Visiting students is one of the perks of being a writer! As you can see, I had a fantastic welcome from students at Altimira and Adele Harrison middle schools as part of Authors' Day at the Sonoma Valley Authors Festival.
At both assemblies, I chatted about my path to being a writer, some of the challenges I've overcome to reach my goals (like terrible vision) and how I do my research for a fun, action-packed adventure series like Explorer Academy.
Thanks to the Bank of Marin's sponsorship, every student received a complimentary signed copy of The Nebula Secret, the first book in my series - that added up to 1,000 books! It was truly an honor for me to be part of this exciting festival, especially since it was also the first time they included a middle grade writer in the line-up.
Of course, like all book lovers, authors have favorite authors, too. While at the festival, I got a chance to meet one of mine: Tom Brokaw. What a treat to hear this inspirational journalist speak and get a copy of his new book!