I got a chance to speak to 100 grade 5 students at a school north of Toronto recently, and afterward they lined up for an autograph. Not only did it give me the boost I needed to get through this week’s -13C temperatures, but it was a chance to connect with each and every student.

While writing can be an all-too-solitary endeavour, these kinds of moments remind you that kids truly love books and writing. (I was presenting a writing workshop.)

Together, we looked at “plain-‘ol” sentences and, adverb by adjective, made them better–and stranger–and wackier. And then we looked at how a whole story could some out of some of those sentences. And new characters, as well.

Half-way through my talk, I asked them, “Who here has already pushed themselves creatively–more than they thought they could, because of what we’ve been discussing today?” Nearly every hand went enthusiastically up. Some waved, the student they were connected to bouncing in their seat to let me know.

Those are young people who are engaged, excited about writing and interested in looking at fun, new ways of approaching their writing. And I didn’t leave out the teachers. Because oh, I realized that I was whipping up their classes into a bit of a frenzy, which can be a bit of a handful for them. (If you know my presenting style, you’ll understand what I mean, here. We do tend to get a bit… loud.) At some point, I pointed out that the work we were doing in this presentation could be turned into a lesson plan. Teachers could, if they wished, get the students to “use” those new sentences to create short stories, plot outlines or create new characters. I hope they’ll get to use them that way, because I sure appreciated their involvement in the presentation and their help throughout, handing out supplies and helping me select students during the Q&A.

Oh, and the students taught me some things too. They taught me some slang–some of which my own son had to explain further to me. I promise not to use it, though! And we also shared a bonding moment over One Piece, an anime show I’ve been watching lately–and one most of them knew well.

Anyway, this is a gratitude post. I’m grateful to have an audience for the work I do and for my books. And I’m very grateful to be able to visit schools like the one I went to yesterday, with students, teachers and staff who care.

And I’m very grateful they want my autograph! LOL!