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During October through December, I was extremely busy doing signings and school events. I must have been at twenty different stores over that three month period. I did one signing in Bloomfield Hills, MI where there were two school systems involved. Walled Lake schools and West Bloomfield schools were so nice to me and promoted my books to their students with great zeal.

When I first walked into the store, I felt a little overwhelmed after seeing a stack of one hundred books sitting there for me to sign. As the night went on, it became very busy and I barely had a moment to spare.  Kudos to both those school systems.

I also did a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Rochester Hills, MI. It was really cool because they had a scavenger hunt and one of the things the students had to do was find the author and ask me a specific question, like how old I was when I started writing my first book.

Thanks to all the teachers and bookstore managers that have helped me so far.

Taylor Joseph Teenage Author

On 11-03-09 I visited Lake Fenton Middle School in Fenton, MI. I was asked to speak in front of 450 students about writing. I started off by talking about myself and about my quest to become published. After that I took questions for about 15 minutes. The students there were just the most polite, fun people you could imagine. They didn’t want to stop asking questions but we had a limited amount of time.

Then I read a page from each of my books and asked the students specific questions about what the characters were going through. After that we had another discussion which turned out to be very informant for both the students and myself. Then I played a clip about the importance of literacy and we had yet another discussion.

I had a great time and I think the students did as well. A special thanks to Mrs. DeLonge who arranged it all and Nicole Guiles who helped me out immensely.

Thanks Lake Fenton Middle School,

Taylor Joseph.

Allison Investigates has been out for three weeks now. I did three books signings over the last three weekends and I am taking a little break now. I have a speaking engagement at Lake Fenton Middle School next month. I have had many offers to come to schools this fall and I am making arrangements to visit them. I want to say thank you so much to all the teachers that have helped me so far. Without the teachers that put forth all the extra effort each day helping kids, we would all would be in a world of trouble.

Taylor

During the week of 8-8-09 we went to a town called Caseville, MI. They have an annual festival called The Cheeseburger Festival where they have games and events as well as concerts all week long. They have tournaments and boat races and all kinds of other great events all week. It is right on Lake Huron which makes it even more special.

During the week I did a couple of book signings. One at The Lemon Tree store in town and one at a tremendous surf shop called Key North. Both of the owners were so nice and treated me well. They say 300,000 people visit Cheeseburger over the ten day period. Midweek on Wednesday they had an awesome parade with 65,000 people attending. The parade is such an incredible site to see. One float had girls dancing with their bikinis on and singing to music while they rode standing in a hot tub. Another float had people standing in a huge margarita glass as they danced to music. There were hundreds of other humorous floats as well.

All along, the people on the floats passed out cool things to the crowd like t-shirts, candy, and frisbees. I walked behind a float that was made to look like a pirate ship with a live band on it. On the side of the float was a guy dressed up as a gorrilla riding a tiny mini-bike around. We passed out t-shirts that had great pictures of my books on them as well as candy and some books. It was incredible. If you ever get a chance to go to Cheeseburger in Caseville, MI you will not be disappointed. It is one of the wildest, family fun parties in the state.

Taylor

I have decided that I am going to start writing about other things beside writing novels. I have been working very hard lately getting everything ready for the completion of my third novel. We decided to go away for a mini-vacation to Lake Huron in Michigan. If you have never been to one of the Great Lakes, you have no idea how beautiful they are.

Picture a lake as beautiful as the ocean with no sharks or jellyfish in which you can walk out a half a mile and its not over your head. The water is so clean that you have no salty feeling when you get out of it. It almost feels like you just took a bath when you walk out of the water. It is true that the water is cold in some parts but not where we were. The water felt like bath water and the sunset reminded me of Hawaii. I went into the bar-restaurant and shot some pool; it was a blast. If you get a chance to visit the Great Lakes, you won’t be disappointed. Do it one day.

Love, Taylor

On 7-11-09 I did double book signings at Barnes and Noble in Ann Arbor and in Brighton. They both went well with much interest about my second book Allison Investigates. The managers were so nice and treated me well. The manager in the Brighton store said he was going to try and organize an event with the West Bloomfield store and the school system out there. I was pleased to hear this. I am excited about the September 19th release of Allison Investigates. The Barnes and Noble in Northville, MI will be handling the national event.

I have had some extra time between books. Allison Investigates was done in February so I have been writing again. My third book is going well and should be completed before the end of the summer. I think it will be the best yet. I wish I could say what it is about, but I can’t.

I want to thank all of the teachers that have helped me so far.

Taylor

Ever time I think I have met the nicest people in the book industry someone else comes and surprises me. I did a book signing at Barnes and Noble in Northville, MI on 6-06-09 and the manager was just so nice to me. She did everything in her power to make sure I received the maximum exposure possible. We sold a lot of books that day thanks to Betsy.

The release of Allison Investigates was held up until 9-19-09. Sometimes the publisher will hold a release up to get everything prepared in time. Barnes and Noble in Northville, MI will be doing the national release and throwing a party to celebrate the event. Then it is off on tour again in the fall.

Love,

Taylor Joseph

I was recently invited to Plano, Texas to speak at several of their schools about the importance of reading and about my novel The Crossing. I flew in on a Wednesday afternoon and two representatives from the school district took us out for an incredible meal at an upscale, local restaurant called The Cheesecake Factory. The meal was tremendous and Libby and Chrissi were beyond belief. We exchanged stories about their education system and so many other things.

The next day I started at 8:15am and spoke to a class of sophomores in the ESL program. They were more then gracious and we all had a great time. After that I went to Carpenter Middle School where I gave a presentation about writing. Chrissi and Libby were just so perfect at helping the kids that it went incredibly well.

Then we were off to another high school where i did a presentation for freshmen. I ended at 4:30pm and then drove to Garland, Texas where I did a book signing until 9:00pm. The signing went very well especially when I showed people my new book Allison Investigates.

The next morning I started early again and spoke at two schools. Then I went to another school where the teacher arranged for nine of the top girls in the school to have lunch with me in the library. We sat and ate while we talked about everything from writing to girl things. I made nine very special friends that day that I will never forget.

After that I was off to more schools and then to a Barnes and Noble at night where I met so many nice people. I  have heard that the people in Texas are nice but you just don’t know how nice they are until you see first hand. The 13 hour days I put in was well worth it. I must have signed 600 books those two days.

THANK YOU PLANO, TEXAS. YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

Taylor Joseph

 On 4-21-09, I picked up the first copies of my new book Allison Investigates and they looked great. Allison Investigates is about a 15-year old girl, Allison Martin, and her three friends. Allison’s lifelong dream is to become a detective and when her neighbor’s car gets stolen, she snoops around.

They get involved with some avid skateboarders and find out they might be involved with the car thefts and organized crime. They have to decide whether it is worth the risk to try to solve the crime. I think it turned out better then I hoped for.

Taylor Joseph, Teenage Author

On 4-15-09 I gave another speech. This time I went to Lee Middle School in Orlando, Fl. When I got there I was greeted by  Mrs. Keeler an 8th grade English teacher. She was very nice and welcomed me to her school. First, she took me into a small class room called the ESL. Where I talked to kids that have a passion for writing. Then I went into the lunch room and gave a speech to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I had a good time and was glad I had the opportunity to get my message out.