Bran Muffins of Doom? An Interview with Author & Illustrator Marty Kelley

Marty Kelley is a recovering second grade teacher living in New Hampshire. What does one do when recovering from being a teacher? Write and illustrate for kids, of course!

Marty has illustrated a number of books for kids, two of which he has also written. He is represented by Red Fox Literary Agency. Marty is frolicking by to give us the low down on his writing and illustrating. I even asked him how his unique book tour and how he feels about illustration notes.

How long have you been writing and illustrating for kids?

My first book, Fall Is Not Easy was published in 1998, so it’s been a while. Before that I worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for several small newspapers and magazines.

What are some of your favorite things to illustrate?

People, people, people. I love painting them. When I’m not doing children’s books, I actually create commissioned fine art portraits of people.

Do the things you enjoy illustrating affect what you decide to write about?

I have a terrible time with landscapes and tend to try to have my illustrations happen indoors, but that obviously doesn’t always work out. I don’t consciously adjust my writing to what I think the illustrations will be. In fact, it has happened that I’ve had a story written and then realized that I have no idea how I’m going to do the illustrations.

As an illustrator, how do you feel about an author putting illustration notes in a manuscript?

Unless it’s something very important to the story, I prefer that the author sit back and let me do my job. I completely understand how nerve-wracking it must be to not have any control over the look of something that you worked so hard on, but when authors start micro-managing, all the fun of creation gets sucked out of it for me. I’m glad to say that it’s only happened once or twice.

You did a tour of seafood restaurants for CRUSTACEAN VACATION, (which is awesome!) how did that opportunity come about? Do you think alternative venues are a good avenue for authors and illustrators to use when promoting their books?

That was a weird one and while I enjoyed it, I have had my fill of chowder for a while. It actually started because a manager at one restaurant of a local seafood chain called and asked me if I’d like to come in on their kids’ night and sell books. They didn’t ask for a cut of the profits and they offered to feed me. How could I say no? It actually went better than some of the signings I’ve had at bookstores over the years. I went back and did it a few more times and it always went well enough to make it worthwhile.

I mentioned the event to Melissa Kim, the editor at Islandport who worked on Crustacean Vacation with me. She jumped on it and arranged a tour of the 13 restaurants that the author and I split. A few of them went very well and some of them were dreadful, just like any event, I suppose.

I think the alternative venues are a great idea for anyone - not just authors and illustrators. You have to be flexible and willing to try whatever you can if you want to succeed. If nothing else, some of the odder events make good stories to tell your friends later.

You’ve written and illustrated a number of picture books, and your chapter book, FAME, FORTUNE, AND THE BRAN MUFFINS OF DOOM, was recently published by Holiday House. How was it to create a chapter book after previously focusing your work on picture books?

I loved it. It was difficult and the book–because of a long and occasionally unpleasant series of events–took almost 5 years to be published. I worked with Sylvie Frank at Holiday House. She was enthusiastic and full of great ideas. There were parts that were definitely a steep learning curve for me. The illustrations, done in pencil, were a big challenge and I learned the hard way about the difference between full color reproduction quality and black&white reproduction quality.

The book took something of a beating by a few big reviewers, but the feedback from kids has been completely and overwhelmingly positive. They’re the audience, so I’m happy with that.

You are signed with Abigail Samoun of Red Fox Literary, how has your career changed since obtaining representation?

You mean besides the jet-pack and the hot tub and the multi-million dollar advances? Other than that, it’s just about the same.

Abi edited a book I did with Tricycle called Twelve Terrible Things and I enjoyed her slightly twisted sense of humor. She helped hammer out the initial version of the chapter book. In fact, she is the one who kept pushing me in that direction.

It’s nice to have someone to look things over before they go out to publishers. She’s way more in tune with what editors want than I will ever be, so she can help guide the work that I do.

What are you working on now?

I’ve actually got several projects going at the same time. It’s not my favorite way to work, but you do what you have to do. I’m finishing up my final edits on another chapter book that I’m hoping Abi can get me that six figure advance for. I’ve also been working on a few beginning reader books. With 50-75 words and a very concise vocabulary, it’s a fun challenge to try to come up with an engaging, well-crafted story. I also have a few new picture book ideas that I’m still forcing into submission in my sketchbook.

