I spent the day with over 400 students, teachers, administrators, and parents at the Young Authors and Readers Conference held by the Bridgeport Public Schools in conjunction with the University of Bridgeport.

The 400 students had been selected as winners of the annual book-writing contest. Over 4,000 students had entered the contest. I had a chance to read some of the books: novels, collections of poems, nonfiction, autobiography. All of the student authors are to be congratulated for their outstanding work.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the winners in Grades 4-6. I talked about my own (sometimes frustrating) experiences as a young writer, the importance of perseverance (at all costs),  and offered some advice to young writers (Number 1: Read as much as you can--because then you can see how other writers write).

Thanks to everyone for a great day!