Where the Road Takes Me: Amy Hill Hearth Interview

Full disclosure: I love Amy Hill Hearth.

When I moved to New Jersey sixteen years ago, I did not have a friend in the state–it was a slightly random move based on which post-grad-school job my husband chose. Not too long after we found ourselves here, I received an email sent by a local writer via the Authors Guild. This woman said she was looking for a community of writers and suggested a meeting in the near future. I checked her out (wouldn’t you?) and discovered she was the author of the perennial bestseller Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years. She is one of the founding members of my writing group, the Atomic Engineers (so named because we thought any mention of writers would attract unwanted attention, where this would surely repel it.)

Over the years, Amy has become a very good friend. And I am all kinds of excited for the world to read her fiction debut, Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society. Be sure to check the end of this post for your chance to win a signed copy.

Without further ado….

I love when authors switch genres successfully. What made you decide to try your hand at fiction?

I never thought I’d write fiction. I was taking a breather from the publishing business, that’s all. I started what I thought might be a short story, but then something strange happened – I fell in love with my characters. I kept writing and writing, and I began to wonder, Could this be a novel? The title character was inspired by my late mother-in-law, a Boston beauty who was a very intelligent woman but also restless, flirty, and a bit vain. As a middle-aged wife and mother, circa 1962, she moved with her family to a sleepy town in Collier County, Florida. She managed to ruffle the feathers of the town fathers almost immediately. That was the springboard for the novel. It must have been a story I really wanted to tell, because it just poured out of me.

Amy in second grade

How many towns/cities can count you as their hometown girl? Please explain.

My dad is a retired executive at General Electric, which meant we moved every five or so years when I was growing up. What this means is that I have a bunch of places I call home and where I have maintained friendships for decades. In terms of the place that had the greatest impact on my life, I would say that was Columbia, South Carolina. I was six years old when we moved there from Schenectady, N.Y. in 1965. Oh, how I loved South Carolina. I thought I was Huckleberry Finn. I even tried to build a raft. On my first day of school, I came home and announced that I couldn’t understand my teacher, but within a week, because I was so young, I had acquired my teacher’s Southern accent. We lived in South Carolina for six years. To this day, I love the South, I love the North, and frankly I could live happily anywhere in the East, from Maine to Florida.

Were you a childhood reader? What books and characters did you love?

Let me tell you a story. (This is a Southern way of answering your question.) A few years ago my parents “downsized” and moved to an apartment. This was great for them but a crisis for me. My three older siblings had long since taken most of their stuff but somehow I had missed the memo. At the age of 47, I was summoned home one last time to clean my room (my mother actually used those words). I had to sort through all of my treasures. My dad started bringing down box after box from the attic with my name carefully written on the side in his handwriting. I would say 90 percent of those boxes contained books. And so I was reunited with books I hadn’t seen in years.

I think my favorite picture book was The Story About Ping, the little duck who lives on a boat on the Yangtze River in China. Another favorite was Blueberries for Sal, about a girl who goes berry picking, drifts away from her mother, and encounters a bear. My Dad read aloud to my sister and me every night before bedtime, and there were several books, like Ping and Blueberries, that we would beg him to read over and over again.

Most of my books were hand-me downs: Dad’s copy of Treasure Island and Mom’s Nancy Drew mysteries; my cousin’s copy of Cheaper by the Dozen; my grandmother’s copy of Gone with the Wind, which I read the summer I was 13; an ancient copy of Little Women (I was named after the character, Amy) and much, much more. I was frantic, however, when I couldn’t find the old set of Little House books until I remembered that, some years earlier, they’d been passed along to my nieces.

I know you have a major publicity schedule for this book. Have you started yet to think about what’s next?

I’ll let the narrator of my novel, Dora, respond to that question.  Over the course of the novel, Dora learns that life should not be over-planned or lived too cautiously. “I could see the genius in allowing the future to evolve,” she says. “You could create momentum. You could launch something and see where it goes. You couldn’t line everything up, like so many dominoes, and make everything fall into place.”

