Tingles Inside Our Elbows -- A visit with the 85th Montreal Girl Guides

Last night, one of my former students, Elizabeth Knowles, invited me to come and meet her girl guides troop. The girls, who are aged nine to eleven, are working on their reading and writing badges... so it made sense for them to meet someone like me -- who reads and writes A LOT!

I did a little presentation about how I got to be a writer and showed the girls my books. I also explained that when someone tells me something interesting that I might be able to turn into a story, a strange thing happens: the insides of my elbows tingle.

Which helps explain the title of today's blog entry ("Tingles Inside Our Elbows -- a visit with the 85th Montreal Girl Guides") and also today's pic (in which the girls checked out their elbows so they can be prepared for possible tingling!). Of course, I explained that something else might happen when they hear good story material -- maybe their ears will twitch, or their knees will knock together!

The girls had a lot to tell me, too. Keira said, "I read when I'm upset and it makes me feel better." You know what, Keira? I do that too! Jaime said, "I have an active imagination. I always keep a piece of paper by my side." I told Jaime that that's EXACTLY what I tell my CEGEP students to do -- always keep note paper and a pen handy for great ideas!

And you know how I'm always collecting names for future characters? Well, a girl named Anabel said she used to have a cat named "TC" and she explained that TC stood for "The Cat." I think I may need a TC in one of my stories soon!

Lovely to meet you, 85th Montreal Girl Guides. Good luck with those reading and writing badges!