Getting your Novels more exposure and giving something back to the community…

Recently, I was asked by an English teacher (who read two of my novels) if I’d be interested in speaking to her class about the fundamentals of writing. At first, I was a bit apprehensive. Though I’m very comfortable penning my thoughts into a novel—speaking to a classroom of students on how it all—comes together is entirely different.  

Loving a challenge, I accepted her invite. First, I did my homework on what Tasha wanted me to present. Most of what her high-school students were learning revolved around sentence structure, fore-shadowing, and understanding character(s) in a specific event or setting and the main theme of the story.

First, I spoke with a few of my friends who majored in English, and took lots of notes. Once comfortable I understood what Tasha was looking for I began working on my project.

I decided to do a power-point presentation taking paragraphs from my four novels in print. The key was to cover all the topics her class discussed, my goal being to help them understand and increase their knowledge.  

I started off with an introduction page about me, and then moved on to my novels in print. Setting the tone this would be an interactive presentation. Once the students felt comfortable many volunteered to read sections of my work aloud then we had an open forum style discussion. And I must say it was quite rewarding.

Those of us who write ‘and it comes naturally’ are truly gifted. Many of us novelists grew up in a generation embracing reading is knowledge, relaxing and enjoyable. Unfortunately, though it’s a wonderful thing, the age of computers has left little time to browse through the shelves and pick out a good book.  

After speaking to three classes full of students with entirely different personalities, my praises go out to Tasha. For she has an awesome group of students who made me feel quite welcome. When the day ended, I believe I accomplished my goal—inspiring her students to take time out of their busy schedule and read a good novel... or think about doing so…

D.A. Berry

My Website: www.daberryauthor.com
My E-Mail: daberryauthor@msn.com 

This post is dedicated to my sweet girl Akela…

In loving memory of my special Rottweiler who passed away on 2/21/2013