Book Author Visit

As part of Read Across America Day celebrations, librarian, Sarah Young, planned a book author visit. We welcomed book author, Landra Jennings, at the end of February. She primarily writes middle grade fantasy books and spoke to our school community during assembly. The author then worked with middle grade classes in writing workshops.

Landra Jennings is the author of The Whispering Fog, which was recently nominated for a South Carolina Book Award. Ms. Jennings believes stories help people problem solve. Ms. Jennings also shared background about the types of stories she likes to write. Her stories are typically inspired by fairy tales, which fascinated her as a child. As a result, she typically writes fairy-tale influenced fantasy. Ms. Jennings shared a few tips about the writing process and her journey as a book author.

4 Book Author Tips

1. Rewriting is writing. Plan to spend time revising your story.
2. Have patience.
3. You will need resilience because you might receive many rejections but try again!
4. Pre-writing is essential. The more time you spend planning, the easier the writing process will be.

During the writing workshops, students talked about essential components of a compelling book character. Ms. Jennings walked students through the early stages of developing a main character. After putting pen to paper, students shared their starter ideas with the group.

It was a great opportunity to have Landra on campus to inspire reading and writing in our students. This firsthand glimpse into the writing process helped students understand that writing is a skill that requires dedication, effort, and perseverance. Speaking to a professional writer encouraged creativity in our CDS learners by demonstrating that there are endless possibilities for storytelling. And, it provided students with insights into the creative process behind the books they read, making the stories more meaningful and relatable.

• book author visit
• library
• Read Across America