Radiation: Friend or Foe?

That’s the controversial question asked in the fall edition of Talking Story, an e-newsletter for educators. Talking story is published by authors Carol Baldwin and Joyce Moyer Hostetter. Most of their readers are teachers, media specialists, or homeschool parents.  They stuff every issue with links, books, learning activities, GIVEAWAYS, and people related to a particular theme. 

I’m radiating with happiness to announce that one of the people featured in their newsletter’s fall edition on radiation is Andrew Handley!  Andrew is the talented, young graphic designer who illustrated my children’s book, Nuclear Power: How A Nuclear Power Plant Really Works! 

According to Joyce, the goal of Talking Story is not to promote one opinion or another about radiation, but rather to encourage students to take a look at the use of radiation in medicine, energy production, warfare, etc.  They hope to stimulate students to thoughtfully consider the various ways radiation is used in our society and to connect them to literature and writing activities on the topic.

This is what I love about writers and authors like Joyce and Carol who are also educators.  Whether they agree with a topic or not, they understand the importance of allowing a child to learn about it. 

After all, one way to learn about, understand, and give an educated opinion on a topic is to study both sides of an issue, right? Who wouldn’t want a child to do that?

As I have discovered during my career as a children’s book author: Plenty of people!

So many that when Joyce contacted me regarding using the illustration featured in her newsletter, I ran a google search on both her and Carol before replying.

I wasn’t always so jaded, but then a children’s book about nuclear power plants wasn’t always so controversial.

In fact, when I first started marketing my book about nuclear power plants, its topic was perceived as so lackluster the book almost didn’t get published. Not even the nuclear industry, due in part to the United States post- Three Mile Island safety record, was all that thrilled about a children’s book about nuclear power plants.

Community relations and educational school programs on nuclear power plants like the one I had created and administered in the 1980’s were no longer deemed necessary. 

In the 80's our  school program was front page news.

This came as a surprise to me.  Elementary education was well funded back in the days I worked in the nuclear industry. We fielded requests not only from schools, but all types of civic groups who were interested in learning how the local nuclear plant worked.  

In 1983, that's me
 presenting to a class of sixth graders.

Back then nuclear power was a hot topic, (pun intended) but this didn’t make the information I was required to teach any less yawn-provoking.  The book I eventually wrote—and Andrew so brilliantly illustrated—is a creative spin on a brochure I used to hand out to my students. 

Nuclear Power: How a Nuclear Power Plant Really Works! is the type of book I had wished for back when I was doing my school programs about nuclear power plants.  I wanted to pique the interest of children who didn’t always grasp the technical, but responded to art or stories.  (Kids like me.)

One of the illustrations that sold me
on Andrew, but is not pictured in the book.

I had forgotten all about this book idea, until 2002 when my family moved from Minnesota to North Carolina where not too far from our home was a nuclear power plant.  While other children spent summers at the beach, mine got visits to the nuclear plant.  (This is where my children would insert what they call “my evil laugh.”)

The book had been work-in-progress for years by the time I hired Andrew to illustrate it, and started to seriously market it.  What most laypersons do not realize about publishing a book is that sales, marketing, industry reviews, and a host of other things begin years before the book is actually published.

It was during this time that I decided there just wasn’t enough interest in my book to justify publishing it.  I told my husband I was going to pay Andrew for his work, and just forget about it, until the “nuclear renaissance” that was often mentioned in the media actually happened.  Maybe then there would be more interest.

A young boy I spied reading my book,
while I was at the Dentist. 

The words were hardly out of my mouth when Japan was hit by a tsunami, and the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred. If ever there was a time children might need, and parents might want an explanation about how a nuclear power plant worked, I thought that might be it.

I soon discovered not everyone felt the way I did.  I can laugh about it now, but try to imagine spending years on a story you wrote for good intentions, and then being publicly bullied for it on social media.  Most of my critics had never even read the book. I know this because at the time they commented the book had not been released to the public yet.  The only way to obtain a copy was via its author …that would be me.

