Join My Book Launch + Signed Book GiveawayOne of the highlights of an author's life is the day a new book is out. My newest middle grade, Near and Deer, about a girl whose sheepadoodle's new friendship with an abandoned fawns brings chaos into her life, is out from Scholastic on Tuesday, Oct. 1! Even though that's the official launch day, I've already had the pleasure of seeing it in the wild at a Scholastic book fair, when I visited the Academy of International Studies at Rosemont in Norfolk, Virginia, last week. It was so exciting, since I didn't get to see Manatee's Best Friend at a fair, as it came out when most schools were still remote.  Local friends, please join me at Prince Books, in Norfolk, VA, from 3 - 4:30 p.m. for snacks, mingling, and a book signing. Online friends, please say hi on social media!  To celebrate, I'm giving away a signed copy of Near and Deer, great for the 8-12 year old in your life. Details below. Also, you can order my book from Prince Books for a signed copy: Serendipity in WritingIn Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the phenomenon that ideas permeate in the ethosphere, and it's up to an individual writer to grab and write it. I totally agree that ideas and story themes percolate in the collective consciousness, and writers who are open to these currents can get inspired. Not only that, serendipity plays a huge part in how these ideas manifest. This was true in the research and writing of Near and Deer in 3 ways: 1. Tree Research: A subplot of Near and Deer is how trees interact communicate with one another, using chemical signals through a symbiotic relationship with fungi in their root systems. I had been reading about how "mother" trees will send nutrients to their saplings, trees will warn others nearby of insects, and more. The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben popularized these findings, and was one of those buzzy books around since the mid 2010s, so it sat in the back of my mind.  Fast forward to 2022, when I was writing Near and Deer. I wanted to include these cool facts, so I created a mycologist and her son as characters who befriend my main character. I did the usual internet research, but as with Manatee's Best Friend, my goal was to find primary sources of information. That fall, I taught at an SCBWI (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrator) conference in Virginia, and during the dinner with faculty and volunteers, I happened to sit with two authors who were writing about or working with trees. I met Katie Sivinsky, writing a lyrical picture book about trees and their interconnections. As we chatted, Kathryn Gaglione joined in. I learned that she and her husband were doing some innovative, ecological forest farming in central Virginia. By the end of the evening, she'd invited me to visit her farm and told me about her next-door-neighbors who ran a bed and breakfast. A month later, David and I went on a lovely bed and breakfast research trip (my character's family owns a B&B) visiting her goat and tree farm. Kathryn also put me in touch with a friend of hers, Ashley Appling, who works at the Virginia Cooperative Extension office, who gave me great information about Virginia forests. The serendipity of a writing conference dinner led to really cool info that made it into my book. 2. Deer Rehabbers. Another piece of serendipity was that I connected with one of my expert deer rehabilitators (Brian Rooney) because he was a high school classmate of my sister's when we lived in Caracas. My sister had told me about how he posted on Facebook about the fawns he rescued, which led me to reach out to him. It's fun to think about the winding roads our lives took from Caracas in the 1980s to connecting over abandoned fawns thirty plus years later. 3. Dialogue workshop with Jeff Zentner. At the same SCBWI conference, I took a class with YA author Jeff Zentner on writing dialogue. He had us do a 15-minute exercise where we had to write dialogue between two characters with no tags ("he said"), action, or description. The goal was to convey the characters' personalities through their words alone. I had a fun time doing this with Sienna, my main character, and Max, her new friend. The dialogue ended up in my book, very close to its original 15-minute form:  Although I might have gotten similar information or inspiration from other sources, it was these specific meetings and connections that created the unique details of the book. Serendipity at work! Signed Book GiveawayTo celebrate my upcoming launch, I'm giving away a signed copy of Near and Deer. To enter:
1. Be a newsletter subscriber 2. Tell me in a reply to this email (or to the welcome email you receive if you are a recent subscriber) a cool moment of serendipity in your life, whether it was in researching a project or just in general. Giveaway is open until 5 p.m. ET Monday Oct. 7, 2024. U.S. addresses only.
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