We’re so excited to bring you an interview with the authors of The Green Mother Goose, Jan Peck and David Davis. They were gracious enough to answer our questions, and we’re happy to share them with you.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?  When did you start writing?

Jan: When I was in third grade, I wrote a story about my pet turtle, Frisky, who got lost in our house for a whole month.  We found him when my mother opened her bedroom door and cracked his shell.  But his shell grew back just like your fingernails or hair grow. My teacher told me I’d be a writer when I grew up, but I said, no, I really wanted to be either a ballerina or a veterinarian, but I never forgot what she told me.  I’ve written books about a ballerina (The Ballerina Princess), and a true story about when I worked for a vet (“The Perfect Dog” in Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul..

David: I started writing when I was a kid. I first remember starting to write when I started trying to draw cartoons and comics in the second grade. After all, you have to write the words that the cartoon characters say. I used to copy the funnies in the paper to see if I could draw the characters like the cartoonists did. Sometimes I got in trouble for drawing when I should have been paying attention to arithmetic. I never really thought of it as “real writing” but that was what I was doing.

If you weren’t a writer, what your job be?

Jan: I might be a teacher, a nurse, or a veterinarian!  I love working with children and animals.  Right now I’m taking care of my 92-year-old Daddy.  He went to a one-room school house and didn’t learn to read until 6th grade.  He had a special teacher who took him aside and said he was too smart not to learn to read.  So he learned to read and graduated with honors with a degree in electrical engineering from college, the first in his family, .  He had dyslexia, which all of my family has.  So just know, no matter what disabilities you might face, you can overcome them and become whatever you want.  I have trouble with spelling, but I can figure it out–I especially like using the Google search engine.

David: I would still like to be a serious painter. I wanted to be a political cartoonist—and eventually I did that for a while. I would have loved to be in a band and write music and lyrics. I also used to want to be one of those guys that made Hollywood monsters and special effects when I was a boy. I’ve done many things in my life before writing full time. I was a medical lab technician. I had a job at a bank running the computer department. I worked in a milk plant for a while, but I was never happy unless I was drawing or writing.

What inspires you?

Jan: I’m inspired by other great authors, such as James Marshall and Arnold Lobel.  I fell in love with children’s books while reading to my young son.  We read so many books that my son learned to read before he was three.  I wanted to be part of this wonderful world of children’s books.  I thought it would be easy, but it was three years before I sold my first short story to Highlights for Children magazine.  My son is now 32, and he and his wife are expecting a son in May.  I can hardly wait to read to my first grandson!

David: Reading good writing, and biographies of authors. All kinds of music. I listen to music while I’m drawing, but I can’t write while listening to music. I love good comedy. I’ve loved Laurel and Hardy since I was a little boy, and my prize possession is a complete collection of their movies on dvd.

What was the most exciting thing that happened to you as a child?

Jan: The most exciting thing for me as a child was growing up in the country with a whole menagerie of wild animals.  I had a crow, blue jays, turtles, doves, a possum, a squirrel, a mole, a praying mantis, and many dogs and cats.  I use these experiences many times in my writings.

David: My stepdad took me out to the airport to see all the stars of the John Wayne version of The Alamo arrive in San Antonio where I grew up. I saw all of them and John Wayne, himself, waving and smiling at everyone. I got tickets to the premiere showing of the movie at the Woodlawn Theater for my birthday. A friend and I got to go. I can still recall my dad wondering if they should pay the outlandish ticket fee. “Three dollars and fifty cents—a piece!” he complained out loud, but he bought them anyway. Kids, remember this was in 1960, and that was outrageous for a movie ticket then!

How long did it take from starting to write to having the book published?  Did you get many rejections?

Jan: I wrote for magazines for a long time and learned a lot about putting together a story.  When I wrote my first trade book that got published, I received eight rejections.  That is not very many, but I’d had a lot before that.  I started writing in 1983 when my son was three and had my first book published in 1995 when he was fifteen–that’s twelve years!  I had a lot of magazine and small book successes that kept me going, plus I worked as a free-lance editor at Boy’s Life magazine and became an advisor with my local chapter of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

David: Actually, I sold the very first manuscript I sent in. It took two years from the time they bought it to the time it came out in print. I thought, “This is going to be EASY!” Then reality hit. I got plenty of rejections after that lucky break. It took longer to get the next books. I still get rejections. By the way, in some cases, it takes FOUR YEARS from the time a book is accepted for the book to appear in print.

Do you find it hard to stop editing/revising, or do you have a definite ending point?

Jan: It is hard to know when to stop cutting and changing and revising a story.  I have a critique group that helps me be more objective, but I’m the final judge of when it is ready to send.  When I think I can’t do anymore to make it better, I send it in. If it is accepted–then the REAL work begins!  Good editors know how to make your book move far beyond what you first envisioned.  Maybe that is why they call it revision!

David: Someone once said that you never finish a book—you just abandon it. That is how I feel. No matter how much I work on a manuscript I can always spot things I could have done better when the book comes out. A book can be really well received and my mind dwells on that one line I could have phrased differently. A writer is always searching for perfection, but you have to do the best you can in the time you have. A good editor can help you decide when you are done.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

Jan: Getting those first words on the page has to be the hardest part.  It seems like you are writing in the dark, but you have to have faith and keep the editor/teacher off your shoulder and write what you really think and feel.  I do a lot of what I call Freewriting, just writing as fast as I can to fill the page.  I don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or anything. You can always go back and fix those things. Sometimes I write ideas that I didn’t know I was thinking.  I’ve been doing this since I started writing many years ago. You have to be willing to write badly, so that you can learn to write well.  I think of my published material like an iceberg.  You can see the published material at the top but under the water is a huge mass of unpublished writings!

David: The hardest part for me is when you get to the point in a story where you are not cutting the bad parts anymore—you are cutting good things. Many times you have to cut some really good stuff at the end because of length constraints. When you get to that point, you know you are almost done.

What advice would you give to young writers?

Jan: Do a lot of Freewriting!  Learn to pick a time to write and get used to writing every day.  You’ll learn so much.  Also read books and study how your favorite authors wrote their stories.  See if you can do as well using your own ideas.  We stand on the shoulders of those who come before us.  I believe anyone that you truly admire, you can learn to do as well, and many times write even better.

David: 1. Write every day for at least five minutes. Train your brain. Once you are used to writing it comes easier. 2. Get a small spiral notebook and write down your ideas for stories when you get them. Trust old Mr. Davis. You WILL forget them if they are not written down. 3. Save what you write. Even if you think a story isn’t very good, you might use parts of it later. 4. Count the number of words in the story you have written and then cut ten percent of them. In other words if there are a hundred words in your story see if you can cut ten of them. Cutting whatever you write like this makes you have to get rid of words you don’t need and helps the whole become stronger.

Are you working on a new book right now?

Jan: Like David, I’m ALWAYS working on a new book!  While I am taking care of my dad, I thought of a little fish in the big ocean who felt so alone.  I saw the cover of the book in a dream.  I’m checking out some books on ocean animals right now from my local library to get to work on this.

David: I’m ALWAYS working on a new book! Right now I am toying with a novel for grownups called Wisdom Hill.

(A special question from Fran) Any plans for a sequel to The Green Mother Goose?  Some sensitivity training (towards humans and other animals) may be in order for the likes of Georgie Porgie, Goosey, Goosey Gander, the Farmer’s Wife, the King of Hearts, Robin-A-Bobbin, the Bird Scarer, Polly Flinders mother, the little man who had the little gun, and others.  I’m confident your creative team could soften up this hard old world one clever rhyme at a time).

Jan: Fran, thank you for your fantastic ideas!  Wow!  I think you’ve got some great ones, which YOU ought to write.  Sounds like your brain has been working on this for some time.  Just put your fingers on the keys and see what you do!  Use the Freewriting technique I use.

David: Hmmm. That would be telling…hahaha.

Do you have any subjects that you’re dying to write about, but haven’t yet?

Jan: I have a science fiction young adult that David and I are going to write together.  It is so different from what I usually write. I’m a little scared but very excited too.

David: Yes. As a matter of fact Wisdom Hill is such a project.

What made you decide to write books for children, instead of adults?

Jan: I fell in love with children’s book while reading to my little son.  I was amazed at all the depth and wonder in children’s books in so few words that could be read in just ten minutes.  I still am in awe of children’s books.

David: It really wasn’t a cut and dried decision at first. It was just that the way my mind works and the way I write seemed to lend itself to the genre. Also, I grew up loving picture books.

What authors or illustrators influenced you when you were starting out (or still do today)?

Jan: The George and Martha books by James Marshall; and Frog and Toad and Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel, were big influences on me. I used to take my son to the library in his stroller, take him out, and fill the stroller with books.  I did that every week. So many writers and illustrators influenced me and still do.

