Since Internal Lockdown came out, the response to the novel has been fabulous. Many, many people in my area have read the book and responded very favorably.
One dynamic that has emerged is that people who know me–and I’ve been blessed to meet A LOT of people during 39 years of teaching–have engaged me through Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, email, and good old-fashioned phone calls.
And, of course, in person. In that regard, this past week has been a whirlwind of positivity.
I delivered a copy of the book to a former student of mine who is currently battling cancer. I had not seen her in years, but we have communicated through Facebook. The book gave me an excuse to stop by, and we had a pleasant ten-minute chat, even though she wasn’t having a particularly good morning.
Later that day, she sent me a message: “I am only on page 25 and am covered in goosebumps with tears streaming down my face.” Which prompted another conversation, albeit virtual.
A few days later, I went back to my old high school, the setting for the novel, to meet with some staff regarding the anti-drug task force I volunteer with. Before the meeting, I visited some of my former teaching colleagues and basked in more kudos for the book. A couple of students even stopped me in the office to tell me they had read the novel.
For the first time in a couple of years, I found myself standing in my old classroom, room 422– room 522 in the novel–the setting for much of the first two-thirds of the plot. It was interesting to be, once again, standing in the room I had mentally pictured a thousand times as I wrote the novel.
I also signed a book for one of the teachers and left it in his mailbox.
That night, I sat down with a local book club, EZBC, that had read the book and had invited me to speak with them. That was an amazing event, held in a cozy home with a crackling fireplace, great food, and wine!
It was immensely fun talking about the novel and fielding questions like “Who was your favorite character?”; “Whom were the characters based on?”; “Where did you get your ideas?; “What do you think about arming teachers?”
I also fielded great questions about the process of getting a novel published, from beta readers, to editing, to my writing habits. We talked about the teaching of writing in the high school English classroom, safety issues for schools and businesses, and my current writing projects. And, of course, I signed their books.
Like the library book signing I did several weeks ago, the book club experience brought me back to my classroom days of conducting a seminar. It was a very pleasant flashback.
I will never crack the New York Times bestseller list, but this whole get-a-novel-published chapter has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Maybe at the top of my Non-Personal Life List Top Ten Experiences!
The Q-View 