Peoria Adventure -- Part Three

Friday morning came around very early. I had trouble sleeping Thursday night, all keyed up still from the excitement of the signing, I think. That plus I tried reading a book that my sister loaned me and it was scary enough to keep me jumping at every unfamiliar noise. I haven't stayed alone in a room at my parents' house for years, so it was very strange!

After a quick reinvigorating stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee (Stacy G.), milk (me) and doughnuts (both of us!), we were on our way to the first school. Side note: it was so cool to be out and moving around with purpose on a work day, but still have time to stop for doughnuts. Some of that's Peoria, a slightly slower pace of life, which is a relief sometimes compared to up here. Some of that, I imagine, is the cool part about being a full-time author, or so I imagine!

At the first school, we were going in to talk to the second graders in my mom's music class. But first we had to stop by the office and register ourselves as visitors. Okay, here's the kooky part. When the very nice secretary greeted us and showed us briefly into the principal's office, I was nervous! I've been out of college for seven years, out of high school for 11 and I was nervous about meeting the principal. But she was very nice. Much younger and hipper than I remember any of my principals being. Some of that is probably that she is younger, some of it is that I am older : )

After meeting the principal, we headed off to my mom's music class. She had two groups of second graders in there, some of them who'd just finished music but wanted to stay and others who were just starting their class. The funny part about this was this visit was triggered by just one little boy. My mom had mentioned to them that I would be visiting the fifth graders and one little boy asked why I couldn't visit them too. He wanted me to read the author's page to them (something my mom had already done), which is, of course, the only page guaranteed to be appropriate for this audience! So I did that, which only took a few seconds and that left us plenty of time for questions. Such imagination and good questions! How old were you when you started writing? How long did it take you? Where do you get your ideas? I was really impressed by their questions and their patience with listening. It was a great deal of fun!

When all was said and done, I got complimented on my shoes by one little girl and a dandelion as a flower from another. We witnessed the "Freeze Dance" which was hysterical (they all dance around and then freeze in place when the music stops) and the singing of a scary witch song, which I remembered vaguely from my own childhood. It was also kind of fun/strange to see my mom in this role. She was firm with them, very professional, but you could tell that she really loves teaching, wants the kids to learn. I'd never seen my mom teach before and it was worth it to see her in her element!

Then it was off to the second school. These were the older kids, fifth graders. When we got to the school, my mom told me that the teacher had kept it as a surprise for them. When I walked into the library, there was a banner welcoming me and my very tall chair to sit in. It was so cool! Again, so many good questions. What was my favorite book that I'd written? How many pages was my book? What was my favorite book I'd read? Did I know any famous authors? If so, how many and who were they? Kind of funny because I have met at least one famous author, but of course, they're not the right age for LKH! But I did cause a stir when I told them that I was going to a convention in the spring and would likely meet Meg Cabot there. The girls were very excited by this -- who wouldn't be? The author of the Princess Diaries. I can't wait to meet her myself!

One thing I learned from this experience, kids don't have the same sense of humor as adults. I always try to joke in my presentations, little things here and there, mainly self-deprecating. Humor helps warm people up, make them more receptive and likely to listen. Unfortunately, the little things that I said which would have gotten a chuckle out of adults got me blank stares mostly. I'm not sure they're used to hearing adults poke fun at themselves andthat is my particular brand of humor, particularly when I'm speaking in front of others. So, if I'm ever to speak to school children again in a formal setting like this, I'm going to have to do a little more research on their kind of funny! : )

After the q&a was over, a couple of the kids hung around to ask a few questions. One girl asked about how long it would take to write a book. I told her my standard answer, which is, if you write a page a day for a year, then you'll have a book that's 365 pages long, more than long enough to be published. I tried to answer their questions as I would an adults and not patronize them. I hope I didn't scare any of them off. Because really the point for me wanting to do this was to talk to the kids, to tell them that this was something they could do, if they really want to. So, if even just one of those kids hears something that I said and feels encouraged to chase after whatever dream they may have, then I've done something good, right? Given back to the world in the form of encouragement that was given to me, if that makes sense.

One of the fifth grade classes also made me a card (they all signed it!) and the teacher gave me a Willow Tree angel, a beautiful gesture!

Anyway, after the kids went to lunch, Stacy G. and I headed to the teacher's lounge for lunch with my mom and her fellow teachers. Again, so strange to be in this, a forbidden area for students. I even joked about it because it felt so odd. I've only ever been a student in school, never anything else. And another interesting thing, a few of the teachers were younger than Stacy and I. Which was excellent, but disconcerting. Did that mean that teachers were getting younger or we were getting older? I suspect it's both.

After lunch, we hugged my mom good bye and got back on the road. On our way north again, Stacy mentioned how cool it would be if this was what we did all the time. Being a writer, traveling to speaking engagements, etc. I couldn't agree more! But I have to say that it wouldn't have been nearly the fun trip that it was without the company I got to keep. A HUGE thank you to Stacy G. for road-tripping it with me this week -- I had so much fun! Thanks also to my mom and her fellow teachers for setting this up and allowing me to come in and talk to the kids. Honestly, it felt great to be able to do something that might help someone else in a small way to some day achieve a dream.

Okay, I'm exhausted! Talk to you tomorrow!