Category: Author Interviews

Author Interview: Carol Gordon Ekster

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The final Author Interview of 2019 is with … Carol Gordon Ekster. Here are nine biographical bullet points to help you get to know her a bit better.

  1. Elementary school teacher for 35 years.
  2. Does yoga daily.
  3. As an adult, finally learned she loves dogs!
  4. Used to live in Brooklyn, right near the boardwalk and beach.
  5. Graduated from Boston University.
  6. Has a Master’s degree in reading and language.
  7. Married Mark, a high school pal.
  8. Has a daughter, Dara, who “continues to fascinate me and teach me new things all the time.”
  9. Belongs to five picture book critique groups.

With that, it’s time to interview away. Here we go!

RVC: Let’s start with a different question than I normally ask in these interviews. You’re more prolific on social media than many writers I encounter—witness 39k thousand tweets, for example! What’s your social media strategy? (And your secret for success, too, if you don’t mind sharing!)

CGE: Thanks for noticing, Ryan! I work hard to keep active on Twitter. I promote other #kidlit authors whenever I can. I share #amwriting content that I think is valuable. You don’t want to just promote your own books. That’s not how it works. But Twitter is my favorite social media platform for authors. When I can, I follow #PBchat nights. I learn from the agents, editors, and other authors and illustrators who are in the trenches of this children’s literature world. It’s all so interesting and informative. I keep up with others getting contracts, new books coming out, incredible resources and opportunities, etc. And I’ve done #PBpitch. It’s how I sold my fifth book. Last October when I participated, an editor liked my pitch, I sent in my manuscript and was offered a contract. You can read about my #PBpitch success here: http://www.pbpitch.com/book-dealssuccess-stories.html

Twitter is also a fun way to connect with readers and educators. As a retired teacher, I love connecting with educators who share a passion for books and use them consistently with their students. I also follow @nerdybookclub and nerdcamps (like @nErDcampVT and @nErDcampLI) on Twitter.

I limit my time on any social media as I don’t want to take too much time away from actual writing, but this is absolutely an important aspect of writing. It helps you build your platform, which is imperative if you want to get your name and books out there. Don’t forget though, I’m retired from teaching with no little ones around, so I have the time and opportunity to devote to my writing life.

RVC: How specifically did your years of teaching prepare you for this terrific second career?

CGE: Well, not only was my master’s degree in reading and language, but it seems that all the workshops and courses for recertification all throughout my career dealt with either writing or picture books. Though I never wanted to write myself (at the time), I did feel having writing workshops for my fourth graders was imperative to their education and growth as individuals. We didn’t write fiction. They wrote about what they knew. Each child left my class with a book of their writing from the year…something I know families cherished. Reading so many picture books throughout the year to support all aspects of my curriculum as well as social issues that arose, as well as helping children write, prepared me for becoming a children’s author.

When I started writing at the end of my career and sharing my work with students, it was a fantastic experience for them to see me go through the writing process. I loved hearing their feedback and I think it was invaluable for them to see how I worked to improve my writing through revision.  My background also helps me create follow-​up activities for my books as well as know how to interact with children in readings or school visits.

RVC: Your picture book career seemed to have officially begun on a beach in the summer of 2002. Talk about what happened, and what the process was in terms of moving from an idea to publication with that first book.

CGE: I took lots of courses and workshops on writing, but I never wanted to write. I found writing challenging. Then a few years before retiring, it’s like the universe aligned for me to have another career. I’m absolutely not the sitting around type, so this was a gift. Out of the clear blue, I walked off the beach on this particular day, went to get Post-​its and a pen from my car, and wrote my first picture book that day. It seriously felt like I had no control in this action. Writing happened to me. I never looked back and dug into the writing life. That first manuscript was didactic, too long, read more like a magazine article, and would never sell. I joined SCBWI and a critique group, and the stories kept coming. The 20th manuscript I wrote, Where Am I Sleeping Tonight?, was the first one to sell. Six years after that day on the beach, I held my first published book in my hand.

RVC: Listed among the bio tidbits above is the fact that you’re in five critique groups. How does that work for you? Do you run the same manuscript by each group?

CGE: I started in one group, but then so many people joined as we met in a public library. This meant that we had to open it to the public. I could no longer share my work every time we met. I started writing later in life, so I think that’s why I write so much, making up for lost time. I had so many manuscripts to share that I began to seek out other groups. I keep a spreadsheet of the manuscripts I bring to each group, and sometimes I do bring the same one to different groups, but I’m not consistent about that. I simply have too many stories!

RVC: You’re a long-​time member of SCBWI. What’s the #1 most useful thing that organization did for you? Why should aspiring picture book writers consider joining?

CGE: I honestly wouldn’t be published without SCBWI. My first two manuscripts were bought in response to my submitting to publishers who listed a call for submissions in the Bulletin. In addition, the professional support, conferences, resources, and opportunities for submission to editors, have helped me with my craft and my career. Aspiring picture book writers need to join SCBWI if they’re serious about this business. It’s essential.

RVC: From what I’ve read about you in other interviews, it sounds as if you’re playing a pretty big game in terms of submissions. What’s the ratio of how many books you’ve sold vs. how many manuscripts you’ve submitted? How do you keep the energy up? The organization/​record-​keeping?

CGE: Yes. I do submit quite a bit. Let’s just say at this point, I’ve collected close to 2,000 rejections from agents and publishers. If you want to do the math, I’ve sold five books, two magazine articles, and one e‑book. I used to have a paper sheet for each manuscript, but that became burdensome as I approached 100 manuscripts. I recently transferred that information to a Google document, which is much easier. I keep my energy up by believing in the process. For my newest acquisition, Some Daddies, which will be out in 2021, I saw the difference in what an agent previously said (“I like it. There aren’t enough daddy books”) to the response I got from the acquiring editor: “We love how this book celebrates the diversity of what it can look like to be a dad. This is so important for young kids who are starting to notice other children’s parents and compare them to their own, as well as how they develop their perception of healthy masculinity. This is a joyful book with a serious message—the type of book we would be proud to publish at Beaming Books.”

