Author Interview: Shelley Moore Thomas, the StoryQueen

Image from Shelley's website. Used with permission.

I noticed Shelley Moore Thomas's books before I learned that she had a blog. I work part-time in a library, and one slow evening, I came across one of her Good Knight easy readers in the bookdrop. A few sentences caught my eye while I was inspecting the returned book, and I ended up reading the whole thing. With a cast of characters including the Good Knight and three dragons, Shelley creates hilarious stories, all told through read-aloud-ready prose.

But the best thing about Shelley's books is that--at my library, anyway--children love them. Her tales of the Good Knight are in and out all the time; once, I checked a Good Knight book out to a child only to see him ask his mom if he could go get one more Good Knight book.

Shelley, AKA the StoryQueen, is known for reading books aloud in royal regalia. (See tiara above.) She also writes books that do not feature the Good Knight. Recently, I asked Shelley a few questions about her middle grade novel that is set to be released in 2012, and what it's like to write for children:

Do you approach easy readers and picture books differently? What comes first: the format, or the story?


For me, I think the story always comes first. While I am writing a book, sometimes the book decides to be something different than I originally thought. I think format and story should be an integral part of each other, if that makes any sense. With the Good Knight series, it was my editor, Lucia Monfried, who suggested the easy reader format for the story that I had sent her. I had unintentionally included so many of the bits that make up a good easy reader, I just needed to adjust the lengths of some sentences and change out a few words. One of the coolest things is that Lucia really liked the rich and unusual word choices in some cases and they got to stay. I love that they let me keep "methinks" in an easy reader!

How closely do you work with the illustrators of your books?


Actually, not very closely at all! I do my part with the words and the artist does her (or his) part with the art. It is awesome to see it all come together. I have been pleased with all of my illustrators.

Would you let the dragons from your books spend a weekend vacationing in your home?


Um...pretty much I live with them.  All. The. Time.


I notice in your videos section that you mention that Take Care, Good Knight was inspired by a real life experience. Would you mind telling a quick version of the story?


Well, my daughter (Issy) had to care for the neighbors' garden while they were away and completely misunderstood the directions.  When I went to check on things (the day before the neighbors returned) almost everything was DEAD!  We spent the next 12 hours running to the nursery and replanting things.  Good times.

Image from Shelley's website.

Imagine that you’re stranded on a desert island that happens to have a castle. (Queens should’t be stranded without one of those.) You can have one type of food (Italian, Chinese, etc.) delivered to your castle door daily. Which type of food would you pick?


Mexican food.


You have a middle grade novel, The Seven Tales of Trinket, coming out in 2012. How has working on this project differed from composing your works for younger readers?


I knew I wanted to write something that was a little longer than a picture book.  I attempted a few things that didn't work out as well as I had hoped.  The truth was, I didn't quite have faith that I could write a chapterbook or novel.  I started writing The Seven Tales of Trinket several years ago (under a different, quite hideous title), but the computer crashed and I lost everything.  But it was okay, because I wasn't ready to write it.  Also, I had tried my hand at some longer picture books, folktale retellings, but  they are a very hard sell in picture book form (which is a shame because I LOVE to read them to kids!).  Finally, one Spring morning in 2009, I started writing Trinket's tale, which is kind of a story within seven stories.  I wrote a couple of pages a day, sometimes only getting to the top of the next page before my time ran out, but I was committed.  I was ready. The big difference between writing a picture book and a novel (for me anyway) is the revision stage.  Revising a picture book is a little more "obvious".  I mean, I can tell if something is working or not pretty easily and make the change. With a novel, every little thing I adjust affects everything else.


Why a knight and three dragons?


It started with the character of the Good Knight.  I wrote it as a mistake, meaning to write Good Night....but then it cracked me up.  So I had the Good Knight.  The dragons showed up most likely because I have three children--however, I did not notice at the time I wrote the first one how much it reflected my own life!  Really!

The newest Good Knight picture book.
Image from Shelley's website.

Name three books you’ve recently read and enjoyed or been inspired by.


Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell, Chime by Frannie Billingsly and I am in the middle of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier and loving it.


Do you find that writing children’s books can be challenging because it can be difficult to keep children’s attention? Or is such an idea false?


