SAY YES

What's it like to be part of a military family?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:13:35 -0400

Good thing I washed my face and drank my coffee---because they videoed my talk at the Arlington Public Library! There's also a nice write-up on the TATAL (Teens at the Arlington Library) blog.

Here are some quick shots of my visit.

I began with a story---what happened when my daughter received a folded note from her school counselor on the morning of Sept 11.

Then we shared our stories about military life. What’s great about it? What’s hard?

So many students knew someone in the military.

Quoting Miss Loupe's rule about not passing out before we start improvising jody calls.

The audience enthusiastically counted out my "ten.”

Talking about ways to say yes and how to give back to veterans and military families. Later, at the book signing, a reader told me her favorite chapter in Operation Yes was the one called "Do Something."

I asked why.

"Because that's my motto, too," she said.

Yes. Perfect

Little Green Army Men Invade the ALA Conference

Sun, 4 Jul 2010 18:02:25 -0400

What should you bring to a book signing?

Why, little green army men, of course! People will stop and talk to you, and take great care in picking out just which soldier to take home with them. Are you a binocular guy fan? (I love him because he’s on the cover of Operation Yes.) Or do you prefer walkie-talkie man or the bazooka wielder or Mr. “I Have a Grenade and Know How to Use It”? Or maybe you’re more interested in the quiet drama of the army man who is crawling through the field, staying low and out of sight, or the mine sweeper, doing his lonely, hair-raising job?

Whichever LGM you’re a fan of, I hope you’ll send me pictures of wherever they’re on duty in your life. And that you’ll remember our real life troops this Independence Day.

Happy Fourth of July!

Gaithersburg Book Festival

Sun, 16 May 2010 09:05:51 -0400

On Saturday, I finally got to meet the author of the other book with the initials OY. See that photo above? Operation Yes and Origami Yoda look great together, don’t they? Tom taught me how to make an origami Yoda finger puppet and I gave him a LGM (little green army man.)

I got a (temporary) tattoo for the occasion:

Skype with me

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:57:25 -0400

I’ve joined the Skype An Author network! If you’d like your students to video chat with me, check out my new Skype page. There are two types of Skype visits available. One is a 10-15 minute FREE visit, available to those classes or book clubs who’ve read at least one of my books. The other is a more in-depth talk, “Say Yes to Writing,” which is about 45-50 minutes with time for questions.

Talks available for upper elementary schools, middle schools, library book clubs, military base schools or libraries.

Read about my recent Skype visit to Twin Ridge Elementary here.

Listen Up! Operation Yes Wins a 2010 Audie

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 12:12:05 -0500

The AUDIEs: Awards recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (APA). A full list of nominees is here, and the winners will be announced at the Audies Gala on May 25, 2010, at The Museum of the City of New York in New York City
UPDATE! Operation yes won the AUDIE! Congrats to Narrator JEssica ALmsay and the entire Audible.com Team. Thank you for bringing Operation Yes “on Stage” in your production.

Book Signing Photos

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:13:20 -0500

Teacher's Guide (Miss Loupe Approved)

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:33:57 -0400

Do Something

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 12:42:04 -0400

@TAPS4America: Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. -Lin Yutang

I think that's my new favorite quote. And it reminded me that I wanted to tell you about Paul McCollom. Or rather, to let Paul tell you about himself. To tell you why he and many, many others are walking/running/striving to make one particular road come into existence: the road to recovery for wounded warriors and their families.

As he says:

“I will be 61 this year but on October 25th I will be in Washington DC again running (mostly) 26.2 miles in the Marine Corps Marathon for Fisher House and military families. I am driven by the young men and women serving today; they are my brothers and sisters and my sons and daughters and I have an obligation to support them as long as I can put one foot in front of the other."

I supported Paul last year in his quest, and blogged about it in this post: Paychecks and Great Battles. I'm doing it again this year. He's the real deal.

For more about Paul and his support of Fisher House, see here. To donate to Paul’s epic run, go here.