David: I love OLD books. When I was a small boy Mom had a copy of a book she had been given when she was a little girl. It was The Aesop for Children with pictures by Milo Winter, that was published in 1919. I loved the old fashioned illustrations and the stories with a moral. My love for this book was a direct influence many years later when I decided to pen Texas Aesop’s Fables. By the way, the book has been reprinted by Barnes and Noble and a copy is very inexpensive. Mom’s book has about fallen apart and I bought her a reprint some years ago for Christmas. It is a beautiful book for children and adults alike.

And of course I have to mention Dr. Seuss. I’ll never forget the day the teacher showed me a copy of one of his books and explained that he drew the pictures to go with what he’d written. A light went on in my head. Wow! Someday could I write stories and maybe even draw like Dr. Seuss? It was a lot of years before I did it, but I never forgot that day.

Who is your favorite author or book?

Jan: I will always love Alice in Wonderland, Heidi, and a little known book called When Grandma was a Little Girl, all of which my mother read to me when I was a little girl.  The Tale of Peter Rabbit is one of my all time favorites.  When Peter nearly gets caught by the farmer, I can remember being very scared for him.

David: Children’s author: Doctor Seuss, Adult book: The Thread That Runs So True by Jesse Stuart, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

What is your favorite word?

Jan: “Love”

David: “Yes”

What is your favorite food?

Jan: I love pizza but also love vegetables, so I put vegetables all over my pizza, including broccoli!  LOL!

David: I used to really like Mexican Food, but I had to change my ways. Now, I eat lots of broiled fish and salad.

What are your hobbies when you aren’t writing?

Jan: I love to garden, play with my poodle, Spirit, read books and listen to music–all kinds of music from rock and roll to classical.

David: I like to draw, listen to old rock and roll music, and play around with Photoshop, creating and restoring old family photos. I enjoy watching classic movies. I also read a lot. (I read for a while in bed before I turn out the lights at night.) By the way, I have never met an author that wasn’t a reader too.

Thank you so much to Jan Peck and David Davis!  I know we’re all looking forward to whatever new books they might write, and I’m sure you all are, too.

We’re thrilled to be able to bring you an interview with Monika Schröder, the author of Saraswati’s Way.  Even though she’s in the process of moving from one country to another (!!) she was kind enough to answer our questions.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? When did you start writing?

No, I never imagined I would be a writer and only started to write fiction shortly before my 40^th birthday.

If you weren’t a writer, what your job be?

I used to think that I’d like to be a veterinarian but I can’t stand the sight of blood. If I hadn’t become a librarian and author I might have made a good lawyer.

How long did it take from starting to write to having the book published?  Did you get many rejections?

It took me about 14 months to write Saraswati’s Way. I was very fortunate that Frances Foster, who has her own imprint at the publisher Farrar Straus Giroux, accepted the manuscript right away.

Do you find it hard to stop editing/revising, or do you have a definite ending point?

I usually know when a draft is ready to be sent. My husband, a high-school English teacher and always my first reader, also edits my drafts and gives me advice when to stop.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

I don’t like the first draft. There is always this wonderful idea of a story in my mind and as soon as I start writing it changes into what is actually on the page. And that never seems to measure up to the perfect novel that I had in my mind. I also cannot stop my “inner editor” from talking to me about what is not good and what will never work. So the first draft is laborious. I like it much better once I have a draft that can be revised.

How do you get plot ideas?  Are you inspired by incidents from your friends’ lives?  From your own childhood?

Ideas are everywhere. In other books, in stories I read or hear, in movies I watch and also in my own experiences.

Your description of life in the railroad station is so vivid.  How did you do your research?

I went several times to visit the train station and also took the guided tour offered by a non-governmental organization working with street kids, called Salaambaalak Trust. Their guides are former street kids themselves and I went on several tours with them, listening to their stories and experiencing the setting.

Akash is a wonderful character, open, engaging and self-directed.  Is he based on a real person or did you imagine him?

He is not based on one real person. He shares his fate of running away and ending up at the train station with many kids, some of whom I met, others I read about. His interest in math is modeled after myself. I used to be a math geek and I still juggle numbers in my mind. And I am also very adamant and impatient, so these traits Akash also has from me.

What brought you to India?  What keeps you there?

I have always been fascinated by India. My husband and I worked in international schools in other countries but I had always hoped that one day we would find jobs in India. In 2003 this wish came true when we were hired at the American Embassy School in New Delhi.

Parts of Akash’s story, his experience with Lal Singh, the tape recording operator on the train, having to wade through garbage looking for plastic, and his ordeal with the drug dealer are very “gritty.”  Do you think that the average young American or European reader will be able to relate to or even understand those episodes?

Well, I know that this will be a very different setting and experience for American readers, but I hope that my descriptions are authentic enough for any reader to relate.

Would a country boy like Akash have ordinarily learned Vedic math in his village school?  Is it taught as a part of a more traditional curriculum as opposed to the more modern, “tech savvy” subjects of a big city school?

The vedic math is probably not taught in an Indian village school. But Akash’s tutor might have shown it to him. I used to teach grade four in American schools overseas and complemented my lessons on multiplication with some of the vedic math rules.

In your book, you incorporate many Hindi words and phrases as well as information and stories about the many Hindu deities.  India has a very complex culture, yet you seem to integrate it seamlessly into the story.  Did you find it difficult writing it in a way that would be easily understood by “western” readers?

In an earlier draft I had many more Indian words. Then I realized that this was influenced by the Hindi-English spoken around me and I weeded out most of the words. It is always difficult to weave in information without sounding didactic or boring the reader with too much exposition. It took a while to get it right.

Do you have any subjects that you’ve always wanted to write about, but haven’t?

I would like to write a book set in pre-revolutionary Russia about a female student who becomes involved in the terrorist movement of the time. I also have an idea for a book set in German-South-West Africa about the German officer who discovered the mountain gorillas. I haven’t had time yet to write these other books that are in my head. But soon I will be a full-time writer with, hopefully, more time to complete these novels.

What advice would you give to young writers?

Read, read, read. I have learned most of what I know about writing from reading and looking at how other authors structure and tell their stories. Young writers should read as much of the genre they are writing themselves as possible.

Are you working on any books for the future?  We’d love to hear about them (if it’s not impolite to ask).

My next novel is called MY BROTHER’S SHADOW and will come out in September of this year. The book is set in Berlin 1918. Moritz, the 16-year-old main character, experiences the end of Imperial Germany and a socialist revolution. His brother, who returns from the war maimed and bitter, is frustrated with the outcome of the war and soon turns to right-wing extremism. Moritz, who is falling in love with a Jewish girl, has to choose sides. You can watch a trailer for the book here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl5IVFd2Wb0.

Currently, I am working on a book set in the 1830s. The story starts in Massachusetts but the main character ends up in Calcutta, India.

What authors or illustrators influenced you when you were starting out (or still do today)?

I love how Avi depicts historical settings and have read most of his work. I also admire Jennifer Holm for her talent to create historical fiction characters with distinct voices.

What are your hobbies when you aren’t writing?

I love to read, obviously. But I also like to bake and take our dog for long walks. My husband and I adopted an Indian street dog, we call Frank. Frank is very amusing and takes up a lot of our attention.

What is your favorite word?

That is a difficult question for a writer. I like when I discover new words. For my current word-in-progress I bought a first edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which was published in 1828. I love looking up words and learning how they were used at that time. I know that I am not answering your question but I am afraid that I cannot name ONE favorite word.

 What is your favorite food?

I am a vegetarian and love Indian food. It is easy to be a vegetarian in India.

What was the most exciting thing that happened to you as a child?

I thought it was always very exciting to visit my grandmother who lived in East Germany. We had to cross a border patrol when we entered socialist East Germany. My grandmother’s farm, about an hour north of Berlin, was very rustic. She even had an outhouse. Visiting East Germany was like going back in time, as many streets and houses still had bullet holes from WWII battles and there were no flashy advertisements because of the socialist economy. My grandmother also kept her money in a cookie jar and when we came she handed us lots of East-Marks, the currency used in East-Germany, but there was not much to buy. I bought a collection of nicely bound editions of Marxist philosophers and I also kept a journal to write down the slogans posted on billboards, such as “Advance with the Freedom-Loving Soviet Union.” My father grew up in East Germany, and I wrote my first novel, THE DOG IN THE WOOD, based on his memories of the Red Army entering his village in the spring of 1945.

Thanks again to Monika Schröder!  We’re thrilled to hear about her new books and can’t wait to read them (and we wish her good luck on her move!).  For more information about Ms. Schröder and her books, check out her website.

We’re so excited to be able to share this interview with George Shannon, the author of Tippy Toe Chick Go, Busy in the Garden, and other wonderful books.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t really thank about being a writer until the 7th grade. But I did always want to be a pretender with an audience–a singer, dancer, puppeteer etc. One can look at writing as a combination of all of those.