Hmm..I think children are very honest.  If they don't like something, or if they find it boring, they aren't going to fake it.  However, I find that kids really love a good story.  I think what is challenging about writing for children is using the right voice for the story.  When I started writing, I wasn't even sure if i was a "children's writer" but that was the most real, honest voice that came out in my writing.  I don't sit down to write for children necessarily, but I sit down to tell my tales.  I think the fact that my favorite books, still, are children's stories, really influences what I write.
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Thanks, Shelly! (I really enjoyed Chime, too.) To learn more about the Good Knight books, as well as Shelley's other projects, visit Shelley's website. And while you're at it, check out her blog, too. Or why not watch a video of Shelley reading Take Care, Good Knight, based on the dead plant story?

 

 

PS: Sorry about the spacing issues between questions--Blogger is being a diva today.

Author Interview: Mitali Perkins

I recently received the chance to review Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace. I LOVED it. Emily was originally released in 1950, and was re-released last month by Harper Perennial with a new foreword by author Mitali Perkins. Mitali was born in India, and in her foreword she recounts her discovery of Emily at a public library when she was relatively new to America.

The library I currently work at serves a lot of immigrant families and a large, diverse group of kids hang out at the library after school. I was especially touched by the Mitali's affection for books. I recently asked Mitali some questions about writing the foreword for Emily of Deep Valley, and I'm happy to have some new book recommendations for bored kids. (And bored me.)
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In the foreword you discuss how Lovelace’s books possess essential storytelling ingredients: people, place, and plot. Which Lovelace characters do you most enjoy spending time with?

I love how Betsy starts the school year with introspection, setting goals for her writing and life. But my favorite, of course, is Emily, because of her courage in a tough situation.

You enjoyed Lovelace’s books as a child—do you think they influence your writing?

Definitely! I strive to convey the uplifting values and hope Lovelace effortlessly intertwined into her excellent stories.

Your foreword tells the beautiful story of your childhood discovery of the Betsy-Tacy books and Emily when you were fairly new to America. Are there other books that spoke to you in similar ways? (Do follow the links for Mitali's thoughts on each of these books.)

Little Women. A Little Princess. Anne of Green Gables. And many, many more.

Did writing the foreword to Emily of Deep Valley come easily? What is prefacing one of your favorite books like?

It was a piece of cake because I love the book so much. And such an honor to be asked! I'm still floating.

How do you think Emily of Deep Valley and Maud Hart Lovelace’s other books measure up to contemporary young adult and children’s literature?

I think they're better than most contemporary novels, including my own. I'm organizing a tweet-read of the book this week where I'm asking people to comment on why this book earns the label of a classic, especially when it comes to issues of race, class, culture and gender. The hashtag is #kidclassic.

I must admit that I’ve never read your books. Do you have a favorite work or one you recommend starting with?

Why not travel to India with Jazz in Monsoon Summer? Or if you're looking for a quicker read, visit Bangladesh with Naima in Rickshaw Girl.

Please describe your newest book, Bamboo People, in three words.

Boys. War. Choices.

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Thank you, Mitali! You can find out more about Mitali Perkins at her blog. A list of her books can be found here.

Stay tuned for more Maud Hart Lovelace fun with Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart--another book to gush about.

Author Interview: Lauren Mechling

I'm ringing in the new year with an interview with the fabulous and funny Lauren Mechling, coauthor of the 10th Grade Social Climber books and author of Dream Girl and Dream Life, which will be released on January 12, 2010. (You can see my review of Dream Girl here and my review of Dream Life here. The author photo to the left comes from laurenmechling.com)
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Claire, the main character of the Dream books, is half-French, and both Dream Girl and Dream Life are peppered with French phrases. (I particularly enjoyed Claire’s “JE DORS, DONC JE SUIS” [I sleep, therefore I am] sleep mask in Dream Life.) Do you speak French, or was a little research necessary to include French in the books?

I sort of speak French, but I hadn't studied French since high school and I had to bone up for this series. I took classes at the French Institute in New York, where I was lucky enough to become friends with a half-French couple (Kansas-born man, Paris-born woman). It turned out they were going to be living in Paris the following summer. They let me stay in their spare bedroom in exchange for a couple of macaroons and my promising to stay out of their hair. Which was the easiest promise to keep: I spent every day wandering around the city, notebook in hand (bottle of Orangina in other hand).

