I was thrilled to receive a packet of letters about Frostbite Hotel and this HUGE ‘Welcome Poster’ from the Hackmatack Club at Florenceville Elementary.
I love the colourful, fun artwork on the poster — and the questions and comments in your letters really made me think. I am planning to get back to you soon, but please give me a bit of time to respond while I figure out answers worthy of your questions!!
Thank you for participating in the Hackmatack program and I’m glad some of you chose to read Frostbite Hotel. Hope we get a chance to meet one day…
Thank You Cards from Bath Community School (on my desk!)
After another scenic New Brunswick drive, this time from Edmundston to Bath (with a gourmet lunch in Perth-Andover…yum…), I visited Bath Community School. I met with a range of grades, about 60 students strong (probably the largest group on my tour!). You were excellent listeners who laughed in all the right spots when I read Frostbite Hotel (phew!), and I think you had a record breaking number of questions. (It’s amazing we’re all not still there together chatting away, it was that fun!). I loved hearing about the books you are reading and – hooray! – the stories you are writing.
You had insightful questions about the writing process. I especially enjoyed how we talked about ways to build suspense in our stories – not necessarily to ‘trick’ out readers, but to keep pulling them along in the adventure. It’s why I didn’t tell you everything about ‘The Bear’ in Chapter One, but I gave some hints about Kirby’s sneaky antagonist, to make you wonder and want to read more. Guessing activates readers’ imaginations and makes them want to keep going. Try it out sometime in your own stories (but I suggest that you don’t make every sentence a guessing game, otherwise your reader will just say “Huh?” LOL).
I truly couldn’t believe the number of questions and comments from this group, and I couldn’t be happier about it. It means you enjoyed your Hackmatack experience and have a love of reading and writing that I hope you’ll carry with you forever. I will certainly remember my time at the wonderful, welcoming Bath Community School. And I want to say thank you so much for the incredibly special gift of locally made maple syrup, a hand-signed thank you card, and even an MM Award – what an honour!
I hope you enjoy the rest of your year (and do a lot of reading this summer.) All the best and…
Mgr. W.J. Conway Public Library (….and my water bottle!)
In the excellent town of Edmunston there is a lovely library…(sounds like the opening line of a book!). There, I had the chance to meet with a wonderful group of students from Saint Mary’s Academy. You were a mix of grades and classrooms, but you felt like a tight-knit community to me, one that welcomed me in from the very first smile!
Some of you had already read Frostbite Hotel, and some of you had even explored a few of my other books (that was very exciting for me – thank you! – and, if you go on to read more, let me know what you think). What I loved about this group was the way you thought like readers and authors in terms of guessing what might happen next in my book, or in any book. We talked about how authors build authentic characters, the importance of developing backstories (even for minor characters), putting our characters in situations where they have to work, struggle and grow – basically the things that the most seasoned authors need to be thinking of all the time. You are a VERY sophisticated group and I hope that many (all!) of you will go on to explore your own potential as authors and that many (all!) of you will keep on reading!
I will especially remember our discussion about the difficulties authors face when writing a book, which arose from a great question. Some writing difficulties are practical challenges, like meeting deadlines, or keeping our creative energy flowing. Others are more personal, like exploring and remembering tough situations in order to write about them authentically. I talked about how in my upcoming book, I had to do a lot of thinking and remembering times in my life when I felt like I didn’t fit in or when I was too shy/scared to express myself. You bravely shared some of your own stories about fitting in or feeling different. And while we might not have solved those hard problems, I think we learned from each other that we aren’t the only ones to have these feelings. Not only that, when we read books about characters struggling with problems like our own, it’s another chance to know and feel we aren’t alone (because there’s a character out there who understands, and an author who does, too). There’s something very powerful and hopeful about that. So…read and write on, Saint Mary’s, for the joy and adventure of it all, and also to connect to the things that make us caring, feeling, human beings. (Okay, I’ve just decided that reading is awesome. 🙂 )
The visit with Saint Mary’s was unique in many ways, like getting to read from My Best Friend is a Viral Dancing Zombie (you’re the only ones I got to read it to!). And I even had the chance to read to Pig, an adorable friend of the library and avid story-lover (there are pictures out there to prove it!). Thanks for an amazing Hackmatack experience.
After a scenic drive (despite the rain) from Dalhousie, and a delicious lunch at Cafe Europa, I had the pleasure of visiting a group of Grade 6s at Campbellton Middle School. It was my second stop on the Hackmatack Author Tour, and you made me feel comfortable and welcomed right away (we kicked things off with a bit of hockey talk, so I knew I was in the right crowd, LOL). You listened to an excerpt from Frostbite Hotel and then shared some GREAT questions. I enjoyed hearing about your very cool “Frostbite” project where you had to create an image of your own hotel, and come up with a business plan — including the ever-challenging issue of choosing a staff.
