READ BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT MY SCHOOL VISIT PROGRAM -- OR, CLICK HERE TO READ IT FROM A TO Z!

I am a writer of many interests. I have written more than two-dozen children's books – fiction and nonfiction, serious and humorous, poetry and prose, picture books and chapter books, about everything from baseball and birds to heroes and hiccups. My alphabet books for Sleeping Bear Press (which include letter-by-letter poems for younger readers and expansive sidebar text for older readers) have sold more than 200,000 copies. One of them, H is for Home Run, is dedicated to my fourth-grade teacher.

I have also written three acclaimed travel memoirs about small-town America. In the latest, Turn Left at the Trojan Horse, I ponder what constitutes a heroic life. I conclude that if one person considers you a hero, then you’re a hero. So I enjoy visiting schools to try to spark the imagination of students the way my fourth grade teacher inspired me.

SCHOOL PRESENTATIONS

The goal of my visits is to GET STUDENTS INVOLVED – capture their attention by discussing subjects that pique their interest and use humor to teach. I have several different presentation options, all of which have been very well-received, in part because I appeal to reluctant readers. Plus, I try to make it fun for the teachers, too, which is an often overlooked part of the process.

I have presented to students ranging from pre-K to high school. My message is simple: Writing can take many forms and open doors to adventure. I discuss some of those adventures – tales about serving as a batboy for a major league baseball team (my first published article), competing in the Masters of Miniature Golf (my favorite story about developing a story idea), and being a contestant on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” in front of 25 million viewers (a lesson in the power of learning through writing).

But I focus mostly on various facets of the writing life -- how I became a writer, the importance of reading and research, how I get my ideas, and the book creation process. For my K-5 audiences, I recently developed a presentation (also PowerPoint with fun images) in which the students and I create a story together, illustrating how creativity is simply about making choices with your imagination