Wow! (Is it March already?)
It’s been a really busy couple of months, and exciting ones too. First, let me say thanks to all the people who’ve written in with questions and comments. I can’t tell you how much it means to connect with kids and parents. I feel like this has been my little project for so long that it’s almost unreal to see it actually touching people in the real world, and nothing makes me happier.
It’s also been a bit surreal to go straight from college to the world of PR and book promotion. It’s definitely been a learning experience, and I’ve been meeting some terrific people across the country along the way. Most recently, I was interviewed by Mike Walter from CBS affiliate Channel 9 in Washington D.C, and he wrote a really nice post about it on his blog, which you can check out here. Thanks Mike! I’ve also been featured in a number of new publications in print and online, and you can check those out in the Press and Podcasts section.
Like I said, the best part of this whole process so far has been actually connecting with kids and parents and hearing their stories. In November I went back to my old Middle School, Del Mar School in Tiburon, CA, and met with kids and parents about finding the bright side of their situations. It was a great experience to sit down with my old school counselor who helped me out so much along with a whole new generation of kids who are struggling to make the most of the cards they’ve been dealt. To Gordon and his mother, Heidi - you guys are on the right track. Thanks so much for sharing your stories.
I’ve also had the privilege this month of responding to DJ, a student at Glenwood Elementary School on San Rafael who wrote me asking about what it’s like to be an author. Here’s his questions, and my responses:
1) What’s hard about being an author?
I’ve only been an author for a little while, but so far, the hardest part is forcing myself to write every day. It can be very easy to get distracted by other things like friends, family and work, but I can’t call myself an author unless I’m writing.
It’s also difficult to be just an author unless your book is very successful, and it can be difficult as you write, to convince yourself that it’s worth the time. But in the end, You have to have confidence in what you have to say, and what you want to share.
2) What’s your favorite book you’ve written?
Well so far I’ve only written one book, so it’s my favorite by default. In the future, if I ever get some of my poems published, then that would become my favorite.
3) Where do you get your ideas?
For the books I’m writing now about divorce, a lot comes from my own experience. I realized I felt differently about divorce than a lot of people, and I wanted to get those ideas out into the world. A lot of times though, especially for writing poetry or fiction, the best thing can be to just start writing. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s boring, or not interesting, because after fifteen minutes, you’ll probably find yourself writing about something you never would have thought of in the first place.
I also received an email from a firefighter in Texas who’s worried that after his recent and relatively painless divorce with his wife, his kids aren’t telling him the whole truth about how they feel. I told him that the best thing to do is to let his kids know that he’s ready to talk to them when they are, but not to try and force them to “confess” their feelings of unhappiness. At the same time, if the kids have a real issue with their father, the sooner they address it, the happier they’ll all be as a family, instead of keeping it buried under the surface.
Thanks again to everyone who’s been sending in questions stories, and comments. I won’t be able to get to all of them on the blog, and of course if you want to keep your email private, just say so. I look forward to hearing from you!
and