Last Wednesday I went to my middle son’s 4th grade class and talked about writing. It was my first official school gig and I loved it. The former teacher in me enjoyed having a captive audience again. The mom in me loved getting to know my son’s classmates better. The writer in me had so much fun talking about something I love. And all of me sucked up their energy and exuberance like a sponge. I couldn’t help but see that I’d put a small ripple out into the world, but now I’m busting my buttons because it was a bigger ripple than I’d guessed.  This is what came home to me over the weekend…

They sent me the most wonderful thank you notes–or as I think of them–love letters. Today I thought I’d share some of my favorite parts with you…

Dear Mrs. Sabatini…

“Thank you for coming in to talk about writing. Like you, I love writing! That talk really helped me with different ideas for my writing.”

“You inspired me because even thought it took a long time to write touching the surface You never gave up.”

“You inspired Me To: write lots of books also public books. I learned It might take a lot of work to write a Book but its worth It! Also you have to Fix a lot when you Make it.”

*This letter was in Braille–“You did an awesome job making your stupendous books. You make me almost not afraid to write! Your poem was really funny, and your stories you told us were awesome.”

“You inspired me by you telling me your speech. PS I can beat you in a gun game.” (I may have joined in on a little shoot’em up, finger fun, going on at the bus stop LOL!)

“I have awhole list of things that inspiered me LIKE…

-When you made the photo board

-LOVED YOUR POEM

-Loved all most all of the authors that you’ve met.

You see, a have alot more reasons why but I ran out of room on the paper. I’am almost done with my new book called The fuzz problem. Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for all the amazing tips you gave me for being a writer. Just from hearing you talk, I have been writing much better and coming up with better ideas. That talk changed my writing life.”

“Things I learned from your visit:

-Writing a book takes a long time.

-Never try to hit a cat with a metal shovel

-Writer’s block is more like writer’s pause.

-there is alot more to making a book than writing it.

-WRITING IS AWESOME!”

“I learned…if you writght something you are a wrighter.”

“Your inspirational speech really inspired me to think that dreams do come true. Like when you said that you never thought you could be an author…look at you now! Being a mom, an author and an AMAZING dancer (p.s. I loved the 9-11 number!) I just don’t know how you do it!”

“I want to say thank you for coming and inspiring me. I also learned a lot about publishing, like I never knew there was a copy editor. I will be sure to read your book when I am older. Do authors ever write by hand these days? Were you a reader when you were little? You brought out the writer in me.

P.S. Did you ever meet Judy Blume?

P.P.S. How many drafts did you make?

Keeping a diary (kind of. I already keep a journal but I used to write only lists. now I am going to write the best and worst parts of my day.)

Writing. I feel like now that will calm me down too. (Although I’m not dreaming of being an author.)

PLEASE WRITE BACK!!!!!”

“Thank you for coming. We apprecait that you told us all that stuff. If I was you I would todaly write that much. But right now i’m in a lower stage than you. So when I grow a little bit I will grow a lot. If you can make a detective book my mom would love it. All that stuff that you told use really is going to help use. I hope that if you can make more and more books that you could be a famuase anther. And if I ever wont some help to wright, I will always go to you.

P.S. If you ever get a cat don’t kill it with a shovel.”

I’m assuming you don’t need any prompts for your comments. ROTFL! And in case you’re wondering–author–BEST JOB EVER! Tomorrow I’m going to the second grade. I can’t wait!

AND NO CATS WERE HARMED WITH THE SHOVEL!!!!!

Tags: Fan Mail, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Readers, School Visit, students, Touching the Surface

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I’m reading TOUCHING THE SURFACE to my three boys. Just a chapter a night. Now before you ask–my book is categorized as 14 and up and my kids are 11, 9 and almost 7. I’m not recommending SURFACE to kids under the age of 14, but my kids are in a unique circumstance. They have the author AND their mother in their bedroom at night, speaking directly to all their thoughts and questions. As always, I advocate that parents be actively involved in a book dialogue with their children. What is good for one child might be all wrong for another. Each kid is different and it is important that we know them as individuals. I know my three so I’m very comfortable. Here are some of my reasons for sharing my book with my boys.

First, they NEED to be a part of this. Their names are in the book–they LOVE that. It’s their laundry that’s been missed in the writing of this novel. It’s their mother who’s the crazy one with the voices in her head.  And the thing is–they’re so insanely proud of me–it makes me want to lasso the moon and take it for a ride.  They feel so special when they tell other people that they are reading it–I know because it comes back to me and it always makes my heart swell.

Second, I NEED them to be a part of this. I write with the same voice that I love them with. They are pretty familiar with my weird and wacky ways, my honesty, my assumption that children are continually under estimated. They KNOW me, so reading my writing is truly just understanding more of their mom. This book is some of the very best of me and I can’t imagine not sharing that with three of the most important people in my life.

Third, they are funny. It’s no secret–I have a potty mouth. The rule in our house is…you can say whatever you want when you have your own kids. Life isn’t fair and I don’t think it will hurt them to figure that out with the little things in life. They need to watch their language. Even though they’re used to me needing to be *bleeped* they seem to find it endlessly amusing when I swear while reading my book. The 9 year old actually asked me to re-read a section because he was “confused about who was speaking” only to have the almost 7 year old rat him out for wanting me to read the swear word over again. ROTFL! We had a long discussion about the authenticity of teen characters. We used their older cousins to prove the point. Now the almost 7 year old tells everyone… “yes, my mother uses curses in her book but it’s there to make the characters realistic.” My author-mama heart explodes with pride every time I hear him say that.

Fourth, they surprise me. My 11 year old interrupted our chapter one night to ask me a question about the afterlife. I proceeded to go off on a tangent where I told him how I really didn’t know what was out there etc…  His reply was… “Sheesh, I finally have the author right here in my room and I still can’t get an answer. You wrote the book–you’re supposed to know everything about it!” I smacked my head like it was a V-8 commercial. He didn’t mean the “real afterlife” just the one in my book. And I know this sounds silly, but I realized that I don’t have my mind completely wrapped around the idea that people are going to be really focused on my book–that I’m the one, the only one, who can really answer those questions. The thought of it gives me shivers.

Fifth, they satisfy me. As I’m reading–they’re responding. And they are doing it in all the right places. They get mad at me for leaving them hanging at the end of a chapter. They strongly dislike certain people and they have soft spots for others. Even more important–their reactions to the characters are changing–just the way I had hoped they would. The boys ask interesting questions–smart questions and that makes me proud of them and the book. And the cutest? I’ve actually caught them “fighting” over who would get to be who if they were playing TOUCHING THE SURFACE. I know–how cool is that???

I promise to let you know what they think of it when they’re done. How do you feel about the books that kids are reading? Should be reading? Shouldn’t be reading? How did your choice of reading material impact you when you were a kid?

Tags: Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, My boys, Readers, Touching the Surface, YA Author, YA Book, YA Novel, YA Writer

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