Another cute-ism from a school visit!

I just got back from another week of visits. :-) Kids are the BEST!

And to go along with the holidays, I thought I'd share this cute-ism. When I start my program, I always ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. This varies from grade to grade, but the kindergarten and 1st grades are always funny. Usually, what one says, all the rest will mimic. "I want to be a firefighter!" And then I'll get ten more firefighters.

This time, one kid said, "I want to be one of those people who stand outside and ring the bell."

I said, "You mean, like the Salvation Army people for Christmas?"

His face brightened and he pointed at me. "Yes!"

And then I got a bunch of kids wanting to be bell ringers when they grow up. CUTE!

How Did You Become Famous? And Other Funny Questions...

Okay, I'm back from a whirlwind of five school visits last week and I must say, I've been laughing at some of the funniest things that were said to me. Kids are so perfect. I wouldn't want to write for anyone else!

Here are some hilarious things that were said to me (the funniest is at the bottom of this post):

1.  CK1 (Cute Kid #1): Wow! We just saw your limosine outside. What does it feel like to ride in one of those?

Me (gasping, eyes wide): Limo? Outside? Mine? Erm...

CK2: Yeah!  We saw it!

Me (gasping some more, eyes huge now): Oh, well, that wasn't mine...and anyway, people rent limos all the time. They aren't that expensive.

CK1: To YOU! I live on a street that looks like the hood. No one keeps their houses nice. It was funny when I saw a limosine drive down my street.

Me (feeling ultra stupid and tiny): Um, well, I just drove here in my very old car. Heh...

(I guess they were used to celebrities. The last author that came to visit them was Marc Brown who, btw, charged the Title 1 schools $3500 for ONE SESSION! He did two schools per day and made $70K that week last year. Yeeps!)

****

2. CK 3: How did you become so famous?

Me (barely breathing, tongue tied): Who me? Famous? I think I'm famous only to my mother.

****

3.  CK 4: Are you rich?

Me (choking on my gum): Rich? Me? Nah...

CK 4 hits CK 5: See? I told you she wasn't rich.

****

4. CK 6 (pulls bangs up): SIGN MY FOREHEAD!

Me (thinking about what his mother will do to me when he shows up with my name scribbled on his head): I don't sign heads, but I will sign your arm. (I use a ballpoint pen.)

CK 6: OW!! That hurt!

Me: Oops.

****

5. I'm walking down the hallway after my presentations are over and after I signed some autographs (probably about fifty as kids surrounded me in a flurry.)

CK 7: Ms. Calvert, you signed an autograph for me, didn't you?

Me (wide eyed, had-no-idea-if-I-did, smiling): Oh, well, yeah, of course!

CK 7: THANKS!

CK 8 (shakes head): Un uh! He forged your signature and is charging kids $2 an autograph!

Me (stomach plunges)

Here are some pics of a few of those cute kids. I'm going back and doing five more visits in November. I wonder what other things they'll have to say! HA!

Princess Peepers Paperback is Here!

I'm happy to announce that Princess Peepers, the only princess who wears glasses, is finally now in paperback. At $7.99, it's more affordable for a princess to enjoy. In fact, if she tatters one, you can buy another one for a total of less than the list price of the hardcover!
Stock up!

And make sure to check out the sequel: Princess Peepers Picks a Pet, if you haven't already. There's lots of pets plus a BIG surprise your princess is sure to love.

Happy reading!

New Things That I'm Obsessing Over...Proceed With Caution!

Now that it's unplugged August, I'm plugged in more than ever (isn't that strange? Kinda like prohibition! LOL!) Anyway, I've discovered some amazing things in my self-imposed unplugged-ness so I thought I'd share.

1. Pinterest: This is for those who obsess over all things. Yeah. THINGS! Anything you can think of or care about that's in pictures, you can "pin" and share with your friends. This is good if you have a book that needs a little ambiance. You can search for mood pics, characters, anything and put it in a book folder. I haven't done it yet, but I had fun looking at my daughter's pinterest folders. AWESOME! Can't wait to start. I'll share my own later.

