My First Author Talk to a Class of Middle Schoolers

A friend who teaches language arts in a local school recently invited my illustrator and me to speak to her sixth graders about the art, craft and process of writing and illustrating a children’s book – and read The Purringest Kitty Finds His Home to them (even though twelve-year-olds aren’t exactly our target audience). She also asked me to bring my five novels, so her students would realize they were speaking with and learning from a bona fide author who happens to live in their town.

I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a little nervous. Frankly, speaking to sixth graders scares the bejeezus out of me. I have the most dreadful memories of sixth grade! For just that one horrid year, I attended a private school where my classmates all looked down on me because I was the “charity case” who was there on scholarship, who’d never played field hockey before, and whose family didn’t jet off to Vail for ski weekend (which, believe it or not, was an actual three-day break from school). And, yeah, if there was a party on Friday night, you can bet Daddy’s new BMW I wasn’t invited.

Based on that experience, just the thought of being in a middle school again is giving me palpitations. I can almost feel my face breaking out… and I think my speech impediment is resurfacing.

I don’t know what I’m getting so flustered about. I’m a grown woman with a house and a car, a wonderful husband… and a reasonably successful career as a professional editor and author. A few years back I addressed a group of eighth-grade journalism students about editing, but that’s a topic I’m comfortable discussing. I’ve led multiple editing workshops and been on editing discussion panels at writers conferences. But until a few months ago, I wasn’t a children’s author and had certainly never spoken professionally as one.

My teacher friend said Dee and I should expect the students to ask lots of questions – among them, “How old are you?” Apparently, they ask her that on a regular basis. I’m glad she prepared me for that likelihood. I may tell them I’m so ancient I got my first cat from a guy named Noah. On the other hand, perhaps I’ll tell them the truth: that I’ll be 60 in June and published my debut novel eight years ago – a full thirty-eight years after the characters started yammering in my head (during Sister Teresita’s freshman English class in 1977).

Our date with doom—er, I mean, the sixth graders—isn’t ’til Thursday, so if you can offer any tips or suggestions on how to interact with a gaggle of 12-year-olds, I’d really appreciate them.

About the Author:
Rita M. Reali is a two-time international award-winning author and longtime editor who most enjoys editing memoir, general fiction and romance, along with inspirational writing. She’s self-published five novels: Glimpse of Emerald, Diagnosis: Love, The Unintended Hero, Second Chances and Tender Mercies – the first five in the seven-volume Sheldon Family Saga. The sixth novel in the series, Brothers by Betrayal, is scheduled for an early 2024 release. Her first children’s book, The Purringest Kitty Finds His Home, was released at the end of February. As a former disc jockey in her native Connecticut, Rita used to spend her days “talking to people who weren’t there” – a skill which transferred perfectly to her being an author. Now she talks to characters who aren’t there on “a little chunk of heaven in rural Tennessee.” Contact Rita. To purchase your own personally inscribed copy of any of Rita’s books, download this order form at her website.