Short Hand Publishing - The Senior Publisher

Mission Hill Elementary School
Author Visit
May 6/03

Tuesday afternoon the children at Mission Hill Elementary School in Vernon, BC welcomed me with a warm round of applause. After the introductions, Mrs. Monroe, the Librarian, read part of The Rocking Chair Rescue. Bewildered faces glanced back and forth from the rocking chair to Mrs. Monroe. Was she reading about that very chair?

There followed many great questions and answers. This is quickly becoming my favorite part of these visits.

"How many stories have you written? When are you going to stop writing? What’s your favorite story?"

The answers came easier this time, after all, now I’m experienced at this.

"How do you finish a story?"

What a great question, even the teachers were impressed with this one.

"I never really thought about it I guess," was my reply. "I was never totally happy with the way I had ended the rocking chair story."

Then after sending it to my editor, I knew why.

"Why don’t you share a little about where they are going to put the chair?" Ed suggested. "And you might also mention how the kids worked together to do something for someone else."

Of course! That’s exactly what the story needed. What would I do without my editor?

Another terrific question was, "How do you know where to end a page?"

"I suppose it is like a sentence in some ways," I replied after a moments thought. "One thought -- one sentence, one part of the story -- one page."

All too soon we were getting the signal that our time was coming to a close. We finished up the afternoon with a brief discussion about the next episode, Lost and Found. There were many interesting guesses about the plot, but to the dismay of the children, I didn’t give it away.

To my surprise, after another rousing round of applause, I was presented with a school mug and a Thank-you card from the students!

This was a memorable afternoon to be sure. I’d like to thank the students of grades one through three and their teachers, Mrs. Wadsworth, Ms. Garland and Mrs. Johnstone and of course Mrs. Monroe for a wonderful afternoon.

Keep writing kids, and be well. J