Wow! I’ve been a little absent here, but it’s only because I’ve been so busy in my real life!

Okay, so first I had the flu. Ick. But then I got better! And I jumped right back into school visits. If you know me, you know I get sort of excited about stuff. And I’ll admit, I got pretty darn excited at a couple of these visits – namely, to Lamar Middle School, and Zavala Elementary. So excited I, um, forgot to take pictures. But the visits were amazing, even with no photographic proof! I had so much fun. (Thanks to Mr. Saxton at Lamar and Ms. Bresnan at Zavala for allowing me to come into your schools and get a little crazy with your super-smart kids. You rock!)

I went back to Zavala the next day (to volunteer for RIF) and got a quick picture with Ms. Bresnan!

I *did* remember to have the ninja-mazing librarian, Donna Rinn, at Bryker Woods Elementary take some pics. Thank you so much, Ms. Rinn, for the golden bowl of M&Ms, and the pizza lunch with your fabulous readers!

And then, this week, I participated in the super cool World Read Aloud Day. (Thanks to Kate Messner for setting this up for the authors and schools! It was so much fun.) This meant doing Skype visits with the schools who asked for them, where I would introduce myself, read a bit of my book to the class, then take questions. I ended by making book recommendations… and after I hung up, eating M&Ms. I’m not sure the teachers knew this was my very first foray into Skype-ing classrooms. I was SO nervous, but so happy with how it turned out.

Seriously, Writer Friends, take the Skype plunge. Even though the sound didn’t work right on one of my visits (I couldn’t hear them! It worked for all the rest. Weird.), that class Tweeted and IM’d their questions… and since they could hear me just fine, it all turned out great. And now I feel all competent and tech-capable. Who knew?

Here’s a link to the blog post one class did. Aren’t they clever?And tech-savvy? I KNOW. They will rule the world someday.

Thanks to Sara Allen in Missouri, Ben Gilpin in Michigan, and Irene Kistler and Jennifer Dunn in Texas! Let’s do it again next year. 😉

Now, I have to run. I’m plotting a new novel, a terribly scary, even grisly one. Yes, for children. They like grisly. Trust me.