The Contest is now Closed

It had to come to an end eventually, but man did I have a blast with this character contest. My 2009 school tour is officially over and the Create-a-Character Contest is past the deadline. There will be no more schools until next year (which is like only three weeks away!) I'm starting to sift through all of the entries and it's a little overwhelming. I plan to have the winning entry picked by this upcoming Monday (December 7th). Here's a recap of my Exercising Your Imagination Tour:

• Visited 45 schools throughout Utah.
• Gave 48 school presentations
• Entertained and was entertained by over 15,000 kids from Kindergarten to 6th Grade
• Received just a shade under 1700 entries to my Create-a-Character Contest
• Broke 1 windshield
• Earned 1 traffic ticket (in St. George)
• Signed I don't know how many books, a statue, countless posters, a chair, a shoe, several random slips of paper, and an arm.

I'll be posting some pics of all the entries in a couple of days and maybe even some video (if I can figure out how to do it.) I can't wait to start another tour really soon!

Oh, and to top it all off, last night while I was signing at the Barnes and Noble in Orem, Heidi, my editor from Cedar Fort, showed up bearing gifts. She brought me one of the first copies of Hashbrown Winters and the Mashimoto Madness hot off the press. I almost cried!

I can't believe I now have 2 published books. It's so crazy. Oh, and I'll be receiving a box of copies in the next little while so stay tuned for a contest. I'm feeling like giving away a couple. :)

Davis County Tour

I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to visit some really awesome schools this past week. I had kind of figured I was done for the year, but luckily my schedule opened up.

On Wednesday I spent the day at Taylor, Reading, Holt, and Creekside Elementary schools throughout Clearfield, Kaysville, and Centerville. It was a blast! This was one of the first times I have ever stayed after at a school to go visit some of the kids in their classrooms. Their questions were awesome. They asked me how I got started in writing, what my favorite color was, where I came up with the names for my characters, and of course what day was my birthday. You know, the essentials! The Bountiful Deseret Book tagged along with me the whole day selling books to kids at the schools. I was able to hang out and do some impromptu signings as well.

It was a busy day, but I realized that presenting at the schools is one of my favorite things to do. There's nothing that can match the rush of having 500 kids laughing at something you've written. At Taylor Elementary, most of the kids had already read Hashbrown and that was a unique opportunity for me. Usually, I'm the first to tell them about my story. I was completely surprised that there were actually kids out there that were reading it at school! Also, I got to hang out with Christen Rast of the Davis school district. She was awesome! She kept me on schedule and kept me company in between schools. Very cool. I had a book signing at the Deseret Book in Bountiful that night to end my busy day.

On Thursday, I visited Cook, Centerville, and West Bountiful Elementary schools. Again, this was a fantastic day. At Cook, I had a lot of down time waiting for my next school, so I spent that time in the library chatting with the fourth and fifth graders. After words, I ate some pizza with the top A.R. (Advanced Reading) students of the school. We laughed a ton and some of us fell out of our chairs. Good times! Centerville was the school where Christen Rast's kids attended and I got to play a practical joke on her 6th grade daughter in front of the whole assembly. Needless to say, that was one of the highlights of my Davis tour. Oh, and I also got to sign the librarian, Mrs. Rawlin's, reading statue which was an honor in and of itself. My name was somewhat close to Brandon Mull's!

I finished the afternoon at West Bountiful and then it was off to East Layton Elementary's Literacy Night. That was awesome! (I say that word a lot) There were tons of kids and parents there for my presentation. Tamara the librarian flat out rocks! She makes me feel like a rock star. I signed a ton of books and it was so exciting to see kids getting geared up for book 2.

Then on Friday night, I had a book signing at the Layton Barnes and Noble where I got to hang with Lisa Mangum, author of The Hourglass Door. Wow! What a week. I love the fact that I get to do this from time to time. To top off my week, I received a really amazing e-mail in my inbox from a teacher in Sandy. She told me how much her students loved Hashbrown and how some of them were getting excited about writing their own stories. One girl had already started on The Adventures of Snow Cone Jones. I was literally blown away. Wow! What a week. I love the fact that I get to do this from time to time.