2. Angry Birds: Yes, I'm late to the party. I had no idea about this incredibly addicting game because as my kids would say, I have a ghetto phone. I'm one of the only holdouts that doesn't have an iphone or droid. Hubby has a droid. Kids have iphones. I'm soooo uncool. Hubby was playing this game on his phone during my birthday. I fell asleep watching him annihilate green pigs with the most dastardly birds. Fun stuff. So, I got my own game on Google Chrome. Dumb when you're not supposed to play (@!($)#*@ unplugged August!)

3. My agent: Can't help it. She rocks. I'm going to post all about her once she gives me the green light. (I haven't asked her yet.) You can read about one of her amazing deals with another client here: Jenn Johansson. I will save all my info about her (and our meeting which was miraculous, really) in my future post.

4. Water for Elephants: I saw this movie on the plane coming home from LA and now I see Robert Pattinson in a whole new light. He can act! LOL! Anyway, once this movie gets on DVD, I'm buying it. I need to read the book!





5. Princess for Hire series: I saw Lindsey Leavitt in LA and we decided to exchange books--her second book in her series for my second book in mine. And they looked peculiarly similar:

Don't see the similarities?


Well, look at the first books!

See??? I'm not crazy am I? I wonder what her third book will look like...I'm reading the second book right now! I'll write a review when I'm done.

My Most Memorable Experience of SCBWI LA

Okay, so I'm going to plug in for a little bit because I have to report about my SCBWI experience before I lose the memory. When you pass 40, you never know what might fly out of your brain at any moment.

Now, you'd think my experiences would be full of things like meeting Jon Scieszka (a man whose work I admire, adore, and would love to copy I mean...love to cherish), chatting with Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon (he's YOUNG! We told him to get a new picture! NOW!), seeing Judy Blume IN THE FLESH (what an amazing woman! So graceful and inspiring--I cried at the end of her talk,) meeting editors (the WONDERFUL Jenne Abramowitz--so adorable and nice,) meeting MY FABULOUS AGENT (that will be in another post), and hitting the pavement in my light up fairy costume for the PJ ball. Oh...did I have fun or what? (Um...I have NO pictures because I lost my camera after the ball...another story...egad!)

But that's not what I'm going to talk about. The most memorable experience happened like this:

My friend, Meg O Hair, and I had just finished a fun filled lunch at the Pink Taco. Earlier in the week, we'd made friends with the owner, general manager, and assistant manager. That meant free stuff for us. Yum! So, Meg and I were happily shopping at Gelson's market in the trendy mall on the Avenue of the Stars. After we'd made our purchases, chatted with the lovely cashier, and scared a few customers by our over-the-top behavior, we skipped toward the sliding glass doors. On the way, I noticed a very tiny, yet beautiful woman paying for a salad. Instantly, I recognized her as Paula Abdul. I pointed and said to Meg, "Oh, isn't she cute?"
     Paula waved at us and smiled.
     Then we walked out.
     I thought this was very strange. Why, you ask? Well, for anyone who knows my friend, Meg, you know that she's not scared of any star. In fact, the last time we were in LA together, we met John Edwards. He looked like a movie star waltzing through the lobby of the Century Plaza Hotel. Meg darted for him, told him she loved his $400 haircut and forced me (because I'd never vote for the guy) to get my picture taken with him. To be fair, he was very charming and kind.
    So, I thought Meg wouldn't miss this opportunity to meet Paula. When she didn't say anything, I shrugged and thought that was the end of it. As we ascended the escalator to the rest of the mall, in front of us stretched a huge poster with Paula's face on it, advertising the upcoming X-Factor tv show with Simon Cowell. I pointed and announced, "Oh, wasn't that cool? We just saw her."
     Meg blinked like she had a piece of fluff in her eyes. "We didn't see Paula Abdul."
     "Yes we did," I said.
     She shook her head. "No. That was just a cute girl in there."
     I laughed, wondering how she didn't recognize her. "That was Paula Addul."
     In a flash, Meg was gone. Seriously. She'd disappeared like Samantha Stevens on Bewitched.
     When I turned around, I saw a blur zip into the grocery store.
     I tilted my head, thinking, "I guess it's time to meet Paula." So I hopped on the descending escalator, hoping we weren't going to make too much of a scene.
      Meg and Paula were instant friends by the time I got back to the store. They exchanged doggie pictures, chatted about life, and Meg even prayed over Paula for help in defeating the bad press she may get if she does something like trip on a sidewalk in her four inch heels. It was surreal!

