Just a few days after I sold TOUCHING THE SURFACE to Anica Rissi at Simon Pulse, I got a letter home in the 7 year old’s book bag.  The second graders were studying communities and were asking parents to come in to do a mini job fair with the kids.  I looked at the sign up sheet, bit my lip and took the plunge.

(I can’t lie-I giggled and did a little happy dance when I saw this.  Didn’t even care about the name typo.)

Then I put the date on my calendar and forgot about it, until I realized that I should bring stuff with me that was authory.  But what should I bring?  I don’t actually have a book at this point.  I took my best guess and stuffed a bag with authory stuff and headed out.  Of course, as I made my way to the school, it was raining like I was in the middle of a biblical plague.  There weren’t even any close parking spots. Can you picture me hauling a giant dance bag, a rather large bag of book stuff and a pocket book while balancing an umbrella and herding the 5 year old?  Kind of hilarious, but so worth it when I got to do this…

You know I was grinning like a little fool.  And of course two of my favorite mom librarians were there and there was extra jumping up and down and looking silly.  

So what did I bring and why did I bring it?

I started with a variety of dance shoes, my teacher’s notebook and some pics of me dancing over the years… What was that?  Oh, you wanted to know about the author stuff? Just kidding. 

I arrived with the tools of the trade!  I started with a hard copy of my manuscript that I’d used with a beta reader.  The guesses of how long it took me to write that thing ranged from 7 days to 200 years.  My response?  "That would make me like 227 years old."  *grin*  My humor totally went over their heads.

I also brought books and magazines that I like to read.  Some I read for pleasure and some are about craft and some straddled both.  I explained that if you want to be a writer, the single most important thing you could do was be a reader.  And own a dictionary.  And be proficient at marketing and networking…(Notice I was doing subliminal sales for my fellow wolf-pack member Kiersten White and her YA novel Paranormalcy.)

Lastly, I brought chocolate.  I shouldn’t have to explain my love of it by this point in our relationship, but this was no ordinary chocolate.  This was editor love chocolate.  I sniff it often while admiring the amazing note from my editor AND THEN I wander off to find similar looking chocolate to eat while I’m writing.  I can’t part with this one.  *I reserve the right to revise that statement in a chocolate emergency.

So was it fun?  Being an author/dance instructor, role-model, thing-a-ma-jiggy?  

Ummmm…YES! YES! YES!

I even got some love from my own second grader.  He picked me first. *phew* with his gaggle of guy friends.  They all sat down and with my most serious looking face I said…"I’m pretty sure I know which hat you guys want me to wear for this interview.  Today I’m going to teach you all about ballet."  *gasp*  I never said I was a nice author.

But paybacks can be tough…

(My favorite second grader.)

After I told the boys all about being a WRITER, they tumbled off like a pack of puppies and an adorable little blonde girl wandered over… 

Girl: "Are you Ty’s mom?"

Me: "Yes, I am."

Girl: "He’s been telling me a lot about you."

Me: (Beaming) "I hope he’s saying all good things." (Beams some more)

Girl: "Eh, about half and half."

Me: *Head thunk* followed by a *grin.*  We all know the truth-any publicity is good publicity, right?