I’d love to visit your school!
Have a date in mind? Check my availability calendar HERE.
Coolness
Cheesy Comic Books that Couldn’t Be Cuter!
I had a blast working with some fun third graders making CHEESY COMICS together! Then, we compiled them into a hardcover book for their library. They look SO good, and I couldn’t be more excited to mail these off for the students to see their work published!
If you are interested in having me come do a CHEESY COMICS WORKSHOP with your students, get in touch! I like to spend about 2-2.5 hours with the same students spread over 1, 2, or 3 days. I am happy to work with group sizes of 10-60 as long as each student has a desk or plenty of table space to create.
In the workshop, we talk about character creation, story, the unique medium of comics (art+text, panels, and word balloons), and the comics creation process (sketches, pencils, inks, and color). By the end of our workshop, the students each have a zinger of a cheesy comic to go in an anthology hardcover book for the library or classroom that will “melt” you into a goo of joy :)
My School Visit Stats!
YOU DID IT! (or you’re reeeeally close)
Look at you! You made it through another school year and so did I! I’m definitely ready for a break from early bed times and early wake times.
My girls are finishing up their last week of 3rd and 7th grades (7th almost killed me but that’s another story) but I had my biggest, busiest school visiting year yet thanks to all the wonderful people who invited me to their schools so I could share my love of stories! I know it takes extra effort to organize an author visit, so I am deeply appreciative of those who went that extra mile for their students and for me.
Visiting schools is one of the best parts of my work. It’s just so cool to connect with so many different people in various places … all because of a book.
Here are my stats for the year…
“Our staff and teachers felt like you did an amazing job keeping the kids engaged and were an amazing presenter. It was so enjoyable to have you visit! All parts of the presentations were amazing and very well planned to keep the students focused and excited about writing and illustrating. Thank you.” – Sandy, Media Specialist, Canton, GA
“I loved how you were able to bring the presentation down to a level that even the Pre-K and Kindergarten were engaged. I also loved the way you encouraged the students to look at the illustrations and explained that many times the illustrations have an effect on the meaning of the text. Our students and teachers alike loved the presentations.” – Angelia, Media Specialist, Demorest, GA.
“We loved the presentation! Our students loved drawing along with you! I really enjoyed working with you from our first email until the last session was over today. You have thought through every aspect of your visit to make it as smooth as possible. Thank you!” – Jennifer, Media Specialist, Canton, GA
I’m booking for the 2023-2024 school year now! If you’re interested, take a look at my presentations, pricing, and availability calendar here and let’s get something set up!
H.A.G.S. (Have a good summer :) – Shanda
My Daughter Did Something Brave
| Today, my 12 year old opened her first online business with RedBubble to sell her art designs on various merch! She has one design so far, but buyers can get it on shirts, bags, pillows, phone cases, etc. She hopes the sales will help her to start saving for a car (which she will need in 5 years). But as any creative soul knows all too well, putting your art (aka your heart) out there in the world is a very vulnerable and brave thing to do. And the very first response she got from a friend this morning was, “why is everything so expensive?”. That little comment from a particularly close friend crushed her. She immediately felt dumb for even trying. Man, it flew all over me as a parent and an artist. No wonder living a creative life is so hard. You have to believe in yourself. Be near others that believe in you too. Hugs, my creative friends!Check out her store for yourself and feel free to comment and send some words of encouragement for her. I’ll read her every one! |
| Check out Harvey’s Store! |
A Robot Changed My Life
My new backyard studio shed!
Over my girls’ February break from school, our family worked our tushies off rearranging the rooms in our house. The master bedroom got moved upstairs and my daughters FINALLY got their own rooms downstairs which left me without a workspace. Soooooo…. I got a shed! My husband gets all the credit for this. He gave up his little woodworking space and fixed it up for me! Check it out… |
 |
 |
 |
My Book Inspired A Makey-Makey Maker!
Photo by Colleen Graves
Photo by Colleen Graves
So many cool things have happened as a result of the writing/publishing of DOLL-E 1.0. I am so humbled to be a part of a circuit of creatives! So many hands touched this book from its conception to birth … critique groups, editors, art directors, publicists, my husband, my kids, my mom, sales departments, educators, librarians, bookstores, etc.!
And now another creative hand has tinkered with this book and made its existence even cooler … a real coder and “maker” … a girl named Colleen Graves! She creates activities and guides for Makey-Makey (that appears multiple times in the illustrations of Doll-E 1.0). So, Colleen was charged up to create an activity guide for creating your own doll or robot from spare parts and a Makey-Makey, then adding words to its database using Scratch! It. Is. RAD!
If you are a STEM or STEAM teacher, I truly hope you check this out and share your creations with us! It’s reading, creating, problem solving, programing, electronics, engineering, and fun all in one! Colleen suggests this project works best with grades 3-6. So without further adieu, here is the guide:
https://labz.makeymakey.com/cwists/preview/1657x
And here is Colleen’s blogpost about the inspiration behind creating the guide:
Making and Literacy Guide for Doll-E 1.0
Doll-E 1.0 has made her way to a state list!
I was really excited when I got an email from Connecticut’s Charter Oak Children’s Book Award that DOLL-E 1.0 was one of four fiction finalists! State lists are new to my radar, and the coolest part about them is that kids get to vote on the finalists. I love it! I’m hoping to get to spend a week in CT visiting several schools in the area! This is so much fun :)
Doll-E 1.0 selected for B&N National Storytime on 7/28/18!
My first book publication experience has been nothing short of awesome! I am very honored and grateful, because I realize this isn’t the norm. My book has some very hot themes in it … STEM, STEAM, girls in tech, and robotics, so my publisher, Little Brown, has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure DOLL-E 1.0 gets in the hands of kids! And one of those awesome efforts led to DOLL-E 1.0 being selected for Barnes and Noble’s National Storytime! This means that on July 28, 2018, EVERY Barnes and Noble IN THE COUNTRY will be reading my book during their 11am Saturday story time! Whaaaa?! There’s even Doll-E activities to follow and a discount on the book if you are a member or a kids club member.
I’ll be involved in this national event at my local B&N in Cumming, GA at The Collection! Please join me this Saturday at 11 am if you can! I’d LOVE to meet some new friends and visit with old friends, read my book to you, show you how to draw some of the characters, and sign some books too!
Here’s the Barnes & Noble blog post about it: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/kids/visit-your-local-bn-saturday-july-28th-at-11am-for-a-storytime-event-featuring-doll-e-1-0/
Special thanks to Shawn Foster and the Little, Brown sales team and to Barnes and Noble!!! Thank you for selecting DOLL-E 1.0 for B&N National Storytime💙🤖💙 I also want to constantly thank my Heavenly Father, my husband- Ben, my girls, my parents, Ben’s parents, my big family, Ben’s big family, my friends and church friends, my agent- Erica, my editor- Andrea, and last but not ever least … my Trail Mix Critique Group and best buds: Colleen, Bonnie, Christi, Shannon, Jaclyn, Vaughan, Tosha, and Kim!
Balancing Doll-E Robot STEM Activity!
Read “Doll-E 1.0”, then click on the FREE activity to print it onto card stock.
You’ll need:
- card stock
- crayons, colored pencils, or markers
- scissors
- poster putty (or glue)
- 2 pennies
