Happy Spring! Warmer weather brought renewed energies and the first draft of PEANUT BUTTER FOR CUPCAKES is nearing completion. Still lots of editing and proofing to be done, not to mention cover design and layout but a good first step none the less!
I recently received word that my application to participate in this year's MUSHROOM FESTIVAL in Kennett Square has been accepted so you will find me the weekend of September 8th manning a booth - along with four other independent authors - on the streets of Kennett. This is a huge event, attracting more than 100,000 people over the course of the two days and should be lots of fun!
On April 13th at 2:00 pm, I will be speaking at the newly renovated Hockessin Library as the first speaker in their month long series on MEMOIRS. This is open to the public however registration is required.
The following Saturday, April 19th, I will be selling and signing books at the READING WONDERLAND FESTIVAL held at the Pike Creek Christian School on Polly Drummund Hill Road in Newark, DE. This event will include ten authors, the most famous of which is Herman Parrish, the author of the AMELIA BEDELIA series. Each author will have their own booth and do a ten minute reading/presentation during the course of the day.
On Sunday May 4th I will be traveling to Monmouth CO. NJ to the speak at the county's Genealogical Society on the Orphan Train Movement.
On a more personal note, son #1 has accepted a teaching position in Memphis, TN so we will be spending our summer vacation along the Mississippi 
Enjoy your day!
Donna Aviles
My visits to Wilmington Friends School and the Delaware Genealogical society were quite successful. Amazingly, one of the teachers at the school was the great great grandson of Governor Brady of Alaska who was an orphan train rider! Very cool. This Saturday, March 1st, I will be at the Delaware Women's Conference in Author's Row selling and signing books along with two other authors. I am looking forward to listening to and meeting the keynote speaker, Marianne Pearl author of A Mighty Heart. On Monday, the 3rd of March I will be traveling with author Dianne Salerni (High Spirits) to the Penn Delco School District to participate in that district's reading event.
The Hockessin Library has invited me to speak on April 13th where I will also have a book signing/sale. This will be one of the first events in the newly renovated library that will be opening on April 5th. I suspect that I have Barbara Miller to thank for that invite!
-Donna Nordmark Aviles
I have been invited to two more schools - Avon Grove Charter School in West Grove, Pa on January 30th and Wilmington Friends School on February 13th. At both schools I will be speaking to the 4th graders. I have also been invited to speak at the Monmouth Co. Genealogical Society in Asbury Park, NJ on May 4th - a great way to celebrate my 50th birthday!
The third, and final book in this series - with the original working title of 'Oliver's Children' - is approximately half way finished with the new title of "Peanut Butter for Cupcakes, A True Story From the Great Depression'. Where did that title come from, you might ask? You'll know by the time you're finished reading the book!
Drucilla Nordmark, my sister-in-law, is working on recording the first two books for an audiobook version of the stories. She is trained in voice over work and has access to studios for recording. I'll keep you posted on availability.
And finally, no updates at this point from Bill Rotko, the screenwriter who has optioned the books for a possible movie. With the Hollywood writers strike till going on, I don't suppose there's much he can legally do. Hopefully that can all be resolved soon!
---Donna Nordmark Aviles
December has been a very busy month! As Chairperson (for the 9th year now) of the Jesse Tree Project at St. Catherine of Siena here in Wilmington, we provided Christmas gifts and food to 19 families - the last gifts were delivered today, Christmas Eve!
During the month, both the Centreville School and Delcastle High School ordered additional copies of the books, and I had three presentations to the 7th graders at Brandywine Springs Elem. School. The topic of these presentations was Oral Histories and Personal Narratives. Many students bought copies of the books as did some of the staff. Many thanks to teacher Jean Hall for the invite and delicious lunch!
In January, I will be presenting to the 4th grade students at Avon Grove Charter School in Avon Grove, PA. In February I will be at the Woodlawn Library in Wilmington speaking to the Delaware Genealogy Club on the History of the Orphan Trains, as well as how to research a rider. This event is open to the public and will be on the 19th at 7:00 pm. March 1st is the Delaware Women's Conference where I will have a table of books for sale and signing, and on April 19th I will be at the Pike Creek Christian School for their Book Fair. I will post additional events as they are scheduled.
The 3rd book in this series, OLIVER'S CHILDREN, is underway. I am on the 4th chapter, although I did not have much time to write during December. January and February will find me hard at work with researching and writing! Many thanks to my father Benjamin and his brothers Jim and Oliver for their contributions to this effort.
BEST WISHES FOR ALL GOOD THINGS IN THE NEW YEAR!
I had three very successful and fun speaking engagements in November that kept me busy. On the 9th I spoke to the West Grove RAP GROUP (Retired Active People). I was treated to a nice lunch, then gave a presentation to about 80 people, followed by a book signing. Many thanks to Peg Cook for inviting me to speak with such a wonderful group of people!
