Recently I was privileged to do a Mystery Writers Workshop for a fifth-grade class on Long Island. The students read my three Annie Tillery Mysteries and wrote me letters I will always cherish. The students are lucky enough to have a teacher who has developed a Literature Circle in her classroom. The school hosted an Author/Illustrator Night through Long Island Children’s Writers and Illustrators, and the students got to meet me. Later I visited the class, and we did a mystery writing workshop. When writing for any audience, it can be helpful to know what readers are curious about. I found the kid’s questions most insightful. Here are some of the questions and comments from the students. What fun!
1. What does Annie, your main character look like. “I was wondering how you pictured Annie looking like and was it like the illustrations?”
2.”I love all these books because they have a lot of action.”
3.”I was wondering how you got the idea for mysteries.”
“The only way I can snap out of it (reading a good book) is if somebody takes the book, does something physical to me, or I simply look up to see what is going on.”
4. “I like the book because it reminds me of Indiana Jones and I also like how Annie has a lot of adventure.”
5. “Why do you have the same format for your book covers?’
6. “Why do you have the same characters in your books?”
7. “Why did you pick the name, Annie, for your main character?”
8. “Why did you choose the series to be mystery books?”
9. “Why did Annie not like her father?”
10, “I am reading your book, Secrets in the Fairy Chimneys, and I absolutely love it. The setting is fantastic, the plot is out of this world, and I can’t even tell you how good the characters are. I think the book has excitement, mystery, friendship, and romance all throughout the book. Where in the world did you think of such a good story?”
11. “I must ask you how you came up with the characters’ names? I myself am writing a story, and I am struggling with finding names for my characters. Are they based off of real people? Or did you just randomly pick names. My second question is did you include real facts about ghosts in the book? Or did you make them up? For example, in the story it said, ‘Don’t ghosts run on some sort of energy?’. When I read that, I felt more interested in ghosts. Also, besides the questions I really admired how you put many advanced words. It helped me with my vocabulary, and it helped me become more of an advanced writer.”
12. “What inspired you to be an author?”
13. “Why do you write about ghosts?”
14.”I was wondering if you have any children, and what part do you live in?”
15. “When did you start being an author?”
16. How do you come up with your ideas for books?”
17. “What is your feeling about writing?”
18. “Is writing a story hard?”
Some of the questions were about specific plot choices I made.
I loved this comment too. “I think you chose the right job to be an author.” For those of you who write, it sometimes takes a long time to get that validation.
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Author’s Page At Book Marketing Global Network:
http://bookmarketingglobalnetwork.com/book-marketing-global-network/linda-maria-frank
