Last night I did probably one of the awesomest things I’ve done in my writing life so far: I went to my kids’ middle school and got interviewed by the principal in front of about 50 kids and parents as part of their book fair.
There was a standing-room-only crowd in the music room as Dr. Bernice, principal, peppered me with questions about the book. He’d read it, which was amazing, and asked insightful questions about the characters, the writing process and the inspiration behind it. Then he turned it over to the students, who were the coolest! I’ve known some of them since they were little. It so touched me to know that some of them had read it and thought about it. A lot of those who hadn’t wanted to know more. I have lots of these events lined up in the coming months but I will always have a special spot in my heart for my very first one, especially since it was in front of a hometown crowd.
When it was all over, kids ran up with pages torn out from their notebooks, asking for autographs. I had to keep the tears from flowing at that point.
And – bonus points – my kids tell me I didn’t say anything too cringe-worthy. So their reputations are intact.
I put a certain child of mine on photo duty, who assured me that he got some great shots. Alas, none of them seem to have made it on to the camera. So, instead, here is a picture that a mom in the crowd, a friend of mine, took while I was working the crowd pre-interview. Note I am still at it with the waver, creating what my daughter likes to call “Midlife Crisis Hair”:
