ANNE GREENAWALT: Girl Wonder

Way back in March (or about 3 weeks ago) I attended a workshop about public speaking/marketing led by the great Peter Jacobi.

We workshoppers were a small group of writers and among us was Anne Greenawalt.
Anne is all of 24 years old and already she has accomplished amazing things. In addition to earning her masters degree, she writes for several online magazines, and has published a book of short stories called Growing Up Girl. And she also has an agent.

Did you hear me world? Anne Greenawalt has an agent!

Her agent is shopping her young adult novel about a female who participates in the Olympic games in ancient Sparta!

Personally, I think that subject is incredible. I’m also thinking that, if anyone is equipped to write such a novel, it’s Anne. For one thing, as a competitive swimmer, she knows sports. For another, she's passionate about women and their accomplishments.

But don't jump to conclusions here. Anne is not on a soapbox. She is a quiet soul. Speaking in public (which we practiced at our workshop) is not something she's inclined to do.

But Anne is powerful. She can do hard things. We saw her transform in 4 days from her “do-I-really-have-to say-something?” persona to “watch-me-give-a-dynamic-school-visit-and-be-videotaped-at-the-same-time” personality!

In her school visit, Anne led students in a character creation exercise. She told them one of her favorite childhood characters was Pipi Longstockings. After all Pipi has unusual strength.
Here’s a pic of Anne that I took from the TV while we were critiquing her speech. Aren’t those stripes just a wee bit reminiscent of Pipi?

Anne and Pipi have sort of merged in my mind at this point. Both are incredible! So do yourself a huge favor. Click on over to Anne’s blog where she tells an amazing story about her first public speaking experience after our workshop.

Wow! I’m quite certain the great Peter Jacobi would be so impressed!

ON THE BANKS OF CALKINS CREEK: Another Great Founders Workshop

You may know that my books, Blue, Healing Water, and Comfort were all published by Calkins Creek Books. I love creeks and I'm especially fond of this one.

Join me for a photographic tour of a typical writer event on the banks of Calkins Creek! The creek in March. Not as inviting as during the green season but we writers know about seasons - this pic represents waiting...
Boyds Mills Press (named for this little community) is the parent company of Calkins Creek Books which publishes juvenile historical literature with a USA focus.
Highlights Foundation is the grandmother of Calkins Creek Books and BMP's other literary imprints. (The Highlights Editorial offices are actually in nearby Honesdale - such a great town! But you'll have to wait for that tour!)
And speaking of grandparents - here on the banks of Calkins Creek, is the homeplace of the founders of Highlights magazine, Garry and Caroline Myers.
This home in Boyds Mills offers stability in a world of change - it appears to be kept much as it was when the Myers family lived here.
My favorite room is the library with its take-me-back-to-Grammy's-house smells. And books, books, books! Old books! (I always try not to drool on them.)
Don't you love this early Highlights cover on the library wall?
Adjacent to the library is the livingroom of the Myers' home where we kept company with the wise and wonderful Peter Jacobi who schooled us on "Life In The Spotlight - Author Opportunities After Publication".
It was good to be reminded that there is life beyond Powerpoint! And what an honor to learn from this seasoned journalist who has trained so many university students, CEOs, and wide-eyed authors, like us!

We were a small group of eager workshoppers - eager to learn about public speaking, granting interviews, and other aspects of presenting ourselves and our books to the public eye.
Mary, Melissa, and Tracy. (Tracy works for Highlights - she filmed our impromptu speeches so Peter could make examples of us. But we love her anyway!)
Deb, Nathan, and Mary.

Carol with Author, Jan Cheripko. More on Jan, Carol and all of these writers in upcoming posts.
Anne and Deb.

We became friends. It's hard not to when you've shared the same couch, dinner table, laughter, and critique sessions for days at a time. But it was intense, so we were always glad to get back to our individual cozy cabins. We enjoyed comfy beds, rain on the roof, and a personal fridge stocked with beverages.
Ask anyone who has ever attended a Founders Workshop what the food is like. As writers we should respond with specific adjectives. But mostly we just groan! Which is all we can do after a week of eating at a Founders Workshop. I did take a few pics of food which don't begin to do it justice.
Hors d’oeuvres every evening before dinner with friends.
And dessert after.
Buttermilk pie, whipped cream, and blackberries on a plate that allows the vintage table cloth to show itself off!

Ah! I love old linens.

Perhaps, you can see that I love everything about workshops on the banks of Calkins Creek!

BLUE MONDAY: ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Today was the first time I signed the cover of my book. But St. David's School in Raleigh wants to collect signed book covers by visiting authors. So I took a deep breath and there you have it!

I'm on the road - gallivanting around the world. I like gallivanting. Honest I do. But I really like home more. Still, I’m very lucky.

Today I spoke at a private school in Raleigh.

Tuesday I’ll be researching in Philly.

And the rest of the week I’ll be sitting at the feet of the eminent Peter Jacobi in a Highlights Foundation Workshop - Life in the Spotlight: Author Opportunities After Publication.

In spite of my reluctance to leave home I’m thrilled with this learning opportunity. When I speak, I constantly second-guess myself. I have tons to learn about adapting to the various ages in my audience – not to mention the fact that every situation has different dynamics. And of course there is the whole marketing thing which I work hard at, but definitely need to hone.

