MINI HALLOWEEN SPOOKATHON - AND A GIVEAWAY!

Halloween is creeping up again. All Hallows Eve. The night when spirits, ’tis said, can cross freely from their world into ours. Rattling chains, or their bones. Shivering our timbers. Chilling our spines. Spooking us out. Or at least giving us the chance to dress up as skeletons, zombies, ghosts and ghouls, and make light of the dark side.

With its damp, musty castle, spiders, bats and generous dollop of scare, The Flame in the Mist could have been written especially for this time of year. It wasn’t, but still, I thought what a perfect time it would be to celebrate both. A match made in heaven! (Yes, heaven. Not that other place of fire and brimstone. Because even though the book has a high spook factor, there is light at the end of its darkest hour.)

So I decided to do a mini blog tour. Six lovely participants jumped in, and I’ll be stopping by with them over the next days, up through the 31st. The tour kicks off today* – full schedule below – and the first post has just gone live!

(*No kicking off by zombies, please. Feet flying loose might hurt someone.)

I hope you have as much fun reading the posts as I had putting them together with each host. AND - there's a giveaway! You could win a signed hard cover copy of The Flame in the Mist (U.S. / Canada) or an e-book (international.) You'll find the Rafflecopter entry at all the stops (except for The Lucky 13s).

Enjoy! Any comments VERY welcome!

With much gratitude to my blog hosts. You all rock.

SPOOKATHON TOUR STOPS

Friday, October 25^th,: Green Bean Queen Teen: Top 13 Creepy Things at Agromond Castle.

Monday, October 28^th: IceyBooks: Interview with main character Jemma. Who, by the way, doesn't know what Halloween is. Why would she? She lived it... (P.S. Noodle and Pie put in an appearance too).

Tuesday, October 29^th: On Emily’s Bookshelf: Review of The Flame in the Mist.
As I'm updating the links every day, I can add here that Emily hasn't just posted one review, but two! Her 9-year-old sister loved the book...And both of them gave it 5/5 stars. Guess who's doing an interrobang-worthy happy dance?!

Wednesday, October 30^th: Literary Rambles: Guest post – Marketing a debut kidlit novel: Tips for Nervous Newbies. Some hints on overcoming newbie jitters, as well as a run-down of what kind of events an author can arrange.

AND BECAUSE IT'S THE DAY, THE TOUR ENDS WITH 2 POSTS ON HALLOWEEN!

Thursday, October 31^st: From The Mixed Up Files**: Guest post – Why spooky books might just save mankind. Our lizard brains could be our best ally...

Thursday, October 31^st: The Lucky 13s: Interview with Laura Golden*** – How the Agromonds would Celebrate Halloween. Or...would they? Laura rocked the interview questions - and the Agromonds jumped in with their own answers.

**Amie Borst, who hosted me on The Mixed Up Files, has a brand new book releasing on the 26^th, written with her daugher Bethanie. Titled Cinderskella, it’s suitably creepy-sounding! Read Amie’s post about it here.

***Laura is the author of one of my favorite new reads of 2013, a middle grade historical novel called Every Day After. Do check her and her book out too!

MY FIRST SCHOOL VISIT: An Alarming Experience, and a Book Fair

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I’ve always dreaded public speaking. Serenading an audience of thousands? Easy by comparison, with a guitar and mic as props. Book signings? No problem meeting people one on one, while the book sits there looking pretty. But talking to even 20 people in a room, let alone a whole assembly full of students? Eep. I’ve known for some time that as a published author, I’d have to face this big fear (aka, terror) sooner or later. “Later” being the option my Inner Procrastinator kept whispering. Deal with this in the fall, it soothed. Build up to it! 

Destiny, however, had a different plan. Through Bonnie Lynn Wagner, a book blogger who’d hosted a stop on my blog tour (you can see Digby’s character interview here), I connected with Elizabeth Ullmer, the Community Relations Manager at the Barnes & Noble in Bensalem. “Ask her about book fairs,” Bonnie wrote me. “Better than signings.” Book fairs? I didn't know what they were, but fairs are fun, right?

