Meeting Deanna Francis

Hi guys! We had an awesome time in St. Louis. It was a super close game and we won. Since it went into extra innings, we were able to go down next to the bullpen and watch the rest of it. Originally, we were on the highest floor.

Now I'm finally talking about meeting the teen author on Monday. She was at our library, talking about how her book, her writing process, and how she got published. Her name was Deanna Francis. She wrote a book called Taking Chances. Not only is this a well written book, it also greatly emphasized the horrors of child abuse. I liked it a lot.

Naturally, she was a good speaker and interested us. I wasn't bored for a minute. My favorite thing she said was that she didn't have an agent. She was her own agent. Almost every publishing advice I've read from authors is that it's impossible to get published without an agent. Honestly, I didn't know how that would happen for me. Hearing that you didn't;t have to have one was music to my ears!

Instead, she explained she did the Adopt An Author program. Basically, she said that it was a free program where amateur writers get mentored by a writer. When I went on the site, it sounded different from how she explained it, but I haven't figured it out yet. She got mentored by an author and they worked on her book. He recommended to his publisher.

The coolest part was when she was almost done. A man sitting near us asked, "Were you as young as them when you started writing?" He pointed to me and my friend, Mila. She said yes. "What advice would you give to them?" he asked. She told us never to stop writing, no matter what people think. Her mom thought she was weird for writing a book. Of course, she said it's good to listen to your parents, but if anyone tries to stop you from being creative, don't listen to them.

My parents are supportive of my writing, but I'm sure that's some of you out there that have family and friends that think you're nuts. Like what she said, don't listen. If it's something you love to do, go for it. That's what she said.

It was ironic because Mila and I are writing a book together. This might be off subject, but Mila is an amazing writer. If you read what she wrote for our book, you would think she's in college, but she's actually little younger than I am!

Afterwards, I had her sign my notebook page. I hadn't read her book then so that was all I had. Then we rushed out of there to do some quick editing before the library closed. We came pretty close.

Sorry if this was boring. I'm entering Tessa Emily Hall's giveaway and plan to do a series of posts according to that. I hope to have another post up today. Thanks for reading! IF you have time, comment and tell me what you think:)

In Christ,
Sarah