One question from Campbellton that sticks out for me since I’ve never heard it asked before (and am still thinking of a good answer!): “How do you rate yourself as an author?” Hmmm…I don’t know quite how I rate myself, but it made me think that authors should have a unique rating system…so, rather than stars ***, or ‘thumbs ups’ — maybe ‘quills’ or ‘pens’ (as in “I give my favourite author 5 Pens”). Any other ideas, Campbellton Middle School? 😉
Besides your insightful questions, I loved how you shared your favourite authors and books with me. There’s such a wide range of literary tastes in your group! (Although, I did notice that a good number of you loved humorous stories – and I can relate!) Some of you have already begun your own journeys as authors, writing not only for school projects, but at home, too (fill up those notebooks!). I even met one young author who felt moved to write during our time together before her inspired idea had a chance to escape I think that’s absolutely terrific and hope you keep at it!!
One thing I’ve found in the ‘alone’-ly writing process is that coming together with fellow writers is very important for keeping creative ideas and energy flowing. So, thank you all for telling me that our time together inspired you – it did the same for me! I spent the rest of the day mulling over new ideas for books and jotting thoughts down.
I’ll always remember my time in Campbellton (thank you for the lovely thank you card and school pin!), and hope you keep in touch.
After arriving in New Brunswick on May 1st and spending the night in beautiful Bathhurst, I was taken to the town of Dalhousie on the shores of the magnificent Baie des Chaleurs. Even though I visit lots of schools and love, love, LOVE talking to young readers, as my very first author talk on the tour, I admit to having butterflies in my stomach! But I could not have walked into a friendlier or more welcoming situation, and immediately those butterflies settled down. Two terrific Grade 5 classrooms gathered to hear me read from Frostbite Hotel and to ask lots and lots of questions! I instantly felt that we had known each other all year instead of just a few moments (LOL). I had SO much fun meeting you, and was especially excited to hear about all the reading and writing that you are doing at school and at home on your own.
I loved our discussion on how to pick just the right character names (and the challenges that go along with it!). I was also excited about the chat we had from the moment I walked in the door – about which “grade” in school has been our favourite. The reason many of you gave for loving a particular grade was “because I learned so much”, whether it be in science, ELA, math, and more – that is an AWESOME answer. And, practically all of you agreed that Grade 5 was a major learning year – woo-hoo!
Thank you for the best possible kick off to my first ever Hackmatack Author Tour, for choosing to read Frostbite Hotel as part of your Hackmatack experience, and for welcoming me to your school. I hope that you’ll keep on reading books that make you think, feel and wonder…and keep on writing, too!
I had the pleasure of visiting an amazing Grade 6 classroom at J. B. Mitchell this past Friday – thank you to your wonderful teacher for the invitation! Many students had read my latest book My Best Friend is a Viral Dancing Zombie (‘Zombie’ for short – LOL) and had lots of questions for me about the book and the writing process.
Wait.
Did I say ‘lots’? I mean dozens and dozens and DOZENS of questions, all thoughtful and prepared with care in advance – wow! Great questions. Questions that made me think, some questions that I’ve never heard before (that’s a big deal – I’ve worked with THOUSANDS of students and heard lots of great questions!). We talked about emotions and their connection to writing, what makes a character change and behave in certain ways throughout a story, the biggest challenges in the writing of a story, and what to do with ideas that don’t seem to be going anywhere (…YET!). As your teacher reminded you, you are all writers, so while the questions were directed at me, I was also impressed by the insights you had to share about story writing. I’m sure you’re going to dive in with enthusiasm when you work on creative writing projects later in the year!
Thank you so much for your warm reception (on a very cold day). Your energy inspired me and kept me going for the rest of the weekend. Writing can be lonely at many stages (well, maybe not ‘lonely’, but certainly an “alone” sort of thing!) so getting to share my stories with a real, live group of wonderful people is very exciting and rewarding for me. Thank you!
Have a great year!
Till we meet again,
Karin
P.S. Thank you for the thoughtful, colourful card signed by everyone, and the J.B. Mitchell gifts – they’re terrific and I will put them to good use!
WHEW! It’s been a whirlwind of writing, school residencies, and other fun stuff for me since our great time together at John M. King this past October. Have you all been busy, too? I bet you have been, knowing all the exciting projects and events you had going on while I was at your school… (I saw a story about Camp Manitou on the news the other day, and thought of you all… and your ‘ziplining’ stories!!)
