Friday, April 10, 2009

American Fork Jr. High

I was honored to be asked to speak at the Jr. High in American Fork today. There were two other writers there as well. We each took an hour. I was able to speak on both eating disorders and the process of writing and publishing a book.

The parts I enjoyed most were all the questions during and after the presentation and then meeting the students afterwords when they all came up to me to sign the book mark I passed out.

There is always a handful of students that come up to me that say they needed to hear it or it was "inspirational." That is why I keep doing these presentations.

I was also extremely touched when their school councilor came up to me with tears. She had read my book and said she wants to recommend it to all her students. Again, moments like that is what gives me the incentive to want to keep reaching more schools.

Karen Hoover also came and presented about how she gets her ideas for the fiction she writes. I enjoyed listening to her and the kids were LOVING the creative approach to her presentation. I couldn't believe how involved and excited she got the kids. (See! I knew you would do great Karen!)

Karen and I went out to lunch after and had a fun chat. Gotta luv that lady!

Here are a few pics that Karen took for me, I'm just sad I didn't grab one of us together!




4 comments:

Liaz13 said...

Hey, my name is Malia Ragland and I was one of the kids who was there and I have to tell you I really loved listening to your story. It was really helpful to have people come and help us to get ideas and how to write. I haven't read your book yet but I'm planning on it. It seems like a really good book and I've read a lot of reviews. Thank You so much for coming!! :D

Haley Hatch Freeman said...

Thank you Malia for the comment... guess what? In the book I'm working on now one of my characters is named Malia!
I really enjoyed being to your school today and appreciate you coming to my blog and leaving a comment. I left a couple books at your library for students to buy after school hours. After your spring break you can get one there or go to Deseret Book or order it on here by clicking on the Buy Now button in the tope right corner. Thanks!

Tristi Pinkston said...

How cool is that! Thanks for sharing your experiences. And Karen is pretty awesome, too. :)

Courtney said...

Hi, You don't know me, but my name is Courtney, I was at the writers conference. It was amazing, because I knew someone who went throught the same thing (a little) she didn't get drastically skinny or anything, but it was cool to hear what she might have been thinking and it really helped me understand it better! I can't wait to read your book!