Middle Grade Book Signing

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Venture Academy and spend some time with its middle graders during their Student Lead Conference and Book Fair. It ended up being a great book signing. I laughed as the kids tried to inconspicuously sneak a peak of The Magic Shop book trailer running on a loop on my iPad, or full on try to watch the entire thing out of the corner of their eye.

I had a boy exclaim “Woah!” when he saw the book cover, and B-lined to flip it over and read the copy on the back. Apparently Brandon Mull was at the schooler earlier in the day, and some of the children told me all about what he had to say. It was great fun.

I want to thank the factually and staff for having me. They treated me very well.  A portion of the proceeds from each sale of The Magic Shop went back to the school to support the kids learning and reading.

Also, I have to acknowledge my wonderful wife who set the whole thing up for me. Good times.

Thanksgiving

The Swapp’s had a lot of fun on Thanksgiving morning. My brothers-in-law organized a little skeet shooting for everyone before the day’s festive events. It was the first time my youngest son, Alexander (“Xander”) got to (read: dared) to shoot a rifle. I tried to instill a proper sense of respect for a firearm, but I think I spooked him at first. In the end, he came around, and shot the rifle a couple of times. Thank goodness one of his uncles brought a wad of socks (all clumped together) as padding for the boys. Those rifles have a bit of a kick from a youngster’s perspective.

Hopefully you enjoyed your thanksgiving as well, surrounded by family and friends.