Pretty, but don't be fooled

I called Elizabeth, who was delightful and enthusiastic. Within hours, she called me back. The New Foundations Charter School in NE Philadelphia were excited to have me do a school visit on May 29^th if I was available, followed by their book fair that evening at the store. Wait…what?? A book fair involved doing a school visit? A zillion grubs in my stomach instantly hatched into mini butterflies. “Sure!” I blurted, before Inner Procrastinator could come up with any excuses. “Tell me more!” It would involve 2 presentations each about 30-40 minutes long, Elizabeth explained, to an assembly of about 225 kids at a time.

225 at a time? Uh…really? Not a mere 20 or 30 (gulp) in a classroom? And I didn’t even know PowerPoint yet! Amazing how mini butterflies can grow into carnivorous, stomach-gnawing Papilia really fast.

Well, what else to do but prepare? I learned PowerPoint (aka hubby learned it, then showed me how) and put together a presentation full of the typically Brit castles, cottages, and general spookiness that found their way The Flame in the Mist. I rehearsed to an audience (aka hubby, a few stuffed toys, and the imaginary crowd in my head, all listening patiently). I actually began to look forward to The Day. And then, it arrived. 

Breathe....

I met Elizabeth for a quick breakfast before we drove down to the school. She was as lovely in person as on the phone, and put me at ease. Tum-butterflies fluttered gently, as if playing around a sunny flower garden. At the school, we were warmly welcomed by Bobbie Tyndall, who organizes the school’s author visits. My laptop connected easily to their projector. The sound worked. Bobbie took goofy snaps. Everything was going perfectly! No glitches! The first group of kids began filing in. Some smiled. Some looked curious, others skeptical. A few more virulent butterflies flew in with them. Never mind. I was ready. This was It!

And then...the alarm rang. Fire drill! Only it turned out it wasn’t a drill. Grabbing handbag and laptop, I filed outside along with the kids, and Elizabeth and Bobbie. What were the chances—a fire alarm, on the threshold of my Big Event? Saved by the bell! Sigh of relief? No. I was disappointed. I'd been raring to go! By now, excitement had totally squished any remaining tummy 'flies. 

A mysterious cause for alarm

We stood in the school yard for an eternity – at least 10 minutes. The fire department came. Elizabeth and I laughed at the absurdity of timing. I wondered whether nerves would ramp up again, but they didn’t. All I wanted was for there to be time to give both presentations, and experience the kids’ reactions. What would they think? Would they enjoy it? After all the build-up, would I even get to find out, when goodness knew how long the firemen would be milling around? Finally, the mysterious cause of the alarm undiscovered, we were all allowed back inside. By 9:10, the kids were in their seats again. Bobbie introduced me, and off we went.

WoooOOOOoooo

Rehearsals paid off. So did getting the kids to say “Wooo!” every time I said the word “spooky”. Several times, they caught me out. (Who knew I said “spooky” so much?) Booing the Agromonds went down well too. Time being shortened, I had to clip through a few sections, but still showed the trailer at the end. The kids cheered. They cheered! Wow. 

 

I anticipated that the second group, being older (through 8^th grade) would be more reserved, more hesitant about joining in with booing, woo-ing, and shows of hands. But if anything they were louder. Again, cheers after the trailer. I was floored. As nervous as I'd been in the weeks before, then as fun as it had felt giving the presentation, I could never have imagined that happening. Let alone the message that turned up later that day on my YouTube trailer page: “omg, you came to my school and you were amazing.”

Book fair at B&N

At the book fair that evening, The Flame in the Mist found a lot of new homes, helping it become the store’s best selling children's book last week. None of it could have gone better—even the alarm was part of the perfection! But nothing beat seeing the look of excitement on kids' faces, their anticipation of reading a book they’re excited about. And to think I’d been so scared, I’d have avoided this if I could. So thank you, Destiny, for shoving me in the deep end; and thank you, Elizabeth and Bobbie, for helping me swim; and thank you, Bonnie, for being the hand that gave that first nudge. And thank you, New Foundations students, for making my first school experience so great!

As to my next school visit, no more cause for alarm. I can’t wait.
Even Inner Procrastinator agrees. 

-->With thanks to Elizabeth Ullmer and Bobbie Tyndall for the New Foundations and B&N event photos