Resurrection & Re-Imagining

A few weeks ago, I was blessed with an early copy of The Ghost of Saved Halloween! Perhaps you saw my “book mail” Reel on Instagram?

Well, that got my wheels turning… Now that I had a physical copy of the book and it was ALL SO REAL now… Could I? Perhaps maybe? Revive an old dream I’d long thought dead?

Dead. I know that’s a very strong word, but when your daughter is 11 and graduating the fifth grade in two weeks and headed off to Middle School in August…

You sort of just know that reading your debut picture book…about Halloween…and releasing in July… Just isn’t going to happen. Enter the early author copy by way of HarperCollins…

THE DREAM IS ALIVE!

So, I reached out to my daughter’s fifth grade home room teacher to see if I could come do a little practice author visit in my daughter’s class. She enthusiastically said yes! Hooray!

Except a few hours later, she wrote back to say she spoke too soon, and that the Principal said WE CAN’T read a Halloween book at school. What?!

Not a single mentor or fellow published author friend of mine had warned me of this. Not even one person I know has ever shared a story even remotely similar, so to say I was unprepared for this reality is an understatement! I was completely defeated momentarily. And, I was flabbergasted.

After I calmed down just a little, I emailed our school’s Principal directly and I shared with her who I was and mostly took the time to flesh out the merits of the book – how it’s far more than just a Halloween story. I also attached my advanced reader copy so she could see for herself.

The Principal responded within a few hours in the later evening, passing the buck on to the district level curriculum professional. What What?!

Now, this could have gone a lot of ways… One of which being that the professional curriculum person HATES my book and BANS me from reading it at Every. Single. School. in our huge district. Holy Moly, that would be bad!

However, the principal emailed me fairly quickly the next morning wanting to work it all out! Hooray! She got with my daughter’s teacher and they both read over my presentation plans and APPROVED. Hooray again! A win for BOOKS!

BUT, my daughter’s teacher DID have to email the parents to make them aware that it WAS happening and give them the opportunity to opt their students out of the reading, if desired. That made me a tad nervous, but I thought it was a reasonable solution.

Now, fast forward one week and I’m so happy to share that I read my debut picture book to my daughter’s class and we had THE VERY BEST time! I threw them a little Summerween-themed party that included a goody bag with candy, stickers, ghost-themed bubbles, mini-flashlights, and GLOW STICKS! All 26 students HAPPILY participated and I think it was an afternoon they’ll not soon forget.

An Author Visit in my daughter’s classroom: one of the greatest privileges of my life.

In all, I spent an ENTIRE hour in their company and the students were enthralled and engaged in the reading and programming even with the goody bag distractions! PLUS they were polite and just all around phenomenal in their participation and their conduct. I was blown away!

I’m so thankful for my daughter’s teacher, who advocated for me and helped make this special time happen! Teachers are just so so powerful, and we have been blessed to receive so many outstanding ones in both my and my daughter’s educational career.

And thank you, God, for going before me and making a way! His mercies are new every morning, that’s for sure!

Now, I’m so looking forward to the Fall and giving this fun and interactive presentation to any classroom who will have me! INTERESTED? Learn more and reach out here on my website.

All in all, I’m incredibly pleased with this outcome and SO grateful for the lesson learned. Especially this early on… Now I can prepare and re-position.

So even though things might be a little challenging going forward (as I might face many schools who fear the complexities of a Halloween book), at least now I know what to expect. And even though it might not look exactly as I’d been imagining, I do know God has good plans, great places, and the right people waiting to hear from me.