Like Dora, I think it’s wise sometimes NOT to make future plans. Other than traveling to promote Miss Dreamsville and meet my readers, I will wait and see where the road takes me.

Thank you so much, Amy, for taking the time to visit here.

Readers: All you need to do for a chance to win a signed copy of Miss Dreamsville is leave a comment here. The winner will be randomly selected on the book’s on-sale date,  October 2. Good luck! (And be sure to check back next week to see if you’ve won!)

Tease

I am so excited about the interview I’m posting tomorrow. So excited that I’m teasing it right now. Also, you can win a book, one that’s not yet available….one for actual grown-up readers.

See you tomorrow!

One Smart Cookie: Laura Murray Interview

I know many of you who don’t live near me have been back to school for a while, but ’round these parts, this is back-to-school week. In that spirit, today’s guest, Laura Murray, has a timely story to tell.

In THE GINGERBREAD MAN LOOSE IN THE SCHOOL you have combined two bookseller favorites–fractured fairy tale meets back-to-school story. Where and when did you get the idea?

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School was inspired by two ideas colliding. One was when my three-year-old daughter proudly announced one day that she was “one smart cookie.” Her cute comment reminded me of another “smart cookie” I knew – the freshly baked gingerbread man that managed to escape from my kindergarten classroom at the beginning of every school year! Each time this happened, the class hung missing posters and searched the halls, discovering crumbs and dropped candies, as we asked school staff where he might be. But he always found his way back to our classroom on his own!

My students absolutely loved this unit and would come back years later asking if the Gingerbread Man had escaped yet. Even though we read many versions of the Gingerbread Man story during the unit, there was not one that mirrored the fun of our school Gingerbread Man chase. So, I decided to learn all that I could about writing for children and try to craft a new version.

I started wondering what adventures the Gingerbread Man might have had while he was out and about, and then I began to ask what if…? What if the story was set in a school? What if the story was told by the Gingerbread Man himself? What if he was trying to find the class who made him, instead of running away from them? Those “what if” questions helped me imagine a Gingerbread Man adventure that was sprinkled with fresh, funny twists to set it apart from the traditional tale.

This is your first book. What has the experience been like for you? Are you an obsessive Amazon-rank watcher? Do you check every bookstore and turn your book face out? Are you enjoying the ride?

I like to say this book was six years in the “baking.”  But the first two years were spent learning how to write for children and learning how to write in rhyme. I did that not only through books, but also joining and attending wonderful SCBWI (Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators) conferences and critique groups. The story went through many, many revisions as I got feedback on how to make it the best it could be.

Eventually, I started to research and send my manuscript out to publishers who seemed to be a good fit. After many rejections, it was pulled from the slush pile by an editor at GP Putnam’s Sons and acquired. Needless to say I was giddy with happiness and still am!  After many more months, the illustrator, Mike Lowery came on board with a very fresh, endearing, child-friendly style to match the story. What a thrill it was to see the Gingerbread Man come to life through Mike’s illustrations. It is a bit like Christmas or your birthday when you first get sketches of your characters!

The journey has been incredible – literally – a dream come true. It takes patience, and persistence, but if you truly love to write, then it is worth the sometimes long wait it takes for a picture book to come out. I’ll never forget when the box of my advanced copies arrived at my door. I sat on my front steps and pulled one of the books out to smell it!  I know, you’re thinking – Weirdo! Who smells books?  But that is all part of the tactile experience of holding a brand new book for me – the sound as it cracks open for the first time, turning the crisp pages, smelling it…

The promotional aspect has been a different hat to have to wear, and not one that fits on my head very naturally. I just want to “spread the word” about it in a very genuine sort of way if I can, and then let it fly on its own.  And I have to say that I didn’t even know that Amazon ranked the books until someone told me. But I have been known to turn copies of it, and other books from authors I know, “face out” in a bookstore display.  I also LOVE doing school visits and talking with students! Kids crack me up, and they are just so much fun to be around. I guess that’s still the teacher in me.

What children’s book character would you have liked as your real-world best friend?

Harry Potter or Hermione Granger – I would have lived in those books if I could have. I love reading them with my kids now, and seeing the magic and wonder again through their eyes.

