Security!

Partners in Crime, the Kansas City chapter of Sisters in Crime, is a rocking bunch. They meet each month at a local Borders, and they always invite a speaker—sometimes an author, more often someone in law enforcement, such as a police officer, district attorney, private eye, or forensic investigator. No matter who they have, the talk is always interesting.

This month’s speaker had been AT&T’s head of security for nearly 30 years, and honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to hearing him all that much. I mean, security guy for the phone company? But, as always, the talk turned out to be fascinating. Corporate security is more than the guards at the door in the pretend police uniforms. The speaker’s department was more like a detective unit, and he regaled us with stories about the cases they handled, including working surveillance to uncover fraud in various locations, such as residential streets, softball games, and a bowling alley. It turns out that when you’re lying low in a residential area, trying to monitor a house, Neighborhood Watch is your worst enemy. (Luckily, if you work for the phone company, you can cook up a cover story about testing signal strength in the area.)

He told us about trying to protect an employee who’d been stalked by an increasingly threatening guy for over two years, to the point of being stabbed in the back while she was out shopping. . . only to find that the woman was stalking—and had stabbed—herself.

He also told us about heading off disgruntled ex-employees who were at high risk for returning to the workplace loaded with weapons. One thing the security department looked for was what he called an Avenger Personality. I know—sounds like a comic book superhero. But in this case it’s the personality type most likely to shoot up a former workplace: white male, usually middle-aged, with an obvious obsession with guns and/or the military (but who has probably never been in the military) and very little in the way of a support system (he’s divorced/never married and is estranged from his family). These were the guys they looked out for, and in at least one case, they thwarted what could have been a real tragedy. They stopped a recently fired man as he drove back into the parking lot, and in his car found a gun, a machete, and his handwritten last will and testament.

Scary.

As I listened to this man talk, I realized why every Partners in Crime speaker is so fascinating. If you get a person who is truly good at—and loves—his job and ask him to tell you about it, he will show you just exactly what it is that makes that job so interesting to him.

I’m glad I went. I still can’t shake the mental image of phone company guys running surveillance while bowling.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I had a great Mom’s Day. It started a little early for my taste. My son is on a travel baseball team*, and they had a tournament this weekend. We rolled out of bed at 5:30 this morning so we could be at the ballfield by 7:00. But breakfast was waiting for us when got up because last night I took my daughter to a birthday party, and while I was gone, my son baked a pan of sweet rolls he learned to make in FACS (family and consumer science—what we used to call home ec) and wrapped them up for Mother’s Day breakfast this morning. The kid has his moments!

And tonight my husband fixed Mother’s Day dinner—steaks grilled outside, with potatoes and corn on the cob. The big guy has his moments, too.

In between baseball and eating, my daughter and I managed to slip off to the nursery and buy tomato plants, begonias for the hanging baskets on my front porch, potting soil, and the best plant-related item I’ve ever purchased: a hanging basket so full of tomato plants—with at least a hundred little green tomatoes already on the vine—that I had to have help lifting it into my car. Now I don’t have to wait till July for garden-fresh tomatoes. I’ll have them in a week or so. And they’ll be hanging outside my door, ready to be picked.

Is there anything better on this earth than a just-picked tomato, still warm from the sun?

* About my son, I know I’m his mother, so my opinion is slightly biased, but man can that kid pitch a baseball. And here’s the great part: It wasn’t that long ago, maybe two years, that he would do anything to get out of pitching. (My son: “Coach, my arm’s hurting. I don’t know how much longer I can go.” Coach: “But son, you haven’t faced a batter yet.”) It wasn’t because he couldn’t throw, but because he was afraid he wouldn’t throw well, and everyone would see, and then he’d look stupid. There’s no place to hide on a pitcher’s mound. But he liked to pitch (when no one was looking), and he’s left-handed (which he knew would be valuable to his team, especially as they got older), so he took lessons and made himself do it anyway, and now he can’t wait to get on the mound. He wants to start every game.

I remind him of this whenever he thinks something’s too hard. I tell him, “See? When you push yourself through adversity, you get to the other side better and stronger.” He, of course, rolls his eyes and says, “Does everything have to be a lesson?” Sorry, son, but yes, when you’re a mom, everything does have to be a lesson.

The Kansas City Literary Festival

On Saturday, May 19, I’ll take part (a small part) in the Kansas City Literary Festival at the Country Club Plaza. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and includes author readings and booksignings, storytelling, food demonstations, puppet shows, theatre presentations, music and skits by Radio Disney, jazz from the American Jazz Museum, robotics demonstations, a snake guy, film-making, vendors, literary organizations, and lots, lots more (as I clicked through the website, I couldn’t believe how much more—this is going to be a great day). Authors include Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, Michael Bechloss, Nancy Pickard, Roderick Townley, Wyatt Townley, Malachy McCourt, and Vicki Grove. If you live anywhere near Kansas City, this is the place to be on May 19.

The festival will be divided into four sections with a stage in each section. I’ll be signing books from 11:30 to noon in the Kids section. Afterward I’ll hang out with the Kansas Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in Tent 204, where I’ll take part in the Middle Grade Booktalk from 2:05 to 2:35 p.m.