That’s what you want, an editor to love your manuscript. That’s what you’re waiting for.

RVC: What happens when you get a rejection? Do you have a standard response strategy?

CGE: I move on and think about where to send it next! I have to believe it’s just not the right publisher or agent.

(Okay, I feel a little badly, especially when I first send something out and have hope in my heart…but I get over it.)

RVC: While you’ve claimed that you don’t LOVE book promoting, you sure seem committed to doing a lot of it. What’s a book PR success story in your past?

CGE: I don’t love promoting, because it can be uncomfortable. I like the creative aspects, like thinking about who will be interested in knowing about this book. I enjoy offering advice to my writing buddies about where they might sell their books. I’m not sure how successful I’ve been, but I know that for my book on shared custody, I reached out to many divorce lawyers in my state who had resources on their website. And I recently noticed a five-​star review on Amazon that said, “I am a divorce attorney. I give this book out to clients who have children going through this. It is a great way for parents and children to have healthy conversations about their situation.”

In the past, I’ve had fun thinking outside the box. I contacted a few bakeries to sell Ruth the Sleuth and The Messy Room. The story begins and ends with chocolate chip cookies. Two bakeries took books on consignment. One owner told me many people read the book, but only a few buy it. I didn’t sell a lot of books. Sometimes it’s not about sales. I believe that you never know where one reading of a book may lead.

RVC: What’s the most important thing people should know or understand about being a traditionally published picture book author?

CGE: You’ll need patience, perseverance, and dedication. And you have to learn to accept this path with all its twists, turns, disappointments, expectations and joys. It’s not an easy path, but it IS an amazing journey. Learn to feel gratitude for being able to touch lives in this way and remember to enjoy the ride!

RVC: How do you keep a picture book from being too didactic, yet still have lessons in it? I’m especially thinking about Where Am I Sleeping Tonight? here.

CGE: Oh, goodness. I’m still a teacher at heart. A lot of my stories are too didactic. But I’m working on it. Where Am I Sleeping Tonight? (A Story of Divorce) is a bit lesson heavy (I deal with responsibility in this book as well as divorce), but it’s also heartfelt and helps children through this emotional and difficult situation. I know it makes them feel less alone.

RVC: Without giving away too much, what are you working on now?

CGE: I always work on a few things at once…and tackle whatever I’m moved to work on. It’s so wonderfully opposite my teaching life. No daily schedule. No ringing bells. I decide when and what I want to work on, which is mostly a mix of fiction stories, concept books, and some biographies.  There are 27 items in my “still revising” folder and another document with many ideas that I haven’t really developed yet. There…I didn’t give anything away!

RVC: Fair enough! It’s time to transition to THE LIGHTNING ROUND. Cheetah-​fast questions and race-​car-​quick answers, please! Ready?

CGE: Ready!

RVC: Favorite place to get a gift card for?

CGE: Starbucks or a bookstore.

RVC: Best delivery system for chocolate?

CGE: This will sound weird but I get it in my calcium…it’s dark chocolate, looks like candy, and is delicious!

RVC: What’s your secret talent?

CGE: Ooh…I wish I had one!

RVC: If your books were children, which one are you most proud of?

CGE: As long as the others didn’t find out…I’ll whisper to you that it’s probably Before I Sleep: I Say Thank You, because I believe teaching children gratitude can make for a happier society. And it went into its third printing in the first two years. (But I do have reasons why I love each one of my books. And now I feel guilty. You’re a very tough-question-askerer!)

RVC: An under-​appreciated but awesome picture book of the past year?

CGE: It’s so hard to pick just one. I read so many picture books every week. But I loved a recent book that I read. It’s beautifully written and a touching book: Small World by Ishta Mercurio, illustrated by Jen Corace.

RVC: Best compliment a student ever gave you?

CGE: A compliment that I always appreciated hearing was, “You make learning fun,” because I worked really hard to ensure students experienced the joy of learning.

RVC: Thanks so much, Carol!

 

Author Interview: Artemis Roehrig

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The November 2019 author interview is with Northeasterner author and science guru Artemis Roehrig. What’s cool is that a few days after this interview goes live, I’ll meet her in person at a Highlights Foundation event with Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple. How’s that for some PB-​related name dropping? And a dose of literary kismet?

By way of getting to know Artemis, let’s play the Eight Truths and One Whopper game. Here we go!

  1. Favorite food is macaroni and cheese.
  2. Didn’t get on an airplane until age 18.
  3. Longtime member of the pit orchestra for Valley Light Opera.
  4. Secretly hates coffee.
  5. Has four pet tarantulas.
  6. Earned a master’s degree at UMass in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology.
  7. Still owns a huge collection of Beanie Babies.
  8. Taught summer classes at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
  9. Participates in a combination dance class/​book club.

(If you’re not sure which is false, I’ll spill those biographical beans by the end of the interview.)

For those who are nostalgic about standard bios, though, I’ll offer this, too. Artemis grew up in Western Massachusetts, attended Skidmore College as an undergraduate, and she’s a proud SCBWI member.

Shall we proceed to the interview now? Let’s go!

RVC: Let’s start with your cool first name. Do you have siblings with the name of gods/​goddesses? Do your two kids have equally mythologically wonderful monikers? What’s the real scoop here?

AR: My mother is Greek (check out her memoir Eleven Stories High: Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948–1968 by Corinne Demas), and since I have my dad’s last name, I think it was important to them that I have an unquestionably Greek first name. And yes, my kids have mythological names too, you’ll have to wait until they publish their first books to find out what they are though!

RVC: Gotcha. (Note to self: Watch for future books from a “Zeus Medusa Perseus Hephaestus Roehrig.”)

So, you made your first book when you were 6, right? A homemade book with your mom called Two Christmas Mice? What do you remember most about that project?