Oh, I almost forgot. On Saturday, David Archuleta came and did a signing at my store. It was absolute mayhem, but I did get to sneak a copy of Hashbrown into his gift basket. :)

Mt. Pleasant

So, I know I've bored everyone time and time again with my daily book tour schedule, but I just have to blog about the awesome day I had yesterday.

First of all, I'm very grateful for the new friends I've made in Mt. Pleasant. Nate and Kate Palmer (and their five awesome kids, of course) were seriously some of the coolest people I've ever met. Kate organized the entire Mt. Pleasant tour which included trips and presentations to five schools (Fountain Green, Moroni, Fairview, Spring City and Mt. Pleasant) an interview with some amazing sixth graders from Mt. Pleasant that will air on their local cable access show (Justin, Jenna, and Madelyn, you guys rock), and a book signing at Mt. Pleasant public library hosted by my pals from the Orem Barnes and Noble (the very lovely duo of Brandi and Melyn.) I signed a ton of books and just had a blast.

And to think, before yesterday I had never heard of Mt. Pleasant. I actually thought I was going to Pleasant Grove which was a lot closer. Luckily, my wife pointed out that fact to me the night before, otherwise I would've been really late. It's like a 2 hour drive away and there was one point where I ran out of mountains. That was a little freaky because seriously, how do people from Utah know which direction their going without any mountains. Also, I think I almost hit a brand new species of animal with my car on my way home. It was a mix between a deer and a mountain goat and it was as big as my car. I'm not kidding. All right, I may have imagined it a little and there's a good chance it was just a really tall dog, but I screamed nonetheless and spoke in a foreign language for a solid five minutes after.

All joking aside, I just really enjoyed everything about my Mt. Pleasant tour. I didn't get lost because I followed Kate to every school. I was fed not once but twice! I like food. I should blog about food. And I made a complete fool of myself on television. Mark that off my bucket list. (Actually, I'm pretty sure I have had the misfortune of making a fool of myself on television a couple of times... playing basketball my senior year, singing in a high school musical production of Aladdin, whilst in attendance at a professional wrestling match, the list goes on and on and on...)

I want to go back again and just hang out with those good people.

Do you want to hear some great news?

Well, do you?

*** (imagine a blue cartoon dog or a little explorer girl with a talking backpack blinking and waiting for your response. Don't you just love children's television shows?)

All right, I'll tell you if you're not going to guess. The Adventures of Hashbrown Winters and the Mashimoto Madness goes to press in less than 2 weeks! Holy Cow!!! That snuck up on me. I've actually seen some of the illustrations and I'm beside myself with joy. Literally. There I am sitting next to myself. Talk about your out of body experience. Pys...cho....

I should be blogging more about it really soon, so stay tuned.

Here are some pictures taken at one of the schools I visited on my tour a couple of weeks ago.

And since I know you're all dying to see me make a fool of myself, here's the link to the interview that's airing on Mt. Pleasant's Local television channel. Try not to laugh, or at least try not to play that silly game where you say "Hey, doesn't Frank look like that little black-haired dude off of Doogie Howser?" I hate that game.

INTERVIEW

Final Week

The tour has ended and in a way I'm sad. Sure, it was intense and exhausting. I got lost more than the Exodus. I caused more damage to my vehicle in gas, cracked windshield, and dented fenders than I'll ever make back in royalties. But I just had a ton of fun. The kids rocked! They laughed at all the right moments, they got excited and they came out to the book signings in hordes. This last week was no different. I started off at Beehive Elementary where my son attends and I'll admit, this was the most nerve-wracking of all the schools. I knew kids there and a couple of the awesome ladies in my neighborhood made it out to support me. I was glad that I only had one school on Monday because my work was so far behind that I needed to play catch up.