      Paula was so NICE! I can't say that enough. She made sure she stopped and took the time to be with her fans. Even though I was the sidekick in the story, Paula asked me to be in the picture with her and Meg. I couldn't get over how tiny she was. As Meg put it--she was a bone with a belt. She made me look like I needed to lose 100 pounds. Ugh!
      After we were finished, Paula had somewhere to go (she was all decked out in rhinestones and platinum). Her stretch Escalade swooped over and her assistants ushered her into the back seat. She waved at us out the window, blowing kisses. LOL!
     So, that's it. The most memorable experience. I wonder who we'll meet next time we're in LA? Snooki?
    
    

Unplugged August!

Several years ago, my husband and I got sick of how our children would constantly want to watch movies, tv, videos, and play on the computer during the summer. So, we decided to unplug for a whole month just to see if we could do it. And I mean we because I'm probably the worst offender. I don't watch much tv but I'm an incessant blogger/social networker. (I also LOVE video games--I got a PS3 for my birthday. I wonder how many 40 something women ask for that from their loving hubbies?) Well, once we did it, we found we actually played games with each other at night, read more books than ever, and had real conversations with our teens. (I also got a lot of writing done, too!)

It was awesome!

Since we did it in August, that's been our tradition. The kids hate August--it means unplugged and school starting. LOL!

But I'm looking forward to it. I won't be back until September. Maybe I'll finally get that novel done. I have five chapters to go but that's been the same all summer. HA!

Wish me luck!

Cupcakes!

Summer is winding down and as I'll be out of town (SCBWI LA!) and then it's family vacation, I decided to do something fun with my little girl while the big kids and dad were gone (camp and work). :-)

I bought a fun magazine with some amazing recipes entitled, Taste of Home FUN FOOD. You can access some similar recipes here: Kid Friendly recipes.

We decided to do the cute cupcakes on the cover. :-)

So here was our process!



First, we took a box cake mix and whipped up the ingredients. My daughter carefully poured the mixture into baking cups.

Next, we put them in the oven according to pkg directions!

Don't forget hot pads!

Now we waited until they were done!







Once they cooled, the fun began! We frosted!

(The lighting was very strange...sorry about that!)

Then we used Nutter Butter cookies for the monkey ears by cutting them in half. (I think a few didn't make it onto the cupcakes. Mmmmm...)

Next, we cut Nilla Wafers for the mouth!

Using M n' M eyes and gel sparkle frosting for the goofy features, my daughter used her creative talents for an assortment of faces. She's modeling one here!

And so...the finished products!

We had a lot of fun (as you can see,) but the most fun was devouring, um sampling them and sharing!

If you know anything about me, you know I love cupcakes. Here's another blog post where we make Princess Peepers cupcakes.

HAVE FUN!

When School Visits Go Wrong

I was really excited last week to be going to Alabama. A bookseller who helps out his local schools by contacting and coordinating authors from all over the nation chose me to visit. I was very honored.

The first school visit went well. They welcomed me with a dazzling display in their window. The kids were so smart and I loved every moment! This was going down as one of my best visits. Here's a pic of their welcome! It says: "PAM + CALVERT = VIP" in a nod to my math books. Very clever!