On November 20th I spent the morning at the Centreville School in Centreville, DE. Marcia Szelewski, the school librarian had read the article in the News Journal and invited me to come and speak to both the middle school and upper school students. She did a VERY successful presale of the books and read most of the first book during library with the students. They were so attentive and had so many wonderful questions - I could have stayed all day! Coincidently, one of the teachers I met turned out to be the cousin of Bill Rotko! (the screenwriter who has optioned my books) SMALL WORLD! Thank you Marcia, and all the Centreville School family for such a warm welcome!
This past Tuesday, November 27th, I visited the life skills class at DELCASTLE HIGH SCHOOL here in Delaware. This was an amazing group of students! They have been reading FLY LITTLE BIRD, FLY! in class, going over each chapter carefully to make sure everyone fully understands what is going on in the story. They really enjoyed hearing Oliver speak on the tapes about what it was like to ride the orphan train. A second portion of the tape that I played for them was Oliver telling what it was like when he was sleeping in the Sod House and the rats dug through the walls and were crawling on his bed! The teacher, Mrs. Lehm, will be using BEYOND THE ORPHAN TRAIN in the class after Christmas and lots of the students purchased the second book for themselves. It was a great day in a very welcoming classroom! Thanks so much to teacher Kathy Lehm for having me come in!
On Tuesday October 23rd I did a presentation and book signing at the Hockessin Community Club. It was a lot of fun and all in attendence were genuinely interested in learning about the Orphan Train Movement. I met some wonderful ladies with incredible stories of their own!
Here is a Thank You note that I received:
Dear Donna,
The program and you were very much enjoyed by the Hockessin Community Club ladies. You and your presentation were so personable and your tapes and displays professionally done as well. We appreciate you taking time to be with us and that we could purchase the books and have your autograph. We wish you continued success and your atitude is beautiful....so let it happen....Keep Flying!
Your friends, Barbara Miller & the Hockessin Community Club
The book signing at BOOKS AND BEYOND CAFE in Hockessin last Saturday (Oct. 6th) was very successful. It was a little difficult to get publicity for the event but at the last minute, the Hockessin News published a nice article detailing the books from each of the three authors. I was able to meet, in person, Dianne Salerni and Doreen Meredith. Dianne and I had spoken back and forth via email so I felt as if I already knew her but it was great to put a face to a name. Doreen is a teacher at nearby Pike Creek Christian and was gracious enough to invite me to another booksigning event in April that will feature the author of the Amelia Bedelia series for children. I'll post more info as the date gets closer.
Many thanks to Patty Richardson, owner of Books and Beyond, for hosting the event. Hopefully lots of people who came will continue to be customers of the store!
I have been invited to give a presentation and book signing at the Hockessin Community Club on Tues. Oct. 23rd at 9:30am at the old Lamborn Library located at the corner of Old Lancaster Pike and Valley Road. Many thanks to Barbara Miller for the invite!
ALSO.....on March 1, 2008 I have been invited to join other authors at the Delaware Women's Conference at the University of Delaware for a book sale/signing. Sounds like fun! My thanks to authors Nancy Zipe and Lee Anderson for sharing my name with the event organizers
Today the Wilmington News Journal did a great article on my books that you can read on the link below. Once on the site, you can also click on the video link and see a video of me reading from Fly Little Bird, Fly! The article has generated a lot of sales and interest in the Orphan Train Movement.
The quotes from the screenwriter, Bill Rotko, were especially exciting - he has a great take on how best to take the story from book form to the big screen. Lets pray he's successful and the 200,000 children who rode the Orphan Trains can reclaim their place in our history books....no pressure there, Bill!
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/LIFE/708270314/1005/LIFE
Also of local interest, check out www.highspiritsbook.com - another GREAT Historical read by local author Dianne Salerni. We will be doing a book signing together this fall. I'll keep you posted on date and time!
On April 26th the Kennett Paper (Kennett Square, PA) published a wonderful article by reporter Pru Osborne about my books. Here is the link: www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18263605&;
The following Monday, April 30th, I received a phone call from a screenwriter in Los Angeles, Bill Rotko, (BREACH, Universal Pictures) expressing interest in purchasing the screen rights to the stories. After getting over my initial disbelief, he went on to say that his father had read the article and sent him a copy, encouraging him to buy the rights to the books. He hadn't read the books yet but they were on order from Amazon and he would call me back after he had read them.
After a week went by and I didn't hear from him, I figured he had decided to pass. Oh well, I thought, it was fun getting the call! Then much to my surprise, he phoned again, said he and his writing partner had read the books, loved the story and wanted to negotiate a contract for the screen rights.
To make a 3 1/2 month long story short, the screen rights have been negotiated, the contract has been signed, now all fingers are crossed that he writes a terrific screenplay that the studios just cannot pass up!
-Donna Nordmark Aviles
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