What kind of research did the Dream books require?

In addition to my hard August in Paris? Hmm. . . .I did a little research on the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where Claire's grandmother Kiki lives. In addition to spending a few afternoons in the lobby, observing the hotel denizens from a very comfortable couch, I was given a special tour by the hotel's publicity team and regaled with stories about the debauchery that used to go on there. I also read a few books about Brooke Astor and New York society in the heyday of the 1960s and learned about all the playboys and playgirls who ruked the roost. I also had a lunch with a girl who grew up in the NYU faculty housing to find out what it was like to be a kid surrounded by professors, and I used the Internet to research a lot of random tidbits about pockets of the city that Claire gets to play around in.

Describe your writing in three words.

Juicy merry prankstery.

I noticed that you coauthored your first three novels, the 10th Grade Social Climber books. How is coauthoring different from writing a book on your own?

It's easier to write with somebody (but most writers feel the opposite--depends if you mind having your sentences rewritten). The way Laura and I write together is we edit each other as we go along, so you don't find yourself worrying if the page you wrote isn't in the queens English. You have a permanent sounding board/personal trainer/editor.

There are many references to ducks in both Dream books, such as a moment in Dream Life when Claire narrates, “I could feel myself making my oh-so-attractive confused duck expression--a house specialty.” How do you feel about ducks? (Given that this blog is called Bookduck, I have to ask.)

I love ducks. I call my friends "duck" and in the spring I love to watch actual ducks waddle about at the Brooklyn botanic garden (yes, we have ducks in Brooklyn!). We should all aspire to be more duck-like. They're very self-assured, yet family-focused creatures. They also have nice lips.

What was your favorite book when you were a teen?

I loved whatever I was currently reading--I wasn't the most critical reader. That's the best thing about being a teenage reader: you can bounce around among all sorts of books, and it's easy to get pulled into whatever world you're visiting. I remember loving the (hilarious!) Adrian Mole books, (the not at all hilarious) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and "literary" writers like Junot Diaz and Grace Paley and Mona Simpson.

What’s next for you in writing? (I.e., will we see more of Claire?)

I would love to write another Claire book but am not under contract to do so. For now I'm actually working on a very exciting secret project that will be unveiled this spring. Hint that isn't very helpful: it's on the cusp of YA and not YA. And it involves a bestselling vampire writer.

What’s one of your favorite books you’ve read this year that you think teen readers would enjoy? (It can be any genre, any marketing age group.)

I really loved Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall and The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller, both due out later this year. I also adored Lorrie Moore's A Gate At The Stairs, which is sort of YA (the narrator is in college), and I finally got around to reading Gone With the Wind, which is totally juicy and, come to think of it, would make an awesome YA revival.

And my final question is for you: Why do YOU love ducks?

I love ducks because they're the cutest darn things AND they quack. When they're on the water they look calm on the surface, but their feet are busy at work underwater. Also, my first initial looks like one. If my name were Beth or Brittany, it's quite likely that I would like bunnies more than ducks, because it only takes a few extra lines to make a capital "B" look like a bunny. And that's not shallow at all.
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Thanks for stopping by, Lauren!

You can find out more about Lauren and her writing on her website.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year full of Happy Reading,

Author Interview: Stephanie Perkins

November is National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo), an event that challenges people to write 175 pages (50,000 words) in 30 days. When I heard about it last year I thought, "That's nuts. These people are nuts. I have to sign up." And then I wondered, "Is anyone ever successful?"


The answer to that question is yes! And to celebrate all the possibilities NaNoWriMo brings and get a few NaNoWriMo tips, I decided to interview a successful WriMo writer.

Today I have the pleasure of posting an interview with author Stephanie Perkins, who graciously answered my NaNoWriMo questions via e-mail. Stephanie has two NaNoWriMo novels under her belt and her first book, Anna and the Boy Masterpiece, will be released by Dutton in Fall 2010. ___________________________________________

Do you make detailed plans before plunging into NaNoWriMo?

