Author Visits

What's the One Question Everyone Asks Writers?

I love visiting schools and have enjoyed talking with young people (usually in grades 4 and up) in a number of states, including Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado, Michigan, and Nebraska, and I've been a writer-in-residence in several Massachusetts schools. When I talk with kids about writing and about my books, I usually tell them I'd rather answer questions than make a speech, but I also say that I'll start by answering the one question most people always ask anyway: Where do you get your ideas? I explain how what I found in the fridge one dark night when I was hungry led to my vampire books, and how four little silver circles in an old jewelry box helped lead to my Fours Crossing fantasy sequence.

I usually go on from there to the kids' own writing, to some of my other books, to how a book is made, to how writers are paid, to the writing process (including revision!)—whatever the group seems to want to know about. If they're interested, I show them book contracts, research material, proofs, messy revised manuscripts, and so on. Sometimes with younger kids I've used creative dramatics (which I used to teach), or intriguing props to help them develop their own story ideas and/or characters.

I have also talked informally with high school students in gay-straight alliances and addressed school assemblies as part of "diversity day" and similar programs—an aspect of my work that is also very important to me.

Because I encourage a lot of interaction with any group I address, I prefer small groups to large ones, although I do occasionally make exceptions. When I go to a school, I find I tend to run out of steam after about four 40-45-minute class sessions, so I prefer not to exceed that. But regardless of the place or the situation, staying in touch with my readers is one of my greatest pleasures!

With adults and older kids, depending on the group, I often focus on specific books—Dove & Sword, for example, if the group is interested in historical fiction; Annie on My Mind and/or The Year They Burned the Books if they're interested in my books about gay and lesbian characters and themes, and/or in censorship issues; Endgame if they would like to discuss that book and/or the problems of bullying and its prevention.

Because I was deeply involved in combating the censorship attempt in relation to my book Annie on My Mind (my nonfiction book Witches has also been under fire, and a couple of others as well), I've done a good deal of speaking about censorship and challenged books (other authors' as well as my own). This has been primarily to regional and state library associations in many parts of the country, and in conjunction with the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. I've also spoken before such groups as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for Multicultural Education, and I've both spoken and run workshops on various subjects at writers' conferences. Wherever I go, I always enjoy meeting new people, talking with them, and learning from them.

To book school or conference appearances, please contact either Farrar, Straus & Giroux, or, if you're primarily interested in Endgame, Harcourt, Inc.

To reach Farrar, Straus & Giroux, e-mail Childrens.marketing@fsgbooks.com, or call them at 212-741-6900, ext.242.

To reach Harcourt, contact Kia Neri, Author Promotions Manager, at kneri@harcourt.com.

Most marketing folks ask that you please be prepared to provide or discuss the following:

• Day, date, and time (and one or two alternate dates)
• location
• program format
• audience (librarians, parents students--what grade levels?)
• size of audience
• how many presentations and how long
• will there be autographing (you will be responsible for ordering books and handling sales; the publishers will provide information about their book ordering policy)
• honorarium

Please be advised that travel expenses, meals, and hotel, when applicable, must usually be covered by the host.

Top