At the Gaithersburg Book Festival

It's been an eight year long dream to be part of the GBF as more than a volunteer and this year, I had the joy of being a presenter of a workshop in addition to helping with the Saint Martin's childrens' workshop.   

Here's yesterday's livestream recorded workshop on You Don't Have Time to Write, Yes You Do!

Over at the Standard Today

Have a couple of things for you today...my weekly piece at the Catholic Standard Saving the World by How We Offer Each Day, and the work the Saint Martin's Team did for the Gaithersburg Book Festival. 

Here's the video that Regina did the illustrations for...I just did the narration.  Saint Martin's School's Workshop: The Plotting of the Plot

Rewards

Today, I spent the day at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. Usually, it's a tad difficult for me, because I dream of being at one of those pavilions, giving a talk on the process and writing itself.  However this past week, we ran crafts as we always do at the fair, and we were so busy painting faces, I never had a moment to even grow whistful....until after the festival ended.

Life gave me a small irony, I received my writing scores on the Praxis today.  Scoring a 190 ought to make me proud, but I'm wondering what I lost the ten points for in the scoring.  (A perfect score is 200).   Now I just have to study up for the English Exam and the Pedegogy Praxis in July.  I'm thinking maybe next week will slow up, after the 5K, but before exams.  Maybe.

Everyone hosting a booth, selling books is really showing to the world, their dreams.  Their supreme goal is to be on that podium, or even if they are on that podium, to move the hearts and minds of whoseover listens.  Writing, while a solo act, is done ultimately with the goal of reaching everyone, of somehow being something as close to universal as we can make it.

So all the authors trying to convince us to part with our ten, twelve or twenty dollars, they're really trying to get each of us to be willing to peer into their minds, their souls, and see if they enjoy what they see.  I didn't get to browse the stacks for new favorites. Instead, today I've painted 35 unicorns, 27 Spidermans and at least 1000 pokeballs on people's faces.

I did meet one author because his kid wanted a Bird of Paradise.  We talked books.  We talked about the fun of researching books and writing.  I wasn't on the podium, but I was still getting to talk with someone who loved what I loved about what we both loved.  It was a nice little moment inbetween the glitter and the paint brushes.  

Maybe one day, I'll get to tell people about it on a bigger scale than one on one.  It's a dream of mine, to have a place as an author.  But the greatest moment in the whole day came when a four year old girl made her way back to my table to give me a pink puppet she made with stars and flowers and hearts all around it, as a "Thank you" for her unicorn.  It was a podium moment and a treasure.  

It also meant, I'll be back next year, happily painting more faces.

Friday Link Fest Because...

1. Why do I do a link up on Friday when I have my own link up on Thursdays?  

Because This Ain't the Lyceum! cracks me up with her earnest telling of what she's doing and why.

2.  I know, it's Friday but....

If you didn't make it to Catholicmom.com yesterday, here's the link to Small Success Thursday!

3.  Today, I have a piece over at Aleteia!  It's on teaching forgiveness and my own two cents.  

Here's the picture of the actual Forgiveness Jar.

4.  How's the Book coming?  Slow.   Last week I was sick, I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing, but somehow, life keeps taking up more and more time.   This week, I'm taking on Saint Teresa of Avila.   I figure, I should share some sites I've found that are gems.  This week's favorite is:

Order of the Carmelites.

What I keep understanding as I pursue this project, is I am in the kiddie pool of understanding, they swim in the ocean. 

5.  What are you reading?   I just got it, so I just started, but Elizabeth Scalia has a new book!

Thus far, I'm really enjoying it.  I hope to review it next Friday...as part of keeping my brain from spinning toward its natural state of atrophy.   

6.  What else are you doing?  In two weeks, we have a blockbuster weekend with Prom, Girls on the Run 5K and the Gaithersburg Book Festival!  The past two years, I've gone.  This year I'm helping with a booth.  I hope next year...to present!   

7.  I am a geeky woman.  I saw Captain America's Civil War.  I enjoyed all of it the same way Stephen Greydamus does, like a pizza that tasted great going down, but I probably shouldn't have eaten so willingly.  

After every movie, my husband and I do a wrap up, sort of like a post game review.   What got me was, the writers chickened out.  In the comic Civil War, the fight between Captain and Ironman has high stakes and high consequences.  If the movie had been willing to allow those sort of consequences to happen to both sides, it would have made the pain between them that much more than a mere stake out of my side, your side.  Superhero movies do have to rely on action and pop, so philosophical musings about the consequences of decisions, of releasing/holding onto power have to be done on the fly.   As Falcon says, "most fights don't involve that much talking."  However, I think the intimacy of the fight fell a little flat because there wasn't as much talking as one would want, to bring the audience into the Civil war with genuine torn loyalties.    

The poster promises something I don't feel the movie quite delivers, the pain and break isn't as decisive or hard as it should be.   It's more of a friendship sprain than a heart breaker. That being said, it was a fun popcorn date. 

Talking it over with my husband, we have allowed as young as John to go see it, but I wouldn't let anyone younger.  

See you Sunday.  Now I have to go get some writing done. :)