CELEBRATING LOCAL AUTHORS at the Mar Vista Library, Los Angeles, CA

Caroline Arnold and Susan Casey at the Mar Vista Library Local Author Celebration

Last Saturday, October 14th, I joined a dozen other authors at the Mar Vista Library in Los Angeles to celebrate the wealth of creative writers in our local community. (Although I don’t live in Mar Vista, I am only ten minutes away.) We sat with our books at tables in the library meeting room as people came by to chat and look at our books.

Eleanor "C-Pass" Jones and Gretchen Woelfle

Then. each of us had a turn to tell a little bit about ourselves and our lives as writers. We were a wonderfully diverse group ranging from children’s book authors, to comic book producers, to novelists, to poets, to biographers, cookbook and health writers, each with a fascinating and unique story to tell.

Verdel Flores, librarian, Mar Vista Public Library

I thank Verdel Flores, adult librarian at the Mar Vista Library for organizing this inaugural authors’ program. It was an honor and a pleasure to participate!

Authors at the celebration

Participating authors:
Adult books: Carol Davis, Melissa Guzzetta, Eleanor Jones, Lilly Padilla, Ramon Resa, M.D.
Young Adult books: Arthur J. Gonzalez, Jeremy Lasman
Children’s books: Caroline Arnold, Susan Casey, Aileen Leijten, Gretchen Woelfle
Publisher representatives: Monica Faulkner, Elyse Wietstock

UCLA Extension Writers' Program Celebrates 50 Years

Wearing the Writers' Program 50th anniversary T-shirt

The UCLA Writers' Program was established in 1966 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016. I began teaching in the program in 1982 and had many talented students in my classes over the years, many of them now publishing their own books. My career began by taking classes in the Writers' Program and then, a few years later, after I had become a published writer, I began teaching. At present I do not have any classes scheduled, but I am proud to be part of this highly successful program and thank Linda Venis, Director of the Department of the Arts and Program Director of the Writers' Program for her superb leadership and friendship through the years and her devoted staff who make everything run smoothly. Congratulations on 50 terrific years!

Visit to LA’S BEST YOUNG AUTHORS at Ann Street School, Los Angeles

Welcome sign made by students at Ann Street School

Two days ago I had a wonderful visit with a group of  third grade students at Ann Street School in Los Angeles who are participating in the LA’s Best Young Authors Program.  In preparation, they had made a colorful welcome sign for me, read some of my books (from copies checked out from the library), and made a lovely thank you card with a picture of a zebra on the African plain (inspired by my book A Zebra’s World.)

Books created by students at Ann Street School

During our hour together I showed my slides, answered questions, and shared my books. The students then shared their books with me. Each student chose a favorite page for me to read. I was impressed by the good writing and creative art!  Then, while I read the first chapter of my book Wiggle and Waggle, the students colored their own Wiggle and Waggle pictures.  It was a fun visit with a very enthusiastic group of young writers!

Writers and Dinosaurs

Caroline with Skeleton of a Giant Sea Reptile (Los Angeles County Natural History Museum)

Fellow blogger and children’s book writer Greg Leitich Smith has launched a feature on his blog showing photographs of  children’s book authors with dinosaurs.  Well, obviously not with REAL dinosaurs, but with skeletons or other representations of the giant, extinct reptiles.  Last week he put up a post of me with skeletons of two of my favorite extinct reptiles, a mosasaur, a type of  giant sea reptile, and a pteranodon, a giant flying reptile. I am comparing my wingspan with that of the pteranodon, whose wings stretched nearly 20 feet from tip to tip!  While these creatures are not dinosaurs, they are both giant reptiles that lived in the Dinosaur Age.  You can read about them in my books Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age and Pterosaurs, Rulers of the Skies in the Dinosaur Age.  (And, just in case you are having trouble pronouncing the word “pterosaurs”,  remember that the “p” is silent so the word is pronounced as if it begins with “t”.  Pterosaurs were not birds and did not have feathers.  Their wings were made of thin skin.)