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Email:
donnadriver68@gmail.com
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Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
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Email:
donnadriver68@gmail.com
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For Teachers and Librarians! My School Presentations! |
I do presentations for several of my novels. I am happy to adapt for large groups, individual classrooms, or small book clubs. My rates are negotiable. I do charge additional travel fees if I need to go more than 50 miles from my home near Nashville.
Speaking at W. A. Wright Elementary School.
I am available to speak at elementary and middle schools about my middle grade novel No One Needed to Know. This book is about a girl dealing with the pressures and responsibilities that come with having an older autistic brother. It is based loosely on my personal experience growing up with an older Autistic brother.
My presentation includes:
I did a 30 minute podcast version of this presentation for Tennessee Library for Accessible Books and Media. Click on this link to listen.
"I felt really good about the entire presentation and the way the kids behaved," Librarian at Stoner Creek Elementary School.
My presentation includes:
- Sharing some of my memories as an autism sibling and teacher of special needs students and how that inspired the writing of this novel.
- A quick overview of autism
- A discussion about bullying with an emphasis on being kind to people with special needs
- Taking a pledge to not be a bully.
I did a 30 minute podcast version of this presentation for Tennessee Library for Accessible Books and Media. Click on this link to listen.
"I felt really good about the entire presentation and the way the kids behaved," Librarian at Stoner Creek Elementary School.
Speaking at West Wilson Middle School in Tennessee
From concept to publication, it took 13 years to make Cry of the Sea the story I wanted it to be. My presentation for schools, libraries, and special events is about the process of revision. Sometimes the first version of a story, poem, song, drawing, etc. isn't the best it could be. Sometimes it takes stepping away for a while and looking at it with fresh eyes. Sometimes it takes several times to get it right.
I tell the story of how I came up with the idea for this novel about a teen environmental activist who discovers real mermaids and the process I went through to write it and revise it until it was of publishable quality. It is an educational and motivational presentation perfect for students 6th-12th grade or any creative people!
In addition to speaking about writing and revision, I have an alternate presentation available about the environmental themes in this award-winning series. I will be happy to speak to classes about the effects of ocean pollution, oil spills, and logging.
I tell the story of how I came up with the idea for this novel about a teen environmental activist who discovers real mermaids and the process I went through to write it and revise it until it was of publishable quality. It is an educational and motivational presentation perfect for students 6th-12th grade or any creative people!
In addition to speaking about writing and revision, I have an alternate presentation available about the environmental themes in this award-winning series. I will be happy to speak to classes about the effects of ocean pollution, oil spills, and logging.
Lost on the Water - A Ghost Story is a spooky contemporary adventure story perfect for middle school and younger high school readers. It's the story of a girl visiting her grandmother in rural Tennessee who sneaks out in a rickety old rowboat to catch up to a group of boys camping overnight on an island in the lake. Only, the boat just might be haunted.
The writing of this book got a little lost, too, as I went through many rewrites to find the right setting and traits of the main characters to tell the story effectively. I do a presentation about choosing setting and characters and why they make a difference. This is an especially fun book and presentation for schools in middle Tennessee, as this book is set at Center Hill Lake, TN.
The writing of this book got a little lost, too, as I went through many rewrites to find the right setting and traits of the main characters to tell the story effectively. I do a presentation about choosing setting and characters and why they make a difference. This is an especially fun book and presentation for schools in middle Tennessee, as this book is set at Center Hill Lake, TN.
I have been a speaker or panelist at many schools, libraries, and special events. Some of my favorites include: Middle TN Youth Writing Workshop (at MTSU), Alabama School Library Association conference, Tennessee Association of School Librarians, Wizard World Comic Con Nashville, Southern Kentucky Festival of Books, LibertyCon, Chattacon, and Hypericon. I would love to speak at your special event, so please contact me at donnadriver68@gmail.com.
What am I working on right now? (as of March 30, 2020)
I write this as we are in the middle of the COVID 19 crisis. I'm currently going on my third week of staying home from work. I'd like to say I've been super industrious as a writer during this time, but I haven't been writing nonstop. (In my defense, I do have some online training and work to do for my actual job that takes a portion of my day.) I have made some progress on my writing for the first time since November, though, and I plan to keep trying to get out at least 1,000 words a day until we go back to work.
What's the book I've been working on? It's a departure from my usual YA/MG work. I'm calling it Attitude of Grace. It's my first full-length attempt at "women's fiction" featuring a protagonist that is a fifty-year-old ballet dancer. I stopped writing last November when I got busy with theater commitments. I starred in a show in December and directed one through February. I'm supposed to be rehearsing Mamma Mia right now, but it's postponed until further notice. So... I opened up my unfinished book, read the 40,000 words I'd written so far and then jumped back in. I'm feeling good about it and hoping the inspiration will help me finish it.
In addition to this, I have a friend helping revise a middle grade fantasy novel of mine, and I am waiting eagerly to see the illustrations for my upcoming picture book Matching Costumes. It's my understand it will be published by Huskies Publishing this fall. I cleaned up a feel-good short story called "The World in a Day" last week, and you can read it for free on my blog. www.dgdriver.com/write-and-rewrite-blog/the-world-in-a-day-a-free-short-story
And here's another story called "Candid Moments" that I posted a few months back. http://www.dgdriver.com/write-and-rewrite-blog/candid-moments-a-short-story-by-d-g-driver
To keep up with my progress, please follow me at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/donnagdriver/
As always, I post cool mermaid and fantasy pictures regularly on my Instagram account along with other silly stuff. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter to participate or enjoy the posts.
I write this as we are in the middle of the COVID 19 crisis. I'm currently going on my third week of staying home from work. I'd like to say I've been super industrious as a writer during this time, but I haven't been writing nonstop. (In my defense, I do have some online training and work to do for my actual job that takes a portion of my day.) I have made some progress on my writing for the first time since November, though, and I plan to keep trying to get out at least 1,000 words a day until we go back to work.
What's the book I've been working on? It's a departure from my usual YA/MG work. I'm calling it Attitude of Grace. It's my first full-length attempt at "women's fiction" featuring a protagonist that is a fifty-year-old ballet dancer. I stopped writing last November when I got busy with theater commitments. I starred in a show in December and directed one through February. I'm supposed to be rehearsing Mamma Mia right now, but it's postponed until further notice. So... I opened up my unfinished book, read the 40,000 words I'd written so far and then jumped back in. I'm feeling good about it and hoping the inspiration will help me finish it.
In addition to this, I have a friend helping revise a middle grade fantasy novel of mine, and I am waiting eagerly to see the illustrations for my upcoming picture book Matching Costumes. It's my understand it will be published by Huskies Publishing this fall. I cleaned up a feel-good short story called "The World in a Day" last week, and you can read it for free on my blog. www.dgdriver.com/write-and-rewrite-blog/the-world-in-a-day-a-free-short-story
And here's another story called "Candid Moments" that I posted a few months back. http://www.dgdriver.com/write-and-rewrite-blog/candid-moments-a-short-story-by-d-g-driver
To keep up with my progress, please follow me at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/donnagdriver/
As always, I post cool mermaid and fantasy pictures regularly on my Instagram account along with other silly stuff. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter to participate or enjoy the posts.