Tuesday I hit Daybreak, Jordan Ridge, Jordan Hills, South Jordan and Oquirrh Elementary schools. This was one of my longest days of the tour and I was really worried that I'd collapse and just have a terrible time, but it was by far one of my favorite days. The schools were awesome, everyone was excited and of course the kids just cracked me up! I huge thank you to Kristi, Pam, Annette, Mrs. Stevens and Keri for being there and ready for me. I owe you guys a ton for having it all prepared. It really helps the kids catch the vision of my presentation. I was even running late a couple of times, but somehow I made it and I really feel it all worked out perfectly. I know I'm not saying enough, but honestly, this day rocked! Memorable character created: Gassy Cassy

Wednesday - This was my last day and it was cold and rainy, but I only had three schools and then a signing at the Barnes and Noble. Started off at Foothills, then over to Riverton where I met the awesome Mrs. Fay who's married by the way to a professional bull rider! How cool is that? Than lastly to Bluffdale Elementary. I was dumbfounded. I had never been out that way before to Riverton or Bluffdale. It is an awesome area. Hmmm? Future place of residence? Maybe. Thank you to Carolyn, Reagan and Mr. Westwood for making my trip perfect. By the end of the tour I had grown stronger. Literally. Those easels are stinking heavy! On the first day I could barely drag one up to the office, but by the end I was carrying all three with one hand while pushing my car up a hill with the other to save on gas. No lie. Barnes and Noble rocked! I seriously am so grateful for the support of the all the kids and the teachers. It's hard sitting at a book signing especially when you're all by yourself and sitting at the front so you're the first person everyone sees when they come in the store. I got very good at directing people to the cafe and to Dan Brown's newest novel. We sold a ton of books and I scored a piece of pumpkin cheesecake for free! How's that for awesomeness? Memorable character created: Dumbo Black

I ended the week by hanging out (well kind of) with Brandon Mull at the Downtown Deseret Book Conference Saturday. I signed a lot of books, tried my best to schmooze the creator of Fablehaven. This was actually my tag line. "Hey, you should buy my book. It's half the size, half the price and half as good as Fablehaven!" Yeah, I have no shame.

Now, I'm headed back to Costcos. The work of a starving author is never done.

Oh, and congrats to Marcia and Lola Jae! You both win because I can't count either and I had a completely different number. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll hook you up with your prize!!!

Week 2 Recap and plenty of Sap!

This last week went by in a blur. So much going on and not a lot of time to reflect on anything. We'll pick up right where I left off last. I was in the hotel in St. George, gearing up for my Monday line-up.

DAY 1 - I woke up early Monday morning and attacked the phone, only to remember that I had asked for a wake up call. They really need to put a warning on those things especially for people that suffer from disturbed sleep. I think I was dreaming about hunting some exotic bird and then it started squawking at me in that horrible voice... "This is your wake-up call. Have a wonderful day and thank you for choosing us." Or something like that. I got up and headed out the door with my printed off google instructions. Should be a piece of cake, seeing how the first school was within a 3 minute drive from the hotel. Um... yeah. Fifteen minutes later and a frantic phone call to my wife and then to my contact at the school, I was still doing doughnuts in the parking lot of the Taco Bell. Luckily, there are people out there that know how to read a map. I'm not one of them, but rely heavily on those people.

Valor Hall was stop number one. I was met by Tena Raleigh who got me all pumped up about the school and it went awesome! Lots of great kids, some of which had already read Hashbrown and were eager to participate. Tena also helped me find the next school which I was very grateful for, since I no longer trusted my maps. I was off to Sandstone which had a pretty big assembly. I then hit Trinity Lutheran and of course got lost again. I barely made it in time and by now I was dripping with sweat. Plus, St. George is well, hot! Trinity had a smaller assembly, but there was one kid there that really made me laugh. He kept calling everything I said disgusting. I guess it was disgusting. The whole part about the diaper, but afterwords I asked him if he had fun, to which he replied. "That was disgusting!" I love kids! Brutal honesty no matter what! I took a short break with my family to get some lunch and got pulled over for having expired tags. A $40 ticket later and a very warm farewell from the friendly officer and I was off to Coral Cliffs.