Here's a description from the workshop webpage.

Fine-tune your presentation and marketing skills with a workshop that offers
- useful strategies for creating and delivering engaging talks;
- videotaped public-speaking sessions and school presentations with useful feedback;
- tips for marketing yourself to schools, libraries, and other potential venues;
- information on developing brochures, Web sites, and other useful promotional tools; and
- helpful pointers for working with the media to promote yourself and your work

I’ll be back with updates throughout the week, assuming Mr. Jacobi builds some blogging time into the schedule!

THANKFUL THURSDAY: WRITER HEAVEN

There are writer conferences where you take in a smattering of workshops, enjoy a keynote speech by an award winning author, and get 15 minutes with an editor who critiques your manuscript.

I've been to those and even had some magazine articles published as a result.

But it was my involvement with the Founders Workshops that made me a bonafide published author of historical fiction. My book BLUE is the direct result of one of their history writing workshops.

At Founders Workshops writers get a host of luxuries:
- a week of personal attention from stellar instructors
- individual cabins with private workspace
- rolling hills and a rippling creek
- gourmet meals by a top-notch chef
- bottomless cups of beverage of choice
- the chance to network with publishing experts
- a small group of fellow writers who stay in touch forever after!

And so I bring to your attention (just in time for Valentines Day) this little corner of writer heaven.

Applications are currently being accepted through February 20th for the Highlights Foundation Founders Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop for Historical Fiction, May 2-9, 2009, near Honesdale, PA. This weeklong intense workshop offers the one-on-one attention found in degree programs, but without additional academic requirements, lengthy time commitments, or prohibitive financial investments. Our aim is to focus on a specific work in progress, moving a novel to the next level in preparation for submission to agents or publishers. To read about workshop leaders Liza Ketchum and Ellen Levine and to get full details, visit our web site:

Give yourself a valentine. Sign up for this event. It's better than a box of chocolates. And I can assure you, that when you get there, chocolate will be waiting!

MORE Q & A FOR H.H. POOLE MIDDLE SCHOOL

1. Where did you find your publisher and editor? (Sara) Blue is published by the organization that publishes Highlights Magazine. They run a writer's conference very year and I met my editor there. She's an expert in research and history writing and I liked her immediately. What I liked most was how tough she was. I knew she could teach me to write well. So I signed up for a workshop she was teaching. And that led to BLUE and she wanted to publish it and I’ve been deliriously happy every second of my life since. Unless you count the times she wants me to reread my manuscript and make revisions or I can’t find my car keys or I have to pay taxes and well, you get the picture. Getting published is wonderful but the life of an author is much like everyone else’s.

2. What advice would you give for young authors? – Mrs. Fredrick (the teacher) (Sara)
Read a lot! And make friends with your eraser which is to say, be willing to revise.
3. Where did you get the ideas from BLUE and your other stories? Did you write any books that weren’t published? – Will
I find my ideas in history. Basically I love to find a hidden piece of history and bring it out into the open by writing fiction about it.
Books I haven’t published? Yes tons of them. Okay, not tons but more than the ones that I have published. It took me awhile to figure out that I’m really a history writer.

4. Besides the Miracle of Hickory, did anything else cool happen in your life? (Will)
As for cool things that have happened in my life. The Miracle of Hickory happened in my hometown but I wasn’t born then yet.
But after I was born?
-The United States put a man on the moon. (1969
-Schools became racially integrated. (about 1967 in my school)
-The Berlin Wall came down. (1989)
-First black president - (2009)
-Today, a girl told me she read Blue at least 24 times! I think that is way cool!

In 2003 I visited remnants of the Berlin Wall which once divided the city of Berlin, Germany and separated family members from each other. There are lots of images painted on it.

I forget the exact story behind this picture but it seems to represent the fall of the wall when people from East Berlin flooded into West Berlin.

5. What happened to Pete?
See page 192 of BLUE. I’m afraid I don’t know the cause of his death. But “legend” says he died of a broken heart.

6. Where did you get the picture for the girl on the front cover? – Andrea
Ah, the girl on the cover. My daughter took that picture. The girl is a friend of the family. The cover artist shared her design with me and it looked much like the cover does now except it had a different girl. I didn’t think that girl looked like Ann Fay so she invited me to help find the perfect girl. We could not find a photo so we took one. BTW – I have an extraordinary publisher and a very generous book designer. This would probably not happen in most publishing houses.

7. Have you met any polio patients? – Samantha
Yes, and I keep meeting more of them all the time. I ask them lots of questions about what it was like to have polio, to walk with crutches, etc. They are my experts and many have become my friends.

8. Did this happen in your life? (what happened in BLUE) – Alex
No, I wasn’t alive yet. I never had polio. And no one in my family has had polio. I became interested in polio when I discovered the story of my hometown’s epidemic.

9. How were you inspired to write the storyline of BLUE? Did you change anything from the rough draft of BLUE to the final copy? – Emily
I’ll tell you about the inspiration part when I get to your school. Sure I changed lots of things. I wasn’t finished interviewing people or researching yet so I had to change things as I gathered more information. And you can believe my editor noticed lots of problems that needed fixing. So I changed it many times.

10. When will COMFORT be released? (Emily)
March 2009 – I just realized it’s only about a month away!