Book Party in Pictures

Last night we had a party!

Any excuse to celebrate books, right?

Thank you to all the great people who came. I especially loved seeing the teachers and media specialist on the front row who trekked in from Plant City and made a Girls Night Out of the evening. And bought my books to take back to their school. And to Joan, my friend from last year's school visit to her library.

For those of you who don't know this store,  
INKWOOD BOOKS has been transformed by the amazing owner, Stephanie.

I missed her last night because she was at Winter Institute (a pretty good excuse, right?).
Her daughter, a voracious reader and member of their kids' Book Club, came and told me she loved my book.
Sigh.

Amanda and her helpers ran the show, made the introductions, sold a lot of books.
Thanks, guys!

Somehow I missed a photo of the card catalog display but I did capture the typewriter!














I was surrounded by critique group members, past and present. And fun food and drink.

There were a lot of writerly questions.
After everyone left, I thought of some better answers.
Of course.
Doesn't that always happen?

One question still rattles around in my head.

"Was it harder writing a boy narrating this than having a girl narrate GLORY BE?"

I gave what I thought was an adequate answer.
But here's another thing. I did have to pay attention to what Theo actually sees and notes in both dialog and interior monolog, which is the same thing, kind of, when you're writing in first person. And when I stepped over the line into girlie talk that didn't fit Theo's personality, my writer friends pulled me back.

A boy like Theo might not notice Miss Sister's hair or dress or tap shoes the same way a girl would. He might describe things a bit differently from Glory. But I don't think I can only narrate stories told by girls like me. That's when research and careful reading and writing kick in. So there's a longer answer to that question.

To the person who asked about outlining in advance v. jumping right in, so to speak.

Here are the links I mentioned.

PRE-WRITING WORKOUT by Wendy Mass.
Both my friend Shannon and I can attest to this helpful kickstarter for your plot.
Here's a post I wrote about it. I still love the quote, by the way.

NANOWRIMO= National Novel Writing Month.
November. For all ages. It's fun. But prepare to re-write.   😄

My kind of tongue-in-cheek (but not really) post on TEN THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM KIDS ABOUT WRITING lists #1 as Put a Dog in Your Book. 

I forgot to say that last night.
I didn't know about that research--really, I heard it on the news-- when I wrote THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY, but I did include a bit part for a dog named Ginger Rogers, owned by Miss Sister, the dance teacher.

A truly lovely moment came when Gay, a grandmother who clearly supports her granddaughter's love of reading, came with a large photograph of me and Isabella from my event at the Dunedin library. She asked me to sign it. I was so touched.

At dinner after, my fortune cookie said it all:

Thanks to Jay, for driving us over the bridge to Tampa, and to my friend Kay for manning the refreshments. Here we are at the end of the evening.

Thankfully, Kay made sure we came home with 3 delicious Chocolate Guinness cupcakes.

Who knew beer and chocolate could taste so good together...