Myra McEntire Visits PFTSTA

The author with Courtney, the president of Bookmarked,  on the left and Morgan on the right

School has really started with a bang this year. School begins, then we are out seven days due to Hurricane Isaac, then I am out of the building four days talking to librarians across the state, and when I return, Myra McEntire comes to town. I feel like my head is spinning, but the students were thrilled with our first author of the year. 

     

Myra talked to the students about her writing process. First she gets her kids off to school, when she returns home she likes to dance. She uses dance to get the ideas flowing. She explained how the ugly fuzzy socks that she wears helps her to zip around her kitchen. Then it is work time. She avoids social media in the morning because she doesn't want it to get her down or cause a writer's headache that stifles her creativity. About noon she takes a break for lunch and the laundry. Editing her work is saved for the afternoon. Her books are fantasies, but she likes to base all the time travel on real science. So she has lots of research to do to learn the scientific theories. She knew with time travel that she did not want a time machine because it has been done before, so she invented a new metal that would allow the characters to travel through time. 

Madison gets her book signed

Myra spoke for about 45 minutes then took questions for 15 minutes.The students were disappointed when she didn't share her dancing techniques with them, but she did share some of the music she liked. You can find all the pictures that we took on Monday here. We are so grateful to our angels (Tom & Judith) at Octavia Books who brought Myra to us along with her publisher, Egmont USA.

After the presentation, Myra sat down with a former student and a current student to discuss some of the things that have inspired her in her writing. You can view the interview below by playing this episode of Get Reading.

Get Reading Vol. 2 No. 1 from Elizabeth Kahn on Vimeo.