AUTHOR STUDY - MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ME: PART 1

In a few weeks I'll be visiting students at H.H. Poole Middle School in Stafford, VA. The 6th graders are reading Blue and doing an author study of me. So I suggested they could send me some questions and I'd try to answer them on my blog.

They sent me tons of questions and if I don't get started, the school year will be out before I'm done.

1. HOW MANY BOOKS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE? (Garrett)
When I'm dusting it feels like a million or so but truthfully it's probably about 700 (unless you count the ones that are boxed up in my attic - then it's probably a million! Or maybe it's somewhere in between. Can you tell I have no idea? But here are a few of them.

2. IN WHAT STATE WERE YOU BORN? (Ross)
Pennsylvania (But when I was one year old I begged my family to move to NC. Okay, maybe not . But I'm glad we moved.)
3. DO YOU LIKE CRABS? (Chas) WHAT KIND OF SEAFOOD DO YOU LIKE? (Cedrick)
I used to live in Ocean City, MD where I learned to LOVE crabs & lobster. I like lots of other seafood too.
4. WHILE BEING A MOM, DO YOU TRY TO INSPIRE YOUR CHILDREN TO READ SOME OF YOUR BOOKS? (Zhane) I remember when my son was young and he'd be reading a book and laughing out loud. That made me want to write a fun book for boys which I did but it isn't published yet. (Probably because I love writing sad books so those are the ones I work on most.)
5. DO YOUR CHILDREN EVER HELP YOU WITH YOUR BOOKS? (Jasmin)
I email chapters to my daughter as I write them and she tells me which parts are good and which are boring, or if something sounds stupid. She's a great critic because she reads great books and isn't afraid to be honest with me!
6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FASHION DESIGNER? (Jennia) WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE STORE? (Natalie) My favorite stores are consignment shops and used bookstores. I have a weakness for them. Sometimes consignment shops have great clothes with good names. I love wrinkle free, comfy clothing. I like Liz Claiborne clothing. And Chicos.


I love old books!

7.WHAT WAS THAT BLACK THING ON THE GUY ON THE COVER OF HEALING WATER? (Javon) (Ms. Goll)

The answer is here.

8. WHEN YOU GET STUCK WRITING WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET OUT AND KEEP WRITING? (Scott)

Get up and move. Mow grass or pull weeds. I research or read for pleasure. And listening to writers, artists, or muscicians talk on the radio about their craft usually gets me going again, too.

9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE? (Jack)

A long time ago I saw a movie called The Mission. I loved it but it was so heartbreaking I could never watch it again. I should though, because I've forgotten a lot of it. I know it took place in South America. It was a movie about non-violence. There was violence in it, but the heroes stood up for peace. I'll try to think of a fun movie to mention later.

10. WHEN DO YOU HAVE TIME TO GO TO ALL THOSE PLACES? (Jake)

Actually I am very, very, old. I traveled to Africa more than 30 years ago. And it was years before I left the US again. My husband and I made 2 trips to Europe since 2002. Our daughter lived in Lithuania one year so we took our son and went to visit her. It's easy to go from one country to another in Europe so we visited Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Lithuania on one trip. A few years later, we visited a missionary from our church who was working in Ukraine. On the way home we stopped in Belgium to visit the birthplace of Father Damien. He's the priest who inspired me to write Healing Water. So that was a little research trip.

Here's me feeling sorry for myself on a trip to Europe! You can read about that here.