AR: One year we decided to exchange homemade books with our close friends instead of buying Christmas presents. So Two Christmas Mice started as one of those projects. I was very into craft projects at that age, so making books was right up my alley.

RVC: From early on, it sounds as if your mom really wanted you to be a writer. Didn’t she urge you to get a degree in creative writing? What was it like having a successful writer parent?

AR: Yes, she always wanted me to be a writer, and she did convince me to take a creative writing class with Elizabeth McCracken while I was in college. However, I rebelled by majoring in biology.

RVC: I’ve been there there, too, trying like crazy to avoid Fate. But you finally surrendered, and you created a couple of books with your mom, like Does a Fiddler Crab Fiddle? and (forthcoming in 2020) Do Jellyfish Like Peanut Butter? What’s it like to work with her? How is that process different than writing a picture book solo?

AR: As someone in the sciences, collaborating comes very naturally. Look at how many authors there are on most scientific papers! It’s even easier writing with my mom, since we know one another so well. Plus we can be brutally honest with one another when things aren’t working well.

RVC: Talk about the particular challenges of doing nonfiction books for kids. You can’t just make stuff up the way you can with fiction, right? 

AR: Science books are tricky since new studies are constantly coming out. It’s important to always check dates on resources! Nonfiction takes just as much time to write as fiction, but you need spend lots of time on research too. I use a totally different part of my brain when writing fiction versus nonfiction. It’s like the difference between jazz and classical music.

RVC: You’ve spent a lot of time in Cape Cod. How influential is that place—or place in general—in your writing?

AR: I first became interested in pirates when I was a kid and learned about the Whydah, the pirate ship that had wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod, so I feel like it is the perfect place to be when writing about pirates! I also have been very inspired by the Cape for my STEM books. People tend to think of the Cape as just a place to go to the beach, but it has other fascinating habitats like swamps, coastal heathland, marshes, etc, to explore too.

RVC: You’ve got one pirate book out already—Are Pirates Polite? And you’ve got The Grumpy Pirate coming out in 2020 (yet another picture book that’s co-​authored with your mom). What do you find so interesting about pirates?

AR: Pirates are interesting because they are counterculture, which makes them a fun lens to use to look at ubiquitous topics such as politeness or grumpiness!

RVC: How do you balance the creative side of writing with the business side?

AR: The business side of writing definitely takes way more time and effort than I’d like. It’s not really possible to just lock yourself away and be creative. This is a super rough estimate, and varies drastically by project, but in general, I would say the actual writing takes less time and effort than the business.

RVC: Plenty of people give the same advice to aspiring picture book writers (read a lot, join a crit group, be part of SCBWI, pay attention to how kids talk and what they talk about, etc.). What’s one less-​common tip/​strategy/​technique that might help an unpublished picture book writer make real progress?

AR: Well, you hit on a lot of the good ones there. I’d say the most important part of publishing is not to take yourself too seriously. If you’re determined to be published, you’ll need to be very open to criticism. This might include things as extreme as trying out your main character as a different gender or different animal. Rewriting your rhyming book as prose and vice versa. Doubling your manuscript size or cutting it in half.

RVC: Terrific–thanks for those tips. But now it’s time … FOR … THE … SPEED ROUND!! 100mph questions and equally zoomy answers, please. Ready?

AR: Ready!

RVC: Where do you find the yummiest lobster roll in Cape Cod?

AR: I’m a vegetarian, but I’ll say Mac’s on the Pier in Wellfleet because it’s the best location to eat one!

RVC: Most underappreciated insect?

AR: Tiger beetles, since surprisingly few people have even heard of them.

RVC: Awesomest Crayola color that doesn’t yet exist?

AR: Compost. It would be one of those multicolored crayons, made up of various earthy browns and greens. Very useful for coloring in things like trees and grass.

RVC: Best STEM/​STEAM picture book you’ve read in the past year?

AR: Counting Birds: The Idea that Helped Save Our Feathered Friends by Heidi E.Y. Stemple, illustrated by Clover Robin.

RVC: Three words that encapsulate what a good picture book does.

AR: Interest. Educate. Inspire.

RVC: Thanks so much, Artemis!

Note to readers: Did you sleuth out which biographical lie was in that list at the top? The falsehood was … #7. Artemis always thought Beanie Babies were kind of silly. Nowhere near as cool as insects!

 

Author Interview: John Coy

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This month’s author interview is with Minneapolis author John Coy. I first learned about him from reading his middle grade novel Crackback. It turns out that in addition to YA and middle grade work, he’s authored a number of picture books, too, on a variety of topics. Along the way, John received numerous awards for his writing including a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award for best first picture book, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, and the Burr/​Warzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature.

Yeah, OPB is pretty excited to hear what he’s got to share. With that, let’s all find out together!

Website: https://johncoy.com/pages/about/index.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/John-Coy-Author-106528552773090/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johncoy23
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johncoy23/

See the source imageRVC: Let’s start with a can’t‑miss question. Clearly you love sports, having written the 4 for 4 middle-​grade series and picture books such as Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Class Invented Basketball  and Strong to the Hoop. Why do sports topics/​issues translate so well into stories for kids?

JC: The drama. I played lots of sports as a kid and I’m amazed how the details of particular games stick with me all these years later. Sports provide a heightened atmosphere and that translates into good tension for stories.

RVC: When did you first realize you wanted to write picture books?

JC: At the Roseville Library in Minnesota when I was thirty-​two years old. I was looking at books with my five-​year-​old daughter and I had mine and she was still looking. I’d been reading tons of picture books with her and was fascinated by how much was possible with the form. I went over to the computer and typed in my own name to see if anybody named John Coy had written a book. The result came back  “Zero books by this author.” I realized if I wanted something to come up I needed to actually write a story.

RVC: In your bio at the Scholastic books site, it says that you’ve worked “as a dishwasher, mattress maker, tour guide, and group home worker before taking up writing.” Which of those proved most useful in terms of helping you become a successful writer?