You can find more from Marty Kelley on his website, www.MartyKelley.com and at his blog martykelley.blogspot.com. He also has a website for his book, Fame, Fortune, and the Bran Muffins of Doom called Simon's Plans where you can download the first chapter of the book, play the Bran Muffins of Doom Game, watch the book trailer, and more! And don't miss Marty's Free Books for Life offer. It's quite a deal.

Natasha Yim Teaches Us How to Read... in Public!

Today I'm happy to be the first stop on Natasha Yim's blog tour celebrating the release of her latest book, Sacajawea of the Shoshone, part of the Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses series published by Goosebottom Books! Natasha's book, Cixi, the Dragon Empress, is also published by Goosebottom. Her picture book, Otto's Rainy Day, is published by Charlesbridge, plus she has a forthcoming book from Charlesbridge titled Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas. So, Natasha knows quite a bit about having to read in public! And when I say having to, I think most of you know what I mean. Getting up in front of a crowd is something most of us don't enjoy and something many of us think just might kill us! But, Natasha understands, and she has some great tips to get us up there, connecting with readers!

READ IN PUBLIC? WHO ME?

By Natasha Yim

Recently, I presented my new book Sacajawea of the Shoshone (Goosebottom Books, 2012) at the Sonoma County Book Festival. I even dressed as Sacajawea for the occasion. My stomach churned uncontrollably. I kept telling myself: “Get a grip! You’ve done this before. You know her story. Why are you so nervous?”

Well, that’s because for most of us authors, public speaking doesn’t come naturally. It’s something you have to work at. There are always things I worry about: I won’t speak clearly enough, my topic won’t engage the audience, I look ridiculous in this costume, I’ll trip and stumble on my way to the stage (this happened to me once), nobody will show up (this has also happened to me at an event). Unfortunately, Marketing and Promotion is a big part of being an author these days. After all, how are people going to find your book if they don’t know it exists?

When I had my first reading and signing at a book store for my first picture book, Otto’s Rainy Day (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2000), I was petrified! I had to ask my brother-in-law to read the book! School visits were even more terrifying. Speaking in front of 50, 100, 150 kids? Forget it. I avoided doing school visits for the longest time. I’ve come a long way. I’ve done quite a few public speaking engagements now and managed to have fun at most of them. And even though I can read my own books and get to the stage without stumbling, the nervousness never goes away.

So, here are a few tips about public speaking I’ve learned on my way to the podium. They may not make you a great orator, but it’ll help you manage your sweaty palms, hammering heart, and the urge to throw up all over your audience.

1. The only way to get a handle on your fear of public speaking is to just DO IT. Over...and over...and over again. The more you do, the less terrifying it becomes (note I’m not saying you won’t be terrified, I’m saying you’ll be less terrified).

2. Don’t think sales or marketing. Yes, you’re putting yourself out there and forcing yourself into this misery called public speaking because, in part, you’re promoting your book. But ultimately, what you’ll get the most joy and satisfaction from is connecting with your audience.

3. Use visuals. Power Point...best invention, ever! Actually, I have an Apple computer, so I use Keynotes which is more intuitive than Power Point, but you can include fun graphics and pictures, make them move across the page, shimmer or sparkle. Kids love the little airplane icon that flies across the map of the world from South East Asia to California when I talk about my childhood and journey to the US. You can enlarge the pages you’re reading from so they can see the illustrations better. And it takes the focus off of you as the speaker. When and if Power Point isn’t feasible, copy, blow up and laminate images, illustrations and graphics that relate to your book. Tip: pictures of pets are always a great hit.

4. Go with the flow. Sometimes, you’ll appear at an event and you’ll have one person in the audience or none at all, or the bookstore owner didn’t order enough books (or as the case may be—any books). I’ve turned book events into one-on-one chats (hey, she took the time to come), or signed free bookmarks for the attendees who didn’t want or couldn’t afford to buy the book. Make your time worthwhile, no matter how small.

