big and small

My first school visit was as a volunteer to my daughter's class. I learned quickly by watching faces what was interesting and what was boring. I dropped the boring bits and added more interesting bits.

The first school I visited where I was paid was the small town of Long Prairie, Minnesota. I asked students if they'd ever worked with an author. All of them raised their hands and described the piece they had written. I was amazed because they were high school seniors and the writer had come when they were in third grade. I realized then what a strong impression an author visit can have on students and know it's not always clear at the time which students are impacted the most.

I've done hundreds of author visits since then and I love going new places big and small. Yesterday I was in Decorah, Iowa and had a great time with 400 middle school students. Tomorrow, I am going to a high school specially designed for recent immigrants. Each school or library is an opportunity for me to learn more about where I am.

The people whose school and library visits I admire all love doing them. Each author or illustrator presents in a different way, but this love shows through. I also connect with students by letting them know that writing is hard work and that I struggle with some of the same things they do. They love seeing messy first drafts and rejection notes and I love showing them.

For me, school and library visits are one of the great joys of being a writer.

Traveling Tips from a Picture Book Maker

Michigan School and Library Welcome!

Like many other Spuds on this blog, I travel to schools and libraries, books in tow, along with art supplies for making small picture books, folding origami, and cutting out snowflakes, depending on which books of mine are being featured.

Presenting at The American School of Bombay

Mostly I drive to schools or conferences in the Midwest area, but once in awhile I fly, going further afield. The farthest I have traveled was for a week in Mumbai, India. The closest I have traveled was just five blocks away at our neighborhood elementary school. I have presented in large gyms and theatres with plenty of room to spare and I have presented to five classes squished into a small library or even a hallway. I am adaptable.

Presenting in a school library in Minnesota

Before becoming a children's book author/illustrator, I lived in places where I did not need a car. Everywhere I needed to go I could easily hop a subway, a bus, Amtrak, ride my bike, or walk. But when I moved to Minnesota, suddenly a car was necessary and learning to drive again became a must, especially when I began to visit schools outside the Twin Cities. Before my first week-long school residency, I conferred with a friend about what to bring. Here is her advise, which I still follow to this day:

~ Bring a string or two of twinkly lights to hang around the hotel room. This warms it up and makes it inviting after a long day of presenting.

~ Bring a favorite blanket or quilt to put on the bed instead of the hotel bed coverlet. Again, a sure-fire way to make the room feel more like home after a long day's work. I also wear a lot of scarves, so I have a set of scarves that I wear, but also drape about the room, making it my own haven.

~ Candles make for a lovely way to light the evening alone, along with a glass of wine and a good book or bring a favorite DVD. (I always travel with the six-part "Pride and Prejudice" BBC series.)

~ Another friend of mine always calls the local florist and has flowers delivered to her room before arriving. Flowers brighten a room and take away the hotel smell. 

~ I like David LaRochelle's idea (see previous post) of checking out the local dining options, but I also check out the local grocery stores. Usually my room has a small fridge and microwave, making it easy to prepare my own meals. After a long day of workshops and large presentations, I enjoy a swim in the hotel pool and a "homemade" meal in my room. 

This spring I am working on such a heated deadline for a book that I have not visited any schools or libraries. As I read the posts of my fellow Potatoes and write my own, I feel my traveling shoes itching. With two new books coming out in the coming academic year, I think I will be ready to hit the road! 

Have Books, Will Travel

I was visiting an elementary school in St. Michael, Minnesota, last week, and thought to myself, "I have the best job in the world." I was teaching a fun lesson on a subject that I love, students were stopping me in the hall to give me hugs and hand me notes saying I was "cool", teachers were thanking me for getting their classes excited about writing, and everyone was telling me how much they liked my books. On top of all that, I was getting paid.

Visiting schools is one of my favorite parts of being an author. Unlike my friend Laurie whose job sent her on the road 157 days last year (for expert advise and entertaining stories, check out her blog site, The Accidental Business Traveler), I only have a handful of out-of-town travels each year, which makes my overnight school visits feel almost like a vacation. And because I feel like I'm on vacation, here are a few of the perks I indulge in when my school visits take me out of town:

* I strive to eat at only non-chain restaurants. I'll take a diner's hamburger steak dinner with American fries and Texas toast over the Perkin's special any day of the week. And always ask the locals for their favorite places to get a good meal; plenty of times the best cafe is hidden around a corner that I would have otherwise overlooked.