JC: I love this question. All of them helped, but the tour guide job was the one most directly connected since giving a good tour is all about having great stories. And great stories come from reading, listening to people, conducting research, and then distilling that information to a memorable story. In terms of school visits, though, the group homework continues to be the most valuable as I learned how to connect and work with many different people.

See the source imageRVC: Describe the process of how a picture book emerges for you, from the kernel of an idea to the final product that you send on to an acquisition editor (who surely has their own requested tweaks, revisions, and adjustments). By way of example, how about we examine the genesis story of Two Old Potatoes and Me? What’s the seed-​to-​plant process there?

JC: This one has an interesting origin. In 1999, I was getting married in England and going to be in Europe for five weeks. I needed something to plant in my plot at the community garden that was hardy and could survive while I was gone, so I planted the entire area in potatoes. When I came back, the plot was full of weeds but the potatoes were doing fine. In the fall, I had so many potatoes so I gave some away to friends. One of them–Norton Stillman–called me and told me how good they were. “You should write a book about growing potatoes,” he said.

The next day I started writing about potatoes and then revised and revised it. I sent it to one editor who liked it but rejected it on the grounds that they already had a book about green beans, a vegetable quota I was unaware of. The second editor, Andrea Cascardi at Crown, said yes. Three illustrators turned down the chance to illustrate it, which turned out to be fortunate because we got Carolyn Fisher who created stunning art, including a copyright page with text in the shape of a potato with one sprout thanking Norton Stillman for the idea.

RVC: Two Old Potatoes and Me uses a memorable rhythmic text throughout. What are your feelings on rhyme? And how important is the sound of a picture book to you?

JC: Rhyme is tricky and I’m in awe of folks who do it well. Sound is key to picture book text since the book is designed to be read by an adult to a child. I read stories aloud over and over as I’m working on them. I also record them and hear new things when I listen to the recordings that help make changes.

RVC: What type of rituals or routines are part of your writing process?

JC: Yoga to start the day, breakfast, then some newspapers online. and NBA highlights for procrastination. I try to stay away from email until the afternoon in order to keep space for writing.

RVC: Writing advice is fairly easy to find, and it often consists of the same basic things—write more, read more, revise more, etc. What’s the most unexpected bit of useful advice you have for aspiring authors? 

JC: I don’t know if it’s unexpected, but the best advice for me came from the poet Diego Vazquez, Jr.: writers write. For me, that’s important to repeat regularly. Writers write.

I see many aspiring writers spending huge amounts of time trying to understand the business of publishing. Writers write. I think the most important aspect of writing is to write compelling stories.

Writers write.

RVC: Since we mentioned the submission process, let’s get your take on this question that many aspiring writers have. How vital is it for picture book writers to be represented by a literary agent?

JC: I did not have an agent for my first four picture books. Then my editor Andrea Cascardi decided to be an agent after her son was born. He just turned twenty-​one and Andrea is still my agent. She knows more about this than I do, so here’s her answer:

“Speaking as an agent, I would have to say it’s about getting access. Most of the large houses don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. That said, if a writer attends conferences where editors agree to read submissions from attendees or if they do online workshops where editors speak and also agree to read submissions, there are ways to get in the door.”

RVC: Knowing all you now know, what’s one thing you’d have done differently in terms of your writing career way back when?

JC: I would’ve started earlier. The worst piece of advice I heard was that if you don’t have to write every day, then you aren’t a writer. I didn’t feel I had to write every day. so I thought I wasn’t a writer. That and fear of rejection kept me from starting sooner.

RVC: What’s next for you, picture-book-wise?

See the source imageJC: Two picture books I started over twenty years ago. On Your Way, beautifully illustrated by Talitha Shipman, comes out August 13. It’s a celebration of first steps and the various ways we learn to move.

In October, My Mighty Journey: A Waterfall’s Story will be published. It’s the story of the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River and what it has witnessed over the past twelve thousand years. It’s first-​person waterfall, a type of story we don’t have enough of. Gaylord Schanilec and a team of artists collected material from the riverbank and made striking art with it.

In spring of 2020, two new books will be published. If We Were Gone will be released on the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day and imagines a world without people. Natalie Capannelli, in her picture book debut, created great pictures for that and it will have a different dust jacket and cover. Then for Father’s Day, Dads, my second collaboration with the award-​winning photographer Wing Young Huie, will be released.

RVC: Congrats on so much success! We’ll keep an eye out for those titles here at OBP. 

Now–just one last question for this part of the interview. There’s an audio recording at Teaching Books.net where you explain exactly how to pronounce your name. How common of an issue is this for your readers and/​or during school visits? I ask because I’ve got a potentially tricky name to get right, too, for a variety of reasons. Inquiring minds want to know!

JC: This is a great service from Teaching Books. I’m surprised how many schools check it out in advance of visits even with my simple name.

RVC: Alright, it’s time for … THE SPEED ROUND! Cheetah-​fast questions followed by Ferrari-​fast answers, please. Ready?

JC: Ready!

RVC: If I never became a writer, I’d have been a ___________.

JC: frustrated writer.

RVC: Most likely to appear in a future John Coy book—dinosaurs, ninjas, or pirates?

JC: Dinosaurs right now.

RVC: The Princess Bride. Great 80s movie or the greatest 80s movie?

JC: Great 80s movie.

RVC: Which is more satisfying—a book’s birthday or an idea for a new book?

JC: Idea. That’s when the fun begins.

See the source imageRVC: Favorite picture book by an author not named John Coy?

JC: Kao Kalia Yang’s A Map into the World, which comes out in October. I love it.

RVC: Coolest thing a kid said to you during a school visit?

JC: “Thank you for coming to our school.” That never gets old and goes straight to my heart.

RVC: Thanks so much, John!