One might think that having such bad luck with directions coupled with the ticket might sully my experience. I was getting a little discouraged, but Coral Cliffs brought me back up! They were fantastic! There's just something about screaming and laughing kids that just makes me happy. 4 schools was quite a line-up, but I wasn't finished. I headed off to Costco to where I spent the next 4 hours sampling my book. I even wore a hairnet. Day 1 in the books. Memorable character created during one of my assemblies: HOT HEAD LUCY LOU (Brilliant! Simply Brilliant!)

DAY 2 - I kicked off the morning with East Elementary and found the school with hardly any issues. That's saying a lot! So already my day was on the up and up. I puttered around the area going 10 miles under the speed limit and I even double signaled (meaning I stuck my arm out the window to signal when I was turning left) and I about lost my arm by the Red Cliffs mall. Look, I was not getting another ticket in St. George and that was final. I should've taken a long lunch, but instead I went back to Costco and hung out for an hour and a half. Sold some books, ate some granola that the nice old man offered me that said I was looking squeamish and then I was back on the road headed to Santa Clara. It was just a great day and I learned something interesting. There are a lot of plastic cows in Santa Clara. I bet you didn't know that. And now I know why... I think.

Anyways. Santa Clara rocked as did Arrowhead. That school was in a beautiful neighborhood and I think it was built just last week or something. It was sparkling! Back to Costco for an hour, then over to Barnes and Noble for 2, swung by and poked my head in at the Deseret Book and then it was on the road for 4.5 hours to home. We pulled in at around 1 a.m. and collapsed. My kids were troopers and my wife saved my life. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have made it. Day 2 was done. Memorable Character Created - Moustache Polly (I know!)

DAY 3 - I really didn't get much rest and I was off to the Draper and Sandy schools. Summit Academy had an awesome auditorium where all the kids were seated properly and well-behaved. That was until I got involved. I apologize, I need the kids laughing or I don't like myself very much. :) I was late to my next appointment, sorry Ms. Shaw. To my defense, I just don't understand roads... er... yeah... roads. I swung into work for an hour, then headed off to Crescent Elementary and then Bell View. I was a little scatter brained that day, wandering around in circles in the parking lot, tripping over my easels, chasing after stray birds... you know the drill. Lack of sleep and honestly forgetting what a normal day consisted of had my head spinning. The kids were awesome this day and despite my stresses and continuously getting lost, they helped me remember why I do this. I realize now that the most important thing I can do going forward is to improve my writing and make sure I'm putting out the best stories I can possibly create. They deserve the best and I hope I can contribute to their love of reading. Sorry, sappy moment... (sniff)... had to share it...

Okay assignment time. I've lost my notes from DAY 3 and DAY 4's character creation. So I can't remember what we drew in those schools. Therefore, if you happen upon this blog and you were in attendance at DAY 3 or DAY 4's assemblies please chime in and remind me. I know they were good, but I want to have them logged forever.

DAY 4 - The end of week 2 rapidly approaches. First stop, Sunrise, tons of fun! Ms. Nocifora was a hoot! I'm so glad she was there because she really helped me get set up and the assembly was awesome. The teachers at all the schools I've visited deserve all the credit. They'll probably never know every value that they add to these kids' lives, but for a brief thirty minutes I caught a glimpse and immediately could see the amazing jobs they do. I'd feel safe to send my kids to any of the schools on my tour, knowing that their education was always top priority. Ugh! Another one? 2 sappy moments in one post? If I pull off a third one, I might just have to gag myself with a spoon. Remember that phrase from days of yore? Gag me with a spoon! Good stuff!