I’m finally getting around to blogging about our time together, but I certainly have been thinking about you all a lot. I had such a fun time sharing my writing process with you, and watching and learning from you about how you approach the art of writing. I was especially excited to hear from quite a number of you that you are going to continue writing at home in your spare time – that’s fantastic, and I hope it’s going well! Here’s a little ‘thank you web’ I made for you all 🙂
Looking back to October, I was trying to decide on my favourite day or session with you, and it was tough — because there was something special about each one. I loved how quickly and creatively your character webs sprung to life, and you all did a fabulous job putting together your storyboards. That’s not an easy thing to do, but you went for it!! A couple of highlights for me: when you came up with new and very ingenious ways to use the sticky notes to plan, like making an “idea board” to keep track of thoughts about your story that popped into your imagination. I also loved the opportunity I had to work with small groups to create storyboards together. You had such intelligent discussions about just which events to include (and which didn’t make as much sense) and came up with some great ideas — way to go!
Another favourite session (boy, I have a lot of those, don’t I?) was when we came up with ‘impact words’ to help bring our stories to life – different words for ‘went’ and ‘said’ to make the mood and action in our stories more vivid. Your lists were off the charts – in fact, if I kept writing down your ideas, they would have gone ‘off the boards’ and right onto the walls! Check out some pics below – sweet!
So, those are some thoughts about the creative ‘stuff’ we looked at together, but another huge highlight for me was meeting all of YOU! You were kind, funny, smart, curious, insightful, warm and generous. I felt very welcome in each of your classrooms. You had lots of fantastic ideas, and listened not only to me but to each other. That’s how we inspire each other – so keep it up!
A big thank you to the teachers, administrators, the Engaging Fusion program, and to all the students at John M. King for a memorable time together. Keep on reading and writing and doing the things you love!
I was so fortunate to work with most of you last year when we did Scraphic Novels – and couldn’t believe it when I learned I’d be visiting the Grades 4,5, and 6 classrooms again this past October! We had a great time, didn’t we? It was so cool ‘re-connecting’ and seeing how you have grown as people and writers since the last time we worked together.
We spent the week mostly in the fabulous Grosvenor library, going through the writing process, or more specifically my writing process. Thanks for ‘trying it on’ and seeing how it fit you as writers! I also learned a lot from you and your questions and insights, since not everyone approaches every stage of writing the same way for every story.
Two classes began with a fictional character and built the foundation of a story from the character-on-up. Another class used a beautiful piece of artwork they’d created to inspire their story – some pieces featured characters as well, but others had landscapes and intriguing story worlds. It was a first for me, and I thought you did very well indeed! (In fact, I made a few colourful Scraphic Novel backgrounds recently, and have decided to use them to inspire a story – so, visual art will inspire my text, as it did for you. Thanks for the idea!)
With a whole week together – and since this was pretty much a ‘second time around’ – we got to go even deeper with our writing. We had more discussions and more small group conferences. We talked about similes, metaphors, symbolism and the power of names. We even talked about the very subtle difference between personification and anthropomorphism. Big words to suit your big ideas! And of course, we were able to spend time exploring and practicing revision. I hope that you start to see revision as another very important and very creative part of the process.
Thank you for having me back at Grosvenor for what I believe was a fruitful week delving into the craft of creative writing together. We were able to let the ‘cadence and rhythm’ of story sink deeper into us, helping to make us better writers. I’ll be back again in March to make new friends in Grades 1,2 and 3 – but I will be sure to stop in and say hi to all the special writers I’ve met at Grosvenor.
I’m Karin Adams, the Engaging Fusion artist coming to hang out with you over the next few weeks (yay!). I’m an author and I write books for readers like you. In fact, here’s a picture of me holding my latest book, My Best Friend is a Viral Dancing Zombie:
I’ll bring this book (and my other ones) with me. You might be excited to know that you will be the FIRST SCHOOL IN THE WHOLE WORLD to see and hear from my new book! (The ‘World Premiere’ of Viral Zombie – right here at John M. King!). I’ve been waiting to share it, and am glad it gets to be with you.
While I’m in your class, we’re going to work on creative writing together. I’ll show you how I write stories. You’ll quickly see that it isn’t just about writing pages and pages of words and hundreds and hundreds of sentences (although sometimes it’s like that – LOL). For me, writing is also about dreaming up characters, imagining new worlds, coming up with puzzles and mysteries and goals for my heroes, making a story board to help sort things out…and stRRRRRRRRRetching my imagination. So THAT’S the sort of thing we’ll be doing! 🙂
I can’t wait to meet you and to hear your questions and ideas about creative writing – we’re going to have lots of fun!
