AUTHOR VISITS

(Author visit at Barnes & Noble Bookstore)

A love of reading can be reenforced with an interactive author's visit. Words come alive and a child's imagination can roam free. If you reside within 40 miles of Knoxville, Tennessee, children's book author Donna L Martin would love to arrange a visit to your school, library, daycare or civic organization to interact with her audience through the power of reading!

 

AUTHOR BIO:


International best selling author, Donna L Martin, is a 4th Degree Black Belt and Certified TaeKwonDo Instructor by day. By night, Donna is a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books, young adult novels, and inspirational  essays. She is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. Donna is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators and the Children's Book Insider.

Donna loves the beach in the early morning, dark chocolate, delving into good stories, and adding to her growing book collection in Knoxville, Tennessee.

PICTURE BOOK:


Donna' s debut children's book, THE STORY CATCHER, was released by Anaiah Press in January 2015. Her book is about a young girl named Addie who comes from a family of readers or 'story catchers' as they like to call themselves. But every time Addie tries to catch a story on her own the wiggly words play tricks on her. She tries different ways to make those words sit quietly so she can catch them, but it will take a little bit of faith and a lot of perseverance for her to become the next STORY CATCHER.

AUTHOR PRESENTATIONS:

Donna is available for author presentations to elementary school level children based on National Common Core standards as well as mini creative writing workshops for middle school students through adults. Below is a short synopsis of her available presentations:

1) Catching Letters Butterfly Style

45 minute interactive presentation in a classroom or gym setting for up to 50 students in Kindergarten and/or First Grade. Author will read THE STORY CATCHER to students, followed by a guided, targeted activity focusing on letter and picture recognition skills. Presentation will end with a short Q & A session. Book signings for any pre-ordered books will be conducted at the end of the entire author visit to a particular school.

2) Action Jackson Word Scramble

45 minute interactive presentation in a classroom or gym setting for up to 50 students in Second and/or Third Grade. Author will read THE STORY CATCHER to students. Included will be a mini workshop focusing on character development and ending with a targeted interactive activity focusing on basic spelling and word recognition skills. Presentation will end with a short Q & A session. Book signings for any pre-ordered books will be conducted at the end of the entire author visit to a particular school.

3) Picture Prompt Writing

     

45 minute interactive presentation in a classroom or gym setting for up to 50 students in Fourth OR Fifth Grade. Author will read THE STORY CATCHER to the students. Next will be a mini workshop focusing on story plot (beginning, middle, & end) where students will complete a one page story based on the provided picture prompt. If there is time, some stories will be read to the group. Presentation will end with a short Q & A session. Book signings for any pre-ordered books will be conducted at the end of the entire author visit to a particular school.

4) Catching Your Own Picture Book Story Workshop

This is a two and one-half hour interactive mini workshop in a classroom, library meeting room or other youth group setting for up to 15 middle grade students through adults interested in possibly pursuing a career in writing for children. Three 15 minute breakout sessions will focus on one of three main writing areas including universal themes, storyline, and character development. Every participant will have 45 minutes to complete a first draft of their picture book and the final 15 minutes will be devoted to group critiques of selected work. Material required for this workshop will be a pre-purchased print copy of THE STORY CATCHER for reference during the workshop, paper, and a writing instrument (pencil, pen, crayon, etc). Additional handouts will also be provided. Book signing of purchased books will be conducted at the end of the workshop and critique services of workshop manuscripts are available upon request.

Anyone interested in contacting me about an author visit can reach me by phone (865-548-7964), by mail (P O Box 27788, Knoxville, Tn 37927), or by email (donasdays@gmail.com). I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully we will catch some stories together real soon!