Our First Virtual Author Visit via Skype with Sara Zarr

The Unquiet Library Celebrated the National Day of Writing and Teen Read Week with our first ever virtual author visit via Skype!  Our special guest was the amazing Sara Zarr, National Book Award finalist and author of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, and her latest book, Once Was Lost.

We arranged a two hour visit with Sara to accomodate two groups of students.  Students gathered in our presentation area of the library commons so that they could see her on our large projection screen.    In each talk, Sara kicked off conversations about writing and reading by telling students about herself and her journey of becoming a writer.  Students then came up to the webcam to speak to Sara personally and to ask a question they had.  Questions our students had included:

• How do you balance your social life with work?
• Do you reread your books?
• With what character do you identify most?
• Which book did you enjoy writing most?
• How do you use social media?
• How do you get over writer’s block?
• Who are your role models and/or who inspired you to write?
• How do you get ideas for writing?

Zarr answered with honesty and passion in a conversational manner that kept us on the edge of our seats!  We gained helpful and fascinating insights into the aspects of book publishing, how book covers are designed (and how most authors have limited input), different strategies for writing,  realistic advice and what you might expect if you want to embark on a career as a writer, and what influences an author’s ideas for writing.

What was most striking to me was how conversational and intimate the visit seemed—one might think that a visitation via Skype might not equal a face to face presence, but Sara was so engaging that you felt as though she were in the room with you.

I highly recommend Sara for your next author visit!  If you are interested in scheduling a Skype visit with her, please visit this link for more information.    Thank you, Sara Zarr, for such a memorable and fun visit!