Author Interview: Marilyn Singer

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This month’s Author Interview at Only Picture Books is with Marilyn Singer, the author of 90+ books for children and young adults. In addition to being an incredibly prolific author, she’s the host of the former AOL Children’s Writers Chat and currently co-​hosts the Poetry Blast at various conferences.

Need more Marilyn bio nuggets? Try these five facts:

  1. She LOVES swing dancing.
  2. She auditioned for Jeopardy but didn’t get selected–yet.
  3. She got to sing with a chorus for a track on the recording of the revival of the Broadway musical, Pippin.
  4. She’s lives with a cat named Benito and a poodle named Bizzy.
  5. She writes in so many different styles and genres—picture books, realistic novels, fantasy, mysteries, fairy tales, nonfiction, poetry, etc.—because it “keeps her from getting bored.”

Feel like you’ve got enough of a sense of things now to move straight to interview time? Let’s go!

Website: https://marilynsinger.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriterBabe

RVC: It’s my understanding that your love for language emerged at a very early age thanks to the efforts of your family. What specifically did they do?

MS: My Romanian grandmother, who lived with us, told me marvelous stories every night. My parents read to me a lot, especially fairy tales and poetry. They also sang to me popular songs of the day. I grew up appreciating great lyricists such as Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, and Johnny Mercer. So, my family really did teach me to love language.

RVC: Rumor has it that you were writing your own poems in elementary school. What did you like most about poetry back then?

MS: I think I liked the rhythm and musicality, particularly because I loved songs and singing. I also liked the emotion behind poetry and the fact that it could move me and other people and also make us laugh.

RVC: Despite all that, you didn’t consider writing as a career until a few years after college, right? Why not? What helped you make the move into the world of words? 

MS: Oh, I thought about writing as a career way back in elementary school—that, and having a dog kennel. 😉

But as I got older, my mom said that teaching was a stable career for a woman, and I decided she was probably right. So, I did become a high school English teacher, but I didn’t stay long in that career. I was rather rebellious and didn’t get along with the administration. When I quit teaching, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. My husband, Steve Aronson–head of the film department of the American Federation of Arts–got me jobs writing teaching guides and catalog copy about films and also filmstrips (remember those?). Then one day to my surprise, when I was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I started writing stories about insect characters I’d made up when I was eight. I read the stories to Steve, who was encouraging, and I joined the Bank Street Writers Lab, and the members were also positive. I submitted those and other stories and I was very lucky. I got a manuscript accepted after about six months.

Would that it were that easy since!

RVC: Tell us a bit more about that first book and what it meant to you.

MS: Well, as I said, I was most fortunate. My first book was The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn’t. Ann Durell at Dutton accepted it and my next two books as well. I imagined my own dogs talking and having particular ideas and traits about personhood, and I think the book grew out of that. Once it and my next books were published, I decided that maybe I WAS a writer. It’s not an easy profession, though. It has serious ups and downs—from acceptances and rejections to good sales and low ones to books still in print for decades to those going out of print after a year. Still, I get to make my own hours and work in my pjs if I want to, and that’s not bad!

RVC: What’s one thing that non-​poets don’t fully appreciate about poetry?

MS:  Hmm, I don’t know if they realize that good poetry is hard to write and that it doesn’t always have to rhyme. A lot of folks who dislike poetry think it’s abstruse, which may be true of some poems, but certainly not all. Some also think that there’s just one type of poetry, which isn’t true in the least. I believe that there’s a poem or a type of poetry for all readers to enjoy. But they may need help finding it, which is where teachers, parents, other relatives, and friends come in.

See the source imageRVC: Just the other day, I picked up Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems in my weekly grab-​whatever-​catches-​my-​eye run at the public library. What made you think of creating a book like that?

MS: One day I was watching my cat sitting in an easy chair and a poem came into my head:

A cat                                       Incomplete:

without                                    A chair

a chair:                                    without

Incomplete.                             a cat.

I began to wonder if I could come up with more poems like that. I wrote a number of them on a variety of subjects, but quite a few were based on fairy tales. I showed them to an editor who suggested I do an entire collection based on fairy tales, and that’s how Mirror Mirror (Dial, 2010), with divine illustrations by Josée Masse, came about.

I originally called them up-​and-​down poems. It was my husband who came up with the word “reverso.” To write a reverso, I follow strict rules—when the lines are reversed, there are changes in just punctuation and capitalization, and the second half of the poem has to say something different from the first half. These poems are tricky to write. I have to be in a games-​playing head. Also, I have to write them on a computer, as opposed to a legal pad (which is how I write many of my poems) so that I can shift around the lines and see if they make sense.

RVC: You’ve got a host of animal-​related books out in 2019 and 2020—one on presidential pets, one on insects and spiders, one on animals that live in cities, and one on how animals eat. Did you write a lot of animal poems and they sort of fell into these categories, or do you come up with the title/​idea first and then create the poems?

MS: The theme came up first for each of those books. Then I started to write the poems. Two of those books, Bug Dipping, Bug Sipping (S&S, 2020) and Gulp, Gobble (S&S, 2019) are each really a single poem. Who Named Their Pony Macaroni? (Disney-​Hyperion, 2019) and Wild in the Streets (Quarto, 2019) are collections. I never feel that I have a collection in the works until I write a minimum of five to seven poems. And then I have to write a lot more to finish the collection.

RVC: When do the titles happen?

MS: The title almost always comes last, sometimes after much discussion with editors, marketing people, and friends.

RVC: So, you’re essentially a lifelong New Yorker. And what’s something most people don’t appreciate or understand about being a New Yorker?

MS: That’s an interesting question. I think a lot of people believe that New Yorkers are cold or hard when in fact people here are generally friendly and helpful. I’m a native New Yorker and I find I start conversations with folks anywhere and anytime. People here love to give directions and advice on things to see and do.  And they will help you if you are in trouble. I once tripped on the street and a stranger picked me up and held me until I said I was fine. We do tend to be in a hurry a lot of the time, though, and I know that when I’m trying to get to a Broadway theater, I get impatient with tourists taking selfies. 😉

RVC: How does your New York-​ness play into your writing?

