Savannah Children's Book Festival - November 16th-19th 2006

What an incredible weekend! Me and Lance hit the road early Thursday morning and headed down to Savannah. After checking into the Hilton DeSoto, we cruised over to DeRenne Middle for our first presentation. The kids really seemed to enjoy the reading - and were very interested in the process of creating a book.

Friday we did three presentations. Two at St.Andrews - what a delightful group of children. Joyce Rayburn welcomed me into her school and the children were fantastic. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed over to Blessed Sacrament for our grand finale - 300 students! The projector was overheating and giving my Production Manager a run for his money. As the microphone was handed to me, the illustrations on the LCD screen blinked out.

What is an author to do?

I remained calm, and began reading....the projector decided to play nice and we had an outstanding presentation. The Q & A segment was tricky with so many children, but I strapped on my running shoes and made my rounds around the entire gymnasium.

Saturday was the festival. It was wonderful chaos! We sold a book about every 3 minutes, and even as we packed up the table at the end people bought books. It was exhilirating to see the crowd's reaction to Dragon Stone.

It was an amazing trip - one I will not soon forget. Thank-you Savannah!





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Imagym & Unity Church - October 8, 2006

My first official Author Visits and book signings went outstanding. There was a line out of the bookstore and the feeling I got from the children coming up with their parent's to get a book was one of awe and exhiliration. The kids, both boys & girls responded with such excitement to the story and illustrations. It was a wonderful way to kick off the fall season.


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Mustard Seed Charity Auction - October 11, 2006

I had the opportunity to donate a book that will be auctioned to rasie money to
build schools in Jamaica. I am also donating two books to the library for the school. This is what it's all about - bringing literature to children!

Southern Breeze Fall Conference - October 21, 2006

This was such an excellent experience. Going to a conference with my first published book was illuminating. I had a fabulous time being Elizabeth Dulemba's "Angel". Hester Bass thrilled me by buying my book and singing a wonderful twist of the song "We are the Champions" Of course, her mantra was "We will be published!". Joan Broerman extended her home to all the conference speakers for a lovely lasagna dinner. I learned so much and especially enjoyed Rosemary Stimola's Contracts 101 class and R.A. Nelson gave two terrific lectures.

It was not only educational, but it was fun!


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Brandon Hall School Assembly - October 25, 2006

What a delightful group of excited and intelligent children. One thing that stood out to me about the Author Visit was the enthusiasm concerning the second part of my presentation: Book Production 101. I had a table with the 10 steps of creating and illustrating a children's book.

It was fantastic to show them my rough drafts, sketches, dummie book and the creative process of book creation. It was a memorable and fantastic visit.


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Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta - November 11, 2006

What a great group of kids and parent's. The Imginators were incredible to work with - thanks Jerry! We had everything we needed. My presentations are multi-sensory and involve sound effects, so it was wonderful for everything to run smoothly.

The parent's and kids loved Create Your Own Magical Beast. I was thrilled to watch the children explore their creativity and impressed with their vivid imaginations.

Children of all ages seem to be thoroughly enjoying the adventures of Ruth and David Duncan.
A common question proposed at this point is: So, when will the next book in the series be out?

Ah, the cherished words every author dreams of hearing.

-Ami



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Ghostly Gathering - October 27, 2006

This was such a fun festival. I truly enjoyed my time with the children and seeing the awesome reaction to my book. It was a wonderful night indeed for Dragon Stone!


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