The BEST TIME

Last Thursday I sat in the audience of Monument Mountain High School and watched two actors portray my two protagonists from my novel Weeping Under This Same Moon. It was an incredibly moving experience. I had never seen my characters come to life before and it was amazing. I am seriously thinking about creating a play now. What a thrill to watch your creations come to life!
Thank you MMRHS!

Staged Reading of Weeping Under This Same Moon, by Jana Laiz

This is SO exciting! Tonight two high school students, actors, are going to do a staged reading of my novel! I will be there to answer questions and show slides of my journey from miserable 17-year-old to happy human being because of my amazing experience with my Vietnamese refugee family.

Thoughts

Do you have too many ideas? Are you flooded with them? I was taking a walk on the boardwalk and the stories just came, fast and furiously and I'm not sure which to write first. Yesterday I asked my 8 year-old nephew what kind of book he'd like me to write for him, and the ideas that came from that conversation got the creative juices flowing. I want to try to write for little boys this time. A series! Adventures! Creatures! Flying!
I am also thinking of a sequel to my upcoming novel, The Twelfth Stone.
Weeping Under This Same Moon is getting a much broader readership and I am thrilled about it! I'll be in high schools all over the country talking to teens about this book and my experience behind it!

Weeping Under This Same Moon at Monument Mountain Regional High School

OK, I'm back. Sorry I was away for so long, but I'm really not great at this blogging thing, but I'll give it a try. Here's the great news! The entire Sophomore class and staff at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, MA are reading Weeping Under This Same Moon!!
I cannot tell you how excited I am by this! I've been getting bits of very wonderful feedback, as students, teachers and parents meet me in the post office or at the local breakfast place or the country fair. So here I am, hopeful that some or any of the people reading this book would love to chat. I want to hear everything, the good and the...dare I say, bad (which I hope is minimum.) I invite you to blog with me, ask me anything about the book you want to.
Hope to hear from you and you and you!

Book Signing Excitement!

Book signings are incredibly exciting! I love them! Yesterday, Jackie Rogers and I were at Blackwood and Brouwer Book Store in Kinderhook, NY to sign our new book, "A Free Woman On God's Earth." Ann-Elizabeth couldn't be there because she was in Washington, DC at the National Archives where she saw a plaque dedicated to our hero, Mumbet, right next to the Declaration of Independence! We signed many books, and met many enthusiastic readers, young and young-at-heart. It was a great day. This month and next month and on and on will be filled with book talks, signings, and author visits! This is what it's all about.
In March, I will be flown to Minnesota, where my book, Weeping Under This Same Moon, has been selected to be read by 6 cities in the St. Croix Valley of Minnesota and Wisconsin. I will be speaking to students, teachers and librarians, and am setting up book signings and talk around the area. Life is good!

A Free Woman On God's Earth is here!!!

"A Free Woman On God's Earth" The True Story of Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, The Slave Who Won Her Freedom is here and waiting to be read! I am so proud of the work Ann-Elizabeth, Jackie and I did on this amazing book. And thanks to Adam Rothberg, my amazing graphic artist for his beautiful cover design! The book is available at amazon and in your local book stores, so I hope you will support us and buy a copy for yourself or a child in your life.

A Free