MS: I think the energy here gives me energy to write, and I also think some of my work is inspired by the city—books such as City Lullaby and poems in Nine O’Clock Lullaby, On the Same Day in March, A Full Moon Is Rising, Every Month Is a New Year, and Wild in the Streets, just to name a few.

RVC: Of the many awards and honors you’ve received, which meant the most to you?

MS: I was thrilled to receive the 2015 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Excellence in Poetry for Children Award because it was for the body of my work. I found out I’d won it at a birthday brunch for my husband, so we both got to celebrate that day.

RVC: Now it’s time to close things out with the Awesome Sauce, Mesmerizing, Life-​or-​Death-​Stakes* SPEED ROUND! (*life or death stakes not included!) Ready?

MS: As Neil deGrasse Tyson would say, “Let’s do this!”

RVC: Cake, cupcakes, or pie?

MS: Pie—or maybe tres leches cake.

RVC: Three careers you might’ve had if you never got into kidlit?

MS: Casting director. Zoo keeper. Cabaret singer.

RVC: So, you’re having a dinner party with three guests from the world of books. Living or dead, real or imaginary, what three characters would you invite?

MS: I’d invite Shakespeare, Lin-​Manuel Miranda, and Irene Pepperberg, who studies parrots. They’ve all written books/​plays, so do they count?

RVC: Of course! It’s your party, after all. Next question–which of your books is your secret favorite?

See the source imageMS: That’s a really hard question to answer. I’m fond of my first poetry collection, Turtle in July, and Mirror Mirror, too, since it was a surprise even to me! I also really like The First Few Friends, a YA novel set in the late 60s that bombed at the box office, as it were. I think it might’ve done better if it had been published today.

RVC: Most underappreciated yet awesome kidlit poet working today?

MS: All kidlit poets are underappreciated! Poetry is underappreciated! You’re not going to get me to name names. 😉

RVC: What would you like your literary epitaph to be?

MS: I came, I saw, I wrote about it.

RVC: Thanks so much, Marilyn!

 

 

 

Author/​Illustrator Interview: Fred Koehler

On By Only Picture BooksIn Author Interviews, Illustrator Interviews4 Comments

See the source image

This month’s Author/​Illustrator Interview is with Fred Koehler, who first got on my radar at the 2017 SCBWI regional conference in Miami. I was sitting in the back row for the Heidi Stemple and Jane Yolen Picture Book Intensive, and this quiet, red-​haired dude slipped into the chair behind me as the event started, and he ended up doodling/​drawing/​sketching the entire time. During one of the breaks, I finally asked him who he was and what kind of work he’d done, if any.

Fred kind of shrugged and said he’d done “a few things” and “had another thing coming out,” but didn’t give any indication that he was talking about his illustration work on “things” like One Day, the End and This Book Is Not About Dragons, as well as his own author/​illustrated books How to Cheer Up Dad and Super Jumbo.

Way to slow play it, Fred.

Just in case you don’t yet have the full 411 on the fun coolness that is Fred, here are Five Fredtastically Freddifying Facts to help you out. Only one fact is an “alternate fact,” meaning 100% completely fakeroo-​false. (If you can’t tell which one’s the fabricated falsehood, I’ll dish that answer in the finale of this interview.)

See the source image1—He’s got a dog named Cheerio Mutt-​face McChubbybutt.
2—There’s an official Penguin Kids promo video for How to Cheer Up Dad where Fred gets hit in the face with Silly String and then a whipped cream pie.
3—Fred broke the Guinness World Record for having the largest traveling children’s book.
4—Fred bet me I couldn’t work 13+ words that begin with F in a single short bio-​style paragraph.
5— Fred’s real-​life misadventures include sunken boats, shark encounters, and a hurricane.

Need a bit more to REALLY feel like you know Fred? Here’s a KidLit TV video where he shows you how to draw a puppy!

With that, we’re ready. We’re set. It’s time to Fred it on!

Website: https://www.ilikefred.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superfredd
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/superfredd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fred_koehler_/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7135838.Fred_Koehler

RVC: Let’s begin with the place where so much begins for you—Mitchell’s Coffee House. What’s the dealio?

FK: For me, every work space has a vibe and a specific energy. That energy might be emotional, psychic, kinetic (or it might all be in my head). Since I started going to Mitchell’s in college, it’s always been “home turf,” where good vibes flow and I can even go back behind the counter and refill my coffee if it’s busy.

RVC: You’re also pretty darn active in social media in a way that people seem to dig. What’s your seems-​to-​be-​working philosophy?

FK: My formula is simple: Be open about my failures. Joke about them and learn from them in real time. I don’t go for perfect because my life is generally a mess. Perfect isn’t authentic or believable.

RVC: One of the constants in your path to success seems to have been SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Share how that organization played a part in your own journey. 

FK: I prefer to be a lone wolf, but I’m slowly realizing that you have to have community. For the publishing world, there’s no better community than SCBWI. Loads of like-​minded people, great instruction, and specific opportunities to connect with publishing dealmakers.

RVC: Any tips on how SCBWI can help launch the careers for other authors, illustrators, and author/​illustrators?

FK: I recommend showing up to make friends, not deals. Then you start to see it as a lifelong journey, not some prize you’re racing to win. You can find peace with where you’re at, and still keep the fire lit to get where you want to be.

RVC: Let’s pin this down. You’ve done illustrating. You’ve done author-​illustrating. So, do you consider yourself to be a words-​first or pictures-​first story creator? 

FK: I sold my first two books as author/​illustrator. But before that, I wrote some really terrible stuff including a novel-​that-​must-​not-​be-​named-​and-​will-​never-​be-​published. Most stories play out in my head like a movie, complete with narrative voiceover and camera direction. I can choose to write down what the narrator is saying, sketch out what the camera is seeing, or even dive into the head of one of the characters and describe the story through their perspectives and biases.

