I've mentioned many times that one of my favorite parts of author life is connecting directly with young readers.
I love all kinds of author visits: in person, one-on-one virtual visits, and also special occasions such as World Read Aloud Day, aka, WRAD. Sometimes schools and classrooms aren't able to host me for an in-person or virtual visit (or students are absent for scheduled author events), and for these folks, I offer a Self-Guided Virtual Author Visit (aka, DIY Virtual-Virtual Author Visit), using a comprehensive collection of free remote resources that I've compiled. here . It's not quite the same as a personalized virtual visit (or an in-person visit), but these resources do allow young readers to connect with an author in some fashion.
And...one of the most fantastic things about connecting with young readers is sometimes they send written notes, and sometimes they ask more questions in those notes.
 | |
|
Whenever students write to me after an author visit, I do my best to write back to them, and DIY visits are no exception. Here is the letter I recently wrote to the students in Mrs. Fallon's class that had to miss out on their originally planned WRAD visit:
*****
May 13, 2025
Dear Mrs. Fallon’s Class,
Thank you for reading my book, LUCY’S BLOOMS, and for taking the time to write to me to share your comments and questions. My responses are below:
1. Abigail said my story reminded her of summer and spring! That’s exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote it!
2. Claire mentioned that her grandma and grandpa on her mom’s side have a gigantic garden! My grandma on my mom’s side had a very small garden, but I very much enjoyed the flowers she planted in that garden when I was a young child.
3. Natasha encouraged me to make a new book, and I’m currently doing just that! My next book is called MAMA’S HOME!, and it will be available next year!
4. Alex X. encouraged me to keep writing books. I will do that for sure! (I hope you will, too!)
5. Nguyen mentioned liking the title of the book. I’m so glad to hear that. I like the title, too. Here’s something most people don’t know: The title for my first draft of this book was, BEST BLOOM WINS (I like that title, too, but I prefer the title, LUCY’S BLOOMS).
6. Clara pointed out that weeds can become beautiful dandelions. Lucy and I agree completely!
7. Teddy shared that the story shows how much you can love a plant, no matter what the plant is. I’m so glad that message came through for you. I also think the same is true for people!
8. Jackson said that he liked that Lucy worked so hard. I like that about Lucy, too!
9. Owen suggested I should write a story that goes even further, where Lucy finds a flower that harms the weeds, so she has to choose to give up the weeds or give up the flowers. That is quite an idea. I think you should write that story! When you create new stories that incorporate characters and/or expand on plots from other book(s) that you like, you are writing something that is called fan fiction. Lucy and her blooms would LOVE to be the subject of some fan fiction!
10. Sareena asked if I like HELLO KITTY books. I do! (And, I’m actually working on a new book of my own with a cat character named Kitty – not Hello, Kitty, just Kitty ;)
11. Oliver said I was a good writer. Thank you very much! Here is a tip: The easiest way to become a strong writer is to read and read and read some more! Of course, you have to practice writing, too, but reading is the best way I know of to become a better writer!
12. Angel asked about my favorite thing to do. I have many favorite things that I like to do! I love to read (and write!), and I also enjoy bicycle riding, hiking, paddle boarding, gardening, laughing, teaching, and traveling!
13. Krishan (and someone else who didn’t sign their name!) said they thought LUCY’S BLOOMS was amazing. Thank you both very much!
14. Lexi, Calvin, Charlotte, and Miles thanked me for the story. You are all very welcome. Thank you for reading it and for writing back to me!
15. Lulia said she would like to know more about me. Here are some fun facts about me:
Favorite Author as a Child: Judy Blume Now: Anne Lamott
Favorite Animal as a Child: Horses Now: Cats
Favorite Music as a Child: The Beatles Now: Paula Cole
Most Amazing Places I’ve Visited: Greece and the Netherlands
Can’t Wait to Visit: Thailand
And here are the answers to some questions I am asked frequently:
What got me interested in making books?
I first started writing books with a goal of becoming a published author because I wanted to share my love of American Sign Language with more people than I could directly teach in the sign language workshops I taught for young families. Eventually I branched out into writing other types of books for young readers. Here is a blog post where I talk about my path to publication for my very first books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series: https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2012/02/my-path-to-publication.html
And here is a blog post where I talk about my inspiration for Lucy’s Blooms:
https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2021/04/the-inspiration-part-of-writing-life.html
Why do I like making books?
I love making books, and I love being an author. I think it’s one of the best jobs in the world. One reason is I like words. They are powerful. They get things done. They help people understand one another. Words give people a voice. I like when my voice is heard. I have written an entire blog post with some of the other reasons I like to write. You can find it here: https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2012/04/why-do-i-like-to-write.html
I will also say that I love reading books, I have written a couple of blog posts about why I like reading. You can read those here: https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2018/09/the-reading-part-of-writing-life.html
and here: https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2019/03/the-reading-part-of-writing-life-part-2.html
I also credit my fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Snook, for inspiring my love of reading, which greatly contributed to my love of writing. (And as I already mentioned above, in my experience, reading books is one of the easiest ways to become a better writer!)
A couple of years ago I was honored with a literary award and mentioned Mr. Snook in my award acceptance speech. You can read all about that (and also find link to a video of my acceptance speech) here:
https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2023/04/the-literary-legacy-part-of-writing-life.html
How old was I when I wrote my first book?
The first book I ever made was a poetry book that I hand-wrote as a Mother’s Day gift for my mom back when I was in middle school.
The first book I had published, See the Colors, came out in 2009. (I’m currently 57, so you can do the math to find out how old I was when that book was published!) The most recent book I’ve had published was Lucy’s Blooms, which came out in 2021. I also had two humorous books that were published in 2019: Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? and Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?
 |
| Image of author Dawn Babb Prochovnic holding her three most recent books. |
How many books have I written?
I have written 20 stories that have been published into books. You can learn about all of my different books here: https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/p/blog-page.html
You should be able to find all (or most) of my books in your local library. Here is a link to help: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=dawn+prochovnic&offset=1 . If you can’t find my books in your library, you can find videos of me reading them (and songs to go along with my most recent books, including Lucy’s Blooms) on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/dprochovnic/featured
Thank you again for reading LUCY’S BLOOMS and for writing to me. If you’d like to read more about my life as a writer, you can visit this section of my blog where I talk about my writing life:
http://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2018/04/the-writing-life-summary-post.html
Write On!
Sincerely,
Dawn Babb Prochovnic
*****
Please get in touch if you'd like to schedule your own personalized in-person or virtual author visit, or please feel encouraged to utilize the comprehensive collection of free remote resources for Self-Guided Virtual Author Visits that I've compiled here: https://www.dawnprochovnic.com/2025/02/the-wrad-part-of-writing-life-2025.html . (And you do utilize the DIY Author Visit materials, I'd love to hear from you and your students, and I'll do my very best to write you back!)
Write On!