What are you working on now?

Well, we just finished revisions and illustrations for a sequel-of-sorts coming out summer 2013, called The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck. The same dapper and determined smart cookie takes a field trip to the fire station with his class, and oh -   the adventures that ensue when he has to escape from the station’s crumb-snatching Dalmatian!

And I’m currently working on two more picture books and am in the middle of a middle-grade adventure/mystery as well.

A book trailer for The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School just came out as well, with the help of the wonderful children’s writer and motion graphic designer, Carter Higgins.  I hope to add it to my website along with lesson plan ideas on how to connect it with curriculum-linked skills. Plus, I just want it to be fun for kids to watch!

You can catch the Gingerbread Man and find fun activities, a curriculum-linked teacher’s guide, and extension ideas for The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School at Laura’s website.

Many thanks for stopping by, Laura!

August

It is the time of year when I again feel the need to look up the word fallow in the dictionary:

fal·low[fal-oh] adjective

1.(of land) plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated.

2. not in use; inactive: My creative energies have lain fallow this year.

I have never had occasion to say that sentence, though I think I’m going to trot it out. What? Work? Oh, no. My creative energies have lain fallow this year.

Overgrown gardens, overfed self, overdue-from-library pile on the verge of nightmare, but still–not ready for September. The weeks ahead are about savoring every bit of summertime joy. The before-it’s-too-late trip to the amusement park, long days at the beach, mojitos in the evening, a little gloating over the Yankees’ dominance, but not enough to jinx them. You get the idea.

This blog has some exciting stuff coming up in the fall, most especially a delicious interview with a non kidlit author you all should know (I suspect the predicted-by-Audrey success of her debut novel will ensure that).

I’m also going to be celebrating the publication of a book that includes essays by me and a few other people you may have heard of, like Sherman Alexie, Isabel Allende, Jeanne Birdsall, Dave Eggers, Daniel Handler, Ann Patchett, etc. No big deal.

And if you’re a teacher-person heading back to school or the lucky relative of a kid headed to kindergarten, the great bibliolinks website has something to say about a certain buffalo who’s doing the same.

But for now, summer.

All I Ever Hope To Say: Jeanne Walker Harvey Interview

Isn’t summer funny? I feel like I’m simultaneously racing at high speeds and getting nothing done. With apologies to the wonderful Jeanne Walker Harvey, I’m late in posting this interview. But I think you’ll all agree Jeanne is worth waiting for.

Make sure you check out her books, beautiful examples of creative approaches to nonfiction.

In your beautiful book, MY HAND SING THE BLUES: ROMARE BEARDEN’S CHILDHOOD JOURNEY, you didn’t opt for a straight-out biography. How would you describe the way you told Bearden’s story, and why did you make that choice?

Thanks for saying the book is beautiful. It’s so magical to see one’s words joined with illustrations in a picture book. I feel that the talented Elizabeth Zunon‘s illustrations, a stunning combination of collage and paintings, truly sing.  And I was very fortunate that Margery Cuyler, publisher of Marshall Cavendish Children’s, edited it with true grace and expertise.

I chose to write this book in a loose blues format (three line stanzas with repeating rhyming phrases) because of the influence that blues and jazz music played in Romare Bearden’s life. And as soon as I made that choice, I thought, “WHAT have I done?!  I don’t know how to write blues!”  I was rather angry at my muse for leading me down a  path way outside my comfort zone. I tried to pull an early draft out of an online critique group led by the amazing Uma Krishnaswami. But she wouldn’t let me go hide in my shell.  I think I was saved by focusing on Romare Bearden’s words –  I wanted to weave in as many of his own thoughts as I could. He not only wrote a good deal about his childhood and artistic experience, but he participated in many interviews in which he was very articulate and passionate.

I was inspired to write this story when I gave tours, as a school group docent at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, of a Romare Bearden exhibit organized by the National Gallery.  Children loved the stories that his incredible collages evoke, and a large part of his life story revolves around music.

What can you tell us about Astro and the process of writing and publishing Astro the Steller Sea Lion? 

