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But maybe not. There's still something magical about interacting with a person who has created characters who live in your mind, a place you know like your backyard, and a story that you carry along your journey.=====

Many schools and libraries partner up to raise funds for bringing authors physically to their spaces, but the funds aren't always there and the wear-and-tear on authors is great. So great, in fact, that many of the best-selling ones may only make personal appearances when they have a new book to tout and then only visit certain cities and bookstores.

Here's where the virtual advantage comes in. With new Web conferencing and virtually immersive environments, we can bring authors to our classrooms in a way that often seems more intimate than even having them there in physical person. Just take a moment to listen to Laurie Halse Anderson in the Bookhenge and you'll know what I mean.

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So for this week we are focusing on preparing for a virtual meeting with Melina Marchetta. Our goals are to create the conditions for her to feel comfortable with us in this space and open to sharing not so much the answers to questions she's gotten a thousand times but to reflecting and possibly coming up with new insights sparked by our thoughtful questions. Regardless of whether we meet with an author actually or virtually, there are ways to prepare that we want to learn and apply to our future virtual author studies.

To begin your preparation, get to know Melina a little better. ..

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