So when Joyce contacted me regarding permission to use one of Andrew’s illustrations from my book, and said their next issue was going to be titled Radiation: Friend or Foe?  I ran a quick “friend or foe” google search, and immediately (before they could change their mind) responded that I was more than grateful to her for addressing the topic without prejudice. Then I gave myself permission to glow… with happiness. 

Nuking the Easter Egg!

If you haven't planned your Easter egg hunt or purchased your Easter basket goodies yet, there's still time!

Nothing makes an Easter basket glow like a children's book about Nuclear Power! 

It goes without saying; Go Nuclear and Environmentalist for Nuclear did not bring me on board due to my engineering expertise, but rather as an advisor for public relations/marketing and education as it pertains to nuclear power.  The technicalities and politics of nuclear power can leave me feeling overwhelmed and under qualified, but I have noticed some people feel the same way about PR and marketing. 

At STPNG 1980's

Over the years I’ve implemented marketing events of all types and scope, in venues as diverse as the causes and organizations I represented.  One thing they all had in common was that they were an opportunity to educate and inform about my cause while providing my target audience with a good time.

Since Easter is approaching, I thought I would share one of my favorite, least expensive, and- because most Americans are familiar with the concept- easiest, marketing events to implement: the Easter Egg Hunt. 

It can be adapted for any age group, used to raise funds, or promote a cause; but there’s a big difference between holding an Easter egg hunt and nuking that Easter egg into a marketing event that promotes your objective! It calls for careful planning, hard work, and CREATIVITY!

Get ready to brainstorm; success hinges on your marketing pitch.  The marketing pitch is what can take an ordinary Easter egg Hunt and what in some circles is the yawn-provoking topic of nuclear power or any other yawn-provoking topic, and turn it into a Nuclear Powered Glow Party. 

When Nuclear Power:How a Nuclear Power Plant Really Works! was published my daughter, Tabitha came up with the bright idea (all my puns are intentional) of  making our annual neighborhood Easter party a glow-in-the-dark Easter Egg Hunt to celebrate my book’s release.

That year the Easter Bunny got his eggs from Nukie Nuclear Power Plant!

When we held our first nuclear powered Easter egg hunt we made our eggs glow using dollar store glow-in-the-dark wrist bands. They looked fantastic, but it is not always easy squeezing them into plastic Easter eggs. Recently I saw on Pinterest where someone used flameless battery operated tealights.  This may be a quicker alternative, but which ever method you use, make sure you test it out before the Easter egg hunt.

I know my colleagues in the nuclear industry are rolling their eyes at the cliche regarding  Easter eggs or anything else obtained at a nuclear power plant would glow in the dark. 

This observation and an invitation to attend a glow-in-the dark Easter egg hunt is just the sort of marketing pitch that can be used to shine some light on a topic like nuclear energy! 

Here’s ten ways to radiate a Nuclear Powered Easter Egg Hunt:

              

1.      Create your Pitch

The pitch, either written or verbal,  is the invitation/advertisement you use to capture your "target markets" attention to convince them that they want what you've got! Competition is fierce in today's social media savvy world. Your objective is to come up with an idea that will tie your event to your product or message in a creative way that gets noticed!


The moment  your pitch leaves your real or virtual mail box you are setting the mood for your event.



Here we took a  plastic hard hat resembling the ones worn at a nuclear power plant and turned it into an Easter Basket! My book's cover is adhered to the front, and I  included a character from the book!  You could easily insert your invitation into an egg. This would be a great way to invite a classroom or civic organization to your event.

I usually pitch the media via e-mail.  If possible I always include a visual with my pitch. You have about 15 seconds to grasp their attention!

To set the mood for our nuclear Easter egg event, I used an illustration from Nuclear Power: How a Nuclear Power Plant Really Works! and the following verse in my invitation:

This year the Easter Bunny had some help from:

A Pretty Blue Bird , a White Lab Rat, and Red-furred Cat

who got their Easter eggs from Nukie Nuclear Power Plant.

Nutcracker Publishing invites you to:  Hop on Over!