5. Have a sense of humor. A friend of mine presented her book for ages 9 - 13 at an event where most of the kids who came were barely in pre-school, and the Q & A segment went something like this: “When is the skater lady going to be here?” (Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi was also scheduled to read her children’s book that day). You never know, those embarrassing moments could be the start of a new book! At any rate, they’ll make great stories to tell your grandkids...or your writer friends...who then put it in a blog post...

Want to hear more from Natasha?
Connect with Natasha on her website: www.natashayim.com
Her blog: www.writerslife2.blogspot.com (You can find the next stops on her blog tour in the sidebar.)
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/natashayim
Facebook: www.facebook.com/natashayim.author
and check out the fan pages for Sacajawea of the Shoshone and Cixi, The Dragon Empress.


And if you're in the bay area, Goosebottom Books will be launching Sacajawea of the Shoshone and 2 other fall releases (Njinga, The Warrior Queen, and Horrible Hauntings) at Reach and Teach bookstore, San Mateo, on Oct. 27, 4 pm. Come join us for a Halloween-themed book party with scary treats, a scariest reading contest (the audience gets to pick the scariest reader), book readings and enter the best Sacajawea look-alike contest. More details on Natasha's blog to come.

Book Signing!

I did a book signing over the weekend. It's actually the first straight book signing I've done for Bedtime Monster. My two other events have been library presentations, so people come expecting a book. This signing was at a Spring Bazaar that promotes women in business. I suspect that no one's ever seen an author signing books at one of those in my little town. But, it was actually pretty fun.

The day started out with me winning the prize for being the last participant to register. My being last is really no surprise, but I've never gotten a prize for being a procrastinator. Now that's more like it. Awesome!

Someone from the city got my book for her kids and told me that she'd actually heard about my book! From where she couldn't remember, but I was just excited to know that someone who didn't know me had heard about Bedtime Monster and remembered it! (I know, little things can get me overly excited.)

There was a lady who was so happy to meet me. She is certain that I am going to be famous. She hugged me AND GAVE ME A PIE! Blueberry!!!

My favorite part...a little boy of around two years old was walking by my table, hand in hand with his grandma. She was looking straight ahead, headed somewhere else, but when he saw Bedtime Monster, he ran his hand across it, and let out a squeal of delight. Grandma stopped and bought him the book (grandmas are awesome like that) and I got to meet the sweetest little boy who is going to be reading Bedtime Monster over and over from the looks of things.

So, all in all, I sold some books, made some friends, and had a good time. Not too bad for a Saturday morning!

Launch Party or Strapping on my Tail like a Big Girl

Waiting for a launch party to happen is a funny thing, especially if you work at the place the party is going to be at. Flyers with my picture on them were hung on the bulletin boards and there was a stack of handouts on the desk right next to me. It was a little weird to have pictures of myself hanging around the library, but it was entertaining. I lost count of how many people looked back and forth, back and forth, from me to the flyers, me to the flyers. Then I would hear them whisper to one another, "Is that her?"
"Nah."
"No, I think it is."
"I don't think so. Maybe."
Finally they'd ask, "Hey, is this you?"
I'd smile and say yes, and they would usually have a look of surprise or amazement. I mean, famous authors don't have real jobs, right? (Yes, some people even use that crazy 'F' word. Famous. To which I have to laugh.)

Anyway, I know I could have just piped up and said "That's me!" When I saw them looking, but it's so much more entertaining to see people try to figure out whether it was really me or not.

After a few weeks of flyer entertainment, the day of the party finally came. We made monster cupcakes. The head librarian came back from her vacation early just to be there and to make them with my kids. Isn't that sweet?!




Cute & tasty!



When the time came for me to get up in front of everyone, I thought I was ready, but I did get a little nervous. There were about forty people there and some of them were grownups! I was a big girl, though. I put on my tail and got up there.

I couldn't believe so many people showed up just to see me. Some of them I knew, but many of them I didn't. So, I started off by talking about how much I love books. I told them about how I love books so much that I write them. I told them that that's why I started working at the library, so I could be around more books.

Then I told them all sorts of things about Bedtime Monster. I talked about how long I'd been waiting for the book to come out. I showed them the original cover(they all agreed that Bonnie's cover was much better.) I talked about Bonnie and how she is the illustrator. Then we read the book. It went great! The kids stayed interested the whole time, and I didn't die because a bunch of grownups were watching me. Victory!

