first autographs

Posted by Carma Gagne Chan June 06, 2022

first autographs

Phoenix Girl Scouts

December 2009

Kudos to Mayra, who poured her heart, soul, time and money into founding and leading a Girl Scouts troop for these young ladies to have experiences that would live with them forever and empower them to dream big!

Carma does her first reading before a group of girls

Meet the Saardu Lady

Mayra and Carma connected during the planning of a road trip to the Kids First! Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as Carma's Saardu screenplay was nominated for a Best Script Award. Somehow these two strong, nurturing women found each other, and this idea bloomed. Mayra's Girl Scout Troop in Phoenix would be the first kids to meet the Saardu Lady.

Carma would bring several boxes of the Saardu paperback books and personalize a book for each of Mayra's girls and the women who mentored this troop.

It was a transformative encounter for Carma to share her personal revelations with them, especially about teachers who told her she had a gift, not that she should be a writer, but that she was and is and always will be a writer.

Carma fervently hoped that Saardu would be a movie within ten years, and urged these girls to take care of the book because if it was to become a movie, this limited edition book signed by the Saardu Lady could be valuable enough to help them someday, maybe with college funds or to buy a home--she planted that seed in their imagination and hearts.

Nearly thirteen years later, Saardu has yet to find its courageous, well-endowed producer. Any screenwriter mentored by Professor Richard Walter of UCLA understands the entertainment industry is based on the courage of investors who are willing to play with big numbers.

Carma cherishes the memory of this special day with Mayra and her girls. Soon after she left Phoenix and drove to Santa Fe for the Kids First! Film Festival awards ceremony, she heard from some of the mothers and teachers. They emailed these photos and shared some encouraging responses. For example, one of the girls read the whole book that weekend and asked her mom when she could get the next one (she assumed there was already a sequel). It doesn't get any better for a writer than to receive that kind of note!

While personalizing Saardu books for each Phoenix Girl Scout who attended this book signing event, they drew pictures. These three were presented to Carma as gifts, which she wholeheartedly treasures. The first, by Essence, portrays a dog and a cat...Carma had told them about pets who inspired some of the characters in the Saardu story...Carma's cat inspired the first paragraph, and Patty's dog inspired the einax, originally spelled einnacs by Patty--which was jumbled canines.

💚💙

Smiling Dog and Cat by Essence 12/3/2009

Next, Essence commemorated Carma's favorite color. Can you guess?

Sunshine on the Saardu Lady by Essence 12/3/2009

Roxanna drew this mesmerizing portrait of Ruby. If you know the Saardu story and Ruby's place in it, the curious symbolism in this illustration by a young listener who obviously felt free to exercise imagination--it is a very telling abstract!