We are Cracking Open Easter eggs that Glow in the Dark.

Join us for a Nuclear Powered Easter Egg Hunt that Radiates Brilliance!

2.      Target your Market

What is it that you really want to do?

Educate your Community

Let people know your company/product exists

Raise Awareness

Raise Money

  

Who do you want to do it to?

Pro Nuke Colleagues

Anti-Nuke Neighbors

People on the Fence

Media…who will reach all of the above.

Parents at 1980 STPNG Easter hunt

Inviting children to your Easter Egg Hunt does not necessarily mean you’re targeting children.  One of the first things I observed while working in the nuclear industry is that parents would use their children as an excuse to educate themselves about nuclear energy.  The elementary school program I created was frequently requested and presented to community civic clubs.

An Easter Egg Hunt that begins after dark can easily be adapted into an adult party.

If your objective is to raise awareness go ahead and invite your anti- nuclear neighbor!  BUT if you are trying to raise money DO NOT invite or ask for a donation from anyone who does not support your cause! 

If you are targeting the local media, find out if they have children or grandchildren.  When you contact them with details about your event invite their children to participate in the egg hunt.

If you had to work weekends wouldn’t you appreciate an assignment where you could bring along the kids?

3.      Figure out your Budget

Only you know what you can afford, but the thing I love about an Easter Egg Hunt is it does not have to cost a fortune.  Plastic eggs along with glow-in-the-dark sticks can be obtained at the Dollar Stores.  You can ask volunteers or even the people you invite to bring cupcakes/cookies/plastic eggs etc. 

It’s been my experience that when you’re hosting a neighborhood or community event open to everyone that people are grateful that someone is doing all the planning and legwork.  They are happy to donate eggs YOU can stuff and hide.   

Seek out a sponsor who supports your cause and ask them for donations.  Easter supplies are not expensive, and it is easier to ask for and receive Easter eggs or bunnies than money. 

If asked, local businesses will often donate their products or service in exchange for advertising.  

Your goal is to be Memorable not Expensive.

4.      Recruit Volunteers

Talk to the local school/college/church.  In today’s competitive world I’ve found that high-school or college students are often happy to do a volunteer gig that earns them a letter of recommendation that can be listed on a college application or resume. Don't overlook younger children. They complain less than adults! As you can see from the photo above they enjoy helping. 

Make the big decisions BEFORE you recruit anyone to help you.

There will be plenty of opportunity for disagreements on the smaller decisions- like cupcake flavor.

The more planned out your event is before you recruit your volunteers the smoother it will go.  This will make your job look easy, fun, and glamorous to anyone on the outside, who is wondering how you managed to work yourself up to such an enviable position.   With luck, next year you will be able to congratulate them on their promotion as chairperson and let them head up your Easter Egg Hunt.

5.      Pick your Date/Time/Venue and  Pick your Rain Date/Time Venue

Notice I placed this after recruit. 

Easter often coincides with Spring Break so it’s a good idea to make sure the majority of your volunteers will be able to make the date/time/ venue of your event, and are not in a condo on the beach somewhere.

Once the arguing has subsided and your date, time and venue has been programmed into everyone’s smart phone, you need to come up with a rain date.  Perhaps it will make you feel better to know that despite always doing this, I have never had to use a rain date for an Easter event.

Snow is not a deterrent for a nuclear powered glow-in-the- dark Easter Egg Hunt!  It might even be an advantage.  You will not need to wait until dark to hide your Easter eggs!   If you do not bury them too deep, they will radiate that nuclear glow right through the snow.

6.      Props, Prizes, Food, Entertainment

Get ready to spend your budget money.  

Props

You will want as many plastic Easter eggs filled with glow in the dark items that you have the funds, time, and energy to stuff and hide.

Here is how we “nuked” our eggs.   We purchased glow-in-the dark bracelets, activated a bracelet and then inserted it into a plastic Easter egg.  I got eggs and glow sticks from the dollar stores.  Making the eggs glow was not expensive…

 OR EASY! 

