Run, Spot, Run

School Visits

I am available for school visits. Program topics include: my life as a writer (including being a reporter); writing about dogs; and programs tied to specific historical books, such as a Civil War program tied to "Private Captain" or a Titanic program tied to "White Star."

My fee is negotiable, but averages $600 a day. However, there's a drawback to booking me, and I can't deny it. I drive, but I don't enjoy driving, and won't drive long distances for a speaking gig. If you can: A) come get me and bring me home (I'll knock $100 off my fee for this) or B) figure out a way I can get there by train, bus, or plane, remembering that extensive travel time counts as time and will up the cost of hiring me by an extra $300-$500. The other problem with public transportation is, I often bring a (small) dog or two along. Kids love the dogs, the dogs love the attention, and they fit right in with a presentation about dog books. But I can't bring dogs on public transportation. In the past, I've sometimes had "guest dogs" provided by someone in the school (who stays with the dog and is responsible for it all day).

As visual aides, I use a long or short slide show, or one of two studio-made videos called "How to Write A Dog Book." The (somewhat tongue-in-cheek!) videos use clips from old dog movies to compare the basic dog story plot to the basic romance plot. Boy meets/boy loses/ obstacle, obstacle, obstacle/ boy gets (you can put either the word "dog" or "girl" in that last sentence, and it still works!) I'm also designing a  Powerpoint presentation, which I hope to have completed by the fall of 2004.

To find out more about how my books are written and for suggestions on how your classes might look at these books in more depth, follow the links below. There are questions to "think about" at the bottom of each linked page.

To e-mail the author, click here.

CLICK HERE to go to "My Favorite Books" page

CLICK HERE to go to "My Dog, Cat" page

CLICK HERE to go to "Private Captain" background (Civil War, 1863)

CLICK HERE to go to "White Star" background (Titanic, 1912)

CLICK HERE to go to "Turnspit" background (England, 1599)

CLICK HERE to go to "Ratzo" background (greyhound racing, contemporary)

CLICK HERE to go to "Sunday News" (reporting)