(Wow, Little Falls: Way to make a writer feel welcome!  Brom Bones even gets his own section.)

Over the past month, I’ve been busy with Volume Five, school visits, and performances of “Sirens” with Red Wing’s Soapbox Players.  (If you’re near Red Wing, you should really come to a show sometime.  We perform in a gigantic barn!  Seriously!!)  The play is over, but the school visits will continue; it’s going to be a travel-crazy spring.  While I’m here at my very own desk, I want to give one more huge round of thanks to the students, staff, and parents at Little Falls Middle School of Little Falls, Minnesota, Mounds Park Academy of St. Paul, and Ashbel Smith, Stephen F. Austin, and San Jacinto Elementary Schools in Baytown, Texas.  It was a privilege meeting all of you.

I’ve been too busy to notice it happening, but somewhere within the last few months, I passed the magic number: The number of performances you need to give before you really know the material.  Not counting writing workshops and bookstore signings and talks with adults, I have given somewhere around 100 presentations to young readers.  Yup.  100-ish.  And something I learned several years ago has proved itself to be true again.

While I was in college, I worked as an actress at a dinner theatre.  Our shows were mostly classic comedies–lots of Neil Simon, lots of British farces–and from Wednesday to Sunday, we would put on 6 – 8 performances, with a show each evening, plus matinees on the weekends.  Throughout the run, we would do 50 – 120 performances (the cast kept track by making hash marks on the back of the wooden set, so I know).  I was used to the community theatre/school play model, where you rehearse for three months and then give four performances, which are over in a blur of adrenaline and Ben Nye face paint.  80 shows is different.  80 shows is actor boot camp.  You learn a lot from 80 shows.  80 shows means you can polish and practice in front of a live audience, which is the only way you’ll really see what works…and what doesn’t.  You learn how to adjust split-second timing to get a laugh where there wasn’t one before, or to create a pause long enough for a thought to seep in.  You learn about inflection and expression and physicality.  There’s nothing in the world that could substitute for the learning experience of 80 live shows.

When I’m making school visits, I’m kind of a writer/teacher/actor combo — and these are exactly the jobs that I’ve done, so I’m laughably lucky!  But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Speaking in front of big crowds of grown-ups still scares me to death.  And getting up in front of an audience and just being myself, not some much cleverer and more interesting character, still makes me squirm a teeny bit on the inside.  But after three years and dozens of school visits, I’m starting to think that I just might know what I’m doing.

Almost.

Maybe.

So, here are the things that dinner theatre taught me about school visits:

- Every audience is different. Audiences may be quiet or hyper, reserved or full of questions, rolling on the floor or barely cracking a smile.  You can give the same presentation to two different groups and have head-spinningly different reactions.  That’s because it’s not all about you.  A really small group is less likely to laugh aloud; a bigger group probably will.  They might have had a day full of bad weather, or hard work, or multiple choice tests.  They may have just eaten Beef Stroganoff in the cafeteria and now they can barely move, or they might have just gotten back from a field trip and they’re so electrified with excitement that they can hardly sit still.  Maybe they’ve actually read your book, and they loved it and they’ve been waiting for you to come, and they treat you like you’re Marilyn Monroe stepping off the plane at an Army base.  Or maybe they’ve just been plunked down in the library and told to behave themselves, with no idea who you are or why they’re supposed to care.  Once again: It’s not all about you.

- Adjust to fit your crowd.  So, because every crowd is different, you might have to do things differently.  Think about your volume, because if the audience can’t hear you, everything else is a wash.  Make sure you can speak loudly enough for your voice to fill the space, or that you’ve got a working microphone.  If the microphone doesn’t work, set it aside, ask the kids to scoot closer, and project.  Pay attention to your pacing.  Keep it energetic, but not too fast to stifle laughs or other reactions.  Depending on your audience’s age, adjust your habits to fit the crowd.  Older kids might be less likely to laugh aloud, or to want to be the first to raise their hand with a question or comment, and younger kids may have shorter attention spans.  Watch their reactions.  Adjust accordingly.

- Scenery is important.  Of course, a great performer can give a great show on a bare stage…but a little set dressing never hurts.  If you use a slideshow or other images, you can accent your talk with mystery or information or humor.  It gives visual learners something to focus on (and, really, we’re all visual learners, aren’t we?) and it will help keep your talk on track.  In my own slideshow, I use embarrassing photos from my childhood, pictures of the places and people that provided me with inspiration, manuscript pages that show my revision process, and big, full-color images by my illustrator.  I often hear gasps or giggles as I change the slides, so I’m pretty sure they’re working.

- Interact.  The younger and livelier your audience, the more interaction is necessary.  (This does not necessarily apply to dinner theatre, where most people will react with a look of frozen horror if someone onstage tries to draw them in to the action.  At least they do in the Midwest.)  Create multiple opportunities for comments, questions, and activities.  Try to leave something fun for the very end, like a skit or a game or an especially funny reading.  It’s your closing number.  Go out with a bang. 

