As a child I felt isolated within the confines of my family. As an adult, my writing has been a path to connect with others. I was thrilled when my friend, Gwen, invited me to talk to students at Educate Youth, a program whose mission statement is to encourage teens to earn their high school diploma and become future leaders in their community. Gwen wanted me to talk to them about writing my young adult novel, Secrets of a Summer Spy.
At the meeting, I asked the group if they liked to write. Every hand went up to the surprise of Gwen and the other group leader. Then I talked about writing Secrets of a Summer Spy and read some passages from the book. They were attentive listeners, but I could see that I wasn’t connecting with them. So, I put the book down and asked each one to tell me what they liked to write about. Everyone wanted to talk. Then I discussed how to write interesting sentences that would grab a reader’s attention. I gave each one a blank diary and asked them to write the first sentence of a story that would hook readers. They were eager to share their sentences with the group. We connected. Together, we turned the session into a writer’s workshop, and they left fired up to continue what they had started. Their enthusiasm got me fired up, too. It was a beautiful thing.