Considering
our event in PA, I've been pretty nervous about my schedule. I've been sifting through the calendar trying to figure out what must be canceled, what could be rearranged and what must be borne. Because Rain Dragon seemed to have reached her limit.
And the
bookclub meeting for the FCB was an event that we'd have to get though, I decided. Not only did I really want to meet the readers of
Starry River of the Sky, the event was a "friendraiser" for the
FCB--to help build awareness of their program of bringing in authors to visit low-income schools, a program
I feel very strongly about. So, off we went.
It was not a fortuitous start, however, because as soon as we arrived Rain Dragon had a magnificent pooptastic diaper causing us to have to wipe her whole body down and discard her clothes. We had forgotten to replace the spare outfit in the diaper bag (used it in PA!) and were forced to bring her to the event naked:
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| Rain Dragon is embarrassed that now everyone knows she had a big poopie diaper |
Fortunately, the Super-Librarian Christian Porter lived close by and grabbed an outfit for us:
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| Yay! |
Because it was time for the book club meeting! Even though they had warned me it was 75 people, I had thought it would be 25 kids at a table with their parents in the back. Instead it was full room, beautifully adorned with a theme of purple and stars--just like the book:
Unfortunately, that meant my little show and tell of small sketches was rather a dud (should've brought the powerpoint presentation!) but my ol' reliable draw-along of a tiger didn't fail me:
And all this time, how was Rain Dragon doing? She was actually very quiet and content. It helped that the Park School Library is a really amazing space:
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| looking at fish |
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| playing around--she's learned to crawl! |
After my drawing demonstration, it was time for book group discussions. The FCB helped start the groups going with some prompts:
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| aren't these great questions? |
And after the discussions, it was Q&A with yours truly. However, by this time Rain Dragon wanted to see what everyone was talking about and insisted on being a prominent observer:
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| I had to hold her the whole time I answered questions, but she was very good & quiet while I did so. It was only when I tried to pass her off to the Sasquatch when she protested! |
This continued even during the signing:
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| I want to sign, too! |
But, all things considering, it was a great event. It helped that everyone was so patient and understanding--it renewed my hope for my future events. But most of all, I loved seeing and meeting all the readers of
Starry River of the Sky! Thank you, FCB, for sponsoring! Thank you, Librarian Christian Porter, for Rain Dragon's emergency outfit!Thank you, Park School, for hosting! Thank you, readers, for coming!
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| and Rain Dragon says, "Thank you for the balloon!" |
