School Visits

  • Best for: grades 6-9

    Description: This program is designed to look at some of the underlying assumptions that cause people to decide that they’re not writers and to give students practical and fun ways of building their skills as writers which they can use immediately. We’ll explore techniques for finding stories and getting started, experiment with how different choices we make shape our work, and we’ll talk about techniques for when writing gets hard. We’ll talk about what the job of an author looks like but also how the skills of creative problem-solving which make up the job of a writer apply to many other fields and endeavors.

  • Best for: grades 4-6

    Description: You’ve done your research on echidnas or Nikola Tesla or how trees adapt to the environment around them. But how do you want to write about those facts? This class introduces some fun ways of thinking about how to make something both you and you reader can enjoy.

  • Best for: grades 3-7

    Description: Material will be tailored to the age of the group.

    Sometimes writing just seems hard. This presentation focuses on putting the fun back into words and putting those words together. Learn games that you can use to find ideas, decide how you want to organize those ideas, revise your writing, and have fun with words during your day.

  • Best for: grades K-2

    Description: In a presentation heavy on rhythm and fun, we’ll talk about how different books offer us different things and how to choose a book for when you’re feeling happy or quiet or silly or sad. We’ll read several books together and play some games. Then we’ll work on writing a story together.

  • Best for: grades 6-9

    Description: Workshop-style class. Where do story ideas come from? Many places. In this workshop, we'll learn techniques for finding stories, and experiment with how different choices about how we want to tell it may shape that story. We'll also talk about techniques for when writing gets hard.

  • Best for: grades 6-9

    Description: Best for middle school and high school students who want to work on their own material in a workshop style class. Playing Through The Turnaround is a novel written in short chapters told by six different characters. My choice to write in this form and with this many voices gave me certain opportunities and caused me certain problems. In this workshop-style class, I’ll help students find a story they’d like to tell and then experiment with a few exercises that let them try on the possibilities that different voices and forms might give them. We’ll end with a short discussion about what to do when writing gets hard and the value of revision.

  • Best for: grades 3-5

    Description: Can be done as a presentation or writing workshop.

    A presentation about creativity and how to bring that into your own writing. Using plenty of games and activities, we’ll talk about what creativity is and how we might use it in our writing and other areas of life. We’ll also talk about five techniques for those times when writing isn’t going so well.

in-person school visit

PRICES

$1,200 per day if school is located within 75 miles of Syracuse area.

$1,500 per day for drivable travel (within 5 hours and in months when the snow is not hip-high).

$2,000 per day for visits requiring flights.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

A full-day fee includes 3-4 auditorium shows (or a full day’s worth of writing workshops for smaller classroom groups if that meets your needs better.)

If schools are including book sales as part of the day, I’m glad to sign books as part of the visit. Or if you have ideas about certain things you’d like to design a program around, I’d be glad to have a phone conversation to discuss that.

virtual school visit

PRICES

$300 for a 45 minute small-group writing workshop.

$75 for a 20-30 minute Q&A session.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

For the writing workshop: for small student writing clubs or classes. 45 minutes of instruction tailored to the age and ability of the group.

For the Q&A visit: 20-30 virtual session with classes or bookclubs that have read one of my books.

Training for Teachers

Games With Words

There's so much to fit into a day that sometimes the sheer fun of words gets less time. This class will focus on quick games that make words fun, bring a class together, and help kids develop a life-long love of reading and writing. Each game is designed to be played in less than five minutes so it can be fit into those little moments during the day. Play as you gather for each day, walk down the hall, put on coats, wait to board the bus, whenever. Presented at Keystone State Literacy Association.

Workshops for Writers

In and Out  of All Those Doors: Idea Generation for PB Writers

Sometimes we look at that blank screen or page and…nothing happens. We’re out of ideas or the ideas we come up with sound like something we’ve done before. Now what?

Many of us have favorite ways of entering the writing of a picture book. I think of them as different doors. I tend to go in through the door of voice. A friend of mine almost always goes in through the concept door. But always going in through a door I'm comfortable with might mean that I'm limiting the kinds of picture books I write. What if I had a list of different doors and I tried going through one I'd never tried before? And what if the test of a picture book that has staying power is that, during revision, you actually visit it through several of the different doors?

This class presents multiple techniques for generating fresh picture book ideas through the introduction of games, exercises, and writing prompts to get those ideas flowing and send you home with a stack of new ideas to pursue.

Building A Character One Game At A Time

This workshop will introduce you to some writing games that you can use during the creation of a story to create characters that are round and real. And to have some fun in the bargain. Best for novelists.