Last night, I was a guest at the Avon Grove Library for Teen Night. “Meet the Author” the signs said – which, I have to admit, made me feel kind of like a poser. I was worried that nobody would show up. I was worried that a ton of people would show up, (but they would think I was a poser.)
In fact, I ended up with a lovely little group of about ten teen readers, including:
·A friend of my daughter’s who was one of the first to buy We Hear the Dead when it hit the shelves
·A young lady who read High Spirits two years ago and is happy to see it re-published but would really like to see me publish a second book (a fan!)
·A former student who lived through much of the editing process with me
·An aspiring writer who is excited to see that dreams really can come true
I brought out everything I had – photographs of the principal characters, biographies, Elisha Kane’s own book, my Ouija board – but the most popular item was the one that I grabbed last minute on my way out of the house: a copy of the screenplay. The teens who had already read my book were fascinated to get a peek at this alternate version – to read scenes that they recognized in scripted form. And of course, that’s when it hit me: They’d read my book. I wasn’t “posing” as an author; I really was one.
I left the library walking six inches off the ground. I almost ran off the road driving home, and it’s a wonder I didn’t get pulled over for Driving Under the Influence of Euphoria.
I’ll finish up this post with reflections on my first week of summer vacation and unlimited writing time:
1. Floating aimlessly in the pool is the perfect way to brainstorm.
2. My skin hates sunlight, and SPF 50 is not strong enough.
3. Nothing will teach you to be more concise than trying to drive down the page count of a screenplay.
4. There are a lot of really fantastic blogs I’ve been missing while locked up behind school firewalls all day.
5. You know the blogging mentality has overrun your household when your 13 y.o. daughter’s Facebook update says: “Comment on my status and I will email you the prologue of my new WIP.” (Yes, she writes, too … and just as obsessively as I do.)