When did you start writing?

I enjoy showing elementary students how I have several true answers for this question. I had my first story accepted for publication when I was 27 (1979). But, of course, I had been writing and submitting stories for many years. I made my first formal submission to a publisher when I was 16. My favorite definition of a writer is “someone who writes when he doesn’t have to.” The first time I began writing stories and poems on paper that were not homework I was 12 in the 7th grade.  I then tell students I was making up stories when I was 3 years old. They scoff! But you were, too, I explain. As toddlers we naturally make us stories as we play. We just don’t worry about writing them down on paper.

If you weren’t a writer, what would your job be?

If I wasn’t a writer and could have any job I would want to be a GOOD stage actor. On a more realistic or practical note, I would most enjoy a job that let me work with younger children.

How long did it take from finishing your first book to when it was actually published? 

The answer to this question can vary a great deal. In the early 1980s when I was doing my first books the time span between contract and publication was usually 16 months. These days it can be several years between contract and the publisher selecting an illustrator. Even then it take be a few more years before that illustrator has time to do the illustrations. These days five or six years between contract and publication is not uncommon.

Did you get many rejections?

I regularly get rejections. One reason might be quality of the manuscript. It certainly was in my early days. Now rejections are more a matter of taste and timing. Each editor has his/her likes and dislikes. Each publisher has subjects or genres they choose as their focus. An editor can even love a manuscript, but if that company already has a recent book with the same subject they won’t want to do another one so soon. I have had stories rejected by one editor and later published by a different editor at a different company.

Do you find it hard to stop revising?  Or do you have a definite ending point?

My reality is more likely to be stopping too soon! I often have a sense of “this is it” like the ping of good china. But I’ve learned to pause many days before I send off a new story.  Some times I look at the story again and still hear that ping. Some times I look at the story again and realize, “It’s not as done as I thought it was.”  

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

I do not like writing the first draft because it can get so scary. In my imagination each new story idea is wonderful! I love it, and feel sure it will take the world by storm. But as soon as I begin to write it down my worries start to nag. What if I can’t make it has great as I think it can be? What if nobody else likes it? What if I’ve forgotten how to write? Or I get stuck? Etc. Etc. Etc. But once I’ve gotten the first draft done things get to be fun. Now all I have to do is relax, play around, and make it slightly better with each revision. Getting better and better at doing something or making something is always engaging and exciting.

What made you decide to write for children, rather than adults or teens?

I have always focused on writing picture books. Like most teenagers who dream of writing, I wrote sad poems and short stories about how cruel the world could be. But the first story I submitted when I was 16 was a picture book. I love the brevity and compact storytelling. And even though I’m not an illustrator, I love all the different styles and approaches used in different picture books. 

What advice would you give young writers?

Read and write and write and write some more. Writer some more and read and read. Don’t worry about making the perfect book. Have fun as you write the story. Then have fun writing another story. I cannot control who will like my story or even if it will get published so why waste my time worrying about it. But I can control how I approach working on a story, and I want to spend that time enjoying myself. Most people write because they love words and stories AND love making stories or poems. Looking at my books that have been published is pleasant. But it’s like looking at photographs from an old vacation. Been there, done that. Working on a new book is like being on a great new vacation. It is happening! It’s where the adventure is. It is now! 

We use Tippy-Toe Chick, Go and Rabbit’s Gift at storytime regularly because they work so well. When you’re writing your picture books, do you consciously think of read-alouds or oral storytelling?  Or are you just concentrating on telling the story, no matter how it comes out?  

Yes! I am always thinking about how my picture book stories will sound when they are read aloud. My primary audience–young children–cannot read. I know that they will most likely experience my story through an adult’s voice so I want to give that adult all the guidance I can. That desire comes from my years of telling folktales in the oral tradition and reading picture books to groups of children for nearly 40 years. I just plain love the sound and rhythms of words and sentences. Some of the first essay/posts I put on my blog about picture books were about how significant sound is to the picture book, and how it can add so much information and pleasure to a story. http://georgeshannon.wordpress.com

White is for Blueberry is such a unique book—it’s not the sort of idea that would occur to everyone.  Where do you get your ideas? 

I spent a great deal of my childhood always trying to find THE right answer and please everyone.  When I grew up and discovered that most questions have many possible correct answers I began to celebrate. I’m still celebrating, and WHITE IS FOR BLUEBERRY is part of that celebration. In one way or another, many if not most of my books share the celebration. TIPPY-TOE CHICK GO celebrates a fresh approach to answering the problem of the dog. TRUE LIES celebrates the value of looking at words from more than more angle or context. CLIMBING KANSAS MOUNTAINS celebrates seeing something fresh in one’s daily world.

Your poetry books are doubly wonderful not just because of the imagery, but because of the cleverness and wordplay.  Have you always written poetry?  What inspires you to write a poem as opposed to a book?

As a teenager I wrote some rather dark, sad poems because I thought poems had to be sad to be important. Some people still thank that’s true. Ha! I prefer the perspective that poems come in all shapes, sizes and moods. I love wordplay and humor so those elements dominate my poems. I suspect I’ve also been influenced by my years of sharing rhymes and finger-plays with preschool children. I love sharing them with an echo pattern. I say a line. Then the children say it back to me. Sound and rhythm!

Do you have any subjects that you’re dying to write about, but haven’t yet?  Any new books that will be coming out soon?

I have some themes that I’d like to explore as stories, but they still feel too far away to discuss. I am in the lucky position of having four new picture books in production: WHO PUT THE COOKIES IN THE COOKIE JAR which will be illustrated by Julie Paschkis, HANDS SAY LOVE, TURKEY TOT, and THE WITCHES’ DOUBLE SPELLING BEE. I don’t yet know when they will actually be published. Meanwhile, I’m having fun working on new projects.

What is your favorite word?

If you had asked about my favorite sound I would have had an immediate answer. Laughter! Joyful laughter. Identifying a favorite word is much harder. Perhaps the word “joy.” Or, perhaps the word “again” as when a child so loves a story or verse they say, “Again!”

Who is your favorite author or book (children’s or adult)?

This answer continues to evolve, but there are some authors that always bring me pleasure: Arthur Marshall (adult humorist). M.B. Goffstein (picture books), and Arnold Lobel (Early Readers). My three favorite picture books as a child were (still are): RABBIT AND HIS FRIENDS by Richard Scarry (1953), THE BUNNY BOOK by Patsy Scarry. Illus. by Richard Scary (1955) and THE UNHAPPY HIPPOPOTAMUS by Nancy Moore. Illus. by Edward Leight (1957).

Do you have a favorite illustrator?  (Not necessarily for your own books, just in general).

I would have loved to have been illustrated or still be illustrated by Jean Charlot, Marc Simont, Crocket Johnson, and Helen Oxebbury. Oh, and Feodor Rojankovsky has been one of my very favorites since childhood.

What authors influenced you when you were first starting out?

I suppose my biggest influences were the picture book authors most satisfying to read to groups of children when I was a librarian in the 1970s.

What are your hobbies when you’re not writing?

I used to be a big gardener, but that is fading a bit. The last few years I’ve been taking acting and improv classes and love it! I also go through spells of drawing and sketching a lot.

Thanks again to George Shannon! If you’d like more information about him, his books, and his other work, please check out his website or his blog.

We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to interview Barry Deutch, the author of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, a wonderful book that just won the Sydney Taylor Award.

Have you always wanted to be a cartoonist?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a vet for years and years. That plan went away as soon as I took high school biology.

When did you start cartooning?

I think I first stated drawing comics sometime in junior high school.

If you weren’t a cartoonist, what would your job be?

I think I’d be a political writer, or maybe a lawyer. I really enjoy getting into arguments.

How long did it take from finishing your first book to when it was actually published?

Well, I had a contract for the book before it was finished. I turned in the final art for “Hereville” in March, I think, and it was published November 1st.

Did you get many rejections?

Yes, I did! A lot of companies turned down “Hereville.” But there were also several companies who were interested in it, happily.

Do you find it hard to stop revising? Or do you have a definite ending point?

Well, I have a deadline, so I have to be done by then. But I can keep on revising forever, if not for that. Just brushing up the dialog here, or redrawing a face to try and get a better expression there… But eventually you have to move on, because you get better by finishing projects and starting new projects, not through endless revisions. Some of the best advice I’ve heard for cartoonists came from the Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim: “If something’s done, don’t finish it.”

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

Plotting the book is very hard for me. That’s the closest I ever come to making something out of nothing. Once the book is plotted out, at least everything else is building on that. But I just gave you that answer because that’s where I am on my current book — I just finished plotting it, and I’m about to start writing and laying out pages. Once I’m well into doing the layouts, probably I’d say that’s the hardest part. Then, when I’m doing the drawings, that’s the hardest part.