The glow will not last forever, so we had to wait until just hours before our hunt to activate the bracelets and stuff our eggs.  Also the bracelets were a tight fit inside the egg.  So nuking (stuffing) our eggs took longer than expected.  So find the largest eggs and smallest glow item you can, and  check out the tealight alternative I mentioned earlier.

I have noticed that today you can purchase glow-in-the dark eggs, but I would advise doing some research and reading the reviews before you do. 

When it comes to decorative props I usually purchase items that will decorate my venue, but later I can hand out during and after as prizes.  Such as:  Easter baskets, large stuffed Easter bunnies, floral arrangements, decorative jars filled with jelly beans, even Easter flags.

Prizes

Whatever you purchase to decorate the premises with can usually be used as a prize that participants can win.  People love to win. Spread the love and opt for a lot of inexpensive prizes vs. one big ticket item. 

Even adults can guess how many jelly beans are in a jar, or participate in the Bunny Hop or Raw Egg Toss.  Children love to see their parents participating.

Sometimes guests will show up without an Easter basket to gather their eggs in.  Make sure you have some sacks or plastic buckets with your company logo on them that can be used.

Food

My favorite thing about any party is the food!   So when I plan a party I plan on giving myself an excuse to eat all those fattening treats I usually avoid.  However, some people have will-power and /or health concerns.  It’s a good idea to have diet drinks, gluten free something and anything that might illicit an allergic reaction labeled.

Even if the party is for children, you need to feed and satisfy the adults as well.

Entertainment

The competition of the hunt itself is usually entertainment enough.

However, you will also need something that will keep everyone occupied while waiting for dark, and your volunteers hide those nuclear powered eggs.

Like pin the tail on the bunny, and dancing to the bunny hop.

Or the video you see here. 

It’s entertaining, educational, and self-promoting.

This is your opportunity to get your message out in a way that is fun. If you squeeze it between your video and a dance party;  make it fun, call it a game, and offer prizes to the winners you will find that no one minds a dose of self-promoting Trivial Pursuit or nuclear fun-fact Jeopardy.  

7.      Costumed  Characters/ Visual Interest

Whether it’s the Easter Bunny, a company mascot, or a storybook character like Tickles Tabitha,

Someone is going to have to dress up and that’s all there is to it!

Plan far enough in advance to make sure you get the Easter Bunny and not the Easter Chicken.

Journalists and especially TV journalists want to see both a compelling story and colorful visuals.  Let them know you can provide both when you send them your pitch.

A costumed character provides a great video and photo opportunity.   When they are posted on Facebook it will help get the word out about your organization. 

I would suggest creating a backdrop out of an old sheet that has your company logo/ and or website address.  Strategically place a bench where the bunny can sit in front of it and have pictures made with attendees.

8.      Competition

Easter Bunny Competition.

I will never forget my first corporate Easter Egg Hunt.  We failed to mention that the grand prize was random and NOT going to the kid who collected the most eggs. It was a parent free-for -all as they literally ran over each other’s children to make sure their own child got the most eggs.   I was twenty-something, child-less, had zero tolerance and much disdain for those parents.  It took about a decade and having two children of my own before I had any empathy.

Even if you are having a friendly neighborhood fundraising event, announce your ground rules prior to the hunt and make sure you have volunteers stationed to enforce them.

Here is the way I have handled the stampede.  Let the youngest participants go first and every minute or so let another age group join the hunt.

The cat won!

9.        Marketing your message:   Nuclear powered eggs should be served over-easy! 

An Easter Egg Hunt may provide a captive audience of excited participants, but it is not the time for a lecture on the technicalities of nuclear power or any other lecture.

While most local reporters enjoy attending and reporting fuzzy bunny tales like your Easter party, it is not a breaking news event. 

Make sure someone writes, films, and photographs your party.  So later, if the media is a no show, you can express regret that they missed a great party, and send along your own stories and photographs for publication.  Most will appreciate it, and often will publish something you have sent.

If the local media does not, the social media experts attending your hunt will!  Thanks to Facebook just about everyone is a social media expert these days. 