Next stop St. John the Baptist Elementary, or should I say, the Palace! Words cannot describe that school. First of all it was gargantuan! They had the biggest ceiling fan I've ever seen. Seriously, if you have a free moment and want to see the ninth wonder of the world, go get a hall pass from that school and just stare up at the ceiling. That thing could churn butter in a Silo! Did that actually make sense? If it did, I may use it in one of my books. Ms. Ward was awesome. She warned me not to rile the kids up like a previous presenter did the week before. I failed her. I was on a stage for crying out loud! A stage! With Hashbrown's huge melon on the screen behind me! I felt like a rock star! Last stop for the week was Draper Elementary. I still have one of the songs the school sang stuck in my head. "Oh me oh my I've lost my homework..." If you could've seen this choir with their two cool choir directors! It was a show I'd pay money to watch again. I actually got chills a couple times. The Dragons rocked! And I was there for two hours.

Finally, I headed to Barnes and Noble for my last signing of the week. When I walked into the building there was a line of kids and I immediately thought, Ah man! They have another person signing tonight? Boy was I pleasantly surprised to see that those kids were there for me. I almost cried.. UGHCACHUGALL...URL Sorry, that was my gagging myself with a spoon. I'm a man of my word. We sold out of books in a hurry and kids kept coming. It was the ultimate rush! One boy actually had his mom take him to another bookstore to pick up a copy so I could sign it because he didn't want to wait a week for the pre-orders to come in. I couldn't high-five him enough! Michelle was awesome! Thanks for the support and the amazing location to sign in. I definitely want to come back!

There, exhaustion, confusion, sweat transfusion... hey that rhymed. Well exhaustion doesn't rhyme with anything does it? Sticks Gosh Gun? Sorry, I just thought I would... I'm sorry. I have no excuses. Week 2 will leave a lasting mark in my memory for many years to come. Can I say I'm almost a pro at this? Not hardly, but I will say this. I now know with absolute assurance that this is the life I want. It's like I'm living in a dream and I'm so scared that at any moment I may... UGHCACGUGALL...URL Hey this isn't my spoon! What is this? Is that... is that mulch? Disgusting!

All right, whoever can be the first that can correctly give me the total number of exclamation points used in this post will win 5 signed bookmarks, a handful of marbles, and 5 color changing pencils. An unbelievable prize! Let the games begin!!!

Survived week 1... Bring on week 2!

Wow, this week was brutal... it was awesome, but brutal. I officially kicked off my school tour on Tuesday in Layton and now I'm sitting in a hotel in St. George gearing up for week 2. Here's a recap:

Monday - stayed late after work and went over my presentation in front of Sheralyn, Cedar Fort's Public Relations, in my office. That actually was probably the hardest part of the week. It's one thing to get up in front of hundreds of kids and try to make them laugh, it's another thing to stand up in front of one adult, worrying that my employees might be listening in, and give a presentation geared for kids only to not get the laughs I was hoping for. Butterflies in the stomach doesn't really do it justice. Let's just say it felt more like an angry baboon dancing around in there.

Tuesday - Layton - King and Mountain View Elementary - This was it. My first day on the tour. Luckily Sheralyn was there to help me set up, but I was so nervous. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the spotlight on me, and making people laugh is what makes me happy, but there's something about prepping for a presentation. Will my jokes be funny? Will they get my stories? Will I make any sense? Will they even raise their hands to answer questions and participate? All of these questions were swimming around in my head. I must've recited my speech at least a dozen times from Monday night to noon on Tuesday.

The first school went great. I was a little rusty and unprepared, but I managed to eek through the whole thing without crying. I do think I might've made a teacher or two mad at me. One of the schools was so well-behaved until I came in and riled them up. They were screaming before I even started. I have to give a big thank you to Rachelle and the Layton B&N team for letting me hang out Tuesday night. Thanks guys! It was fun. Oh yeah, memorable character name created by one of the schools: Pinky Toad Johnson

Wednesday - Orem - Ivy Hall, Aspen and Bonneville Elementary - Things were starting to get a little easier except for the fact I was losing my voice, coming down with a cold and could no longer remember the proper dosage of Robitussin. Thank goodness for the Netty Pot. Yeah, it got a little gross in my bathroom sink the night before, but that precious pot saved my life! Sheralyn helped me out again and we found the first school without too much difficulty. It was a great assembly and the kids participated and I think they had fun. I had to make a few adjustments to my presentation, but I was starting to feel a little more confidence with presenting on the fly.