As I tell students when I visit schools, Astro is a case of “fact wilder than fiction.” I read an article in our local newspaper about Astro, a stranded Steller sea lion pup rescued by the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.  Astro bonded to his caregivers at the Center, and every time he was released he returned to places with people.  His last visit was to a school’s walk-a-thon at a field next to the San Francisco Bay.  He even scooted around the field with the children! 

Up to that point, I hadn’t written any nonfiction manuscripts, except magazine articles, but I instantly envisioned Astro’s story as a picture book. And then serendipity took over — I remembered that my local Postmistress was a volunteer at the Center.  When I asked her if she knew anything about Astro, she said she was one of the lead volunteers working with Astro. She was a perfect source of information. And then I read in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators newsletter about a publisher, Sylvan Dell, which focuses on engaging stories for nature-related picture books. I sent the manuscript to them, and only to them, and they accepted it!  Totally wild in my multi-decade efforts at getting published.

 Were you interested in nonfiction as a young reader?  What were some of your favorite books?  

I was quite the bookworm as a girl. I loved curling up with my collie and reading, reading, reading. Every week my mom would take me to the local library and I would return home with a huge stack of books.  I’ll confess that I didn’t read nonfiction. I read novels with stories that I couldn’t stop reading, such as THE SECRET GARDEN, CHARLOTTE’S WEB, A WRINKLE IN TIME, FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL F. FRANKWEILER, LITTLE WOMEN, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the Dr. Doolittle Books. The picture books I loved were HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON and all of the Beatrix Potter and Dr. Seuss books.

I think that the story aspect of narrative nonfiction is what draws me to write picture book biographies. I seek to find a way into a person’s life and their experiences that will hopefully intrigue, and maybe even inspire, children. I recently reread an E. B White quote that resonated with me, “All I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.”  Now, if I could only write like him …

What are you working on now?

I’m in various stages of researching and writing several more picture book biographies, all about creative innovative people.

Like all writers, I work away on my writing by myself, and it’s quite thrilling to get public recognition. I’m incredibly honored that MY HANDS SING THE BLUES is listed on the 100 Best Children’s Books for 2011 by The New York Public Library, and just recently was chosen for the 2012 International Reading Association (IRA) Children’s Book Award in the Primary Nonfiction category.  That’s even better than chocolate (which is saying a lot for me).

Thank you so much for taking the time and congratulations on all your success.

To celebrate the IRA Children’s Book Award, Jeanne will be giving away a signed copy of MY HANDS SING THE BLUES. Leave a comment to enter. Winner will be selected July 23.

You can learn more about Jeanne Walker Harvey by visiting her website.

Serendipity, Springsteen, Scoliosis

This year did not get off to a great start. Lots of friends were dealing with really tough, unwelcome challenges, and in the Vernick home, little things kept going wrong. So it came as quite a surprise when hilarious good fortune kept piling on in a super-charged 24-hour period last week.

When I was very young and even less clever than I am now, I would, on occasion, say something less than kind and then, when called out by an adult, earnestly explain that I had been in Opposite Land. At the time, I had no idea such a place really existed. But I had a chance to dip my toe into the strange and unpredictable tide pools of Publishing Opposite Land last week.

it’s the word likely that keeps me from providing details here. Once it’s confirmed, I’ll spill.

From the request I received to submit an essay, to writing it, sending it to my savviest writing pal for notes, rewriting it, submitting it, and having it likely accepted, was 48 hours. Forty! Eight! Hours! In PUBLISHING.

It’s particularly thrilling because the anthology includes serious heavyweight writers. And, likely, me.

That was how the good fortune pile-up began. About two hours later, Bruce Springsteen.

For those who didn’t see this on facebook, Springsteen walked into Barnes and Noble shortly after I did. I was doing a reading/Q&A/signing of BROTHERS AT BAT. He was looking for something to read, I presume, on his flight back to Spain, where I thought he WAS, for his European tour. Living in Monmouth County, chance encounters with Springsteen have happened before—both in planned and unplanned ways. At the last unplanned one, one that should really be erased from my memory, I babbled at him endlessly about the imminent publication of my first book, BARK AND TIM, which I don’t remember doing, but I do remember that his parting words were, “Good luck with your book.”

