ya gots ta do is comment on our blog - giving a shout out to those you love, or who have inspired you in some way. Contest ends midnight February 14. Open to US/CANADA residents only. Must be at least 13 years old to enter. Winner announced February 15.
Check it out: The Feel The Love Giveaway

The Wild World of Author Visits

With my book launching in a few months I’ll all keen to get out in the world and do some presentations as a debut YA author. Earlier this year I did a few low key school visits, a public library teen book club visit and an online chat with teen readers at TeenRC. Those first dips in the author circuit pool will hopefully come in handy. But the thing is – I don’t want to be one of those authors.

If you’ve ever sat in on an author visit that’s going south – you know the ones I’m talking about - the author who never quite connects with his/her audience (however small or large). There’s a distance, a pretension that comes through loud and clear and no amount of high wattage smiles or scripted jokes can mask it.

Working in school and public libraries, I’ve been on the organizational side of an author visit – I know the value of a grounded author, one who is approachable, stays generally on topic and can put the crowd at ease with the appropriate level of goofiness or dramatic intensity as the occasion warrants.

I’ve seen authors choke at school visits (not physically, but you know what I mean) – they’re just too afraid to be silly, to be kid-friendly, to make mistakes. And then I’ve witnessed a whole gym full of kids from kindergarten to grade six absolutely enthralled at the retelling of childhood foibles that later became the basis of a writer's work. (I’m speaking here of Canadian author, Sigmund Brouwer, who wowed students and staff during an hour-long presentation we’ll not soon forget - if you ever get the chance to hear him speak....jump on it!).

So here’s to a debut year of author bookings, a year of goofing around, accidentally offending people (I tend to do that), of getting a few things right and a whole bunch of stuff wrong. If any of you have tips for the newbie, I’m all ears.