Then we all went and partied down. We made monsters out of some monster parts I'd made, did monster origami, put on monster tattoos, and ate popcorn and cupcakes. We even had live music provided by my husband and this crazy guy wearing a tattoo on his head.

Every party needs a crazy guy who lets the kids put tattoos on his head.

I got to sign some books too! A few people stopped in just to buy my books. I was amazed! Yup, this is where I sat and signed them.

Now, you may wonder why I'm not sitting here, and why I don't have a bunch of great pictures of all the fun stuff we did. Well, I have a little boy who loves to take pictures. He's really quite good at it. He wanted to be the photographer. With all the book stuff I've had going on my kids have really been learning a lot about writing and business and I think it's great for them to participate so, of course, I said yes. I went over things with him beforehand. I know, at the event I should have told him, "here take a picture of this, take a picture of that," but I ended up being a lot busier than I imagined. I mean, it was like I was the host to forty people and the guest of honor. My little guy did take a lot of pictures, he just kinda forgot that I needed them to be of things I could actually use. Oh well, he had fun.

I had another library presentation the next week, but it wasn't such a big production. The crowd was a lot smaller, but the intimacy was nice. I really got to talk to people. And the funny thing was, I wasn't even nervous. I feel ready to strap on my tail and do my next three library presentations in the spring!

A Review! (and stuff)

Booklist reviewed Bedtime Monster, and it's a nice one. Yay! It's my first review so I'm excited! You can read it at booklistonline.com if you're interested.

Fun things have been happening with my little book and me lately. Yesterday eight copies of Bedtime Monster arrived at the library while I was working and I got to check them in. I put one on the shelf and one in a bedtime display to go along with my release party tomorrow. I've got my tail and monster tattoos ready to go. I have a create-a-monster craft all together. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get my monster origami craft finished up. It's been a little tricky getting the dotted folding lines in just the right place. I also got a nice write up in the local paper with a big photo of my book cover and a little photo of me. Just the way I like it. Ha! Tomorrow is definitely going to test the depths of my outgoingness. I'll be sure to tell you how it all goes.

Authors Now!

My Author Spotlight interview is up at Authors Now! where I answer some great questions about who might identify with Bedtime Monster and how the book can be used in the classroom. Stop by and say hi!

Launch Party Prep

So I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for my book launch party. I know it's happening at the library. I know I'm going to read my book and have food and drinks. I want to have monster masks for the kids to make or maybe have a monster art show where kids make their own monsters from random art supplies and they hang them up and get a ribbon that says "monstrously good".

I, of course, have to find a place to get such ribbons. And that's where my trouble begins. I have all these ideas but I scarcely know where to start. I want some really cool monster print pajamas and a big green tail to wear to my launch party, but where do I find such things? I see some monster attire for kids, but I think I'm going to need some specialty stuff. After all, I could be touring some more libraries in these jammies! I wish I was more crafty and could sew myself some pajamas and a tail. The closest shopping mecca is hours from here and I doubt there are the kind of monstery things I need. I know--there's online, obviously. But I don't seem to be finding what I need. Guess I'd better get to work.

At least I know that I'm going to be making a monster cake. I'm certainly looking forward to that! Maybe I should go practice making one now.

Reading Practice

I've decided that since my book is coming out soon, I'd better practice reading to kids. I mean, I know how to read to kids, I do it every day. But reading to large groups is different. There are more eyes that need to see the pictures, more mouths asking questions, more wiggling bodies, more minds to keep entertained.

Every year I help behind the scenes with the Summer Reading Program at the library, but this year I'm stepping it up. This year I'm doing the reading. I've done two readings so far to around 40 kids and 20 adults each time. I was surprised by the volume I was able to raise my reading voice to so that everyone could hear. I did not die when I got up in front of everybody. Actually, I wasn't even nervous. Pretty good for a girl who would rather not get a dipolma than take the required public speaking class. I'm still a little befuddled on what to do when all the kids want to talk at once. And what to do when the parents are louder than the kids, making it hard to hear the story. But, I'll get the hang of it.(Advice is welcome!)

