Author Visit to Fulton School in Tinley Park

Anna with the staff at Fulton School in Tinley Park

November 15, 2012- Fulton School in Tinley Park invited me to their Fulton Family Reading Night. Over 200 people attended the event. This was my first author visit to a elementary school. I read my book A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo and demonstrated the art of illustration, and how to write a story through pictures. The staff was amazing and made me, along with my husband Don, feel very welcome.

The students were a joy to read to. They asked intellegent questions and all participated in the fun activity. The children had a blast making up a story using illustrations and their own imaginations. 

Anna dementrates the art of illustration and how to write a story using pictures.

   I asked the children what animal they wanted to write about. They chose a deer. We added antlers to his head because he was a male. One child named him Fluffy, so we gave him a fluffy tail. Another child insisted he had spots. We gave him trees and tall grass because he lived in a forest. The children gave Fluffy some friends, two birds who were perched in the trees, a rabbit named Carrots, and a dog named Tucker. They named the story The Wild Friends. All of the friends got together to help find Tucker the dog who was lost. Very cute story and all of the children did a fantastic job putting it together.

In additon to my visit, the children read to special guests, the Reading Dogs. These trained therapy dogs were wonderful with the children. 

Weaving Dreams Publishing Author Fair 2012

November 3, 2012 was the second annual Weaving Dreams Publishing Author Fair. WDP has two imprints, Magic Dreams Publishing for kids and teens, and True Grit Publishing for the rough and tough stories. This fair has a group of authors from the Illinois region. Many of our WDP family live in other states as well. But since the company is from Illnois, our publisher puts a special event together for us to meet and greet people from our own state. Some of our Illinois authors were unable to attend the event.

This year, my hand was bandaged  from a surgery so I was only capable of taking a few photos since my camera is heavy and I would have needed both hands to take the photos.  The photo above is from Helen Macie Ostermans book launch for Emma Winberry Mysteries and The Evil Eye: A Prequel. Everyone in this photo attended the WDP author fair so I am using it here since we didn't get a group photo for the event. M.E.May, Caroline Bezik, and Eric Bieche are missing from the photo but were at the event as well.
                                                       

                                                           The Ladies of Mystery Panel

Susan Myers - Moderator/presentation on Taking Back Your Life and Finish Your Manuscript. Sue is one of WDP newest authors. Her book is  Deception (Thriller, coming in 2014)
Lydia Ponczak Who's After Samantha (cozy mystery available now) Lydia is a host for a cable show.
Helen Macie Osterman -Emma Winberry Mysteries and The Evil Eye: A Prequel (cozy mystery available now)   I really enjoy this series. I feel like I know Emma personally.
M.E. May- Perfidy (mystery/thriller available now). I love this book cover.
　
Scot Savage and Eric Bieche"Have Vampire, Will Travel" (Contemporary Thriller) gave a PowerPoint Presentation: Using Actual Cities & Existing Local Sites in Fiction. I wasn't able to get a photo of them. Scot put together some awesome sound effects for the slide show. He is very talented.

                                                          

                                                                      Annie Hansen


Annie Hansen- Gave a presentation of her book Give Me Chocolate, A Kelly Clark Mystery  (coming Spring 2013) Annie Hansen is one of the sweetest people I know.

Other authors who attended, Caroline Bezik- BooBoo's Wish (picture book, coming January 2013) Caroline is a lady with a good heart.
Diana Boone- Growing Up Black in the Jim Crow South (non-fiction available now) Diana always lends a helping hand.
L. Sue Eggerton- Life Is Like Making Chocolate Chip Cookies (non-fiction available now) Sue is the publisher for Weaving Dreams Publishing.
And of course, me, Anna Grob- A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo (picture book available now) go to my website to learn all about me  http://annagrob.weebly.com

For more info about Weaving Dreams Publishing or all of the authors and books,  go to www.weavingdreamspublishing.com

                                                                             
              Anna Grob- A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo (picture book available now)

Caroline Bezik- BooBoo's Wish (picture book, coming January 2013) 

L. Sue Eggerton- Life Is Like Making Chocolate Chip Cookies (non-fiction available now)

                 Diana Boone- Growing Up Black in the Jim Crow South (non-fiction available now)

                           Lydia Ponczak Who's After Samantha (cozy mystery available now)

Helen Macie Osterman -Emma Winberry Mysteries and The Evil Eye: A Prequel (cozy mystery available now)

                                       M.E. May- Perfidy (mystery/thriller available now).

                               Other Illinois authors from our WDP family.

Patrica Hackel- Can't Conquer Love (romance- available now) I love this book cover too. 

Tracy Ahrens- Raising My Furry Children (non-fiction available now)

Sherry Scarpaci- Lullaby (mystery available now)

Fun at the Southland Author Fair

More than 20 authors  appeared at the Southland Author Fair on Saturday October 27, 2012 at the Orland Park Public Library in Illinois. Most of these authors were from the Chicago area who wrote books for kids, teens, and adults. Some of the authors who attended were Helen Macie Osterman author of The Emma Winberry Mysteries and the Evil Eye. Patricia Hackel brought her romance Can't Conquer Love. Lydia T. Ponczak (also a cable tv host)  had a nice display of her book Who's After Samantha? And of course, I brought my first book, A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo.

I had surgery on my hand the week before the event so my husband Donald came along to help me out. He is very supportive of my new writing career, and has great ideas too. :)

Toward the end of the day, a newspaper reporter stopped by to interview me for an article on the event. This was my very first interview as an author and illustrator of children's books. It was pretty exciting. Below is a clipping of the article. My interview is marked for easy viewing.

Meet the Illinois authors of Weaving Dreams Publishing Nov. 3, 2012

Announcing the release of A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo

Anna Grob with publisher L. Sue Eggerton of

Weaving Dreams Publishing

Announcing the release of my first book, A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo.

   October 13, 2012 was a day to remember. It was the day my publisher and I launched my first Children's book, A Coyote Who Wished He Lived In A Zoo. Everyone had a great time and was very excited to see one of my dreams come true.

   I talked a little about myself and how I became a writer and illustrator. Then I read a few pages from my book to the kids. They were so into the book and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Then we had a door prize for the kids. A young boy named Charles won the adorable coyote puppet. He named it Jessie after the main character in the book. I thought that was so sweet. :)

   The story is about a young coyote named Jessie, who has a difficult time living in the wild. He wanders into a zoo and speaks with some of the animals who tell him about their experiences living in a zoo, and why they like living there.The book is fictional with non-fiction woven into it. The age group is mainly between 5-9 years old. Parents and teachers love to read it to young children. The book is full of lovable characters and excitement.  

   Children love animals, and zoo's are a big part of their learning experience. The story is positive, hopeful, and inspiring.

   The book fits in the school curriculum as it talks about an animal's niche and habitat, along with the prey and predator relationships. Children as well as adults will learn about the positive things zoo's do for their animals and the challenges wild animals face in the wilderness.

I have closely studied the anatomy, movement, and behavior of coyotes to help make the illustrations in the book as realistic as possible.

I am a docent volunteer at Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. I have interacted with wolves and coyotes and earned a Spotlight Award for my dedication to educating our zoo guest about wolves and the homes they live in. 

For more info about me or my book go to my website at http://annagrob.weebly.com  or

www.weavingdreamspublishing.com/picturebooks/acoyote.html 

my book is also available at Barnes and Noble.com , and Amazon.

Stay tuned to hear more about me and Jessie, and what we will do next.