What made you decide to write a graphic novel for children, rather than adults or teens?

I didn’t decide! I just tried to make a comic that I’d want to read, if I came across it on a bookshelf. I didn’t know it was a kid’s book until other people told me it was. In my heart, I think of it as “all-ages.”

What advice would you give young cartoonists?

Draw comics! Work really hard. Being paid for your work takes luck, but you can put yourself in a position where getting lucky is a lot more likely.

Where do you get your ideas? From real life? Or from things you read?

From both! I need real life to make things “feel” right to me, but I need reading to make more kinds of experiences and people available for me to draw on.

Where did you get your idea for Mirka, and for Hereville itself? It’s such a wonderfully realized world that I thought for certain you must be from a small Orthodox town yourself.

Thank you!

I wasn’t raised Orthodox. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea where my ideas come from. But so many people have asked me, I’ve acted like an archeologist, digging through my past to find the seeds of Mirka. In the past, I’ve left a couple of fairy-tale projects unfinished: A version of Rapunzel in which Prince Charming had a tough, Mirka-like sister, and an idea for a St George versus the dragon story, except with a Jewish protagonist who wouldn’t have been legally allowed to have a sword to fight the dragon with. And about 15 years ago I read the book Holy Days by Liz Harris, which contained a lot of really compelling stories of daily Hasidic life. I think all of those things went into creating Mirka and Hereville.

Of course, that’s not enough. Once I got started on Hereville, I had to do a lot of research. The book that was the most valuable to me was probably Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine, but there were many other useful books as well.

I love the character of the pig-what made you choose a pig and not some other animal?

In retrospect, it’s silly how long I spent trying to decide on the right animal to be in the Witch’s yard. Wolf? Huge housecat? Giant ferret? But then I thought of pig, and obviously a pig was the perfect antagonist, just because a pig is the iconic “non-kosher” animal that Jews avoid eating. And once I had that, the pig’s grumpy, over-the-top personality fell into place.

Do you have any subjects that you’re dying to write about, but haven’t yet? Any non-Hereville books that you have percolating away in your head?

I have a few non-Hereville ideas. But Hereville is also a very broad canvas — after all, hundreds of people live in the town of Hereville. So I think I could happily do many, many more Hereville books, and be able to fit in a huge range of stories and characters.

I’d be really eager to do a story with a positive, fat character as the protagonist. I was really disappointed when the TV show “Huge” was canceled.

What is your favorite word?

Wow, that’s tough! I don’t think I have one. I like newly coined words, like “retcon” and “yoink.”

Who is your favorite author or book (children’s or adult)?

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is my favorite prose novel; Guns, Germs and Steel is my favorite non-fiction. I’d have a very hard time picking just one (or just ten) favorite graphic novels, but at the moment I’m halfway through the second Castle Waiting book, by Linda Medley, and enjoying it immensely.

What cartoonists influenced you when you were first starting out?

Dave Sim is probably the largest influence on my work, even though politically he’s as far away from me as Cleveland is from Venus. Scott McCloud was also very influential, and has also been very kind to me personally. Jennifer Manley Lee is a good friend of mine who has influenced my work a lot, both with her webcomic Dicebox and with good advice. My friend Rachel Swirsky, the science fiction writer, has also had a lot of influence on my work. And Will Eisner was a big influence, both directly — I took a cartooning class from him — and through his work.

Do you have a favorite illustrator or graphic novel illustrator?

I have a hundred! In addition to the influences I just mentioned, I love Bill Watterson’s drawing (Calvin and Hobbes), Walt Kelly, and for more current cartoonists, Faith Erin Hicks, Kazu Kibuishi, Eleanor Davis, and… well, I could go on all day.

What are your hobbies when you’re not writing or drawing?

I have a blog which I don’t have nearly enough time for anymore! I’m a political junkie, and I constantly read about politics. I used to do role-playing games, but I don’t have anything going at the moment, unfortunately.

Can you give us a hint about what’s next for Mirka? Or at least tell us when the next book is projected to be out?

The next book will be out in fall of 2012, if all goes as planned. The story involves one of Mirka’s older sisters getting engaged. I can’t wait to draw it!

Thanks again to Barry Deutch! We can’t wait to read that new Hereville book–or, frankly, anything else he writes! For more information on Mirka and her world, visit the Hereville website. And, if any of you are interested in the books Barry mentioned, we do have nearly all of them at the library.

Sally Derby’s wonderful new book, Kyle’s Island, is very popular with our patrons, and we’re sure you’ll like it, too. We’re very happy to post this fascinating interview we recently conducted with her.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? When did you start writing?

If you don’t mind, I’m going to answer questions one and two together. I’d say I’ve always been a writer, ever since I learned how to write words and sentences. I remember in second grade skipping all the way home on the day my teacher told me that a little poem I’d written would be printed in the school paper. It went, “There’s a little tiny place I know, a little wooded hollow. It has a carpet of violets so fresh and so blue, and the morning grass is wet with dew.” Unfortunately, the principal didn’t believe I could have written it. She called me to her office and questioned me so sternly I ran home crying even though the school day wasn’t over. My mother, I remember, took me by the hand, marched me back to the school, and in my presence gave the principal a piece of her mind, which was even more distressing to me. It’s a wonder I didn’t give up writing then and there.

But yes, I’ve always wanted to be a published writer. If I had been braver, I might have been published sooner, but every time I sent something out and got a rejection slip back I was so discouraged I didn’t try again for years. And in those days I never sent anything elsewhere. To me, a rejection slip said, “This is no good.” How foolish I was.

If you weren’t a writer, what would your job be?

I’ve always wanted to be a philanthropist, but I’ve never known how to make enough money to be one. So I just have fun choosing and giving presents (especially books) to people I love.

How long did it take from finishing your first book to when it was actually published?

Oh, my, that was a long time ago! I know I spent about four years sending the manuscript to various publishers until Four Winds Publishers bought it, and then it took me six months or so to cut and revise it the way the editor suggested. And then came the lonnnng three years of waiting for the artist to do the illustrations, so that makes about seven and a half years, right? The only way to live through that long a wait is by writing other stories in the meantime!

Did you get many rejections?

I get lots and lots of rejections; I have never met a writer who doesn’t, even some of the best writers I know. Realistically, I know I can’t expect that everything I write will be published, but I can’t stop trying to make that happen. Sometimes I wonder if editors don’t get tired of seeing my name and return address on envelopes. (If I didn’t spend so much money on postage, maybe I’d save enough to be a philanthropist after all.)

Do you find it hard to stop revising? Or do you have a definite ending point?

It’s very hard for me to stop revising. Sometimes when I reread one of my published books, I’d like to begin revising it again. I guess my first ending point comes when I am so excited about sending the story to an editor that I can’t wait to print it out and put it in the mail.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

For me the hardest part is letting my characters behave badly sometimes, just as it’s hard for me to let bad things happen to them. In Kyle’s Island, when Kyle told Zach he couldn’t stay on the island that night, I wanted Kyle to see right away how mean that was, how he was hurting Zach, but I knew he couldn’t see that right away, that he’d have to realize it later and be ashamed of himself. Still, I kept trying to write it the other way until I realized that it just wouldn’t work, that Kyle had to learn the hard way.

Do you have any subjects that you’re dying to write about, but haven’t yet?

I’d love to write a book about the year I spent living in a small cottage with a thatched roof and a tidy garden in the south of England. But first I have to get a small cottage in England and then I have to learn how to tell flowers from weeds. And I think my passport has expired too.

What made you decide to write books for children, rather than adults or teens?

How many adults do you know who ever love a book enough to read it five or six times? Children will do that. I want to write a book that a boy or girl will love that much, a book like Sylvia Waugh’s The Mennyms and its sequels.

What advice would you give young writers?

Practical advice: After you have written something, read it out loud before you show it to anyone else. Did you really write what you think you wrote?
Best advice: Keep learning, keep reading, keep writing, never give up. Persist, persist, persist.

Where do you get your ideas? From real life? Or from things you read?

Ideas come from everywhere, I think. Everything I’ve seen or heard, every person I’ve known, every scrap of conversation, funny newspaper article—when I write those things will find their way into my writing when I need them—changed, exaggerated, expanded—the same, and yet completely different. For the most part I won’t have the faintest idea whence or how a detail has arrived; I’m just grateful it happens.

Did your family have a cabin on a lake when you were growing up or when you were raising your children?

The cottage in Kyle’s Island is the cottage my grandparents owned when I was growing up. My mother inherited it when Grandma died, and a few years later Mom and Dad sold it But it was in the family long enough for my older boys to remember staying in it. I understand it was torn down some years ago. But I can still go there in memory and see it clearly in every detail just as I describe it in the book.

How long did it take you to write Kyle’s Island?