So now, I've been asked to write a proposal for a library tour. I'm going to have to think of lots of fun things to do. It's one thing for people to be coming to the Summer Reading Program for the program. It's a whole other thing for people to be coming to see me. Hopefully I can figure out a library tour that will be a monstrously good time for all and build on the confidence I've attained from my summer's worth of reading practice.

Author Fair Participants

photo by Terry Donoho

From left to right: Sally R. Alexander of CMPPG, authors Kimberly Ann Freel, Bea Alden, Jean Vernon, me, Aline Lesage, Jesse Jayne Smith, and Suzanne Bates and Tracy Lawlor of Theytus Books.


photo by David A. Hamilton

Catherine Jameson and the star of her book, Zoe and the Fawn.

I was able to round up alot of great people for the Two Rivers Author Fair this year. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of talent we have here in this sparsely populated area.

Catherine Jameson is an award winning author. She grew up in Oroville and now lives close by in Penticton, B.C. Her picture book, Zoe and the Fawn, is beautifully illustrated and wonderfully simple. The story was born out of a Children's Fiction Writing class Catherine took at the En'owkin Center in Penticton. She had to interview two children. One was Zoe, and her story inspired the book. It was fun seeing Zoe(who I see around town all the time) being the star of the show as her aunt told the audience about her book. I can only imagine how cool it is to have a book written about you when you are a kid. Zoe signed books right alongside Catherine too. How cool is that! Theytus Books has asked Catherine to write a sequel to Zoe and the Fawn. She says she'll be talking to Zoe about it and will begin work on it soon.

Kimberly Ann Freel, author of Monster White Lies and Painted Rocks, put on a fun presentation and got the audience thinking about descriptive language with her power point presentation. Then she had everyone on the edge of their seats with a sneak preview of her next novel, Callie of the White Sands. Sounds like it's going to be a good one.

Bea Alden read and showed off illustrations from her South African memoir, Liongold. She is such a sweet lady and I just happened to find her as I followed a lead from a newspaper ad, for another author. The man I called told me about Bea. After some internet research, I gave her a call and she was so kind and well spoken I knew she was going to be great. She certainly didn't disappoint!

Jean Vernon gave an informative travel safety demonstration based on her book, European Adventuring-On a Budget. I learned lots of good travel safety tips. Now if I could just go travel. Jean wrote a column for Mother Earth News for two years too, back when I read the magazine faithfully. Isn't that awesome!

Aline Lesage read from her novel Gaby's Penance, but wouldn't give away the novel's secret; only clues--in French. Oh, to hear he speak in French is just beautiful. Aline just moved here to our little town and it's great to have another writer around to chat with.

Janine Donoho aka Jesse Jayne Smith, my friend of many names, and author of Wildfire, gave an inspiring talk on novel creation. And she helped me pick up the slack getting this event together. I would have been exhausted to the max without her. And then she got me this fabulous gift! A box full of beautiful soaps and lotions and green polka dotted cashmere socks!

Both Theytus Books and CMP Publishing Group put on great displays of their published books. I feel awed that two publishers came and set up shop at our little library event. And their books are so beautiful. I wish I could have bought every book there. Alas, we volunteer coordinators don't make much.

We ended up having about forty people come, which I suppose is less than I was hoping for(the room certainly could have held more people). Still, a decent turn out for a busy day around town(silly me, I scheduled the fair on graduation day). The audience asked many thoughtful questions of each author making the day quite interactive and all the authors had a wonderful time sharing their books and meeting other authors they didn't know lived so close. I'm already thinking about how to do it better next year.

A moving author fair

It finally all came to a conclusion; on the same day. I pulled off the author fair and moving and both were a success!

I don't know what I was thinking when I scheduled the Author Fair for the same day we had to be moved out of our rental and back to our house up on the mountain. I figured we'd be organized. We'd get the moving and cleaning done early. I don't know why I thought that because it's not like we're ever organized or early, and there's always more work to do than you think. My husband did quite and amazing job picking up the slack on the moving and cleaning though, and with an injured shoulder to boot. He is quite amazing. I mean, how does a man carry an entire car engine by himself with a shoulder he can barely lift? I don't get it. And his shoulder is actually feeling better. Go figure.