As any five-year-old knows the best parties are the ones that give the attendees something fun to brag about later to the kids that didn’t go, and a yummy goodie bag to take home.  The same can be said for grown-up marketing events. 

So give your participants a memorable event, and send them home with a goodie bag filled with conversation provoking marketing  materials...like  maybe a picture book about nuclear power! Wink, wink.  

10.   Follow up

This is the section of marketing 101 that distinguishes a PR expert from a marketing amateur. It contributes to how people perceive you, your company, and your message. It will make it easier to keep or recruit volunteers for the next event.   It indicates your level of professionalism.  It will help promote your message.

Saying THANK YOU!

Say it, write it, and most of all mean it!

I was horrified to discover a story I sent a journalist several years earlier, that I thought had never been published, had made several regional papers where I lived near Raleigh, NC.  It was the second time that journalist had published a story on me, and probably would have been the last- even if she had not left journalism for another job. She did me a huge favor and I had not bothered to say thank-you.  I didn’t become on expert on any of these tips without making my own mistakes along the way, and I hope you can benefit from my mistakes.

Although it is the final step on my blog, it should be at the top of a “To Do” list.  Even for an informal event I have written down a verbal thank you to say the day of, have composed thank-you notes, and a letter of recommendation that can be personalized with the names of volunteers who helped out.

Thank everyone publicly during any welcome speech the day of the event, including the people who show up to hunt eggs.

Say a private verbal thank-you to volunteers afterwards.

Post your thanks on your own and their social media pages.

E-mail a thank you to colleagues.

Write and deliver a letter of thanks and recommendation on your company’s or organization’s letterhead for your volunteers. 

If the media attends send them a thank-you via whatever social media you used to contact them ASAP. After your story is published or airs send them a handwritten thank-you note.  If possible, one that pictures your company’s logo.

Sadly, the only time some people adhere to this advice is when they’ve spent mega bucks to hire a PR consultant who offers up what my mama told me free of charge:   Use your manners, show some class, and say Thank you!

So….thank-you, for reading through my rather lengthy nuclear powered Easter blog. 

Happy Hunting! 

Up on the Roof Top: Promoting Nuclear Literacy!

Oak Ridge, TN Christmas Parade 

Part two: The Perils of a Small Independent Children’s Book Publisher and Author.

Despite the power failure that blew out the lights during our first public appearance in East Tennessee, the Nutcracker Publishing Company’s children’s book characters still radiated! The city of Kingston, Tennessee’s City Council awarded Nutcracker Publishing Grand Prize, or what they called the Mayor’s Award, for our parade entry.  

We invested the prize money we received from our award in a larger, more powerful inverter and prepared to shine our literary brilliance on the Secret City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee--  A pro-nuclear city if ever there was one!  

Needless to say, our white lab rat from Nuclear Power: How a Nuclear Power PlantReally Works! could hardly wait to light up his larger-than-life hard hat and promote nuclear literacy for its citizens.

We arrived early and got to work transforming my son’s green jeep into Chubby the white lab rat.  This time, my husband Randy was our driver. He’s also our in-house electrician, and he was going to make sure the lights did not dim on this parade!

So, of course, after wrapping the jeep in Christmas lights, we plugged in our super-sized inverter and it DOES NOT work!  I should be writing TV sitcoms instead of children’s books, because this is the sort of thing that always happens to us.

Randy rushed to the store where we had purchased our inverter and where I’m sure the guys empathized with his need to appease his crazy wife and bring back an inverter that actually WORKED! This would be the fourth time he got me an inverter and he wouldn’t leave the store until they tested it out and he was sure it would light up a tractor-trailer-- not to mention a jeep.

By the time he got back to the parade venue, my daughter Tabitha and I had Chubby dressed, Tickles Tabitha ready to wave, bookmarks and enough parade candy to sicken Santa ready to distribute. We watched as Randy connected the inverter and turned on the lights… which glowed magnificently!   