It’s almost impossible to say how long it took to write a book. When did I begin? When I began writing it in my head? When I opened a notebook and wrote the first sentence? And when did I finish? After the first draft? Or the tenth? Do I count only the time I spent writing, or do I include weeks when I was too busy to work on it but it was in my thoughts as I went on with the rest of my life? My best guess is that it took about two years off and on.

What is your favorite word?

Wopperjawed. I can’t even find it in the dictionary to check the spelling, but I know it’s a word because my great-grandmother used to say it. It means crooked, misaligned. I also like thingamajig; such a useful word! And then there’s plethora. Isn’t that fun to say? And snore and billow, and cobblestones, and drowsy and bell and tintinnabulation. Can you tell I like words? But the best words of all are “Once upon a time. . .”

Who is your favorite author or book (children’s or adult)?

I’d have to pick E.B. White. Besides Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and Trumpet of the Swan, which are primarily for children, he wrote beautiful, funny, and sad essays for adults too.

What authors influenced you when you were first starting out?

Probably Cicero, who wrote in Latin a long time ago. In college I translated so many of his essays that I knew how to put together sentences with several clauses that were assembled logically and clearly. Obviously not a good role-model for someone who is trying to write picture books. Poets make better models for picture-book writers.

Your picture books have very different illustrative styles. Do you get to have any input when it comes to choosing an illustrator or making any suggestions about the pictures?

I have never had much input on the selection of editors, and I have seldom seen the art in its early stages. Fortunately, I have had editors who have made excellent selections for me. I love the artwork in all of my books except one, and I’ll never tell you which book that is.

Do you have a favorite illustrator?

I have a whole list of favorites. I could spend all day dithering if I had to pick just one. I love the illustrations in children’s books. When I was little, I used to hate illustrations because they never matched the images the author had put in my mind. But somehow, over the years, I lost the ability to “see” what the author was writing. I don’t know how that happened

How do you find time to write having raised 6 children and 6 foster children?

Every writer I know has trouble finding enough time to write. These days my writing time is between five and eight in the morning. Later in the day I will revise or tend to the business part of writing, but five to eight is my “alone” time, the time when new ideas and thoughts can come. Still, if I don’t watch myself, the rest of life will encroach. I’ll catch myself reading my email, or going on the internet, or picking up the newspaper. This is most likely to happen when I’m between books or when I’m “stuck” in what I’m writing and don’t know how to move ahead

What are your hobbies when you’re not writing?

Let’s see—reading, watching the birds at the feeder outside my window, reading, working crossword puzzles, walking in the park, reading, swimming, playing bridge, reading….did you notice that cooking is not on the list? I used to cook. I cooked a lot. I cooked for a long time. These days my husband cooks.

Thank you for your questions, and thank you for giving me this opportunity to think about what I have been and am still doing. It’s a privilege to be able to write for children, and I am so grateful to able to do it. Happy reading!

Thank YOU to Sally Derby–what fabulous answers! If you’d like to know more about Ms. Derby or her books, check out her website sallyderby.com.

If you read our review of the book The Billionaire’s Curse, you know how much we like Richard Newsome’s writing. I’m sure you’ll be just as excited as we are to be able to read an interview with him!

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always enjoyed writing. I was lucky to grow up in a reading house. There were heaps of books and magazines and a good local library in town. English was always my favourite subject at school and I was lucky to have a string of excellent teachers who kept me interested and challenged.

When did you start writing?

I wrote my first ‘book’ as an English assignment in grade 8. My teacher, Mr Morse, gave everyone an exercise book and a deadline. We were to fill that book with a story and hand it in at the end of the year. I loved that challenge and found myself picking up the book and adding bits to the story during any spare moment I had. I think it got a pretty good grade — I’d love to re-read it now, just to see what my 12-year-old self was like as a writer!

If you weren’t a writer, what would your job be?

My first job was as a journalist on my local newspaper. And there can be no better grounding for a want-to-be novelist than working as a cadet reporter. You get to see and experience so much real world activity that the average Joe on the street doesn’t get to see. So I guess if the whole novel writing thing falls in a hole, I can go back to writing real stuff. Or open a pizza kitchen. I make a very good pizza.

How long did it take from finishing your first book to when it was actually published? Did you get many rejections?

From the first day I started writing my book, to seeing it on a bookstore shelf took … ten years! Eight of those years were spent doing the actual writing, mostly in my spare time. But I stuck at it and finally got it done. The book was rejected by about 13 literary agents, until I saw an article about a publisher running a competition to find new children’s and Young Adult writers. I entered, won the prize and The Billionaire’s Curse has now been sold into nine countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Do you find it hard to stop revising? Or do you have a definite ending point?

I used to work with a guy who was a basketball fanatic. His favourite saying was: ‘At some point, you’re going to have to pull up and shoot.’ I must have written and re-writen the first chapter 20 times. When you’re starting out, the temptation is to finesse everything to the nth degree. I’m now a bit easier on myself, and leave the finessing to the editing stage. And now I’m working to a deadline, as my publisher wants the next book in the series by Christmas.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

The opening line is a killer. It can stop you stone dead. I now start at the second paragraph and write the opener a bit later on, otherwise I’d never get underway.

What inspired The Billionaire’s Curse and other books in the series? Was it classic mystery stories (for the locked room mystery of the diamond theft at the museum) and/or adventures like the Indiana Jones movies (for the booby-trapped crypt).

It started out as a bedtime story I was making up for my kids, then it got a bit out of control. I’ve always loved the murder mystery genre. My grandmother was a big Agatha Christie fan and the only reading at Christmas holidays at her house was old yellowed paperbacks of Agatha Christie. Finding the killer was always a big thrill. Even in algebra lessons at school, I’d make x the murderer and set about identifying him. As for the adventure stuff, I put that in there to keep me amused. I really wrote the book as a gift to my 11-year-old self.

Do you have any subjects that you’re dying to write about, but haven’t yet?

I have a folder full of ideas for future books. I just need the discipline to do it all a bit faster.

What advice would you give young writers?

Go for it. Never think you’re too young or haven’t got enough experience. The best advice is to read widely and critically. Get a library card. Make the librarian your best friend. Take their suggestions and try new books that you might not naturally pick up from the shelf. Don’t just read for the story — think why the writer has structured the story the way they have; why they’ve taken a particular character’s point of view. Not much appears in a book by accident. Try to get behind the writer’s thinking.

What is your favorite word?

Hmm. This week it’s ‘funicular’. Last week it was ‘extrapolate’.

Can you tell us anything about the sequel to Billionaire’s Curse?

Here’s what the blurb says: Gerald, Sam and Ruby fly to India in Gerald’s private jet for a holiday at the home of Alisha Gupta, looking forward to getting away from the exhausting business of stolen gems, bejewelled caskets, thieves and bumbling police officers. But their holiday soon turns to a desperate quest to outwit a deadly cult, and to beat Mason Green to the Emerald Casket in a fast-paced race against time and tide. You can find a sneak peek chapter here

Who is your favorite author or book (children’s or adult)

Hard to pick one out, but I am a big fan of Evelyn Waugh for his satire of England ‘between the wars’. With kids books, it is impossible to go past Roald Dahl. No one has come within the same zip code as him when it comes to writing for kids.

What authors influenced you when you were first starting out?

I guess Agatha Christie was there in the back of my head, but I didn’t consciously lean on any one author. I occasionally pulled a book from the shelves just to see how a proper writer might structure a dialogue or a scene, but otherwise I was making it up as I went along.

What are your hobbies when you’re not writing?

I used to do a bit of running until my right knee exploded one day. But as a stay at home dad with three kids, there’s not a lot of spare time for hobbies, sadly. Writing used to be my hobby. Now it’s my job. Which is pretty cool. Now I need to find another hobby.

Thank you so much to Richard Newsome! And now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go read that sneak peak chapter . . . .

Helen Stringer is the author of the wonderful new fantasy novel Spellbinder. We’re very excited to share her answers to our questions about writing — and about her newest book!

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always wanted to tell stories. I used to tell endless stories to my sister at night after we’d gone to bed. They’d go on and on and on until she fell asleep. I moved on to putting on plays, making short films and writing screenplays, but it was always about the stories.

When did you start writing?

I’ve been writing since I was small, though I rarely finished anything. I’ve got boxes and boxes of good beginnings, though!

If you weren’t a writer, what your job be?

That’s a hard one. Writing doesn’t seem like a job, really, but I suppose I’d want to be in the film or television industries. It really doesn’t matter much, though – when I worked in an office I used to entertain myself by making all my memos funny. Or just making them up.

How long did it take from starting to write to having the book published? Did you get many rejections?

Most of the rejections came when I was trying to find an agent (you have to have an agent before you can get a publisher. Most people were really nice and made comments and suggestions, nearly all of which were very good. Each time I got a rejection, I’d think about what they said and then go back and do another rewrite. It’s easy to say that people “just don’t get” things that you write, but if they’re not getting it, it’s probably because you’re not making it clear enough. Once I found my wonderful agent, Kristin, we did a few more rewrites and then sent it out to publishers…and they liked it!