The second annual Two Rivers Author Fair went great. The authors were fabulous. The talks were varied and truly interesting. I enjoyed listening to every single one. And people actually came!

Most surprising is that I actually hosted the thing. I mean, I got up infront of forty people, numerous times, and announced things and kept the show rolling. And I didn't freak out. I wasn't even nervous. Compared to last year it was a banana split with a cherry on top.

How did the wallflower do it? I'll try to blog about that soon.

Newspaper Surprise

I opened up the local paper today to see if they ran my library news article. They didn't. But, to my surprise, there I was sitting with my fellow authors at our booksigning the week before(It's a small weekly paper so week before stuff is newsworthyish). There wasn't even a reporter at the signing so I suppose my friend at the Corner Shelf is a good promoter. She took the pictures, called the reporter and gave her an interview. I think I could take a lesson here and stop writing all the library's promotional articles and just call the reporter. Of course, then things that are "happening" will have already happened by the time they get in the paper.

I was on the cover of the paper last week with my daughter at kite flying day. Here's a link just for fun.

Writer times in review

It was a strange week last week. I was applauded by a room full of librarians, had people ooh and ahh over me signing my book for them, and talked to a room full of fourth graders and got them to have fun writing. Big things for this quiet little writer.

I learned alot at the summer reading program workshop. So much work goes into putting on this free program and the librarians are so enthusiastic about it. Everyone came up with crafts and skits and they wrote tons of book talks to go read to the kids at school to get them interested in coming to the library. And we sang kids songs. I wondered what the two guys were thinking when they came into a room full of a bunch of women singing, "there ain't no bugs on me". They certainly looked confused.

It's easy to see how having the support of even one librarian can help a writer immensely. And it was just so fun to see people so excited about children's books, and not because they write them. I hope I get to go again next year, except I'll probably be expected to get up and give a book talk since I'm a writer and all. And now they all know it since my boss had to brag about me to everyone. There's no being anonymous with her around.

My book signing went pretty well. I remembered a pen, talked to alot of nice people, and even sold some books. Not too bad.

I was a little nervous about going to talk to the fourth graders, but now it seems silly that I was. Except for right at the beginning when the teacher told the kids I was there to talk to them about being a writer then walked to the back of the room followed by an eerie silence and a moments panic, it went pretty well. It seems I do have quite a bit to say about being a writer. I should, but I'm not much of a monologuer in person.

The kids had an inordinate amount of fun creating characters. I had cut faces out of magazines and pasted them onto index cards(thanks to the blue board for that idea). I couldn't help but pick the extraordinary sorts of pictures(Spin magazine was great for that). I think it made it more fun anyway. The kids made up crazy names and occupations and cracked themselves(and me!) up. It was great fun. And I've been told some of the kids are hoping I'll come back again. Don't know if I can top that though. Oh, and one of the coolest things was when I showed them the cover for Bedtime Monster. One boy blurted out, "that is sooooo cool!". I think so too.

Alas, the glory is short lived(thank goodness)and now I must wallow in the waiting of an overdue deadline. When will the torture end!

Class Visits

I visited my local first grade class for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I was nervous and worried. I (over)planned it all out. The teacher wanted me to talk about myself--what I do, my books--and how to write a story.

I think it was the having to talk about myself that really made me uneasy. That and getting up infront of people, even though they're small. But I made myself do it. If I can't start with my own kid's class where can I?

So, I talked to them about being a writer. I talked about illustrators. I showed them some books I loved when I was a kid(they really liked that). Read the first chapter of my book. Did a question and answer session. Then I showed them the cover for Bedtime Monster since that's all I have, and we wrote a story There's a monster who lives under my bed ... together. I figured since I was controlling the story I wouldn't let it go in a scary direction. And it was pretty good although it was hard to try to include everyone and use a little bit of each kid's ideas(didn't want anyone to feel left out).

It went okay. I mean, the teacher told them that I'm famous and they all wanted my autograph, except for my son who rolled his eyes. Now the kids are making their parents look up my website and they all know about me. Sheesh. So much for being the anonymous mountain weirdo. But the kids seemed to like it.(A couple of them hug me every morning now.) And the teacher said it was great, but she's very nice so I wouldn't expect anything less. I hope I did all right.