- Eye contact is tricky.  It’s also important.  Make sure to look up into the crowd often, especially while reading.  I like to move back and forth in front of the crowd rather than stand still, so that I can gaze out into more faces, making contact with a greater number of people.  But I keep those looks brief and blurry.  If you lock eyes with somebody–whether they’re laughing, yawning, or watching you open-mouthed with one finger up their nose–it can be pretty distracting.  If direct eye contact makes you nervous, pick a spot just behind the crowd and focus on that.  When I do musicals, I often sing straight to the exit sign at the back of the hall.  (We have a long, romantic history, me and exit signs.  Over the years, I’ve told exit signs that I would know when my love came along, and that if I loved it I would try to say all I wanted it to know, and that someone like it had found someone like me and suddenly nothing would ever be the same… (Bonus points to any musical theatre nerds who get all the references.))   Nobody will know you’re not making direct eye contact.  Except for the exit sign.  Which might try to follow you home. 

And now, in completely un-dinner-theatre-related news:

Pour mes amis francais: Here’s a brand new review of the French translation of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows (or as it’s called in France, “La Maison des Secrets: Les Lunettes Magiques”)!  Check it out:http://un-souffle-sous-la-plume.over-blog.com/article-la-maison-des-secrets-t1-116078795.html

The schedule for this year’s “Endangered Authors” tour is nearly complete!  I’ll post an update on my appearance calendar very soon…

And for the young pen connoisseur who I met at Mounds Park Academy: The beautiful fountain pen I was sent as a Cybils Award is a Lanier.

Freezing rain and fog here in Minnesota, with the roads so treacherous that schools are closed. I’d much rather have an actual blizzard…but a flurry of words and links and news will have to do.

First things first: The advance reading copies of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume Four: The Strangers have arrived at my house in their excitingly heavy box!  If you (or someone you know) is a book blogger or reviewer, and you would like an ARC of The Strangers, contact me in the comments or email me at jacqueline@jacquelinewest.com.  Obviously, quantities are limited, but I will guarantee a copy for the first three reviewer-respondents.

(For now, this offer is for bloggers/reviewers only.  I will very likely do a giveaway for readers in a few more weeks, so stay tuned!)

Speaking of book bloggers, two great reviews of The Second Spy appeared on Book Nut and Book ‘Em! Huge thanks to everyone who is spreading the word in this way.

I learned that The Second Spy was nominated for the 2012 Cybils Awards, as well as for the Minnesota Book Awards.  It isn’t a finalist for either, but both awards have been very kind to The Books of Elsewhere in the past, and truly fantastic books are on both lists.

The Second Spy also got a mention (and its picture!) in Publishers Weekly, in an article on holiday book sales.

My spring travel schedule is about to get really crazy, with more events being added all the time.   Keep an eye on http://jacquelinewest.com/appearance-calendar.php, if you’re interested.  This weekend, I’m off to booksALIVE! in Panama City, Florida.  So long, freezing rain.  Hello, Emerald Coast.

We spent Thanksgiving in New York City with Ryan’s family.  It was Ryan’s first visit, and my first non-book-whirlwind visit, so we had time for some sightseeing and bagel-fueled street-wandering: The Metropolitan Museum, Central Park, the Museum of Natural History.  Since coming home, we’ve been playing the game of watching our favorite New York-based shows and squealing “We’ve been there!” whenever something familiar appears on the screen.

One of my favorite stops was the New York Public Library, naturally.

Finding my third book in the Children’s Center.  The first volume was checked out, which made me even happier.

With the stuffed animals that belonged to the real Christopher Robin and inspired A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories.  You probably can’t see it, but I am crying.  (How small the real Piglet is!  And how shirtless the Pooh!)

Now I’m back in my own very quiet house, hard at work on Volume Five.

A very sweet new review of The Books of Elsewhere can be found here.

And if you’d like to take the reviewer’s suggestion and get some (signed!) copies of The Books of Elsewhere for the readers on your holiday list, I’ll be at the Thank-You Celebration at the Red Wing Public Library from 5:00 – 6:00 on Friday, December 7, selling and signing The Shadows, Spellbound, and The Second Spy. (Of course, if you already have copies of your own and just want them signed, you can bring those too.)

Big news about Volume Four to follow very soon…

A few months ago, I posted pictures of an incredible work-in-progress: Artist Tiffany Vincent’s hand-crafted recreation of the McMartin grimoire, as described in Spellbound. Now, I have the real (almost) finished book right here in my very own office, and it is DAZZLING, as you can see.

In what might be the very best twist of all, Tiffany left the pages blank and unbound, so that I can bring the book to schools and book events to have young (or not so young) readers concoct and contribute their own McMartin spells.  I can hardly wait.

(Happy author, with book.)

