Yesterday I was grateful to have met with the Eisenhower Middle School Book Club here in San Antonio. There were a total of 11 young people present, all having fulfilled (or surpasses) the minimum number of books read from the list suggested by some Texas board or other. (I should have taken closer notes.) The attendees were bright and funny and surprised me with a number of thoughtful questions.

I can't thank Teresa Diaz enough for the invitation to speak. I had stated up front that I was still unpublished but she didn't blink. Everyone I met was gracious, helpful and charming.

The event was surprisingly fluid. The periods came and went so quickly and it became a race to get through the 15 pages of Hilmer Gibb and His Honkin' Huge Bib before some or all of the kids had to leave. I don't understand how either the kids or the staff keeps up with all the goings on in a school day. It's like a military operation but no one gets killed.

Here's how it went down:

I met with about seven 6th-graders first. I congratulated them on their reading accomplishments and admitted I'm a very slow reader myself and that to read--in one case--six books in the month they were given is simply remarkable. I ran through a quick history of my writing, touched on how writing, like soccer, is an even-field art form in that no special equipment is needed. With soccer, as Pelé proved, all one needs is a melon and two doors and you have a soccer game. So it is with writing, where all one needs is anything that leaves a mark and a surface. Done. You're a writer.

Then I read.

Is it universally true that no matter how many times one sifts through his work, he can find something new to improve upon? I read the "finished" first 15 pages to my older boy before taking him into school and, with his consensus, deleted half a page of slow copy. Then I read for the first group. Again, I found myself marking up the copy, though this time the edits were mainly deletions of a word here and there. And again, with the second reading--the two 7th-graders and the one 8th-grader--more tweaks.

The pressure of live reading forced up some weaknesses in the work. That can't be anything but a good thing, right?

After each reading, I had just enough time to hand out the kids' freebies. I had stopped by the store the night before to pick up some composition books and small G2 pens. Into each book, I placed a Young Writers' Resource page that gave some simple starting writing pointers and a couple web links to online publications that accepted writing from young people. I also included a page with the writing-related quotes I keep by my writing work station:

"He is able who thinks he is able." -- Buddha

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night...You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." -- E. L. Doctorow

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." -- Robert Frost

"I write as straight as I can, just as I walk as straight as I can, because that is the best way to get there." -- H. G. Wells

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." -- Richard Bach

So here's to a wonderful visit, new friends, a great first-time speaking engagement and everything that comes with new experiences.

You're looking at it: the new look for thomasmcauley.com.

Responding to some criticism my last site was getting--"type is too small," "columns are too narrow," etc.--I spent today reworking the look and feel of my site. I enlarged the type and I may enlarge it again, depending upon the feedback. And I limited myself to one column. Doing so makes the text lines read more like a book, so I'm hoping that helps.

Give me a couple days to get all the content flowed in. There's a small amount of formatting necessary as I transfer the posting from the old to this look. I'm not sure how the archiving of older stories will go, whether by number or date, but all older postings can be accessed through the Archives section near the bottom of the right column.

Some folks said it was hard to read light type on black. I understand and, to a point, I agree but it's hard to let that part go for a couple reasons. For one, I'd have to redo a lot of artwork. That's not a huge problem, just a pain. Second, I just like the stark look. The feel is right for me. If that means I loose some readership, so be it. No design is going to please everyone, right?

This site was designed to accommodate the next phase in my writing career, that of being a published author. I plan on being published at some point (soon, I hope) so I will be visiting schools and stores (Speaking) and will be receiving reviews of my work (Press) solicited and unsolicited, I'm sure. Obviously, with as little as I currently have on my writing resumé, Speaking and Press will reflect that fact. Including those sections is a perfect example of "build it and they will come."

I have also built in easy access to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, so friending and following are just that much easier. My Twitter updates are even accessible from the widget at the right.

So, let me know if you dig the new look better than the last. Contact me via email, FB or Tweet.