Neal Shusterman was at the school I work at today for an author visit, including presentation, lunch with students, and a writing workshop. He is such an awesome author presenter; I've seen different authors present to students and I must say that he was one of the best. He opened right up for question because he wanted to talk about what the students wanted and not just give a presentation. His answers were honest, witty, and passionate. I think he inspired some kids to read and write, which is always good. One point I particularly liked was how much he stressed how many drafts he completes; he stated many times that it takes him 6 months and a year to finish a book and 6 drafts before he's even ready to submit a first draft to a publisher. He also talked about how important feedback is on his books. He gives his drafts to people to read and comment on, but he doesn't want "I love your book!" to be the response, but rather he wants to know what he can fix. He said that on one of his books, the publisher sent it back with over 900 notes of things to fix. So often kids want to write one, maybe two, drafts and be done so I always think that hearing it from someone they admire and someone they see as being a "real autho
I would definitely recommend him.
I have not read any of his books at this point, but I'm pretty sure one of his will be my next read. Bruiser and Ever Lost seem like they would be the ones I would enjoy the most so we'll see. I've heard a lot of good things about Bruiser and I know that multiple books of his have been nominated for the Nutmeg Award.
I would definitely recommend him.
I have not read any of his books at this point, but I'm pretty sure one of his will be my next read. Bruiser and Ever Lost seem like they would be the ones I would enjoy the most so we'll see. I've heard a lot of good things about Bruiser and I know that multiple books of his have been nominated for the Nutmeg Award.