Tickles Tabitha climbed onto the rooftop of our jeep (a.k.a. Chubby the nuclear lab rat) and just as I had hoped parade bystanders in the Secret City of Oak Ridge were blinded by nuclear literacy radiance-- 

                                                    and Christmas lights! ...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         That's the end of  this tail!

Obligatory Selfie

This year we got our Easter Eggs from Nukie Nuclear Power Plant!

I was welcomed home to North Carolina by the IRS, garden weeds, birthdays and an Easter Egg Hunt to plan. Hello Spring!  I hit the ground hopping.

Fortunately, the Apex Chamber of Commerce was en route to the bakery where I had ordered party foods and birthday cake.  I picked up my copy of the Apex Magazine.  I am so appreciative to my hometown Apex Chamber of Commerce for featuring my story in this year’s edition of the Magazine. 

When I see this photo, what I remember is that I had a bald spot on the top of my head at the time (which, fortunately, is not visible due to the angle of the camera). I had been diagnosed with stress related alopecia.  A lot has happened since that photo… for one thing my hair grew back!

My Dimple Dumpling & his dad.

This March, the Dimple Dumpling, mentioned on the dedication page of my children’s book about nuclear power, turned 20 years old.  He still has the dimples, but my son Jordan is no longer a dumpling.  On Easter, my daughter Tabitha, who along with her brother inspired Tickles Tabitha's Cancer-tankerous Mommy  turned 22 years old. I am now the mother of two adult children.  I don’t feel near as old as their birthdays make me.


Even the neighbor kids have grown up on me.  I was stunned to discover two of my Cancer Dancers will be heading to high school next year!

For those grown up kids, and as a tribute to my book about nuclear power, this year we got our Easter Eggs from Nukie Nuclear Power Plant and put on a glow-in-the-dark Easter Egg Hunt.  It was the brilliant and bright idea of my daughter, who recruited her brother and her boyfriend, and even some unsuspecting adults, to help stuff 600 plus eggs with glow in the dark items.  

Nuclear Easter Eggs.

The results were awesome!  Wish we had more photos, but what took hours to plan took the kids a few minutes to find. 

Taxes, Easter and birthdays are now sweet memories. My media moments are archived on audio and print, and behind the scenes I am getting ready to head to Alabama for my next author school visit.


This time last year, my daughter, Tabitha, and I were loading mousetraps with orange Ping-Pong balls and filming the video explaining what makes a nuclear plant nuclear. 

Tabitha & our neighbor Deven Robtoy.

My neighbor called to ask where we crouched when the tornado that devastated parts of our region of North Carolina swept through.  She and her children had been in the bathroom.  Tabitha and I had been happily preoccupied and clueless about the weather. I think of that day every time I play the video to a school group.

I never imagined then all the schools I would visit and the laughter that video would provide to so many elementary students or the behind the scenes story I would tell them about it.

Pinning the tail on the bunny.

While on the road during my last school visit I was interviewed, along with athlete Brian Jordan and educator Mindy Keller, by Neil Haley, host of the Total Education Network. Neil airs an educational talk show seven days a week that focuses on local and national education news.  Neil has been in education for years, but a children’s book about nuclear power?  That got his attention.  You can check out my interview here:

Listen to internet radio with Total Tutor on Blog Talk Radio


         

Charleston Chew the Easter Pug.

Fukushima One Year Later: My Children's Picture Book.

Not even the great Zoltar could have predicted my career in children's books or the world events that would affect it.  

In the aftermath of Fukushima’s nuclear disaster most people are surprised to discover I almost did not publish Nuclear Power: How a Nuclear Power Plant Really Works!, but prior to the Fukushima incident my book's topic evoked more bored yawns than invitations to visit elementary schools.

So much attention has been placed on what went wrong at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant due to natural disasters most of us have forgotten that the Nuclear Industry had and continues to have an unsurpassed safety record.

That record is what made my book a tough sell to the general public and even some in the nuclear industry. I was contemplating paying off my illustrator and just placing my children’s book about nuclear power plants on hold when the tsunami hit Japan.    