On this night, he was flying under the B&N radar, and I didn’t want to be that person, so I just watched him for a while from a polite distance. But when my husband arrived and said, “You have to get him to sign ROCK STAR,” I kind of agreed. But I couldn’t. Thankfully, he could. And he did.

Well played, Mr. Vernick. And Mr. Springsteen.

Sent to my daughter by the fabulous illustrator Daniel Jennewein in 2010, when she learned she needed a scoliosis brace.

The next morning, my daughter didn’t go to school as she had an appointment with her out-of-state orthopedist. But she received a call from school that votes had been counted and she was on student council. And then we headed to the best news of all—after nineteen months of wearing a brace for scoliosis 22 hours a day, she is done. The orthopedist said, “The brace is history.”  We held it together until the doctor left the room, and then Anna let out a little scream.

I could post endlessly about the poise with which she handled the potential middle-school nightmare of wearing a large, bulky Boston brace, but in the interest of ending this thing, you should just take my word for it. She was awesome. She tried her hand at blogging about it, but I suspect she’s now moved on to other things. And that’s worth celebrating, too.

Today’s her last day of school, the unofficial start of summer. And we’re all still flying high.

Next up on the blog: Jeanne Walker Harvey interview!

There’s Something About Ducks: Interview with Jane Kohuth and Jane Porter

Today we welcome DUCK SOCK HOP to the world.

How should we celebrate? I have some thoughts on this. How about a free signed copy? That’s a good idea, right? And how about an interview with the uni-named duo of Janes– Kohuth (writer)  and Porter (illustrator)–the fabulously creative team behind DUCK SOCK HOP.

Let’s get quacking.

You said, “I like to look in a new way at ordinary everyday things, like socks, and make them feel extraordinary.” I see you may also have an outsized interest in ducks. Can you tell us specifically how DUCK SOCK HOP came to be?

JK: There’s something about ducks . . . . When I started sending out manuscripts, and then when I signed with an agent, I had already written a number of picture book texts. They covered a range of topics and animals. Two of them starred ducks. Both of those have now been published. I actually think that children’s publishing has more of an outsized interest in ducks than I do!

But there is something about ducks. In their physicality — their roundness, their waddling movement — they lend themselves to humor. The word “duck” is goofy. The sound “quack” is even goofier. For me, ducks were a great vehicle for creating friendly silly characters.  At some point several years ago, I envisioned a group of ducks who arrived as house guests, created havoc, and wouldn’t leave. I liked the juxtaposition of lovability and aggravation that our most cherished companions can sometimes represent for us. Those ducks became the ducks in DUCKS GO VROOM. The DUCK SOCK HOP ducks had their origins there, too, but the idea for that book came directly from some words jotted in one of my notebooks — “sock hopping/sock shopping.”

Many of my ideas come from particular words that sound fun to me, and “duck” went great with “sock.” And it seemed natural that the fun-loving, high-energy ducks in my head would be the ones to put on socks and dance.  To me, socks are the clothing equivalent of ducks — not exactly elegant, but cuddly, exuding warmth. Socks are wonderful things and I loved the idea of giving them a celebration. I don’t claim a mature sense of humor, and ducks wearing socks strikes me as hilarious.

What was your reaction when you first read the text? Could you see it? Do you have to let it sit for a while before your approach reveals itself to you?

Indian runner ducks

JP: I loved Jane’s text when I first saw it, and was really excited about illustrating it – especially as it was also my very first picture book illustration commission. It’s such a lovely rhythmic text, and works so well for reading aloud. I could immediately start seeing how the ducks might look and interact, but before I started working on the pages I spent a few days at The Wetland Centre (close to home in southwest London) drawing and observing ducks. They have a huge selection of ducks, from the Eider to the black-bellied whistling duck. But it was the Indian runner ducks that proved most characterful and deserving of socks – so the ducks in the books evolved from the drawings I did of them.

