Sorry for posting so late today. I just finished a fun Skype visit with 5th graders from Upton Elementary School in Upton, Wyoming. The kids had all read CHAINS and had oodles of questions about the book and about FORGE (which comes out in September, 2010, BTW.)
This is what the kids looked like to me.
And this is what I looked like to them! The kids each came up to the computer camera and microphone to ask me their questions, which was nice because I was able to see them so clearly.
I wish the Skype technology were a little better; the three visits I've done have had annoying bursts of pixelation issues. It has to improve soon, right?
Pixelation issues aside, I love Skype visits. Why? My publishers don't want me visiting schools right now. They want me to stay home and write. But I really miss connecting with my readers. Skyping allows me to have the best of both worlds.
Are you interested in having me Skype with your students? Email Queen Louise to set it up: queenlouise@writerlady.com. We are really interested in doing more of these, so pass the word!
In other news, Professor
Jim Blasingame of Arizona State University brings up the TWISTED censorship In Kentucky
in his Washington Post blog. I am not thrilled with the headline (which Jim did not write) because it vastly overstates the issue, But the column is great, especially when he references the wise words of (United States Library of Congress Living Legend Award winner) Katherine Paterson.
Revision Tip #8Read each scene and highlight each mention of a sense other than sight. Any scenes that only have visual details need to be revised to sneak in one or more of the other senses. If you are having a hard time with this, picture the scene in your mind. Now imagine you are the character, and close your (the character's eyes) what other sensory information is still available?
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frozeland 
hyper
accomplished