Thanks, Parkrose and friends!

Now that was fun!

I am officially on a hiatus from school visits so I can write all these books that are crowding my brain. This hiatus officially went into effect this autumn, and will very likely extend to the 2010-2011 school year. This is a Good Thing. I need more quiet time at home, I want to write more than I speak.

But I miss seeing kids.

That’s why this morning was so much fun. The Multnomah County Library system always sends its visiting author to Parkrose High School to speak to an audience assembled of students from ten different area schools. So even though I am still officially on hiatus, I got to go to school today.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic It was a big crowd.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic A very big crowd, filled with great kids who had read my books and showed me all kinds of respect and friendship. Thank you, everyone!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic This is a leftover picture from last night when I met Linda Schlechter. She is a community member who found out that there were kids at Parkrose who didn’t have the resources to go to the prom. Instead of shaking her head or muttering, she did something useful. Linda started The Gateway Prom Project to raise money for the kids who couldn’t afford their one special night. Last year, her organization sent 21 kids to the prom. We are holding a frame that is filled with pictures of the beautiful men and women at prom.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic We saw this on the way back to my hotel; a church with the word “Fever” spraypainted up near the roofline. How would you caption this?

I’m going to sleep early and am going to wake up earlier in an effort to shift back to east coast time. Tomorrow is another airport/airplane day, but it will end in my favorite place in the world: at home.

7 Replies to “Thanks, Parkrose and friends!”

  1. It was so great to hear you Monday night, Laurie. And all those kids with all that love for you. It was an amazing experience for me as a writer, and the love wasn’t even for me. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be you. 🙂

    Wishing you safe travels home.

  2. Laurie, does this mean that you won’t do visits for bookstores anymore as well?

    I am so glad I got to meet you and hear you speak earlier this year, then!!!

  3. Nope, I’ll still be doing booktours and limited conference appearances. But the goal is to spend less time organizing travel and traveling and more time actually writing.

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