It appears I have a new authorly addiction: Skyping with students. In the last month or so, I’ve been lucky enough to have a Skype author visit with students almost every Friday. Forget chicken soup for the writer’s soul–these chats are RED BULL for this writer’s soul!

A month ago, I talked with students at Yes! Prep Gulfton (in Houston) which is in the same neighborhood as Chavez High School, where I taught six years ago. In the past two weeks, I’ve made new friends through chats with book clubs in Georgia and Kentucky, both of which were reading What Can’t Wait because it was one of the recommended books on their state’s reading lists. (Yay for the awesome librarians who made this happen!)

I do charge for the Skype chats (we have to pay for Liam’s daycare somehow), but I am pretty sure I enjoy the experiences at least as much as the students do. They remind me that there are real students out there (some of whom rarely finish a book) who are benefiting from my labors. And their stories and questions send me back to my work revising novel #3 with a sense of urgency, excitement, and energy.

The only downside of Skype is that I haven’t mastered the virtual hug. But otherwise–amazing.