I spent today at Heights High School talking to a group of English classes about the writing process, publishing, and why I wrote Feisty Family Values.  They had lots of good questions and many admitted to writing stories and keeping journals (beyond what is required at school).  I met one young man who is on his second novel.

We talked about the theme of my book (that family is not just DNA), about character development, point of view, language, where you find ideas, the plot line/story arch, and how you get from the start to the finish.  I think they were surprised at how l much editing is involved.  We all hope that our first draft is publishing worthy, but it seldom is and improves with tightening and rewriting.

They were also surprised at how long it takes to get a book published (18 months) if you go the traditional route, and not self-publishing, or e-publishing.  I hope it didn’t discourage them too much, because it’s a long journey and it’s a fun one.  Patience is a life lesson that writing has taught me. They were very perceptive about the symbols in the story, the importance of the injured cat to Annabelle, who is injured herself and looking for a home.  It was fun to see when they realized how much the main character Regina had to change in order to find her freedom. But I don’t want to go into details here and spoil the story in case you haven’t read the book yet.

Suffice it to say, I learned as well. Things have changed a lot since I was at Heights in the 70′s.  It’s much more flexible now (dress code for example) than when I was there.  But kids are kids and they are full of enthusiasm and curiosity, except for the ones that slept through the class. Ha. Only kidding. They have a signed copy of Feisty Family Values in the library now and I think I will even make it into the yearbook after 30+ years. (Sara – save me a copy!)