Meeting Friends at the Library__ Sort Of

I try to make a trip to the library every week or two in order to choose books for my reviews. And some of the best trips, are the ones where I meet friends at the library. I don't really meet my fellow authors and social media friends, but every time I see their names on the spines of the books I am glancing at, I feel like I have.

This week I found a book, I had yet to read, by my friend Dandi Daley Mackall. What made this find even more exciting was the news she recently shared. You see, not only is Dandi a fantastic children's author, she is also the author of, My Boyfrien'ds Dogs, a young adult  book which is being made into a Hallmark Movie. Currently, she is getting ready to fly to Canada to watch the filming. I am so excited for her, I can hardly express it with mere words. So while she is off learning the intricacies of  turning a book into a movie, I will be sharing with you her book, A Girl Named Dan.

And the amazement doesn't stop there because A Girl Named Dan is the true story of how Dandi won an essay contest entitled, Why I Want To Be A Batboy. Unfortunately, the Kansas City A's wouldn't let her be a batboy, because she was a girl. Despite this first taste of rejection at such a young age, Dandi has gone on to become an award winning author of over 400 books for children and adults. I'd say that is pretty amazing and the stuff dreams are made of.

I am so glad that I met Dandi at the 2012 Kentucky Book Fair. Not only is she a tremendously kind and interesting person, but she is an author worth emulating. I only hope I turn out to be half the author she is. So if you haven't read A Girl Named Dan, I suggest you do. Either that, or one of her many other fabulous books.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.