Much like when Frank Beddor visited, I now hear Ridley Pearson’s voice when I read his work. I’m on Kingdom Keepers III right now and many of the real-life stories Ridley shared made it into the book. The characters visit the abandoned carousel room, find the maintenance journal for Soarin’, and ride on a crazed Test Track.

If you ever get a chance to host Ridley, take it. He’s a very interesting individual. Last year he taught English at a university in China and was a substitute teacher in St. Louis. Ridley is very successful – he doesn’t need the extra money. He loves working with students. Every chance he gets he teaches To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books to read and teach.

He’s in a band with Matt Groening, Amy Tan, Stephen King, Mitch Albom, and Dave Barry. Those have got to be some fun rehearsals. It was during one of those band sessions that Dave Barry and he decided to write Peter and the Starcatchers.

As if that wasn’t interesting enough, he has a pass to get into any Disney location for free at any time. He just calls up, says he needs to do some research, and an Imagineer hooks him up. Ridley showed some spooky photos from It’s a Small World at 5 am. If you’ve read the first Kingdom Keepers book, you know what that’s about.

Ridley was a good mix of fun insider stories about Disney and an experienced perspective on the writing process. He also loved what we’re doing at our school, so I pass the applause on to the teachers for fostering an enjoyment of reading in our students.

1. Were the students engaged?
2. Was there a balance between “Buy my book!” and “Here’s how to be a better student”?

Student engagement is a big one, since a bored audience could be doing something else with their time. Author visits take work to coordinate; Quiet Ball is a much easier way to bore students.

I understand that authors make money from book sales, so of course they would want to hype their books. But by being at the school you’ve already highlighted your book apart from all of the others on the shelf.

James Dashner scores well on both of these requirements. He had some pictures on a PowerPoint to make the students laugh, but what really kept the students involved was asking questions. Dashner asked students about why to pre-write and what makes for a good revising process. He detailed the steps that he takes when writing a book. It was great to hear that pre-writing, first drafts, and revisions (all things our teachers emphasize) are involved in how he gets published.

Our focus on rigor, relevance, and relationships was enhanced by his real world writing examples. I especially appreciated that to be a published author many times you send off your revised manuscript to an agent before you get to the final copy. Students came away from the author visit with a better understanding of strategies for writing (and signed copies of the book).

Librarians, a warning – you’ll need to order more books. Mine are all checked out and on hold.

John Flanagan was a good way to end author visits for the school year. He told us about his work in TV but how he really wanted to be an author. I loved the fact that his big celebration was not a big house/car but that he could do his dream and still support his family. (That excitement was demonstrated by looking like a “loon” as he and his wife pulled up to stop lights (instead of the bland faces people normally present.))

He also talked about how he started Ranger’s Apprentice to hook his son on reading. His son’s favorite part was Halt catching Will in the tower. He never knew you could actually feel fear in a story. Flanagan then stuck the stories in a desk for 12 years until his daughter recommended to get them published as Book 1. It’s cool that now we’re talking script by Paul Haggis (who, for the first time in Academy Award history won back-to-back awards for the scripts for Crash and Million Dollar Baby). 

It’s even cooler that Paul Haggis took notice of Ranger’s Apprentice because the scriptwriter’s son loved the books. I am stoked because I still am boycotting the Stormbreaker movie because I’m such a fan of the Alex Rider series and usually young adult books-turned movies stink. (Did you see Eragon? Yeah, me neither.)

Flanagan had a great thing to say about all of the rejection letters (he gets so excited, he says sarcastically). You can’t guarantee success, but you can guarantee failure. He then shared Steven Bradbury’s story. (He also shared how kangaroos go from cutesy to old men kangaroos who lean on golf tees like they owe the place.) 

Flanagan popped the balloon. Students got copies of Book 5, Sorcerer of the North (which comes out in November).

He signed my book “aka Halt”. I’m excited.

1.  She’s funny, in a The Office/Joss Whedon sort of way. You’ve got to pay attention or the wit will fly right by.
2. She knows character development and purpose. A student asked, “Why did you make Josh like he is?” Ally: “Josh is everything that Cammie wants but can’t have. The white picket fence, the mom who bakes giant apple pies.” She went on to explain how Cammie lives in a mansion but eats microwave burritos because her mom doesn’t know how to cook. The normal life escapes her.
3. Ally intended Bex to represent Cammie without any reservations. Bex doesn’t know what it’s like to lose a dad.
4. Book 3 is going to rock, plain and simple. Macey, a character who originally would have left after book one, has some very exciting scenes.
5. In book 3 there is another cool character with some hilarious dialogue.
6. The title is just as fun as the others.
7. If I told more about book 3 (or the rest of the series), Ally would kill me with a piece of uncooked spaghetti. I’ve seen her do it and I’ve had trouble sleeping ever since.
8. The first Gallagher book was dedicated to someone that Ally knew who sounds like an extraordinary woman that deserves the title Gallagher Girl.
9. Ally understands the balance between internal and external conflict. Where I am one to always require more explosions, the balance between Cammie wanting to look elegant at a ball and Cammie tracking down an infiltrator is what I love about the book series.
10. Ally has a secret identity.
11. That secret identity has trouble checking in to hotels.
12. I may not look at the printed signs to tell you which hotel lobby I am in, but I can tell you based on carpet.
13. Ally is very forgiving when you show up and wait to pick her up at the wrong hotel.
14. Ally has great metaphors regarding the writing process. “If you turn on a hose after you haven’t used it for a while, what comes out?” Someone honestly said mice. Ally had a witty response on her feet.
15. Her writing space involves sticky note storyboards on four separate walls, a wall for each story she’s working on. She may describe it as the mind of a serial killer, but I am going to start doing that in my library office. (Maybe that’s not good evidence that she’s not crazy.)
16. I am going to start a letter/e-mail writing campaign to get George Clooney to play Joe Solomon in the movie.
17. When you sign a contract with Disney, it is worded that you are giving rights to the story for it to be a Disney production anywhere in the universe. (Not just measly little Earth.)
18. When you sign with Disney, you agree that your story can take many forms: film, straight to DVD, made for TV movie, stage, and on ice.
19. I would love to see Gallagher Girls on Ice on the planet Neptune.
20. Ally is great with kids (and knows some good songs to sing with a preschooler).
21. My Little Pony Live has higher production values than The Wiggles.
22. Ally is a very humble author who doesn’t complain about carrying a diaper bag and riding to the airport in a minivan with a crying infant.
23. Ally inspired a teacher to follow her own “high concept idea” and start writing again.
24. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a good friend of hers that wrote The Squad, about covert cheerleaders. They just came out this month and I will be checking those books out.
25. Ally Carter can do well presenting to the large groups but she excels at the question and answers, so keep that in mind when bringing her to your library.

Yes, bringing an author is a lot of work. Yes, I am exhausted (woo, President’s Day!). But it is so worth it and so much fun, especially when you get the talented Ally Carter to your library.