* I ALWAYS check out the local bakery. I can remember the small town's mint brownies, moon pies, and apple fritters, long after I've forgotten the name of the school I visited.

*The local library is another great spot to hang out, as are the antique shops, where I can spend several pleasant hours scouring the shelves for vintage Cracker Jack prizes to add to my collection.

*Time in my hotel room allows me the luxury of reading without a hundred household chores staring me in the face. Heck, I don't even have to make my own bed! I also get to indulge in television watching which I don't do at home. Ten minutes of tube time can sometimes be enough to remind me why I don't have a working television...and then I can go back to reading again.

*A swimming suit is a staple in my suitcase in case the hotel has a whirlpool where I can soak in the evening.

*And before any school visit that will involve a long drive, I stop by the library and check out a bagful of CDs. Showtunes, music from the 40's and 50's, and middle grade audio books are my favorites. They really do make the miles fly by. And I've been known to stay sitting in my garage after a five-hour car trip so I can listen to the end of an especially engaging audio book.

*Finally one last item I've learned to pack to make sure that my time away from home is pleasant: earplugs. Noisy hotel air conditioners and close-at-hand interstate traffic no longer keep me awake at night, and I get up in the morning well rested and happy to spend time with a new school of students.

A Big Day for this Spud...

I'm thrilled to share this, which was in Publisher's Marketplace today:

THE RAFT and THE
COMPOUND author S.A. Bodeen's first four volumes of a middle grade series,
pitched as "Swiss Family Robinson" meets "Lost," about a recently-blended family
on a sailing trip in the South Pacific as a bonding adventure for the new
step-siblings and step-parents, when things go terribly wrong, to Jean Feiwel
and Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends, in a six-figure deal, by Scott Mendel at
the Mendel Media Group (world).


Happy dancing, for sure.

New sights for a new view...

Traveling is part of my job, which I love. Although this year I've done more Skype visits than ever before, I still get to do a lot of "real" school visits. Last February I went to Brazil, where I spoke at four international schools in four different cities, so my travel buddy Karen and I got to see four very distinct areas. Brasilia was a fascinating city, one that was actually planned and built after the automobile was invented, so it has a seriously efficient road system.
We arrived on a Sunday, and our host was the elementary school principal. She drove us around to look at the sites of the capital city, including the inside of the national cathedral,which had these huge angels hanging down from the ceiling.


Then she took us to a massive park where there was a lovely fountain.


At the same park, there was a Sunday festival, which meant people selling their art and wares.



There were snacks and drinks to purchase as well, and Karen and I shared a chilled Agua de Coco...



And of course, I did have some work to do the next day...

Imagine

I have enjoyed the various tips others have provided about filling the well and have caught up on them after a wonderful week of visiting eight schools in Fargo. Lauren recommended me to them after she'd been there last year and I recommended David. The Red River valley is a great potato growing area so it makes sense to go spud to spud.

I heard a terrific interview that Terry Gross conducted with Jonah Lehrer, the author of a new book on creativity titled IMAGINE. He discussed ways to improve creativity and recommended three of my favorites: walks, naps, and exercise. I aim to do one of these every day and on a good day will do all three.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/21/148607182/fostering-creativity-and-imagination-in-the-workplace

I found much in the interview that went well with our discussion. Happy well filling.

Tulips and Starbucks

Yesterday I received an email from MoveOn that Starbucks had come forward in support of the issue of Equality in Marriage and was being busted by the far-to-the-right-wing-nuts, so this morning when my son groaned about having to ride the bus to school I offered to drive him, then stopped at the local Starbucks and bought myself a soy latte. On the drive I was astonished by the blooming Forsythia, Magnolias, and daffodils everywhere. I sighed at the light green clouds that hover around the tree branches, soon to become full-green foliage. I stopped to buy some groceries and bought a bouquet of pink tulips for my studio today. By the time I arrived in my studio this morning I had perked up. My well was filled and now, I am ready to begin again.

I am in the midst of a deadline on a book that brings me great joy and great angst. I have never painted a book in this short amount of time and sometimes the panic gets so strong that I hit a wall. Yesterday was such a day. I felt stuck. More than stuck. I had hit the wall and it hurt. When I am not on deadline, the ideas flow. I feel free then, able to take long leisurely walks, meet friends for coffee, go to meetings, schools, movies, plays, readings, etc. All of which inspire my muse. But when I am on deadline and have to say no to everything, it is the little things that fill me up. Like driving my son to school and looking at spring springing, buying a latte, and bringing home tulips. Now to work!