Teachers Please Read This!!!!!

Ok somewhere I have written I work in a bookstore.

This is for all the teachers who assign reading.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure the book you want the students to read is in this order

1. IN PRINT IN PRINT IN PRINT

2. EASILY AFFORDABLE EASILY AFFORDABLE

3. THAT THE STUDENTS CAN GET IT IN TIME FOR CLASS

4. THAT MEANS THAT THE STORES HAVE COPIES FOR STUDENTS TO BUY
(On that note what ever happened to the school buying required books? My mother and I were on welfare part of the time I was in school and barely scraping by the rest of the time. We couldn't afford to eat half the time let alone buy books for school--have any of you bothered to think that parents can't afford this?? probably not or probably don't care or probably both.)

5. IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON ASSIGNING BOOKS A HEADS UP AT THE LOCAL BOOKSTORES WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

What brought this on you say??? That is an excellent question. Today we had many calls from both frantic parents and students. A teacher in a junior high school the next town over assigned S. E. Hinton's "The Outsiders". We had 3 copies the bookstore across the street only had a few also. We both sold out very fast. The city these kids live in doesn't even have a book store. So, even though we are fairly close with gas prices over $3.00 per gallon people can't afford to go driving around to find a book needed for class in 2 days.

So, I had one girl start crying because everybody was sold out and she didn't want to fail because she couldn't get the book. I only wish I still had my copy. I would have actually driven it over to her house at 10:30 at night to give it to her. The teacher knew on Monday she was going to assign the book, but the kids found out last night and today the hunt was on for them and their parents.

One of the lucky ones came in with her mother, whom by the way works at the same school in the same department, knew Monday night the teacher was considering the book. She was upset too, because this has become common practice for teachers to decide on a book without bothering to find out if it's even available for the students to get. This is happening from grade school through the college levels. I've had people say they've had to drop out of a class because they couldn't get the specific book the teacher wants. That's just unacceptable.

START THINKING OF THE STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR A CHANGE INSTEAD OF JUST DECIDING ON SOMETHING. DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST THEN ASSIGN THE STUDENTS HOMEWORK.

Authors on MySpace

If any of you have a MySpace page and love to read there are a lot of authors that have pages too. It's not just the teen authors like Ellen Hopkins and Meg Cabot. There are literally dozens of romance authors; everybody from Sherilyn Kenyon, Kate Douglas to well so many to write about.
There's even mystery, thriller, action writers like Harlan Coben, Joseph Finder, Lee Goldberg (he writes Monk, Murder, She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder books), to many many more.

If you already have a MySpace page and haven't thought about looking for your favorite authors check it out. If you don't have a page yet you can always set it to private if you don't want everyone to see it. Mine is set public because I'm trying to find an old friend and if any of my old friends are looking for me it makes it easier. I do turn down friend requests, but I have mostly authors and for some strange reason bands from around the world keep finding me. If I like their music enough I add them. If they suck I don't.

If you would like to see a sample of the authors available just click on the link below and check me and them out.

myspace.com/scoobydoodin...myspace.com/scoobydoodino

For Mystery Writers or Potential Mystery Writers

I found this site that has some great tips for new or long term mystery writers or for those considering on writing in general.

It's called Blood at the Source and it's done by Barbara Fister. I read through a lot of it and it gives some good tips. Tips range from how to ask for advice from librarians (don't be afraid to say you are a writer and maybe new to it), to using the interenet (what is & isn't in a search engine, finding statistics, etc.), to even a list on what to read. There is also information about Ms. Fister. There is an awful lot of information on this website, more than I've seen on most so check it out.


The link is below.


http://www.barbarafister.com/BloodattheSource.html

I found out today that a play based on Lois Lowry's book "The Giver" is going to be done at Reuther High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. For dates, times, ticket information and to purchase tickets you can go to the link posted here.

A bit of additional information the author Lois Lowry will be at the following performances to do a "talk back" to the audience after the following performances.

Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 2 p.m. and Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

If you are interested in seeing either of those performances be advised they are expecting a heavy turnout and you should purchase your tickets as soon as possible.

http://www.thegiverplay.com/

Wisconsin Romance Writers of America

Here is a website for the romance authors in Wisconsin.

Some of the authors include:

Lori Devoti
Helen Brenna
Meagan Hatfield
Kelly Kirch
Ana Leigh
Sunny
Kate Douglas
Sylvia Day
Susan Lyons
Linda Warren
Susan Mallery
Jade Lee
Lori Handeland

just to name a few. There are many many more romance authors from Wisconsin. I have to be honest I didn't know some of these writers were from here. I keep getting chewed out by friends and customers for not having read Sunny yet. Sorry I promise I will get to you soon. If you're wondering who else is writing romance from Wisconsin check out the link below.

It must be the long cold winters that inspire the stories; or, maybe the travels to far off places. What ever inspires these and the many other authors from Wisconsin I don't mind and good luck with any upcoming books.


http://www.wisrwa.org/