In a tiny room, in a former orphanage, now converted to the Larchmont Charter School, I sat on a tiny chair and gave a brief lecture to a crowd of charming and well-behaved ten-year-olds on the minor glories of a writer’s life, and then read them the first chapter of my middle-grade fantasy novel, Journey through the Shadowlands.
I had been invited by the mother of one of the kids, Luke, who had read the story and immediately declared it his favorite. Lara took on the task of mediating the invitation, which I immediately accepted, and so there I was, explaining how the book had originally come about as a story improvised for my own son, and developed over the years into the dark yet ultimately positive adventure that it is.
Apparently I did a good job, as the kids piped up with plenty of questions afterwards. I deferred the answering to Luke, whom I described as the “expert on the story,” and then signed his copy, which he had brought to class. It was his birthday!
All in all, a refreshing experience. That’s me and my audience, of course, in the photo above, which was taken by Domi Miyamoto, their teacher.
And Luke has asked me to write a sequel. I suppose I’d better do it too.
Crow Tree Books 