Cathy C. Hall Writes

We have a Georgia Center for the Book in my home state and it happens to make its home base down the road from me, in the Decatur library.

I love the Georgia Center for the Book because…well, it’s a center. FOR THE BOOK.

Anyway, last week, they announced their 2015 books for adults and children, books that all Georgians should read. (And I’m not gonna lie. Folks outside of Georgia will probably love these books, too.) Many of the authors were there to receive awards and I was there because many of those authors are friends of mine and members of SCBWI. After the ceremony, they had a book-signing (they had a book sale, too) but I refrained from buying books. I have a wee bit of a problem, buying books, but still, I wanted to support these wonderful authors. What to do, what to do?

I have a couple strategies to support authors I love (besides buying the book), and I thought I’d pass ’em along to you:

Go to your local library and check to see if the book is on the shelf. If it’s not, request the book. When enough people request a book, a library takes notice (and maybe orders the book!).
If you do find the book at the library, check it out and read it. If you use social media, talk about the book. (And make sure you include the author’s name along with the book title so the author can see your support.) Authors often are uncomfortable with self-promotion, but when you do it, it’s golden!
Leave a book review on Goodreads or Amazon. It doesn’t have to be a 5-star review (in fact, too many five-star reviews is not a good thing) and it doesn’t have to be a mini-book. Short and sweet is just fine. You will make an author’s day, leaving a nice review.

How about you? What do you do when you love a book but can’t afford to buy it?

And you know what else? I’ll bet you have a Center for the Book in your home state. Why not take a little road trip and check out what they’re doing for the authors you know and love? (And if you’re an author in your state’s Center for the Book, let me know. I’d love to support ALL my author friends!)

Many years a file000790259432 go, when my mother taught ninth grade English (Yeah, it was so long ago that the subject was called English instead of Language Arts), she came home with a doozy of a story.

First, you need to know that Mom was kind of a tough teacher. And when I say “kind of”, I mean “a lot.” She didn’t put up with much foolishness in the classroom, but still, she was a good and fair teacher. That year’s class had been a challenging one due to one particular student. A student whom Mom had had more than one go-round with. I mean, this kid had been sent to the principal’s office more than once.

So you can imagine my mom’s surprise when, with just a day or two left in the school year, this kid brings her a taped up, shirt-sized gift box to say thanks. Mom choked out a thanks in return and much to the student’s disappointment, said, “I’ll open this later. We have work to do.”

She had no intention of opening that gift. The minute classes ended for the day, Mom marched down to the principal’s office and explained the situation. The principal took the box from her.

“What do you think it is, Ms. Crider?”

“I shook it,” said my mom. “And whatever’s in there moves back and forth. I think it might be…well, I think it’s a snake.”

“A snake!” The principal shook the box and sure enough, something moved back and forth. “Let’s take this box outside.”

The two of them went out to the parking lot, the whole time Mom fussing about this student and how he probably wanted to get back at her. Ninth graders, after all, don’t always think things through. Even so, she didn’t want him to get in any more trouble. “Let’s just open this box and be done with it,” said Mom.

So the principal carefully peeled back the tape and coaxed the lid almost off. “Stand back,” he said. And in one fell swoop he yanked off the lid and threw the box across the parking lot so the snake could slither away.

But it was not a snake.

It was a cupcake.

And a disgusting cupcake at that, after rolling across the parking lot and into the grass.

Oh my word, I laughed so hard, my sides hurt. Mom laughed pretty hard, too. The kid did get back at her, but not in any way he could’ve imagined.

I wrote a children’s story called, “Snake in the Box!” and it was partly based on that true story. It’s a favorite of mine, and though I submitted it to several kidlit magazines, it just didn’t sell.

Until a few days ago when I heard from an editor in China who wanted the story. I’d sent it to her almost a year ago, and honestly, I’d completely forgotten about “Snake in the Box.” But now, I suppose, Chinese students will get to read it.

I’m not so sure they’ll get the humor.