• Writing for Children (Books and/or magazines)
• Marketing
• Setting Goals and Organizing
• Writing for the Religious Market
• Writing for Magazines
• Writing & Marketing Your Personal Experiences

School Visits:

What would a kid do if he or she were King or Queen of their school? What do kids think good leadership is all about? Justin Davies, protagonist in my upcoming middle-grade humor novel, CROWN ME! is about to find out as he and his queen, Andrea, create school chaos while competing to win Fifth Grade President.

If you would like to schedule me to come for a program or Young Author's Day event, in keeping with the idea of CROWN ME and elections, I would ask teachers to have their students write short speeches about "What I Would Do If I Were King or Queen of My School."

It is preferred that the essays/speeches could be sent to me a week ahead and I would choose a half-dozen for the students to read aloud. Then, as a mock election, the students could vote on the one they would want to be their King or Queen. That student would be crowned king/queen and be given a cardboard gold crown. I would also have give-aways for each student so that no one is left out.

Additionally, I can read a short funny scene from the book, talk about our upcoming election and how my character learns about true democratic leadership versus a monarchy leadership, and some fun facts about the medieval ages. (I even have an old chamber pot I can bring).

Lastly, I can read my very first story I wrote and won a contest in when I was in 2nd grade (The Giraphant) and talk about writing all my life, or how I got the idea for my book and researched information for it. If time permits, I could mention (and demonstrate) the different ways to write humor: Comparison, exaggeration, slapstick, silly names, etc.

Schools can order books from my publisher at a school discount. I will send pre-order forms that can be used to send home with students interested in purchasing CROWN ME or A GLORY OF UNICORNS, a wonderful anthology of short stories edited by author Bruce Coville, published by Scholastic Press. I have a story in the anthology titled, "The Healing Truth."

Fee's for Programs:

Your school will have a mock election and learn about the writing process. Contact me for fees details.

If you are more than 75 miles from Fort Worth, Texas, additional expenses (travel, lodging, meals) will apply. $700 + expenses per day for out of state visits.

Please contact me for special discounts.

Raves for Kathryn's School Programs

"Thank you Mrs. Lay. You had such a wonderful impact on the 5th grade students' lives. Thank you for taking the time to visit us. We hope you can come back again." C. Perry, Room Parent, Westlake Academy. November 2004.

"Mrs. Lay, I wanted to thank you for participating in the reading program at St. Maria Goretti School and talking about writing with the 5th graders. Both teachers raved about the presentation you delivered to their classes. They mentioned that you captured the attention of the students...all 50 of them! Maybe a few will follow a dream to write because of you." T. Campbell, St. Maria Goretti School, Arlington. November 2004

"Kathryn and Diane, thank you so much for visiting our school in Dallas! The program was a huge success - both the kids and the teachers really enjoyed it. We loved your visit to our school! You were personable and immediately endearing to the kids. They paid close attention to the programs and laughed while they learned. They were energized and eager to increase their reading and writing time." K. Frish, school visit planner, Prestonwood Elementary. January, 2005.

Some medieval fun websites:

The Medieval Ages for Kids: http://www.kathimitchell.com/middleages.htm
Medieval History for Kids: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/history/history.htm
Medieval Homework Help Resources: http://www.forrestps.act.edu.au/hwh_medieval.htm
K-12 Medieval Studies: http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/pedagogical/k12/k12.html

Some election fun for Kids:

Congress for Kids: http://www.congressforkids.net/Elections_index.htm
First Gov for Kids: http://www.kids.gov/
Kids Newsroom Presents Election 2000: http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/election/election.asp