I went in again today. It was much easier since I didn't have to talk about myself or my books. I read Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your Monster to open up some ideas. Then the kids wrote their own stories starting with Today I went to the pet store and picked out a monster ... It was fun to see them come up with their own stories. Writing down their own ideas; and there were some great ones! Creative! Funny! They seemed to enjoy it for the most part. There was laughing and smiling going on. There was one little boy who was having a particularly hard time with the writing, but his picture was excellent. He has told his teacher that he wants to be an illustrator when he grows up. Pretty cool.

Now the fourth grade teacher wants to know why I've been visiting the first graders and still haven't come to his class. Oh the price of fame. *sob

What is going on with me?

I've really been surprising myself lately. I'm doing things that are so out of character. I've gotten up infront of a crowd and read my book, I've talked to numerous people(people I don't even know!) about writing, and now I've actually been on the radio.

It started a couple of months ago when my publisher told me that she was going to try to book me and a fellow author on a local radio show. I told her I really couldn't do that. I was barely able to handle the fact that I was going to have to get up infront of people and read my book at the time. She said I'd do fine. I tried to forget about it and hoped they wouldn't want me on.

Fast forward to last month and I am told that I have to go on a live morning radio show. Live radio? And in the morning? First of all, I have lived my life avoiding being a public speaker. I'll barely speak if it's to more than one person at a time. Two's enough of a crowd. Secondly, although I've tried and tried, I am not a morning person. I can barely start thinking before 10am. It sounded like a disaster in the making.

So, what did I do? Did I worry and fret and drive myself crazy? Nope, I ignored it completely. Until a few nights before the event, I just didn't think about it. I was busy. I had manuscripts to get out, lakes to swim in, a wedding to go to, children to play with, floors to clean! Okay, I didn't do much floor cleaning, but my ignoring method worked pretty darn good until I realized I was going to go in there with nothing. And nothing would bad. Very bad. I couldn't have the interviewer ask me a question and just sit there with a blank look on my face. I hate sounding stupid, although I do it quite well.

After a slight freak out I knew where to go--the blue board. The authors there would have some advice. And they did! I got prepared. I overprepared. I memorized my book descriptions, answers to questions I thought the interviewer would ask, and answers to my faq's from my website. I made up bio and question sheets. I tried not to say, "ya know". And I tried to breathe. I did alot of breathing. It would be okay, right? I still did not allow myself to think about the whole radio aspect, that was just too too much.

On the hour-long early morning drive I went between practicing my answers to the all important question: What is your book about? To blasting the music and singing loud enough to drown out my worries. Then I got lost and was afraid I was going to be late. Several times I did consider just not showing up. Hey, I could have gotten a flat tire! But, not being one to break a commitment, I made myself get out of my 4-door cocoon and walk into the station.

There I met two fellow authors, Kimberely Ann Freel and Susan K. Marlow, who were just as nervous as I was. We chatted with the interviewer who was so totally mellow and unconcerned that he wasn't even interested in the info Susan tried to give him, so I didn't even bother trying. But, while everyone stood and chatted, I went over my notes one last time. "This isn't a test," my publisher joked. Yeah. It was worse.

The time to go into the studio came all too quickly. I tried to sit in the far corner seat and was quickly put into the center. I think they knew I might run at any moment. My throat was so dry I wasn't sure any words would come out when I tried to speak. And then I heard the music. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. I looked at the microphone. Yikes! I tried not to look at it again.

And then we started. One by one, we were introduced. I said hi or thank you or something, and I actually spoke! Major relief. Next came THE question: Tell us what your book's about. I was so ready, it was scarry. I couldn't believe it was me speaking. I wasn't stumbling over words. I was actually making sense. Wow! And then my turn on that terrifying first question was over.

The funny thing is, after that it got easier. One thing that majorly helped was the fact that I was after Susan, who had to be first on every question(poor Susan!), so I always knew what was coming next. The other thing was, I had all this great advice flowing through my brain: don't interrupt, just act like it's an everyday conversation, breathe, don't look at the microphone! I did keep an eye on the big clock that sat on the table in the center, waiting for the 8:15 commercial. There never was a commercial. The time came and went and suddenly it was 8:26. We were almost done, and I was almost enjoying myself? Well, at least I wasn't freaking out. I wasn't nervous anymore! I even added a few things at the end when everyone else was quiet. What had gotten into me?

