Friday, May 29, 2015

Celebrating A School Visit and a Guest Post Next Tuesday


Carla Pereira in her charming
shop, Casa Stop
It's again and I'm celebrating two events that  are actually going to happen next Tuesday, June 2nd. 

One of them is a school visit in Braga Portugal! How did this happen?
   
Last May, Rajan and I visited Braga, Portugal for the first time so I could do research on a new book that I've set in Braga. At that time, I met the very gracious Carla Pereira in a charming shop called Casa Stop which offers a range of things for the home. (You can see more about the shop at its Facebook page HERE.) Carla gave us directions when we got lost, and when she found out I was writing a book, we struck up a nice friendship that we continued by email. (Don't you love the Internet?)

My husband and I visited again in September, and when she learned we were returning in June, Carla asked if I would pay a school visit to her daughter's school. Well, of course I said yes! I'm thrilled! The students speak English (I don't speak Portuguese), and they are curious about American authors. It's a class of 30 I'll be addressing, ages 13 to 15. Pictures will definitely follow in a post visit blog!

The second wonderful thing I'm celebrating next Tuesday is that I'll be a doing a guest post on the cool blog, Mad About MG History, a blog about middle grade historical fiction. It's hosted by several bloggers, one of which is Chris Eboch, who has another blog, Write Like a Pro, a free online writing workshop. (I've heard Chris speak at workshops, read and liked a some of her books, and bookmarked several of her articles. She knows whereof she speaks.) You can visit Mad About MG History HERE and tap into some good reads for middle grade readers. Come visit me there on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, I'm getting to celebrate all this with you, thanks to LEXA CAIN's blog and her co-hosts,
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom. Visit Lexa's blog and follow and join the other links. It's really nice to see what other people are celebrating.

Have a great day.












http://madaboutmghistory.blogspot.com

20 comments:

Suzanne Furness said...

Wow, that sounds like an exciting visit. I wish you well and look forward to hearing how it all went.

Unknown said...

Good luck on the guest post. Enjoy your visit and company.

Linda Kay said...

How fun to be a guest speaker. Good luck with all your adventures.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Suzanne, I definitely will post about it when I get back from Portugal. Thanks for the good wishes.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Marilyn and Linda, thanks for the good wishes. I'm looking forward to it. We've found the Portuguese people to be so warm and gracious, I know they'll make me feel like there's nothing to be nervous about.

Tonja Drecker said...

Life has such amazing little turns - enjoy your school visit. And don't forget the pictures. And congrats to the guest post.

Rosi said...

Two wonderful events! Congrats. A school visit in Portugal. That is just amazing. I used to read Chris Eboch's writing blog. I don't know why I don't get notices any more. I will definitely check out her MG historical blog and can't wait to read your guest post.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Thanks, T. I wholeheartedly agree: Life does have such amazing turns. I never would have dreamed I'd have a school visit in Portugal.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Rosi, I used to get Chris's writing posts in the mail, too, and then I didn't. I wonder why. I found them so informative and helpful. Meanwhile, the MG historical blog is a really nice site - and something you'd appreciated, because it centers on MG fiction. I keep seeing books I want. Too many books I want. :-)

Unknown said...

I found you on Natalie's Literary Rambles today! It was a delightful surprise to read about how you stay current with the MG kids. Congrats on the guest post and school visit in Braga - how exciting! Have a lovely weekend! :)

Cathrina Constantine said...

How awesome. I've never traveled to Canada which is 20 minutes from my house. Other than that I haven't visited any other countries. I'm jealous, enjoy Portugal

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Lexa, Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for the good wishes. I'm really looking forward to the school visit. I expect I'll learn as much as the students do.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Thanks for stopping by, Cathrina. I have to say, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be visiting a school in Portugal. This is a pleasant surprise for me.

cleemckenzie said...

Enjoy that Portugal trip. It's such a lovely country. And I hope I can catch your history post. I'm taking a blogging vacation, but I'd love to read what you write.

Dixie@dcrelief said...

This is so exciting - I'm happy for you. Looking forward to your Tuesday post!!

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Thanks, Lee. We love Portugal (what we've seen of it.) Enjoy your blogging vacation.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Dixie. Yep, I'm a bit excited about both the trip and the school visit. I hope you enjoy the post. Have a great week-end.

cheerfuloptimistic said...

I love email at least. Sounds like the Portugal visit will be great.

Sandra Cox said...

What fun! We want to hear all about it.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Sandra, I'm in the middle of sorting through pictures. We took so many, and the week was so intense. It was wonderful. I'm probably going to cover it in two or three posts.