I totally missed talking #kidlit books with kids at book festivals, especially those who are inventing stories of their own.

One girl, barefoot and about ten year old, engaged me on a story she was writing about saving another girl of her age from a house fire. The details were so clear that I asked her if she had ever witnessed or experienced a house fire. It was all in her head. Wow, such vivid storytelling at such a young age. We continued talking for about ten minutes … spooky stories, funny stories, fishing stories (well, I had to do my lil book plug). But in the end, I made sure she walked off with a copy of The Craziest Fishing Tale on the Bayou … on my nickel : )

So why do I write? Because I wish I had someone to listen to all of my overactive imaginative tales in my youth. Days like today make all the hours of ‘butt in chair’ worth it.

On the day, my recent book signing visit at the Louisiana Livingston Parish Book Festival in (you guessed it, Livingston Parish, Louisiana) featured keynote speaker and recipient of the 2015 Newbery Medal for The Crossover, Kwame Alexander. But I was also joined by other fellow SCBWI Louisiana/Mississippi book selling creators Denise Gallagher, Karen Konnerth, Michael Verrett … and my good friends who came to visit Pat Hefler, Phina Schloegel and Marti Dumas (as pictured in the collage above).

Thanks @mylplinfo for a great book festival today. Until 1023 … #keepwriting #keepreading #yall