An Extraordinary Week in the Life of a YA Author

Front Paige Media Book Fair, Raleigh, NC

Not every week was as exciting as this past week, but I thought I’d give you a glimpse of what happens after you publish a book. (Hint: It’s called doing your best to share your book with the world).

On Saturday, March 2, a room at the Raleigh Iron Works was packed with authors selling their books. By the end of the day I had sold 32! A new record for me.

Jen Lowry, publisher of Monarch Educational Services, paid a visit to my booth. She’s been outstanding to work with. Do you know what I wrote in her book? “To my first reader.” I’m so thankful she loved Half-Truths and decided to add it to for her collection!

School Visits

On Monday, I had my first school visit in my hometown, Charlotte–the city in which Half-Truths is set. These pictures are from Collinswood Language Academy. In my presentation, “Welcome to My World” I shared some of the writing tools that I used to create Half-Truths and gave the students an opportunity to practice them.

On Wednesday, I spoke to the tenth graders at West Cabarrus High School. I appreciated Scott Tines-MIller’s support. Scott owns Troubadour Booksellers–go indie booksellers!

After reading the first chapter of Half-Truths, I discussed the different worlds my characters lived in.

Most of the students were familiar with segregation in the 1950s. I told them how their experience at West Cabarrus is very different than what Kate and Lillian experienced attending “separate but unequal” schools– as one of my experts’ father called it.

I ended each session with seven writing challenges. Each student chose a prompt to respond to:

Challenge #1: Name three of your own half-truths. Are there “white lies” you tell yourself, your family, or your BFF?

Challenge #2: Write down some three (mis)beliefs (spoken or unspoken) in your family. Example: “All politicians are idiots.” “Don’t hang around X. He/she is nothing but trouble.”

Challenge #3: Write down at least one prejudice you have faced. What do you think is the misbelief behind that point of view? 

Challenge #4: How can you contribute to a society that is different then what Katie and Lillian experienced? 

Challenge #5: What can you do to create change or impact your community?

Challenge #6: Write down one takeaway from today’s presentation. 

Challenge #7: What do you know about your family’s history 75 years ago? Do you have relatives who were politically active before or during Civil Rights? What are their stories?

Their responses were amazing. From the student who was excited to have met a “real” author, to a Black girl with some white ancestry who was told to “embrace her whiteness,” to a young man whose southern grandfather talked about the two lines for Vietnam war draftees–one for Blacks and one for Whites, to another student whose grandfather marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.

As I’ve said many times, librarians are my heroes and heroines and I appreciated Jennifer Brown, the library media coordinator, for all the work she did to bring me to West Cabarrus.

“I recommend Carol Baldwin for her inspiring visit and sharing her passion for writing with our English II students. She was kind and thoughtful with students and provided them the opportunity to reflect and write on themes connected to Half-Truths which inspired many students to engage more deeply with the topic.” Jennifer Brown

And There’s More!

Wednesday night I tuned into Facebook live to hear the results of the Selah Awards. I missed the first five minutes so I didn’t hear Eva Marie Everson, the contest director, announce that she was reading the awards alphabetically. After about 25 minutes I hadn’t heard my name called and my husband was ready for dinner. After we ate, I tuned in to the hear the ending. I was totally surprised when Eva announced the last category, Young Adult. Half-Truths was the last book she named as a finalist in the prestigious Selah award. The winner will be announced at the end of May at the Blue Ridge Writers Conference. If you care to hear the announcement, you can find it here. In case you’re not familiar with the Selah Awards, here is more information.

• The awards aim to promote high-quality Christian literature and support emerging writers through scholarship funding.
• Categories: Awards are presented across more than 30 categories, including Contemporary Romance, Historical/Biblical Fiction, Nonfiction Books, and Articles.
• Recipients: Both traditionally and independently published authors are eligible, with winners announced at the annual conference in Ridgecrest, North Carolina.

What’s Next Week?

It will be hard to top this one! I am a vendor with Front Paige Media in Charlotte on Saturday, March 7. So, if you’re local, bring a friend, grab a beverage, and say hello!

I have a book club event one evening and then next Saturday, I’m excited to be on a panel with Patrice Gopo–the other North Carolina Award winner–at Troubadour Booksellers.

Are you looking for an author to come to your school or library? Or are you in a book club that wants to see behind the scenes of researching my award-winning novel? Contact me here!