All of that, in a nutshell, is my superpower.

See the source imageRVC: One of the benefits of being an illustrator is that you can justify a lot of trips for photographic/​visual reference. (Okay, writers do this too!) When you illustrated Matt Forrest Esenwine’s picture book, Flashlight Night, you went a bit overboard with the research. What did you do to prepare you to illustrate that book?

FK: Well, the manuscript called for castles and waterfalls, old ships and foreign shores. So, I did what any illustrator would do and hopped a flight to Manchester so I could bum up and down the UK for a few weeks and find photographic reference for all of these illustrations. I did it all the cheap–youth hostels and public transit.

I had just about every adventure that the characters had in the book. Made friends. Got lost. Even bled a bit. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

RVC: You’re fortunate enough to call kidlit queen Jane Yolen a friend and a mentor. What are some of the most important lessons that she’s given you, explicitly or implicitly?

FK: Jane is famous for all sorts of great advice for writers. My favorite is about luck. She figures that luck makes its own path through the ether, wandering where it will to bless the heads and hearts (and wallets) of mortals at its own whimsy. But she also figures that there are things we can do as creatives to invite luck in, to nudge ourselves toward its path. Hard work is at the top of that list. If you’ve got a house in order and a bag packed when luck knocks on your door, you’ll be ready to join it on an adventure.

See the source imageRVC: Since we’re talking about relationships with writers—what’s the best part about being married to another writer? (For those who don’t know, his wife is YA novelist Sarah McGuire, author of the terrific books Valiant and The Flight of Swans.)

FK: This is kind of deep, but one amazing thing about Sarah is being able to know her through the books she reads and writes. When she tells me how the Chronicles of Narnia sent her racing through her home, opening cabinets and closets trying to find an entrance, I know that we share a sense of the numinous. Or if I read a scene she wrote about, let’s say, betrayal, I could feel how deeply that knife cuts for her. An honest writer lays bare their soul on the page, warts and all. Who else gets to read and fall in love with another person’s soul? We’re a lucky pair.

See the source imageRVC: Speaking of novels—talk a bit about how you moved your kidlit career from purely picture books to including a middle grade novel like Garbage Island (The Nearly Always Perilous Adventures of Archibald Shrew).

FK: Story came to me most naturally through words, so novels were my first love. I was just awful at writing them. But the format of a picture books honed my ability to tell a story succinctly and to add depth and meaning in the negative space. So, when I sat down to pen a novel after working on numerous picture books, I had a new sense of vision for what it could be.

Writing coach Joyce Sweeney taught me a lot about novel craft. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Writer360 Breakout Novel Intensive as the training that filled in additional gaps in my novelist toolkit. And to bring everything full circle, that proactive work nudged me into the path of luck in the form of a publisher excited about whatever I came up with next. And when luck came knocking, I was ready.

RVC: Let’s look forward. You’re under contract to write The Sailing City (Boyds Mills Press, 2020), which is the sequel to Garbage Island. Can you share a little bit about that new book?

FK: The second novel was harder than the debut, and it’s still in first pass editorial so it’s hard to really even say. I half expect to get a letter saying, “Dear Fred, This sequel is an exceptional way to waste months of everyone’s time and 60,000 words.” But I’ll let you know.

RVC: You’ve been warned. I’ve been warned. All the elephants in Fred’s picture books have been warned. But here we all are—it’s time for THE SPEED ROUND! Fast Qs and equally fast As, please!

FK: Bring it!

RVC: Tater tots or French fries?

FK: Tots.

RVC: Best Saturday afternoon activity: fishing, writing, or drawing?

FK: I’m a fisherman first, artist second.

RVC: Coolest Harry Potter spell that doesn’t yet exist?

FK: Abra-​ka-​dinner.

RVC: The #1 picture book writer you’d LOVE to illustrate for?

FK: I don’t care who wrote it. Just send me a manuscript that’s equally brilliant, unusual, and impossible.

RVC: Best compliment by a child reader?

FK: I got a letter recently from a reader who loved Garbage Island, and subsequently started picking up trash in his neighborhood so it wouldn’t end up in the ocean. Does it get any better than that?

RVC: Three words that sum up your relationship with kidlit.

FK: Let’s stick with “brilliant, unusual, and impossible.”

RVC: Thanks so much, Fred! Much appreciated!

**For those of you who needed to cheat to figure out which of the Fred Facts is false, it’s #4. The over-​the-​top F business is all me. Blame OPB.

 

 

Author Interview: Carole Boston Weatherford

On By Only Picture BooksIn Author Interviews

This month’s Author Interview is with NC-​based writer Carole Boston Weatherford. She’s been on my short list for some time, and when I saw that she and OPB pal Rob Sanders were co-​teaching a workshop on nonfiction at a regional SCBWI conference, I signed up. The day after that workshop, I moved her to the top of the Must-​Have list.

Here’s a quickie bio that’ll give you a sense of why that happened.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Carole went on to earn a BA from American University, an MA from the University of Baltimore, and an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her 50+ books have won two NAACP Image Awards, a Coretta Scott King Award, three Caldecott Honors, an SCBWI Golden Kite Award, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and many, many more. Somehow, she still finds the time to also serve as Professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina as well as be a frequent participant at writing conferences.

Are you starting to see why she’s an OPB must-have?

Let’s dive right in!

website: www.cbweatherford.com
GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/57825.Carole_Boston_Weatherford
Twitter: www.twitter.com/poetweatherford

RVC: You’ve said that books have been a part of your life for as long as you can remember. What were some of the early biggest influences?

See the source imageCBW: I loved the folktale, How the Camel Got Its Hump. I also had a copy of the Caldecott award-​winner Chanticleer and the Fox, and I had Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. My favorite poem was “The Land of Counterpane.” My fourth grade teacher introduced me to the poetry of Langston Hughes. To this day, I consider him my literary mentor in absentia.

