Do it scared

As you know, if you've visited my web page at www.janiceclark.net, I'm an author currently working on a children's chapter book series, The Hall of Doors. The books are about a little girl (Sammy) who follows her cat (BB, for Princess Buttermilk Biscuit) up a moonbeam to a magical world. Book one, The Mountains of the Moon, is in print, and book two, The Door in the Sky, will go to the publisher shortly.

I have a wonderful online critiquing group called Critters (www.critique.org) that provides me with lots of feedback on a work in progress, but from an adult viewpoint. Wanting to get a child's-eye-view as well, I enlisted the aid of a local school. So today, I get to play "visiting author" in a couple of second grade classrooms. That might not seem like a big deal to some people, but for a shy, reclusive introvert the whole process has been fraught with anxiety. I only managed to set it up by taking the advice of my character, Sammy. When you decide something needs to be done, don't sit around thinking about it, just do it, and do it scared if you have to.

Maybe it will help if I think of it as just a practice run. I'll let you know how it turns out.