Do you find it hard to stop editing/revising, or do you have a definite ending point?

I always THINK I have a definite ending point…until other people read it (grin). Usually, I write things and then leave them for a little bit before I revise them. I find it’s helpful to get a little distance. Then I ask family and friends to read them. If they have a lot of questions abut the story, I know it isn’t right yet, so I go back to work. I’m not the sort of person who can’t stop tinkering, though – that kind of thing could drive you crazy. Also, it’s a bit like being in a band: you can practice all you want, but you’ll never know if your songs are any good until you get on a stage and play for an audience.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

The beginning is always the most difficult for me, but once I’m happy with the first few chapters the whole thing sort of takes off and writes itself.

How do you get plot ideas? Are you inspired by incidents from your friends’ lives? From your own childhood?

I get ideas from all sorts of places: things I’ve read, places I’ve been, something someone says. I’ve always loved history and read a lot of history books, not so much the ones about the major people and events, but the kind that tell us more about the ways that ordinary people lived. You often stumble across absolutely fantastic stories that have been all but forgotten. For example, in the early 1800s an elderly American soldier convinced Napoleon to give him a ship and some soldiers so that he could try to invade England from the west (the idea was that Napoleon would invade from the east at the same time). The soldiers landed on a beach near a small fishing town in Wales, but everything went wrong. Far from meekly surrendering, the women of the village went after the soldiers and imprisoned them in town, then (while the men were negotiating with the would-be-invaders) two girls fell in love with a couple of the French officers, broke them out of jail, stole a yacht belonging to a nobleman and ran away to France where they got married and lived happily ever after. How great is that? It’s like a Jane Austen action movie!

I use a lot of history and mythology in my stories, but I’m also inspired by places that I visit and some things from my own childhood. Dulworth’s, the school in Spellbinder, is based on Belvedere in Liverpool, where I went to school — right down to the Victorian houses, the attic, and the buzzers outside Miss Parker’s office.

Do you have any subjects that you’ve always wanted to write about, but haven’t?

Lots!

What advice would you give to young writers?

The main thing, obviously, is to just write. If you have an idea, write it down. It doesn’t really matter if you finish it or not, just write what you can and then put it away somewhere. You might never look at it again, or you might look at it one day and suddenly know how to finish it. I would never have written Spellbinder if I hadn’t stumbled across a short story that I wrote years and years ago. It was called “The House with Four Turrets and Five Thousand Windows” and was about a boy who lived in a house that was so big he’d lost his father and the poor girl from the town who helped him. I read it and thought, “Huh. Not bad. I know, I’ll write some more short stories about other people who live in the same town.” I thought I’d start with a girl who could see ghosts – and she turned out to be Belladonna Johnson.

The other thing is to read. When you read you absorb so much, not just the story. You drink in words and ideas and ways of saying things. Without even realizing it, you learn to recognize the different styles that different writers have and as you begin writing you’ll probably find yourself adopting the style of your favorite author. That doesn’t matter – just keep doing it and eventually your own voice will break through. For a long time I would try to write in what I thought was a “proper” book kind of way, which took forever and was no fun at all. Now I tend to write the way that I talk, as if I was telling someone a story, and that makes it so much more enjoyable for me because telling stories is what is really fun.

And, of course, let other people read what you write. You can give it to them and let them read it, or read it out. Reading stories out loud to people can be a great help, because you can see right away what is working and what is not. If you don’t like reading things out loud, find a friend who is good at reading and ask them to do it for you – you’ll probably discover lots of things you didn’t even realize were there.

Can you tell us anything about the sequel to Spellbinder? Or any other books you’re planning for the future?

Funny you should ask! I just finished the sequel. It’s called “The Queen of the Abyss” and continues the story as Belladonna and Steve meet the last Paladin, who gives them a map and a dire warning, but before they can do anything about it, Belladonna is taken into care by the authorities (who have just discovered she’s living in an empty house). Her new foster parents are not what they seem, however, and Belladonna, Steve and Elsie must travel to the Other Side to find the ruler of the dead, the mysterious Queen of the Abyss.

Who is your favorite author or book?

My favorite children’s book author is Alan Garner. A lot of people in this country don’t seem to have heard of him, but I strongly recommend his books! The best one to start with is probably “The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.” (I know, it’s a strange word and I was never quite sure I was pronouncing it properly until I happened to see him interviewed on television about two years ago. He pronounced it Brizzing-ah-men, which was what I’d thought all along!) I also like Philip Pullman and the “Half Magic” books by Edward Eager, which were out of print for years but are now back (hooray!).

What are your hobbies when you aren’t writing?

I really love cooking and am very interested in the history of food – after all, if “we are what we eat” then what people in past centuries ate should tell us a lot about them. I also collect old newspapers and magazines (pre-1890), which are also great fun to read – some of the stories are absolutely bloodcurdling. And, of course, I watch a simply disgraceful amount of television.

Thank you so much to Helen Stringer! Maybe if we beg and plead, she’ll write that Jane Austen Action Movie.
For more information about her and her books, visit her website.

Deborah Heiligman is the author of numerous picture books, such as Fun Dog, Sun Dog, and non-fiction books, like the National Book Award nominee Charles and Emma: the Darwin’s Leap of Faith. We are extremely excited to be able to post this interview with her.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? When did you start writing?

When I was growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the 1960s and 70s, authors didn’t come into schools or visit libraries, and so I didn’t know that real people became writers. I thought writers were either old men with really long gray beards or people who were rich and lived in mansions, like movie stars. So I didn’t think that I could ever grow up to be a real author. But I always loved writing, and was told I was good at it. It was just easy for me, most of the time. I was one of those kids who LIKED to write school reports! If I look back I think I can see the first inkling that I might grow up to do this, although I didn’t know it at the time for sure. We had to write a report on how the digestive system worked. So I did my research and then I wrote the report from the point of view of a chocolate chip cookie. I made a round cover out of brown construction paper, drew black chocolate chips on it, and then cut out a bite. I hope I got an A, but I don’t remember. I guess it was satisfying enough to have written it that way!

If you weren’t a writer, what would your job be?

Either a movie star or Queen of the World. O.K., you mean really? Probably a social worker (which is what I almost became), or another job in which I could help people directly. I’d say teacher or a school librarian, but I would not be very good at that for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I would find it very hard to make up lessons plans. I would just want to go in and play with the kids, see what happened. I’d get fired, wouldn’t I? Maybe I could be a librarian at a public library, though. I could see doing that for sure. Maybe I could be a librarian AND a movie star? I think I’ll stick with writing and visiting children in schools and libraries.

How long did it take from starting to write to having your first book published? Did you get many rejections?

I had beginner’s luck. I had already been writing for children for a few years. My second job after college was working at Scholastic News, the classroom newspapers. So although writing books is quite different that writing short articles, Scholastic News was great training ground. So I did have some experience writing for kids. But I knew I wanted to write children’s books after I had my first son. He LOVED, LOVED, LOVED to be read to, and we spent much of our day doing that. So one day I took a nap and woke up with an idea. INTO THE NIGHT, my first book, was bought by the second editor who saw it. After that I had a bunch of rejections, though. I made a file labeled, “promising rejections.” I still have it.

Do you find it hard to stop editing/revising, or do you have a definite ending point?

Yes and yes. I hate to let a book go. But then either I have a deadline and the editor says, “give it to me now!” and so I do, or I just can’t stand working on the book any more because I know that I’m not making progress and I send it in and ask for help. But I had a lot of trouble letting go of Charles and Emma. When I had to send in my first full draft I was so scared, I called my agent on his cell phone, and said, “Will you hold my hand while I hit send?” And he said, “Deborah, I’m in the doctor’s office. I’m on the examining room table. I don’t have any clothes on.” And I said, “O.K.. but could you hold my hand while I hit send?”

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

The hardest part is figuring out how to tell the story. Which really only happens when you figure out what the story is. So with Charles and Emma, the story was about their marriage. Once I really got that, then I knew how to write the book.

As someone who writes fiction, non-fiction, easy readers, picture books, do you have a favorite type of book to write?

I love writing all kinds of books—fiction, non-fiction, long, short, for big kids and little kids. It may not be the best thing for my career—the Powers that Be like branding and all that. But it is the best thing for me and my work satisfaction to write all kinds of books on all kinds of topics.

How do you get ideas for a book—do you come up with everything yourself, are you assigned topics by an editor, or does it change from book to book?

I come up with some ideas, and sometimes editors come to me with ideas. Very often it’s a give and take. And yes, it does vary from book to book. I have a new book coming out in a few years about the mathematician Paul Erdos. That one came about because both of my sons came home from school talking about him. I passed calculus by the skin of my teeth, so for me to write a book about a mathematician is kind of a miracle.