RVC: Some people come later in life to poetry, but not you. You heard its lyric call in first grade, right?

CBW: A poem came to me out of the blue and I recited it for my mother on the drive home from school. She parked the car and wrote it down. A couple years later, she asked my father, a high school printing teacher, to have his students print my poems on the letterpress in his classroom. So, at an early age before the computer age, I saw my work in print. That gave me the audacity years later to think that I could become a published author.

RVC: What poetic technique should more prospective picture book writers work on to make their text more effective?

CBW: Picture book writers can employ poetic techniques such as aural qualities, distilled emotions, concrete imagery, economy of language, and rhythm to make their manuscripts sing.

RVC: How do you decide which poetic style/​approach will work for a piece? Perhaps you might offer a book example or two by way of explanation?

See the source imageCBW: The style and approach need to feel right for the project. Will the manuscript be free verse or rhymed couplets; from first, second, or third person point of view; a book length poem or a narrative sequence? For You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen, I chose second person to put readers in the cockpit with the pioneering World War II aviators. For Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, I chose first person so young readers could hear the voice of Ms. Hamer, a powerful orator and singer. For Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane, I used repetition to riff about the saxophonist’s childhood. Jazz Baby and The Sound that Jazz Makes were both inspired by nursery rhymes.

RVC: So you’re a prolific writer. How do you balance your writing life with your non-​writing life? What goes into your process of choosing which projects to take on?

CBW: Balancing literary, academic, and family duties is a juggling act. Balls sometimes drop. My literary mission is to mine the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles. The projects I take on advance that mission. Often, I am rescuing a subject from obscurity or am setting the record straight. Time is precious and finite. Thus, I need to be keenly interested in a subject because I never know how much research will be involved or how long the writing process will take. Likewise, I never know how long it will take to sell a manuscript.

RVC: Talk a bit about the CBW/​JBW mother/​son author/​illustrator duo.

CBW: My son, Jeffery Weatherford, showed artistic ability at an early age so I put him in studio art classes outside of school. He went on to get a degree in digital design and an MFA in painting. You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen gave me a chance to work with him as an illustrator.

I did some picture research for him and suggested that he create scratchboard drawings. But he did not show me every drawing upon completion. When I saw the illustrations, I was so proud. We’re working on a few collaborations now.

Jeffery is also a performance poet, and we’re working together on a hip hop novel.

RVC: How important is a critique group for a prospective picture book author?

CBW: A critique group can be crucial to an emerging writer. My critique group midwifed some of my early manuscripts, including The Sound that Jazz Makes, my first book to win a national award.

RVC: One of my favorite books of yours is Freedom in Congo Square. As a lifelong musician, I’m really drawn to that book’s connection to the musical communities of New Orleans, but I’m equally taken by the chant-​like rhymes that feel so rooted in the structure of music. And who doesn’t love the folk-​art style used by R. Gregory Christie, too, right?

CBW: Freedom in Congo Square was our third collaboration. When I first saw Greg’s illustrations for the book, I emailed him and said: “This is it for you. I don’t know what ‘it’ is, but remember that you heard it here first.” The book went on to win a Caldecott Honor.

RVC: So many of your books come hand-​in-​hand with an amazing origin story. What’s your favorite, and why?

CBW: Billie Holiday has been my muse since before I even realized I had one. But I almost didn’t write Becoming Billie Holiday for fear that young readers wouldn’t be familiar with her. Then, I was touring the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in my hometown of Baltimore. I was admiring the wax figures of musicians when a girl walked up and said, “Oooo, Billie Holiday.” I asked the girl what grade she was in and she indicated, “Eighth grade.” Then, I asked, “You’ve heard of Billie Holiday?” She replied, “Yeah, she could sing!”

When the girl moved on, I looked Billie’s wax figure in the eyes. She gazed back at me. It was almost as if she said, “I told you to write my book.” So, I got busy on what would become my YA debut.

RVC: Please say a few words about the state of multicultural literature in the kidlit world. And if you’d like to include a Call to Action, that’d be most welcome!

CBW: The first wave—actually ripple–of multiculturalism was in the 1960s and 1970s after the publication of Ezra Jack Keats’ A Snowy Day. In the early 90s, I was a new mother. Trips to bookstores and libraries with my children introduced me to a new crop of multicultural books. At the time, I was in an MFA program and was writing poetry for adults. I did some research about writing for children and realized that the industry was undergoing a multicultural boom. So, I entered the children’s book industry in 1995 during the second wave of multiculturalism. We are now experiencing the third wave. The term “multicultural” has been replaced by the word “diverse.” And in some cases, writers of color are being replaced by white writers who take on subject matter outside of their culture.

While We Need Diverse Books has raised awareness and created opportunities, the Own Voices movement has raised cultural sensitivity issues too complex to discuss here. For the sake of future generations, we must continue to grow the body of books by and about people from marginalized cultures and the opportunities for non-​whites inside the industry.

RVC: We’re to the final questions now, which means we’ve reached the SPEED ROUND! Zoomy-​fast answers, please. Ready?

CBW: Ready!

RVC: Most underappreciated living rap artist?

CBW: Noname. (Really! Love her.)

RVC: If you had to choose a career outside of the literary world, what would it be?

CBW: Fashion designer, filmmaker, or rapper.

RVC: What’s the most writerly type of pizza?

CBW: A pizza of my mind. Seriously though, I don’t eat pizza because my diet is primarily plant-​based. Pizza without cheese doesn’t interest me.

RVC: Since you co-​taught that SCBWI workshop together… what’s your favorite Rob Sanders picture book?

See the source imageCBW: Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights.

RVC: Three words you hope every reader says/​uses when they read one of your books?

CBW: That really happened?!

RVC: We started this interview by talking about books that influenced you, so let’s end with the names of three of your writing heroes.

CBW: Toni Morrison. Langston Hughes. Marilyn Nelson.

RVC: Thanks so very much, Carole!