My very exhausted head has been filled with all these random thoughts from my book tour which I have been trying to form into a cohesive, narrative blog post that does the experience justice.
Ain't gonna happen! I'm just too busy catching up. So rather than put it off until it never gets done, here's a random recap:
I had a most excellent time!! My two-day jaunt ended up being the perfect "first experience" for me- just the right length to figure out what I like to do, what works for me and what I'm comfortable with, and gave me a peek at what author-visits and book-signings are all about. I'm a no-name, first-time author and I was in an area close to where I live, but far enough away that I knew virtually no one. That in no way compares to a tour by a famous big-name author, like say, oh I don't know... Mo Willems, for instance (ha!), but I sure got to feel like a REAL AUTHOR, and I'll tell ya, I could get used to it real fast :)
My visit to Mrs. Blaylock's and Mrs. Cramer's first-grade classes at Notre Dame Elementary School in DePere, Wisconsin was possibly the coolest thing to ever happen to me. THANKS KIDS!!! They even gave me a school sweatshirt!
You can't tell in this photo, but the kids all illustrated their favorite scene from the book! MY book. Heh, heh.
Some wonderful, book-loving person bought a copy of
Hush, Little Dragon for every child in the two classes and I was able to sign each one and chat with the kids individually. I think that was my favorite part of the whole trip- first graders R-O-C-K.
I didn't get a picture with Mrs.Cramer's class (I'm so sorry guys!). I am used to taking pictures of my kids and people being the center of attention- but in my daily life, that has never been ME before. Something to get used to and I need to remember to get pictures of everything! I need to take lessons from
Lisa Yee, don't I? She's amazing at it!
At
Butterfly Books in DePere, I got to sign THE author-signing tablecloth!! But I didn't get a picture of it. But let me tell you, it is very cool. If you've never seen it before, get thee to their next author signing and just SEE who has been sitting at that table before. Very cool company I kept there :) And I don't just mean the tablecloth- a big THANK YOU to the owner, Barbara Wilson, for hosting me at her store and the schools. Oh, and for lunch! Yum!
I didn't get a single picture of Dickinson Elementary or the SIX first-grade classes I spoke to there. Because, of course, I was a nervous wreck talking to that many people at once and had enough trouble remembering my own name, let alone to take pictures. Maybe they'll send me some? But really, I should never have been so nervous- they were great!! Because, remember, first graders R-O-C-K! They really do.
If you grew up revering bookstores, like I did, you know what seeing THIS meant to me:
And I got to keep it too!!!! Yes, I'm framing it :)
If you are a bookstore owner, if you want to do a storytime right, all I'm saying is the author should get to sit in something like THIS:
which I did, at
Apple Blossom Books in Oshkosh.
If you are not a customer of theirs, you should be.
If you are a bookstore owner or employee, you should do what they do.
If you are an author, you should do a signing there.
Because they are a GREAT store with a GREAT staff and were a GREAT last stop for me!! Thanks Candy and Holly :)
So, in summary, a little note to myself: next time, take more pictures, be less nervous, and have just the same amount of fun!
I know this is long, but I may think of some other random stuff later, so I reserve the right to fill my blog with Wisconsin-ness for the rest of the week!!
:)