It seems like everyone has written about Charles Darwin over the past few years—some in picture books, some in fictionalized novels, some in comic book form, even. Where did you get the idea for Charles and Emma—for writing it as a joint biography of the two of them, and exploring what they meant and did for each other?

The book really is a love letter to my husband, Jonathan Weiner. When I first met Jon, I had just graduated from college with a major in religious studies. He was a young science writer. We started talking immediately—about science and religion and writing and pretty much everything else—and we haven’t stopped talking since. One day, about eight years ago, Jon said to me, “You know, Charles Darwin’s wife was religious.” I looked at him. He continued, “And they loved each other very much. She was afraid he would go to hell and they wouldn’t be together for eternity.” If bells had chimed right then or fireworks had exploded in the sky above us at that moment, I would not have been surprised. I knew right then I had a book to write. The more I thought about it, and researched their life together, the more I knew that Charles’s relationship with Emma was central to his work. I was thrilled to find out that this was a story that really had never been told.

What do you think Charles and Emma Darwin would be like if they lived today—do you think they would be a big celebrity couple, almost pop-culture figures, or quiet, little-noticed academics?

What a great question! I think they’d probably be a lot like they were then. They were homebodies, especially Charles. But they loved people and had lots of visitors all the time, especially after he was famous. I imagine they’d have someone on their staff, though, who was their representative out in the world, just like Thomas Huxley and others were back then. I’m sure they’d have someone on Twitter for them. I’d guess their son Frank would tweet for Charles and their daughter Etty would tweet for Emma. Who knows? Maybe Emma would do all the tweeting. She was awfully witty and smart. I bet she could say brilliant things in 140 characters or less.

Did you like the Darwins that you learned about? Would you invite them over for dinner, say?

I would love to have them over for dinner! What would I make? You know how Charles was so sick all the time? Some people say it was lactose intolerance. And I don’t eat meat, and don’t like to cook it. So I’d have to think of something for all of us. I think it might take me a little while to “get” Emma—they say she could appear stern at first. But she was so brilliant and incisive; we’d probably talk about books and get on great. And Charles would make us laugh. Oh, boy, would Charles and my husband have a lot to talk about. I wish we really could have them over for dinner! Could you help me arrange that, please?

Did you learn anything about the Darwins that surprised you?

I knew very little about them when I started researching the book. So in the beginning everything surprised me! It surprised me that Charles was athletic and fit when he was young, because I had heard that he was so sick as an adult. It also surprised me that Emma was not sentimental (that’s what her daughter said), mostly because I am, and I had started to identify greatly with her. But now I feel like I know them so well, nothing surprises me.

Charles and Emma is being cataloged in libraries as a Young Adult biography, which is a pretty unusual area (many YA sections don’t collect non-fiction). Did you plan to write the book for this age-group all along, or did it start out as a children’s book?

I’ve always wanted to write it for teenagers. I spent a few days thinking about whether I “should” do it for adults, and I decided that I was going to write the book I wanted to write, and that was a book for teenagers. Fortunately two things have happened: adults are reading it as well (I get emails from adults all the time, one of my favorite fan letters was from an 87-year-old woman); and now more people ARE writing non-fiction for YA and there’s even a new ALA award, the YALSA award for excellence in non-fiction! So I’m going to write another YA non-fiction book!

Are you working on a new book right now? If so, can you tell us anything about it? Do you have any cool plot ideas for the future?

Aha! I just answered that. But I’m not ready to talk about my new non-fiction idea, though. Too new… I’m also working on a YA novel. But ditto there. Sorry.

Do you have any subjects (fiction or non-fiction) that you’ve always wanted to write about, but haven’t?

Yes. I have a drawer full of ideas, and computer files of ideas, and I get new ideas all the time. What I write next depends on what starts pulling at me the hardest.

What advice would you give to young writers?

Read. Read voraciously and widely. Read stuff you like. Read stuff you don’t like. Read classics. Read “junk.” Read, read, read. And also: ask lots of questions, keep your eyes and ears open, and lastly, but most importantly, live. And love.

Who is YOUR favorite author or book?

My favorite author is my husband, Jonathan Weiner. And he didn’t make me say that. But it’s a lot harder to choose a favorite book. I have so many. Can I please not answer this question? Thank you.

What are your hobbies when you aren’t writing?

I read, hang out with my family and friends, run, play squash, cook, eat, walk in New York City, travel, and I am still looking for that one thing that could be called a real hobby.

Thank you SO very much to Deborah Heiligman for her wonderful interview! If you’d like to know more about her, you can visit her website, or her blog, or check out I.N.K.: Interesting Non-fiction for Kids, a blog written by a number of non-fiction children’s authors. we can’t wait to see what new books she has in store!

Rosanne Parry is the author of the board book Daddy’s Home, and the recently reviewed novel Heart of a Shepherd, which explored the impact of a deployed military reserve unit on a rural area in Oregon. We’re happy to honor Veteran’s Day with an interview with this wonderful author.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? When did you start writing?
If you weren’t a writer, what would your job be?

I actually hated writing as a child. I had terrible handwriting and was a poor speller, so while I’ve always loved making up stories, it didn’t occur to me to write them down until I was in my 30s. I love to teach and still do it part-time. I’m sure I’d teach full time if I wasn’t a writer. Of course, my initial career plan was to become a circus flyer–still working on that.

How long did it take from starting to write to having your book published? Did you get many rejections?

Every writer gets rejections, not just new writers. Even writers with great reviews and best sellers get rejections. I never counted mine, and now that I have an agent I don’t even hear about them.

HEART OF A SHEPHERD was written over several years because I set it aside and worked on other stories when I got stuck. However, if you put together all the months that I worked on the first draft it would be about a year. I revised it with my critique group over ten months. My editor acquired it in September of 2006 and it came out in January of 2009.

Do you find it hard to stop editing/revising, or do you have a definite ending point?
For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

Working on my own, I could revise a piece endlessly. One thing I appreciate about my editor is that he is very focused about revisions. He let’s me know which parts of the story are working well and should be left alone and which parts need to be refined. By the time we got to our third revision I could see that I’d accomplished with the book what I’d hoped to, which made it much easier to let the story go on to copy editing and the rest of the process of turning it into a real book.

The hardest part? Waiting. I finished my edits on HEART OF A SHEPHERD almost a year before it was available in stores. I’m going to wrap up the revisions of my next novel SECOND FIDDLE by the end of the year, and it will come out in the spring of 2011.

I think I gleaned from your author’s note that you don’t live in the area portrayed in the book—what made you decide to write about that area?

I love eastern Oregon. It’s a stunning and spare and wild landscape. The people who live there are remarkable. Malheur County, where my story is set, is the size of Massechusetts. It has 30,000 residents, and yes, wildfire is as much a part of the landscape as mining and cattle ranching. I think my editor chose the book in part for the uniqueness of the setting. There aren’t many books set in the Great Basin about the lives of ranchers. Although if you enjoyed HEART OF A SHEPHERD, you might enjoy BULL RIDER by Suzanne Morgan Williams which is set just one county south in Nevada.

The religious aspect of Brother’s life is so homogenously woven into the story, which is somewhat unusual in modern children’s fiction. Was this something that you planned to do on purpose, or did it just develop by itself?

I didn’t set out to write a book with religion in it, but when I chose Malhuer County as my setting it was only honest to have the majority of my cast of characters devout Catholics. This area of Oregon was settled primarily by Irish and Basques for whom Catholicism is not just their faith but part of their cultural identification. Members of the military are also more church going than the general population, so it would have been lie of sorts to leave Brother’s spiritual life out of the book. It is a bit unusual to have a character be so frank about his faith in a childen’s novel though not unprecedented. Madeleine L’Engle’s work is infused with spirituality. Judy Blume’s ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT’S ME, MARGARET is a classic and the recent MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X Stork did a great job of addressing faith.

The relationships between the boys and their grandfather are so believable—did you have a close relationship with your grandparents or older relatives?

My grandfather lived with me when I was growing up although he was nothing like Grandpa Alderman. My own parents live near me and are a wonderful presence in my children’s lives. I can’t imagine parenting without them.

Do you have any family members or friends who are in the military?

Yes, many. My husband is a veteran of Desert Storm and has been out of the Army for many years, but I know many people who serve in the armed forces. Oregon has recently deployed the largest group of Oregan Guardsmen in 50 years, so many of the issues that unfolded in the book are alive in my community and many others.

What advice would you give to young writers?

If you love to write, write lots of things. Try all different kinds of stories. Don’t worry about finishing a story. If you get stuck set it aside and come back to it. If it’s just not fun anymore, start something new that is fun. But find a safe place to keep all your drafts, even the ones you don’t like. You might want to come back and work on them some day.

