Children's Fiction and Nonfiction
The lovely local indy bookstore–Book No Further–is hosting a virtual launch for my new middle-grade book, The Truce, on May 30 at 2 pm. Admission is free but you do need to register. See the details on their website for how to register–and buy the book! See you there!
The third book in the GHOSTS OF ORDINARY OBJECTS series will be coming out May 26th. Yes, the timing is kind of wonky given what’s going on in the world. Stay tuned for some news about a virtual launch that’ll be hosted by Book No Further. In the mean time, I’m pleased to announce that The Truce is on CBC’s Hot of the Press May reading list.
To support local bookstores, think about ordering The Truce from your favorite indy or through Bookshop.org.
Roanoke County Public Schools is kicking off a new reading (and writing) program this summer, called Cover to Cover. The program features my books Bone’s Gift and Memento Nora for incoming 6th – 12th graders.
We kicked it off to today at the South County Library with a writing workshop given by yours truly. I got them started on their stories for the writing contest–which any Roanoke area middle or high school student can enter. You don’t need to have attended the workshop to enter the writing contest! The challenge for the contest is to write a short story inspired by an object. I had some objects to inspire the participants, but you can pick any object. Pretend you have Bone’s Gift (which is to see the stories inside ordinary objects) and tell us the story you see! Email your story to covertocover@rcps.us. Deadline for the contest is July 31st.
Winners will be announced at the Author Meet and Greet on August 17 at the South County Library. I’ll be speaking at 2 pm, but there are other cool things going from 12-4 pm–including a performance by Ferrum’s Jack Tale Players! So come early!
If you’d like some objects to get you started, look at those on my Object Prompt Worksheets. I used a modified version of these for the workshop. You do not have to write about one of these objects, though, to enter the contest. Go find something that interests you and write about it!
Thanks to friends in the MG community for helping set up a mini-blog tour for book two in the Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series! The dates and places include:
btw, I also did a post on Elizabeth Dulemba’s blog earlier this year on the story behind the story in Bone’s Gift and Lingering Echoes.
I had an awesome (and a bit overwhelming) time at the Virginia Festival of the Book this past weekend. On Friday, I did several school visits at middle schools in Albemarle County. (Hopefully, some pics to follow!) Then on Saturday, I participated in a great panel session at the Village School on Strong Characters in Middle Grade Fiction with authors JH Diehl and Laura Shovan and moderator and librarian, Tasha Birkhead.
Next time I’ll remember to take my own pics!