Alpine was awesome, except for the fact that it wasn't Alpine it was Aspen Elementary and I was completely lost by some mountain with only minutes to go before I was supposed to be presenting. Somehow we had printed up the wrong directions and I was wandering through lands unknown. Luckily, I got back on track and booked it to the school. The kids were already filing in and I had to act quick and get my gear set up. Aspen was an awesome school and the kids rocked! I did lose about a gallon of sweat and I smacked the back of my head on the inside of the van door. Oh well.

Last school was Bonneville Elementary... HUGE! I was all on my own for this one as Sheralyn had to head to another appointment. At least 700 kids were there in a giant assembly. A big thanks to Vice Principal Borens for helping me out. One valuable lesson learned: Never mention Hannah Montana to an assembly of more than 700 kids. No good will ever come of it. I lost all control for a good 5 minutes. At the time I could've passed out, but now looking back, that was really funny! So loud! So much screaming! So wanting to crawl under the overhead projector and die... :) I can't remember the names created on this day so if there is anyone out there that was in the audience during my assembly please tell me what they were. I've started writing them down, but over the first day or so, I just couldn't think of it.

Thursday - Orem/Provo - Cascade, Hillcrest, Wasatch and Cascade Elementary again - What a day! It was packed full of events and I was still under the weather. Plus, I was all on my own. No one to help set up... no one to guide me to the right school. I was nervous yet again, but the day went smooth... well, almost. Cascade Elementary was awesome! They had a great separate gymnasium for the assembly and we had kids from 1st-6th. Mrs. Haymond, the school's librarian had all of the contest forms ready to go and I only tripped on the microphone wire like 4 times. I loved that school!

Next it was on to Hillcrest Elementary. Mrs. Gardner the school librarian has one of the coolest libraries I have ever seen. It was set up and decorated with tons of Harry Potter stuff. Plus, this was the first school where a student introduced me. Tyler did an excellent job and we all had a ton of laughs and just an overall good time. I even got to sign my poster and saw that James Dashner had a signed poster on their walls as well. I'm moving up I tell you! Moving up!

Next stop Wasatch Elementary. I actually had someone waiting by my table to have me sign their copy of Hashbrown. Serena, thanks for making me feel like a million bucks! Mrs. Mac had that school pumped and afterwords I got to sign a lot of autographs on tiny slips of paper, forks and one kid actually wanted me to sign his quarter. I wasn't successful in doing so and I apologize. It was just too small of a surface.

I booked it out of Wasatch and headed back to Cascade. The PM students were equally as cool as the AM students and I had a lot of fun retelling my presentation to all of the teachers that heard it that morning. Sorry guys, I know I need some new material. :) I then headed over to Costco and sold all of their copies to unsuspecting shoppers that thought I was sampling french bread pizza. Next, I hit the Orem Barnes and Noble and hung out with Brandy. We're old friends from the days of Authorpalooza. I was worried no one would show, but I was pleasantly surprised. Tons of kids made it out to the book signing and I walked away with close to 100 entries into the Create-a-Character Contest. I've got my work cut out for me. Oh, on a side note, I dented my van's bumper and a rock flew off the back of a truck and completely cracked my windshield. It's official! I now owe more money than I'll ever make from this book. Oh well, I'm still growing. Memorable character name created by one of the schools: Stink Bomb Beetle

So there you have it! I was exhausted and I handed out too many bookmarks and pencils to count. I took a break on the weekend, hung out with some good friends and watched some movies and now I'm 6 hours away from home starting to feel those jittery feelings in my stomach again as I get ready for this week. I don't know what I'm so nervous about. It's only 15 schools, 4 book signings, thousands of kids and one well-used netty pot. Ah, the things I do for Hashbrown. I love that little guy!