Sheila Berenson, Kansas SCBWI secretary, has done a fabulous job—on very short notice—of organizing the Kansas SCBWI tent and getting Kansas and Missouri SCBWI members into other festival venues. She’s been like the guy on stage trying to keep all the plates spinning, and to Sheila’s credit, she hasn’t let any of them fall. Thank you, Sheila!

I Love My Library

As I’ve mentioned before, I love my library, for many reasons, including this new one:










I strolled into the library last week, and there it was—a display of my books in the center of the main aisle. How cool am I?

Actually, how cool is my library? In truth, it’s a very cool library for reasons that have nothing to do with me. I live in a small town, but our library is great—roomy, comfy, technologically savvy, with a healthy collection (and new books coming in all the time), a librarian who is on top of everything, and a staff that offers all kinds of programs and activities. We’re pretty fortunate here.

A Great Week

What a wonderful week I had. On Tuesday, I visited Lansing Middle School, and the students, faculty, and staff were terrific. I did assemblies for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, led a writing workshop, and ate a school lunch that was actually. . . pretty good. The whole school had read Airball and seemed enthusiastic about it. They even gave me a red wooden gift box of goodies related to the book—tea, candle, Jayhawk mug, mini basketball, keychain, chocolate (the path to a writer’s heart always goes through chocolate!). . .



















. . . and a pair of undershorts signed, “We loved your book! Thanks, LMS.”



















How very cool and creative! A big THANK YOU to Marlene Brown, LMS librarian, who invited me, made sure everything went smoothly, and treated me like royalty all day.

On Wednesday, I drove out to Manhattan for the North Central Kansas Library System (NCKLS) Book Fair. This was my second year to attend, and (as I’ve said before) any day spent with writers and librarians is, by definition, a good day.

Lansing, Here I Come!

I’m busy making preparations for next Tuesday’s author visit at Lansing Middle School in Lansing, Kansas. I’ll give large assembly talks to the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades and conduct a workshop for students who are especially interested in writing.

I’m especially looking forward to visiting LMS because this is where my daughter attended middle school, and I know many of the teachers and staff. If you’re a Lansing student or faculty member, I’ll see you soon!

Speaking of Conferences. . .

. . . information about this year’s Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave is up at their website. It’s scheduled for September 28–30, 2007, and it looks to be another great conference. The keynote speaker is Diane Mott Davidson, and since her books are culinary mysteries, the Conclave’s Saturday night banquet will be “Dining with Diane,” featuring recipes from her books.

This is a terrific conference—for writers, readers, and anybody who loves a good mystery. It’s a warm, friendly, fun weekend, and I can’t wait for it to roll around again.

Kansas SCBWI Conference

The Kansas chapter of the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) will host its annual conference on June 22 & 23, 2007 at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. This year’s theme is Get Your DUCKS in a Row (Dialogue & description; Unique voice, plot/ideas, illustrations; Characters & conflict; Keep at it attitude; Submission readiness). Speakers include editors Rachel Orr of HarperCollins and Tanya Dean of Darby Creek, agent Michelle Andelman of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, authors Elaine Marie Alphin, Sue Alexander, Dan Schwabauer, and Richard W. Jennings, and illustrator Laura Huliska-Beith.

Kansas SCBWI always puts together informative, fun, well-run conferences. If you write for children or want to write for children, this is the place for you!

Kansas Authors Dinner

I had a great time Thursday at the Kansas Authors Dinner in Topeka. I met some fabulous librarians, signed a bunch of books, caught up with Kansas writers I already know and love, and met new (to me) Kansas writers, including Alice Bertels (author of a picture book biography of John Steuart Curry). Alice, it turns out, grew up in the same (very) small town my dad grew up in, and she knows many of my aunts and uncles. What are the odds? I also got a chance to talk with Stephen Johnson, an incredibly talented and successful artist and picture book illustrator I went to college with. I hadn’t seen Stephen since we graduated (umbledy-ump years ago).

Truly, an evening with librarians and writers is an evening well spent.

Programming Note: Sadly, the Conference with Authors I was scheduled to speak at next Wednesday, April 18, has been canceled. Sigh.

Finally. . .

. . . I’ve updated the calendar page of my website. And man, do I have some things going on. I had no idea how busy I was. First off, as I already mentioned, I’ll be attending the Kansas Authors Dinner at the library Tri-Conference tomorrow night, Thursday, April 12, in Topeka. Then next Wednesday, April 18, I’ll be speaking on a panel and in smaller groups with fellow children’s writers Randi Hacker, Debra McArthur, and Vicki Grove at the Conference with Authors in the Kansas Union at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

I have several events scheduled for May and June, and have already begun planning some things for the fall. And it occurs to me that I am a very lucky person. I always dreamed that becoming a published writer would change my life, and it has, but in ways I never expected. Since Airball: My Life in Briefs was published, I’ve been invited to schools, bookstores, libraries, book fairs and festivals, radio programs, awards banquets, a ball (yes, really—with long glittery dresses, dancing, and everything), conferences, and the governor’s inaugural celebration, and I’ve met readers, librarians, teachers, booksellers, and the governor—all of whom I probably would never have encountered if not for my book. I am very lucky.