If you would like hear and see more of the creation process (and I know you would), visit http://www.curiousgood.com/?p=858

Another wonderful gift: This review of The Second Spy, which appeared in the Star Tribune’s summer roundup of teen/tween books by Minnesota authors.

Two other reviews have recently–and belatedly–come to my attention.  This review of Spellbound comes from a blogger in France, and this write-up of The Shadows is thanks to a blogger in Indonesia.  From what I can decipher/translate/guess, they both seem very positive.  Fly, my little world-traveling books!  Fly!

I’ve been a terrible blogger lately.  In my defense, it’s been a crazy month: Four school visits, a week-long writing residency at a magnet school, revision work on two novels, a trip to Seattle, play rehearsals, choir concerts…  (And this journal isn’t the only thing that’s been neglected.  The dust is so thick, every flat surface in my house appears to have been painted a soft, mousy gray.  There are clothes that I don’t even recognize anymore turning up in my slowly emptying laundry hampers.)

But I will be shifting from terrible to slightly-less-terrible in the very near future.  Yes — I shall attempt to post at least once a day for the two months leading up to the release of THE SECOND SPY.  (July 5!)  Until then, however, I’ll be revising, traveling, and letting the dust have its mousy way.

On the third day of my residency with the fourth-graders at Glacier Hills Elementary School of Arts and Sciences in Eagan, MN, KARE11 News (the Twin Cities’ NBC affiliate) came to film our activities and interview teachers and students.  You can watch the segment here:

These kids were a joy to work with, and I was absolutely blown away by everything that they were able to accomplish.

A new review of THE SHADOWS has appeared on the fantastic YA/MG blog Novel Novice.

And, in a rare bit of poetry news, I was delighted to learn that I’ve been nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s Rhysling Award, for my piece “Escaping the Dawn,” which appeared in Cover of Darkness in May 2011.  Past winners include writers like Jane Yolen, Gene Wolfe, and Catherynne M. Valente, so it’s much more than a cliche to say that it’s an honor just to be nominated.

I am running behind in all things, blogging included, but I’m managing to gather together a few links and photos and newsy bits to assemble something that’s not-quite-an-actual-blog.  But it’s close.  Close-ish.

I spent November 7 – 11 in Austin, Texas, visiting several elementary schools in the Round Rock school district and having a marvelous time.  Thank you again to all the students, librarians, teachers, and parents who made the trip so special.  Now I’m home in snowy Minnesota (we had the first big storm of the season last night), frantically catching up with correspondence, typing the last pages of the still semi-secret YA project–more detailed news about that soon, I hope–rehearsing for Phoenix Theatre’s Christmas production of “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus,” and making up for lost time with Brom Bones, who was very, very glad that we came back.

(Walking in Austin at night, and working on the Secret Project at Spider House Cafe.)

Two new reviews of The Shadows have turned up: A splendid one from National Geographic Kids here, and a mostly very positive one from the blog Muggle-Born here.

Other good news on the poetry front: One of my superstition pieces will be included in Issue #4 (out in December) of the journal Fantastique Unfettered, amid some awfully shiny company: http://www.fantastique-unfettered.com/2011/11/issue-four-aka-ralewing-table-of.html

And, before Halloween becomes any more embarrassingly distant, here is a photo depicting the fate of our Accidental Pavement Pumpkins.

Hello, hello, hello.

I am typing this on my spanking new WordPress blog, which feels a bit like driving a new car, where all the buttons are in slightly different places and you turn on the windshield wipers when you’re trying to set the cruise control, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it.  Eventually.  I’m trying the automatic cross-posting to LiveJournal function, so we’ll see how that works, too.   If, for whatever reason, you want to find older journal entries, they should still be readable at http://jacquelinewest.livejournal.com.

I’m currently drafting one project, revising another, and working on a few short stories with the shards of time in between.  My brain has essentially been divided into three warring pieces, and I’m having trouble finishing nonfictional sentences.  That’s my excuse for making this a very linky post.

First, and very belatedly, a writing-and-cooking focused interview is up at the incredibly fun blog Pots ‘n Pens: http://potsnpens.blogspot.com/2011/09/interview-with-jacqueline-west.html.  If anyone who reads it actually uses my recipe for black pepper tofu, I will be very happy — and so will the person with a fresh batch of black pepper tofu.

Strange Horizons, one of the best science fiction journals currently in operation, is holding its yearly fund drive. Donors are entered into a prize drawing that features a slew of amazing work.  Check out the prizes available: http://www.strangehorizons.com/fund_drives/2011/prizes.shtml. (As you may notice, one donor will win a signed copy of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows…)

And some new reviews of Spellbound are out:  Dave Wood’s Book Report, a feature of the RiverTown Newspaper group, discusses the book here, and Arlington Public Library covers both volumes (and calls Volume Two ‘even better than the first’ — Hurray!) here.