The next day started out no differently. The school welcomed me with a huge poster signed by all the students and the library was decorated with TONS of cute glasses on everyone and everything. Take a look:

I knew there had been reports that we were to receive bad weather later in the day, but thought nothing of it. Of course. I'd lived in tornado alley cities much of my life and really only had one scare to show for it. But in the middle of my third session, right before lunch, we were told to go into the hallways and take cover. I wasn't frightened at this point. The librarian had the weather radar on her t.v. and we could see the red zone was to our north. Nothing to worry about.

The poor children had to wait in the hall for nearly an hour. They did so well trying to be quiet. Since there was no impending danger, I sat in the library signing books and discussed how I'd make up my last session the next day. By this time, my stomach was growling. They'd offered me the sandwiches they were giving the children for lunch, but I thought I'd get something later.

Wrong decision.

As I was dropped off at my hotel, I waved good-bye to the coordinator, and ventured into my room. I was about to walk over to Applebees when I thought, "It's raining so hard, I'll wait until it goes away and get an early supper."

So, I fell asleep.

In my dream, people I knew were hiding in the lobby of the hotel, and I was discussing things with them as a loud tornado siren blared in the background. I felt the noise was so realistic. And then suddenly, I woke up to an ACTUAL air horn blasting outside.

This was no dream.

My hotel phone rang, and I was told to go into the hallway to take cover. This lasted about two minutes as everyone congregated to the floor to ceiling window filled lobby. Curiosity sent all of us outside. Video cameras caught a large swirling wall cloud several miles away pass us by. In the meantime, the power went out. I was trapped out of my room.

During all of this, a few people came to the hotel wanting to check in but knew there was no use, so we all chatted, not knowing the horrible destruction happening around us, only a few miles away. I'd been in a tornado before--I knew when to be alarmed. Dirt clods, insulation, debris drops out of the air. I didn't see any of that.

After about thirty minutes, the storm had passed. It was time to go back to my room. The power was still not on. I was sooo hungry. But nothing around us had power. The Applebees staff went home. We watched them drive away.

And even more storms were coming.

In the darkness of my hotel room, I talked with my husband and daughter on my cell, then decided to go to sleep early. I figured someone would alert me if I had to take cover again. And sleeping would help abate my ever growing hunger. I turned on the light next to me, hoping the power would come on later, waking me.

It never did.

In the morning, everyone in the hotel was up, talking about what had happened. Reports from the hotel staff told us there was no power for miles--a major electrical artery had been severed. There wouldn't be power for at least three to five days. My cell phone wouldn't work--the cell phone towers were down. The man who was supposed to pick me up did not come at the expected time.

There I was--stranded in Alabama with no way of getting home. Everything was closed. The hotel only had a few muffins and bottled water to feed us. Before panic could set in, a man who was leaving for Kentucky with three of his co-workers offered me a ride to the Nashville airport where I could fly back home. I had to make a decision quickly. I was worried about my school visit contact, but knew it would be better for everyone if he didn't have to worry about me. So, I took the ride. On the way to the airport, I caught some of the destruction along the road. Here are some of the images I saw:

This is a billboard that was mowed down as if it were a paperclip.

Here is a mangled 18 wheeler filled with volatile liquid. You could see the dirt and grass it must have dug up as it was dropped from the sky.

                                                                                                                                                                         This might be harder to see but the trees are uprooted, many of their tops have been ripped off and blown to bits.

The school librarian that I was supposed to visit that day contacted me yesterday. They still do not have power to the schools and are closed. She said, "(Our town) looks like a war zone where bombs have leveled blocks and blocks of businesses and homes. I just can't describe the enormity of this tragedy!" There have been 351 deaths from these storms in Alabama alone. All I can say is I feel very thankful to be able to come out of that storm alive, well, and without injury. The people in the hotel did not take that storm seriously, myself included. If the tornados had decided to come our way, there would have been nothing to protect us.

I'm praying for those who lost their loved ones and for the people who have lost homes and businesses. This will be one school visit journey I'll never forget. May God help the people suffering from this tragedy!