So, that's my story. I could be completely wrong. I haven't heard the show. I'm not sure that I want to because if I sound horrible, I won't be able to do it again. And knowing myself, I know I'll think I sound horrible. So, I'd rather stay in this state of ignorant bliss and be willing to do an interview again if I'm ever asked to do one. But please don't let it be live! Editing is such a gift.

If you want to see the actual room where I did the interview, here's a link: KOMW

Me, interesting?

What is interesting about me? That's a question I've been forced to ask myself too many times lately. It seems when you sell a book, you have to sell yourself with it. It was something I was not prepared for. So, what do I share? How much? Do I even have anything media worthy?

I wrote two pitch letters last night and I can't help but feel strange about it. It's like I'm saying, "Here are these great things about me. Want me to write you an article all about my wonderful self?"

So, future authors, be prepared. Start a list of interesting facts about your writing self that could be used for an article. Also, keep tabs on how you came up with your story, what your process is, how long it took you to write, and anything at all pertinent to you and your future book. Also, try to get some good candid pictures of yourself at various times so you are not forced to endure failed photo sessions.

And when it comes down to it and we got nothing? We're writers, right? We're sure come up with something.

First Reading

I did it! My first real reading--and I didn't die.

I have been living promotion for the Author Fair put on by my library for the past few weeks and had been able to ignore the fact that I was going to have to get up in front of people. Then, all was in order and it hit me. I started worrying. I cried. I lost sleep. I thought of plenty of good excuses to get out of it. Luckily, after one night of that I decided I wasn't going to worry about it anymore. I lied to myself. I said it would be okay; that I would enjoy it. I even told myself I was excited. No negativity was going to penetrate my fantasy reading!

So, today I sat on a pillow in front of the fireplace surrounded by children(a group of my kid's friends I had somehow had the foresight to gather, otherwise I would have been reading to a room full of adults and might have had to use one of my excuses). I started with some talk about the library with the kids and asked them a question and boom--I was interrupted with an announcement about the bathroom. Yeah thanks.

I went on. I was prepared and was going to get through this. "You're not loud enough," rang out from the crowd. I talked louder.

When I started reading I suddenly sounded very strange. Oh no, I think, I'm losin' it. I'm not going to make it through this. What am I going to do? My kids are here thinking I'm amazing. There's all these people...

Wait. I'm not losin' it, I am speaking into a microphone and everybody can hear me. Yes I know, that's the point of a microphone, but I have really tried to stay away from those things my entire life. It had been snuck right in front of me. Which is a good thing or I may have had to chuck the mic back at Steve. But, he knows me well enough to know that sneaking a microphone in front of me is the only way to go. It was too late. I knew I had to ignore the evil mic or suffer a most heinous consequence.

I read on, waiting for the last page. Would it ever come? The chapter really isn't that long! What's the deal? When will it end. Aaargh!
I can honestly say I loved reading those last few lines.

I even remembered after reading to show the kids the pictures for each chapter of the book and tell them about the illustrator, tell them there is a peanut butter cup recipe in the back, and invite them to come color some coloring pages from the book. Then I thanked them. I really thought I was losing my memory, but I guess it's there when it really counts. I only used my cheat cards once, after the bathroom incident.

So, I guess it went okay. I was glad when it was over. And after being up there by myself the author question and answer panel didn't seem like such a big deal, especially since I wasn't asked any questions. At this moment I feel like, hey, maybe I could do that radio interview. I learned today that I at least know more about publishing than the average joe and more than some people who write even. But ask me tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll be far from wanting to do any of it ever again. Unfortunately, I have to, so I am going to remember the positives, even if I have to make them up. I think lying to myself was quite helpful. I'll have to do it more often.

The best thing about the whole day? My six-year-old wanted to talk about the fun he had today. And the "funnest" thing he did all day was watch me read my book. And my daughter is so proud. They are the real reason I made myself do this. I tell them it's okay to get up in front of people. It's okay to be nervous. I'm glad I was able to show them as well.