Children’s author Coleen Paratore visited WBH elementary students on Tuesday, May 3 to discuss how she crafts aspects of her personal life and history into her award-winning fiction and non-fiction books.
During her visit, Ms. Paratore spoke during a school wide assembly, spent the day in workshops, and ate lunch with students. During the assembly, Ms. Paratore told students how the best ideas come to her like fireflies.
“Ideas come to you like a surprise, they spark, are fast, and then they are gone. Make sure you write-it down,” said Paratore. “Writing is exciting! You can use those sparks (ideas) as inspiration to tell your own story, hopes and dreams.”
Author Coleen Paratore reviewing what students wrote as their favorite things.
Ms. Paratore asked that students and teachers bring a notebook and pen to the workshop and had them writing about their favorite things and memories, which, she explained, could become the content for a book.
Ms. Paratore’s visit was made possible through the support of the WBH PTA.
A full-time author and teacher of writing since 2004, with 20 books published and more on the way, Coleen Murtagh Paratore is best known for her 1/2 million selling debut novel, The Wedding Planner’s Daughter, published world-wide and twice optioned for a movie, first of six “Willa Books,” (new spin-off series coming in 2016); the award-winning picture book, BIG; critically acclaimed novels, Sunny Holiday and Dreamsleeves; and writer’s notebook, FIREFLIES, a “gift of encouragement to people of all ages to write from the sparks without worrying about the rules.” Her new inspirational memoir, Writing it Right, co-authored with her poet mother Peg Spain Murtagh, celebrates the transformative and healing power of writing in moving ourselves forward through painful times in our lives. A teacher of writing at The Arts Center of the Capital Region and an adjunct instructor of Public Speaking at The Sage Colleges, Coleen is also a book coach and a popular inspirational speaker at conferences and fundraising events. Learn more about author Coleen Murtagh Paratore here.