Hi everyone!
Today, I’m coming at you with a super exciting post! A few weeks ago, I found out that my school was selected by an author from The Secrets to come to my school and share her brand new book, as well as more info about the series!
Basically, The Secrets includes 7 books about 7 different girls. The girls are all connected to one another, as they all came from the same Orphanage in 1964. After the orphanage had a horrible fire, the girls were given something related to there personal past, which was some sort of clue. The clue would lead them to learn more about there backgrounds and birth family, something that was very illegal to do in 1964. As the girls discover more about themselves they find out about who they truly are.
Doesn’t that sound amazing?!
The event was a whole day thing. For an hour during the school day, we got to meet and discuss with Vicki Grant (the author), which was a lot of fun. During the night, we got to head over to a different school to meet all of the authors in the series! These authors are… KELLEY ARMSTRONG, VICKI GRANT, MARTHE JOCELYN, KATHY KACER, NORAH MCCLINTOCK, TERESA TOTEN and ERIC WALTERS.
Let’s start off with a recap of the event at my school with Vicki Grant!
Vicki Grant was an amazing speaker to have at our school! She discussed a lot about her book, Small Bones, as well as her beloved character Dot. Dot is short for Dorothy, and she was nick named Dot because she is/was very tiny! She discussed the cover of her book, which she surprisingly loves! Most authors hate the finished cover of their books, but she was very thankful that she loved her cover!
After explaining to us a little bit about her book, she read a very funny sample chapter of the book. Everyone was very intrigued by it, and it definitely made me want to pick up a copy!
We then had a “Question and Answer” time period, where we could ask any questions relating to the book or writing. Here were a few of the wonderful questions!
Q: “Have you ever had writers block?”
A: She did. She explained that she worked alone and was very nervous about writing this book. After all, there are wonderful authors that she was working with, and not only did she have to live up to their skills, she also did not want to disappoint!
Q: “How long does it take to write a book?”
A: Her first novel was Puppet Wrangler, and she started off with this novel because she used to work in Children’s Television, so writing a book for children about puppets was something she was familiar with. It took her 5 months to write the book, and once edited she sent it to 5 different publishers. The first response she heard from was a YES, but the 2 was a no. She didn’t even hear from the other 3 publishers! After setting up a deal with a publisher, it took about 1 year to come out.
Q: “In the book, does it talk about fire?”
A: Yes and no. In each of the books it talked about the fire. When she visited a school, a teacher mentioned to her that they would all start from the same scene. Vicki thought about this, and decided to have Dot remember little about the fire, and have flash backs of memories from it scattered throughout the novel.
Q: “Is the book from Dots perspective?”
A: Yes. All of the books are from first or third perspective.
Q: “Who was the first to finish book?”
A: Eric Walters.
Q: “Is there a specific order to follow when reading the book series?”
A: There is no specific order, and you don’t have to read all of the books. Each author added there own touch to the story to make it different from each others.
Q: “When you met up, did you read from eachothers books?”
A: They shared outlines and drafts together to make sure that no book was similar. She didn’t read much from hers, but knew what was going on in everyone elses. They had a very good author at Orca (their publishing house), so they didn’t have to worry much on eachothers books.
Q: “Have you read all of the books?”
A: Yes, but only the final drafts.
Q: “Have you ever deleted a book?”
A: No, but she has a book that she doesn’t really like, and has yet to do something with.
Q: “Are all of the books the same genre?”
A: They are all mysteries, but have there own touches to them.
Q: “Does Dot ever find her parents?”
A: You’ll have to read the book to find out!
After a long and fun time with Vicki, we headed back to our classrooms to finish off the day.
At 7:00pm, they held an event with all of the authors who wrote a book for the series! And of course, I had to go!
I went with a few of my best friends, as most of the people I’m friends with LOVE to read!
Each author discussed a little bit about their book, which was super fun to hear about!
They then held a fun “game” where you had to guess the secret about several of the authors!
At the end of the presentation, you had a chance to buy the books, and get the authors to sign them for you! Who would I be if I didn’t support the authors and there amazing books! Plus, a book signing oppurtunity!
I ended up picking up Vicki Grant’s book “Small Bones”, as well as Kathy Kacer’s book “Stones on a Grave”!
They signed them, too!
Overall, the event was a complete success, and I had so much fun attending it! Thank you to the amazing authors for coming to the event, as well as the 12 School’s participating for putting on an amazing event!
I hope you enjoyed my recap of this fabulous event!
Good Night Book Owls!
