Virgil Alexander, Author
  • Home
  • Books
  • Buy The Baleful Owl
  • Buy Saints & Sinners
  • Buy The Wham Curse
  • Events
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • By Other Authors
  • Announcements
  • Links
  • Slideshow
  • Photos

December 14th, 2012

12/14/2012

0 Comments

 

Discussion of Writing at Connolly Jr. High School

Picture
Picture
With grandson Jared following the session in his class.
On Thursday, December 13, I had the privilege of making a presentation on writing and publishing at the Connolly Junior High in Tempe, AZ.  I spoke to two different seventh grade writing classes using a presentation on the setting, cultural background, and story line of The Wham Curse to demonstrate how a story is developed.  Following the presentation I answered questions from the students.

It was a rewarding experience for me being able to interact with these bright young people and express to them my own love for the written word.  I told them that if they want to be writers they should become dedicated readers, that they will benefit from experiencing the style and craft of great writers from all ages and many different genres.  I paraphrased the quote by Mark Twain that every person has a story to tell, and that they should each plan to write the story of themselves; that it will have value to them and to their posterity

I was also happy to be able to acquaint many of the children, who have not experienced Arizona outside of the Phoenix Metro area, with some of the amazing history, geography, ecology, and culture of the state they live in.  Many have never experienced living in a small town or visiting rural and wild areas of the Southwest.  I was surprised and pleased that in both classes there were some Apache children who immediately identified the Apache Ga'an or Crown Dancers.

Ms. Karen DeMarco, Seventh Grade Language Arts Teacher/Year Book Advisor, is an energetic and dedicated teacher who obviously has great respect and fondness for her students.  It was nice to meet and visit with her.  She invited me to speak to her classes after Jared had told her about my book and provided his mother's copy for her to read.  I truly appreciated having this experience and have provided some copies of the book to the Connolly Library for use by the students.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mystery writer, Southwestern Historian, researcher, husband, father, grandpa, with an opinion on everything.

    Archives

    October 2017
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    February 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Categories

    All
    Christopher Layton
    Dale Billingsley
    Eac Old Main
    Eastern Arizona
    Eastern Arizona College
    Globe Az
    Grant Wilbur
    Independent Bookstore
    Local Author Fair
    Lorenzo Flake
    Mesa
    Mesa AZ
    Miami Az
    Orbie Stark
    Pima
    Rebecca Byfield
    Riley Banks
    Safford
    Saints & Sinners
    Shalimar Book Club
    The Wham Curse
    The Writer's Shack

    RSS Feed

✕