A Week in Joliet

I had an exciting week giving fourteen presentations to thousands of kids in the four Joliet junior high schools. Here are a few thoughts about the week:

• It was fun to watch sleepy-eyed, bored expressions morph into animated, laughing faces.
• I shared hotdogs, fried poultry somethings and pizza with kids during their most social time.
• I learned that I shouldn't say two certain words in school - even though they aren't cuss words.
• The young adults at Joliet are a bit more inclined to use Myspace rather than Facebook compared to other schools I've spoken at.
• The girls prefer Jacob over the Jonas Brothers. And some Justin Bieber or something like that over Jacob.
  
• Serious stuff happens with kids - I hope I gave them a break from some of that.
• Young adults like it when they are paid attention to (don't we all?)
• Even kids who claim to be 'non-readers' have been friending me. So something worked. I shall convert them ... heh.
• Librarians and the Tech people are the real heroes at school.
• Girls listen to rap.
• They're called sleep-overs, not slumber parties.
• Kids like to write poetry.
• If you can entertain them, they think you're cool, even if you're fifty-one, balding and bowlegged.

Anyway, thanks to Joliet SD #86 for letting me be a part of your school year.

Norm

www.normcowie.com

Fang Face

If you've been paying attention to me – and why wouldn’t you? - you've probably heard ... well, read .. that my first Young Adult book, Fang Face will be published in a few months.

You've probably heard that vampire books are all the rage right now, and Fang Face joins the fray, but in a different way. It's a humor book ... and a vampire book.

You see, I think authors just haven't been taking advantage of the many funny things about vampires, like ... Do they floss? Do they lose weight on an all-protein diet? How would a teenage girl feel about not being able to see her reflection? Does Type O really taste better than Type AB? And just what kind of coffin would go best in a girl's room?

Important stuff not usually found in your typical vampire story.

If you're not a YA fan, never fear, I've adopted Disney's trick of making the book suitable for not just for teens, but also for adults. So if you've read my first two books, don't worry, you'll be treated to the same wacky humor.

Anyway, the point of today's blog is to let you know that you don't have to write a reminder note to yourself to get Fang Face in August. You can sign up on my website and when it comes out, I'll shoot you an email. So forget the note and hustle yourself over to my website and sign up so you'll be notified!

Fangs a lot,

Norm

www.fangface.homestead.com
www.fangplace.blogspot.com

An elevated hormone level

The hormone level's up. Yep, that chemistry thing where your mind gets all kinds of help thinking other than normal.

(there are those who say my brain is already other than normal)

Anyway, it's not my hormone level, it's what I'm reading.

I'm judging a high school writing contest in a bit over a month, and my picks are due the end of the week. So I'm reading some really interesting stories about teens learning about death, first love, indifferent fathers ... others about something funny ... or amazing ... or intriguing.

Really, it's a slice of life from a teen's perspective, and I'm loving it.

One of the reasons, I have to admit, is because now that I've chosen to write for them, it's interesting to see what they find important, challenging and intriguing. I know what I'm learning here is going to enrich my own writing, and I couldn't ask for anything better.

So I gotta go, and jump back into the hormone pool.

See ya' soon,

Norm

www.fangface.homestead.com