I opened my suitcase today and look what I found. It’s called a winter coat. I barely recognized it, after a week eighty- to ninety-degree weather in Chicago ... in March! (During the last March I spent in Chicago, snow was on the ground. Sheesh!)
So I spent a little time at the beach.
Heat wasn’t the only surprise as I traveled from school to school. At Fremont Elementary, home of a “Favorite Thing About The 39 Clues” contest, envious Vespers sabotaged my computer, twice! Amazingly I discovered the inner Ekat hidden within my Janus self, fixed the problem ... and was able to show my presentation. Whew!
Chicagoans do things BIG. I learned this at an event at the Twin Groves Middle School, to which one family drove five hours to attend. Now that’s BIG! The event was sponsored by the Vernon County Public Library and the Lake Forest Bookstore — and trust me, with these signs I did not lose my way.
I met tons of young writers with BIG talent, including an aspiring author named Brianne. After reading the 39 Clues series, she was inspired to enter the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Good luck, Brianne!
The artwork in the hallways of Hawthorne Elementary was BIG, too — check out the crazy colorful hair inspired by the artist Peter Max. I was not disappointed by the library’s display of The Dead of Night books, either!
Speaking of displays, look what greeted me at the Barnes & Noble in Skokie! What a great evening that was.
The fifth graders at the Avoca West School created a bulletin board designed to bust me — er, I mean, display 39 arcane facts about my life. No embarrassing details left unmentioned. (Let’s see who can define the word arcane. Get to work, writers!)
Librarians are among my favorite people, and so are their kids — for example, Mrs. Geidner at Avoca, whose son created a great chalkboard sign for me. (Her son is the one on the right. The Viking insisted on butting in on this photo.)
.JPG "library chalkboard")
On my last day I was thrilled to return visit to Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, where I visited in 2009 after The Sword Thief was published. I got there too early, so I sought out anyone in the busy neighborhood who would sit still long enough to discuss The Dead of Night with me. I found these two patient listeners.
The event was packed. I noticed a surprising number of proud Ekats. The word must have gotten out about my computer prowess at Fremont. Here’s one of them, a student at the Pierce Downer school. I wasn’t able to present to his grade that afternoon, so he made sure to come to Anderson’s! That’s Ekat thinking.
As you know, I love wearing hats. And at Anderson’s I spotted perhaps the coolest one ever. Can you see the propeller on top? I was hoping he’d let me have it. But would he? No way. (I don’t blame him.)
It’s been great to meet some of you Message Board peeps along the way — like the young woman below, who is considering writing a story based on one of my writing prompts on the message board. Can’t wait to read it. She’s been inspired by all The 39 Clues books and loves the card packs, too.
On Friday I made a trip to the Wiggin Street School in Gambier, Ohio — just up the block from where my son goes to college! This week I will visit Iowa City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; and Kansas City, Missouri — four states in one week! So you will forgive me for not answering your questions this week. But I will, in the next post.
I hope to see even more of you on the road. I’m still not even halfway done! Here is the tour schedule again: http://www.the39clues.com/messageboard/show/16172
In the meantime ... ready for a new writing prompt? Here it is!
The Vesper agent was told not to listen through the solid oak door. But the voices were loud. And what she heard made her knees shake.
So I spent a little time at the beach.
Heat wasn’t the only surprise as I traveled from school to school. At Fremont Elementary, home of a “Favorite Thing About The 39 Clues” contest, envious Vespers sabotaged my computer, twice! Amazingly I discovered the inner Ekat hidden within my Janus self, fixed the problem ... and was able to show my presentation. Whew!
Chicagoans do things BIG. I learned this at an event at the Twin Groves Middle School, to which one family drove five hours to attend. Now that’s BIG! The event was sponsored by the Vernon County Public Library and the Lake Forest Bookstore — and trust me, with these signs I did not lose my way.
I met tons of young writers with BIG talent, including an aspiring author named Brianne. After reading the 39 Clues series, she was inspired to enter the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Good luck, Brianne!
The artwork in the hallways of Hawthorne Elementary was BIG, too — check out the crazy colorful hair inspired by the artist Peter Max. I was not disappointed by the library’s display of The Dead of Night books, either!
Speaking of displays, look what greeted me at the Barnes & Noble in Skokie! What a great evening that was.
The fifth graders at the Avoca West School created a bulletin board designed to bust me — er, I mean, display 39 arcane facts about my life. No embarrassing details left unmentioned. (Let’s see who can define the word arcane. Get to work, writers!)
Librarians are among my favorite people, and so are their kids — for example, Mrs. Geidner at Avoca, whose son created a great chalkboard sign for me. (Her son is the one on the right. The Viking insisted on butting in on this photo.)
On my last day I was thrilled to return visit to Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, where I visited in 2009 after The Sword Thief was published. I got there too early, so I sought out anyone in the busy neighborhood who would sit still long enough to discuss The Dead of Night with me. I found these two patient listeners.
The event was packed. I noticed a surprising number of proud Ekats. The word must have gotten out about my computer prowess at Fremont. Here’s one of them, a student at the Pierce Downer school. I wasn’t able to present to his grade that afternoon, so he made sure to come to Anderson’s! That’s Ekat thinking.
As you know, I love wearing hats. And at Anderson’s I spotted perhaps the coolest one ever. Can you see the propeller on top? I was hoping he’d let me have it. But would he? No way. (I don’t blame him.)
It’s been great to meet some of you Message Board peeps along the way — like the young woman below, who is considering writing a story based on one of my writing prompts on the message board. Can’t wait to read it. She’s been inspired by all The 39 Clues books and loves the card packs, too.
On Friday I made a trip to the Wiggin Street School in Gambier, Ohio — just up the block from where my son goes to college! This week I will visit Iowa City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; and Kansas City, Missouri — four states in one week! So you will forgive me for not answering your questions this week. But I will, in the next post.
I hope to see even more of you on the road. I’m still not even halfway done! Here is the tour schedule again: http://www.the39clues.com/messageboard/show/16172
In the meantime ... ready for a new writing prompt? Here it is!
The Vesper agent was told not to listen through the solid oak door. But the voices were loud. And what she heard made her knees shake.
please comment on what you think of this. 
4 fever-f