Some writers/illustrators remain strangers to each other throughout the picture book process and some become friends. Can you both discuss what it’s been like to get to know one another in the course of creating this adorable book?

Jane Kohuth’s cat

JK: When I found out that the illustrator-to-be of DUCK SOCK HOP was also named Jane, I felt it was an auspicious beginning.  It helped, of course, that I loved the art in Jane Porter’s portfolio online. Hands down the most frequent question I get asked as a picture book author is how I find illustrators, and people are always surprised that A. I don’t find an illustrator, the publisher does, B. that I don’t actually sit down with or even talk to the illustrator while we work on the book, and C. that I haven’t met any of the illustrators of my books! I was surprised myself at how international picture book creation is.

The illustrator of my book DUCKS GO VROOM, Viviana Garofoli, is from Buenos Aires. After the art was done, I dusted off my high school Spanish and wrote to her. It was wonderful to have an exchange about something we’d created together. I’ve written back and forth with Jane Porter more than with any of my books’ other illustrators. It’s a bit magical to finally “hear” the voice of the person with whom you’ve shared the rather intimate process of creating a work of art. Jane P. has been wonderful about being a partner in promoting DUCK SOCK HOP, too, even though she’s all the way in London. And what a wonderful coincidence that she was planning a trip to a town in Massachusetts only twenty minutes from where I live! I’m quite excited to meet her and do a book event together. Oh, and we have matching cats!

Jane Porter’s cat

JP: Jane and I didn’t actually get to know each other until after the book was finished – and we still haven’t met in person! But we have been getting to know each other by email and will meet when I visit the US in August this year (in fact we are doing a bookshop visit together). It’s been great getting to know more about Jane and I am really looking forward to meeting her. We both have matching black cats.

Did you have a favorite children’s book growing up? What children’s book character do you wish had lived next door to young Jane?

JK: I had a number of favorites growing up. As I got older and read more, more books joined my personal canon. My very favorite picture books were probably the Frances books by Russell Hoban. There’s a famous story in my family about my preschool interview. My mom took me, at about two and half, to meet the preschool director, and brought along my infant sister, Emily.  When asked my name, however, I introduced myself as Frances and my sister as Gloria. I don’t have my own memory of this, but I do remember that I spent a lot of time when I was small in long, involved role-playing games, and I must have so identified with Frances that I was being her that day.

What character would I have liked to live next door to? Hmmm. I’m tempted to say Pippi Longstocking, but I remember dressing up as her, and, like Frances, I likely wanted to be her more than know her. I think perhaps Meg Murry and the Murry clan of A WRINKLE IN TIME and its sequels. Meg would have been just the kind of friend I liked — smart, unusual, creative — and with the advantage of being able to involve me in intense otherworldly adventures.

JP: One of my favourite books growing up was UNCLE by J.P. Martin, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Uncle is a slightly pompous wealthy elephant who lives in an endless cluster of very exciting buildings — so I would have certainly been interested to live next door to that. Each chapter he would visit a distant tower — there’s a lovely one which is a huge waterfall covered in watercress, with a stubborn lion at the top who willfully makes himself heavy so he can’t be moved. And the arch enemies, the Badfort Crowd, are a creation of comic genius!

What are you working on now?

JK: I am finishing the author’s note for an early reader biography of Anne Frank, which focuses on Anne’s growing love of nature while in hiding and her attachment to the chestnut tree, which she could see from the attic window of the Secret Annex.  This will be my first nonfiction book, and was a huge challenge in terms of the research and the need to write a beautiful text within the strict parameters of a a Step Into Reading early reader. I am also revising several picture book manuscripts!

JP: I am currently working on a range of new book proposals, as well as some royal drawings for Kensington Palace and a map on a handkerchief which will be a guide to Spitalfields in East London. I have two books coming out next spring in the UK with Hodder: PAWS AND CLAWS and FINS AND FLIPPERS.

Thank you both for taking the time to stop by and happy publication day!

Okay, dear reader. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the really and truly adorable DUCK SOCK HOP.

Winner will be chosen on May 16.