Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

If you aren't an author yourself, you might think that we all hobnob with each other regularly. But the truth of it is, we almost all have our own holy grail of authors that when/if we meet we are reduced to squealing fans around. Before I was published, I met Tamora Pierce. The reason I was at her reading was because I was a fan, not because I was an aspiring writer. So when I won a copy of her new book in a drawing, I was beyond happy. But I've always been painfully shy, and I couldn't even bring myself to approach her to get the book signed. What a dork! I really wish I could relive that moment. Just to prove I'm not the only author out there who fangirls when she meets her faves, I collected a few stories to share. Tracey M. Cox on meeting Bruce Coville: It was amazing. One of those moments when you tell yourself to, “Be cool. Be cool”, but inside your hopping around going, “Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. OH MY GOSH!” Hahaha. Kim McDougall  on m...

Hi everyone! Welcome to Building Character. I’d like to introduce you to Herbie, the main character in Helping Herbie Hedgehog by Melissa Abramovitz. Great to have you join us today, Herbie. Can you tell us a little about you, please? Hello, I’m Herbie Hedgehog. Melissa, who invented me, tells everyone I’m totally clueless. But the truth is that I only pretend to be clueless to help her pursue her dream of making learning fun for kids. On second thought, maybe I am kinda clueless. Today I wore a shoe on my head to protect it from the sun. Someone told me I really should buy a hat.  So, Herbie, usually a character in a book has some sort of conflict. What conflict are you up against? Oh gosh, my only conflict is with my own cluelessness. I don’t like imposing on people to help me figure out how to do things. But the up side is that there are lots of nice, helpful kids in this world. They’re always willing to help me out, and we laugh together when I do things like tryi...