If ever I have received a “sign” to do something, that appeared to be it.

 Nuclear Power: How aNuclear Power Plant Really Works! was released December 29, 2011. 

I no longer worry about my book’s topic being considered boring.  If anything, boredom has been replaced with irrational fear.  

Children’s picture books are never as simple and easy to write as they appear. My “Nuke Book” is a creative look at a factual subject and it had to be technically accurate.

None of the professionals I market my book to or parents who purchase my book would expect anything less than for me to have sought out the opinions and critiques of the nuclear industry.  People who have worked within the industry and understand what they are talking about. 

Unfortunately, during the aftermath of Fukushima’s nuclear disaster these industry leaders and experts have often been by-passed in favor of commentators with more sensationalized points of view.

People I would have never considered a legitimate source for even a fictional children’s picture book about nuclear power have been considered expert sources on the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Fukushima changed everything, including my mind about publishing a children’s book about nuclear power.  Public perception of nuclear power plants remains an issue for the nuclear industry and even my children’s picture book about it.  The bored yawns I encountered have been replaced by raised eyebrows, genuine interest and sometimes irrational fear.  

I am in the returning lane of my author school visits/ marketing road trip. I have lit up the roads from North Carolina to Texas with stops along the way in both Florida and Alabama.  Most educators tend to read a book before critiquing it, and these past few months I have had the privilege of meeting with many of them.  As they have pointed out, nothing eliminates fear like education. 

What better way to educate a classroom full of elementary children about nuclear energy than a book about it? 

Amelia Frahm with Bethany Cargle, Marketing Specialist for RCS Corp. and students at Steele Creek Elem. School, Charlotte, NC.  RCS donated my book  to area schools and arranged my visit to celebrate National Engineers Week.

Lennie Roberts Elementary

Back home, and back to work in North Carolina, but I am still feeling the glow, after visiting schools in Matagorda County, Texas,  and helping kick off National Nuclear Science Week by sharing 

Nuclear Power: How a Nuclear Power Plant Really Works!

I am happy to be home, but I am missing the friendly, attentive, and well-behaved students I encountered during my visit to Texas schools.  

Celebrating with some of my "Team" from the left-my husband, Randy, me, my cousin Lora , her husband Dickie Thompson, my sister-in-law, Denise & brother, Michael Solomon, and cousin Brittany, & her husband Cary Orsak. 

I usually work at home and alone, but in Texas, it felt like I had my own personal PR Team. In a way I did, I still have close personal friends and family members that reside in Matagorda County, Texas.  They helped toot my horn, whenever possible came to my events, and let me know how happy and proud they were for me.  

Adrriana Acosta

It wasn't just friends and family that made me feel welcome, but the movers and shakers of Matagorda County's professional community as well.   I had so much fun working with Sheryl Langstrom and the staff at Happy Radio.

I am so  appreciative to Adriana Acosta, of the Matagorda Advocate for covering my school tour. She came out and took photos during my visit at Cherry Elementary and wrote the following article: All about Nuclear Energy.

Cherry Elementary, Bay City, TX 

Everyone from the school superintendent's office to the students themselves made me feel welcome, and told me how proud they were I wrote a children's book about nuclear power plants based on experiences I had while working at the STP Nuclear Plant.

 Nutcracker Publishing is dedicated to the memory of my friend, Laura Bouldin Karlman who died of Leukemia at age 39, October, 2000.  Laura and I met when I lived in Bay City, Texas. Before husbands, children, and as I like to say, respectability.  The only thing that could have made my visit to Texas, more perfect would have been Laura's presence.  However, I did get to do the next best thing! Laura's sister, Cindy Tomek, and I got together for lunch. I enjoyed hearing about Laura's family, especially Laura's children who like my own are all grown up now.

Matagorda Beach Elementary 

This January it has been 18 years since I was given the breast cancer diagnosis that changed my life, inspired me to write Tickles Tabitha's Cancer-tankerous Mommy, and motivated me to establish a career writing children's picture books.  I have been a very lucky woman!