EASTLAKE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Many thanks to Athena Gerber and Donna for the nice set-up at the Eastlake Public Library. I met some future writers and we snacked and read and talked about writing. This Saturday I will be in Madison for a conference for middle school girls. And then next Thursday I will be speaking to a cubscout group out in Jefferson. Happy Reading!

KENT STATE ENGLISH FESTIVAL 3-20-09

It was great to meet some of the fans to The DragonFly Keeper last Friday at the Kent State English Festival. The students all had wonderful questions and were great at trying their hands at a little poetry.

AUSTINBURG EL

Here is Mrs. Pearson's third grade class at Austinburg Elementary. They invited me in after finishing The DragonFly Keeper as a class. I was bombarded with a lot of intelligent questions and even met a aspiring Hollywood businesswoman. Tomorrow I will be at Kent State's English Festival. See you there (maybe.)

I'M BACK FROM ABROAD!

Happy Spring! (OK it's wishful thinking.) Anyway our family was in Italy visiting the in-laws. We were in Sicily which was rainy but not frozen. We ended up taking a boat to Egypt to see the pyramids. We were already 5,000 miles from home. What was a short boat trip accross the Mediterranean and a short bus ride through the desert? We also got a chance to stand on the vulcano Mt. Etna. I brought my laptop to write. . . but with three little kids, lots of wine, and camels. . . well I got a lot of inspiration. And Giuseppe is in the pilot's seat of a small jet in that picture up there.

I am into the second DragonFly novel, however, and will give you updates.

Currently I have a poem published in the on-line journal http://www.wildviolet.net/. Please check it out!

Here is my current list of appearances. Please check the blog in the future for the current times and schedules:

March 5th, Thursday, afternoon, cub scouts in Jefferson

March 9th, Monday, afternoon, 3rd grade at Austinburg Elementary

March 20th, Friday, day, Kent State English Festival

March 24th, Tuesday, evening, Eastlake Library

March 28th, Saturday, day, Madison Middle Schools Girls Conference

April 14th, Tuesday, evening, Madison Library Books and Cooks

May 13th, Wednesday, day, Jefferson schools

May 16th, Saturday, day, Rocky River Library Civic Day

STS JOHN AND PAUL SCHOOL

I had a wonderful day at Sts. John and Paul high school and elementary school last Monday, November 24th. Stephen Robison and Brittany DiMare, the high school president and vice-president (above) were my guides and assistants. They were a lot of help and are two very mature leaders. I met honors society students from SJP and also Geneva and Lakeside. I hope all your exciting dreams come true.

I don't have any speaking plans the next few weeks before Christmas, but the book is still selling well. It is still on-line, at the restaurant, at Ashtabula Giant Eagle and bookstores everywhere. If your bookstore doesn't have it - they sold out and can order it! Contact me if you have any problems procurring it.

What's next? Well right after Christmas I am going to Sicily with my family for six weeks. We will spend time with family and hopefully I will get close to finishing that sequel!! In March I have many engagements - The Kent State English Festival, a conference for Madison Middle School Girls, and an appearance at Eastlake Library.

Happy Holidays!!

NATIONAL BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST!!!!

I was happy to open my e-mail Monday and find out - surprise - I was a finalist for an award in children's fiction! This is a national award which gives out prizes to all the big houses like Hyperion and Simon and Schuster, so to be a finalist coming from Fava Press really excites me. I just wanted to share the good news with you all!

KINGSVILLE ELEMENTARY

The students at Kingsville Elementary in Kingsville were great! Everyone had great questions and some even got up and danced to the Kingsville Elementary World Music Bands. Thank you, Kelley Louden for helping to set up the event.