Are you working on a new book right now? If so, can you tell us anything about it? Do you have any cool plot ideas for the future?

I have a million cool story ideas, both for novels and picture books. While I’m waiting on my next revision letter I’ve been working on picture book ideas–one about St Patrick’s Day and a few about grandparents. My debut picture book, DADDY’S HOME was published by Candy Cane Press, and I’m hoping to work with them again.

I’m thrilled to be working with my Random House editor again on a new novel. This one is called SECOND FIDDLE. It’s about three girl musicians who live in Berlin in 1990 just as the Berlin Wall is coming down. It’s a great adventure story with a little bit of political intrigue and a lot of music and a very spontaneous trip to Paris. It has been fun fun fun to write! The story got me back to playing the violin, which I did when I was a kid and loved. I think it’s been fun for my editor, too, because he’s also a musician.

Who is YOUR favorite author or book?

Golly, do I have to pick one? This year my favorite authors are my fellow classmates at the Class of 2K9– a group of middle grade and YA authors with debut novels this year. You can visit all of us at our website. I have a list of my favorite books when I was a kid on my website, and I keep track of new books as I read them on my goodreads account.

What are your hobbies when you aren’t writing?

I like to dance and hike and ride my bike. I don’t get to do these very often, but I also love to ski and sail. Oregon is a beautiful place and Portland is a park-filled city so really anything that gets me outside is a good thing.

Thanks again to Rosanne Parry! We’re so happy that she was willing to answer our interview questions — especially since she had to take time away from revising her book-in-progress.

Marfe Ferguson Delano is the author of numerous nonfiction books, including Helen’s Eyes: A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller’s Teacher, and Earth in the Hot Seat: Bulletins from a Warming World. We’re very excited to share her answers to our interview questions.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

When I was a kid, a writer was one of the things I wanted to be. I also pictured myself as a concert pianist, as a French teacher, and as a brilliant criminal defense attorney, like the ones I saw on TV who always proved in the nick of time that their falsely accused clients were innocent.

When did you start writing?

I wrote and illustrated my first picture book when I was in sixth grade, for a class assignment. My story was about a boy who built his own rocket and zoomed to a faraway planet, where he had adventures with strange creatures. Some of my classmates and I got to share our books with a first-grade class. I can still remember how my heart thumped when I stood in front of the little kids and read my book to them, and the thrill I felt when their eyes widened at the scary parts and they laughed at the funny parts.

I began writing professionally about 25 years ago, selling recipe columns to a magazine called “Working Mother.” Cooking and testing recipes and then writing them up was great fun, although I think I probably spent more money on ingredients than I was paid for the articles. A few years later I took a job as a copy editor with Time-Life Books, and I eventually began writing for them on topics ranging from vegetable cookery to the Civil War to UFOs. That helped me learn to be versatile, a valuable skill for a children’s book writer, or any writer for that matter.

If you weren’t a writer, what your job be?

I’ve worked as an editor before, so I might do that again, in part because it would help me stay connected with the many wonderful and creative people in the children’s book world. But I think I might also like to teach. I’ve recently become a volunteer ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher for adults, and I really enjoy the interaction with the students, who come from all over the world. Sometimes I fantasize about opening a cozy family diner that would only serve breakfast and lunch. I would make delicious soups and stews and become friends with all the customers. Maybe I’d compile my recipes into a cookbook, and then…oh wait, I’m back to writing.

How long did it take from starting to write to having the book published? Did you get many rejections?

About 12 years ago I was lucky enough to be asked to write my first children’s book by an editor at National Geographic, who had learned about my work from another editor at Time-Life. Called Sky, that book was all about the weather and the atmosphere. It was part of a series called Nature Library, and it was the first of many series-type nonfiction books that National Geographic hired me to write. Eventually I began proposing my own book ideas to my editor there, some of which she’s taken on and some of which she’s declined. She’s also given me some great ideas for books, including Helen’s Eyes and Earth in the Hot Seat. It usually takes at least a year and a half from the time I start my research for a book to the time that published books are available.

Do you find it hard to stop editing/revising, or do you have a definite ending point?

I start editing the minute I start typing, which makes it darn difficult to finish a sentence, much less a paragraph. Then I go back and revise the paragraph. The whole process starts again with the first sentence of the second paragraph–and then I might go back and revise the first paragraph again, and so on. As you can imagine, this nonstop editing approach makes writing a very slow business for me. I’ve tried and tried to let the words flow, to just get my ideas down in a crummy first draft, as so many writing teachers rightly recommend. But that annoying editor inside of me refuses to let go. Because of this I write fewer full-length drafts than many other writers I know. One trick I’ve started playing with myself, however, is to exceed the length I’m aiming for by at least 30 percent. Then I go back and prune the manuscript down to size.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a book?

Moving on from the research to actually writing the book is the most difficult part for me. Forcing myself to tackle the first chapter is always my biggest challenge, especially when there are so many other tempting things to do, like going for a bike ride by the river…or reading the newspaper…or making soup…or doing more research.

I love to do the research for a book. For Exploring Caves, I got to explore a wild cave in northwest Georgia with two expert cavers. To gather information for Inventing the Future, I went to Thomas Edison’s laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. I went to Helen Keller’s birthplace in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and to the Perkins School for the Blind History Museum in Watertown, Massachusetts, to research Helen’s Eyes, my biography of Annie Sullivan. Sometimes I go to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which isn’t far from my home. But I often go no farther than than my wonderful local public library, which I can bike to. And of course I can do internet research at home.

I love to keep digging for information, especially when I’m working on a biography. The more I learn about someone, the closer I feel to him or her personally, and this keeps me going. Author Deborah Heiligman describes this as “falling in love with dead people.” Annie Sullivan really crawled under my skin–in fact she pestered me. During a low point while I was working on Helen’s Eyes, I considered requesting that the release date of the book be pushed forward a year to give me more time to write the manuscript. And then when I was on my walk one morning, a very impatient voice broke into my thoughts. The voice was female, with a light Irish accent, and it upbraided me for being such a pitiful procrastinator: “Sure, if you’ll stop lingering over the newspaper every morning for hours wasting time on things you don’t even remember reading about later, then you’ll have time to write my story. And be sure you do it well.” From that point on I wanted to please Annie, and every time I started to slack off, I could hear her tart tongue chiding me. My excuses seemed pretty lame, especially in light of all that she and her famous student overcame and accomplished in their lifetimes. And so I finished her book.

How do you get your ideas?

As a nonfiction writer, I’m always looking for new ideas. Sometimes I get them from reading an article in a newspaper, magazine, or book. Visiting a museum or a historic site and talking with friends and family members are other great ways to get ideas. So is getting out in nature and taking the time to watch the world around you. My husband inspired me to write Genius, my biography of Albert Einstein, when he told me that he was born in Princeton Hospital in New Jersey on the same day that Einstein died there!

Do you have any subjects that you’ve always wanted to write about, but haven’t?

Lately I’ve found myself drawn to the rich history of my birthplace of Memphis, Tennessee, from the city’s role in the civil rights movement to its legendary music scene. I’m hoping a book will spring from my explorations–and from conversations with my relatives who still live there and witnessed a lot of the city’s history for themselves.

What advice would you give to young writers?

Read, of course! Read books, read magazines, read comic books, read newspapers, read the sports page, read anything and everything. Think about what you read, why you like one thing and why you don’t care for something else. Keep a journal and write in it regularly. And keep your eyes and ears and mind open. The best writers are careful observers. You might want to keep a small notebook with you at all times, so that you can jot down notes about anything interesting that you see or hear or feel or smell or taste. Finally, get outdoors and explore nature. Watch ants march in and out of an anthill, listen to birds chirping, feel the rain on your face, smell the flowers…you get the idea.

Are you working on a new book right now? If so, can you tell us anything about it?

I’m currently doing research at Mount Vernon, a historic estate that’s only about five miles from my home in Alexandria, Virginia. This might help you guess the person who plays a prominent role in my next book!

Who is YOUR favorite author or book?

E.B. White is one of my favorites. I adore Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, and his Elements of Style, which I first read in high school, is still my Bible for good, clear writing. Two memoirs I’ve read recently and highly recommend are The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson and Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka. Both are hilarious. I also read a lot of mysteries. Lately I’ve been enjoying Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, which are set in Venice.

What are your hobbies when you aren’t writing?

I sing with a choral society and read a lot for pleasure. I like to explore the museums in Washington, D.C. I go on long walks in my neighborhood almost every day and I hike in the mountains as often as I can. I especially enjoy cooking for my family and friends, and then sitting down to eat and talk and laugh with them.

A big Thank You to Marfe Ferguson Delano! If you’d like to learn more about her, you can visit her website http://www.marfebooks.com/, check out her blog posts at INK: Interesting Non-fiction for Kids, and the related database for teachers, Ink Think Tank