Oh goodness, no. This is, without a doubt, the biggest and most common mistake among participants. There's often a misconception that NaNo is about writing a book in a month. I mean, National Novel Writing Month. It's there in the title! But that's really not what it's about. It's about creating a first, very very rough draft that you can eventually — with a lot of hard work — turn into a novel. Many participants believe they have one month to write a BOOK. A good one. One that they can sell, that people will want to read. So they do all sorts of outlining and research before beginning, sometimes months in advance! But the problem with this is that the more you know about your story beforehand, the more pressure you put on yourself to write something GOOD. And few people (I'm certainly not one of them) can write a GOOD book in a month. So what happens? The participant starts the novel, realizes that the words coming out aren't nearly as beautiful and perfect as the idea they had in their head and in their notes, and they become frustrated and discouraged. It becomes impossible to move forward. And if you aren't moving forward during NaNo, it's over.

The founder of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty, recommends only one week of preparation in his fantastic book No Plot? No Problem!. Solid advice. It gets the gears in your brain turning, but it's not nearly enough time to turn your idea into something perfect, and therefore, unattainable.

Was writer’s block a problem for you during NaNoWriMo? If so, how did you overcome it?

Yeah, a little bit. I'm a slow writer, so not having the time to think my story through is both liberating and frustrating. I hit road blocks frequently. This was where Chris Baty's book came in handy again. He talks a lot about how to keep the story moving forward, even when you have no idea what's supposed to happen next. Anything from freewriting (this is what I do most frequently, my NaNo drafts of Anna and Lola have horrifyingly long passages of nonsense), to interviewing your characters, to introducing random llamas into a scene just to see how your characters react or to give them something to talk about.

Again, this has a lot to do with distancing yourself from that notion that NaNo is about creating a capital-N Novel, rather than what NaNo works best at, which is pushing you to create as many ideas as possible within a one month span. Who cares if all of the ideas are good? One or two WILL be, and that's where you begin writing/revising in December, with the ideas that worked.

So . . . just barrel through it. Write anything. Seriously. Anything. Word count is still word count!

Do you have any must-have objects with you while you write?

Ritual was more important for me the first year. I had a green plastic flower ring that a friend had given me, and I wore it whenever I sat down. It was a nice reminder of the support I had behind me. (My family and friends have always been tremendously supportive. I am lucky.) Now that I'm used to sitting for long periods of time and big writing pushes, I only keep around the necessities — laptop, research books, notes, coffee, tea, and gum.

And OF COURSE coffee, tea, and gum are necessities!

Describe your NaNoWriMo experience in three words.

Life-changing month. (Oh man. That sounds so unbelievably corny, but it's true.)

What, in your opinion, is the best reason to participate in NaNoWriMo?

NaNo is fantastic for people like me who have a difficult time writing first drafts. It forces you to spit one out, quick and dirty. And then you get to move on to the better stages — beefing up the story, cleaning and tweaking it, and making the language sparkle! If it weren't for NaNoWriMo, I would not be in the position that I am today. I doubt that I'd even have a complete first draft by now.

Publishing a book involves a lot of revising. Is NaNoWriMo in your plans this year, or will you have your hands full working on Anna and Second Novel?

Yes, I'm participating! It's true my hands are full — I'm still shaping Lola and the Boy Next Door (formerly known as Second Novel) into a working draft, and Anna and the Boy Masterpiece will probably hit the line editing stage smack in the middle of November — but absolutely, I'm doing it. NaNo changed my life. It brought me Anna (and her delicious boy), and I will be eternally grateful for that. I'm positively giddy to star this year's project. Something NEW. What a relief!

Any tips, tricks, or words of NaNo wisdom that you’d like to share?

I learned two important things last year. First of all, I did the Bad Thing — worked on a project that I had a lot of preconceived ideas and notions about — and it was dreadful. Seriously, do NOT do this to yourself. I spent the entire month agonizing at how awful it was, whereas my first year (when I had no idea what my story was), I was just happy for the high word count! So this year, I'm starting with a significantly blanker slate.

The second important thing I learned was to nail down the tense early on. I never picked one last November. Never. I wrote some of Lola in first, some in third, some in present, some in past. (I told you my NaNo drafts are terrible!) I didn't think it would be a big deal in revisions, but it turned into a HUGE ordeal. I had more salvageable ideas in that draft than I realized, so when I moved them into my REAL novel, it required several weeks of painstaking revisions to get them all into the same voice. I won't make that mistake again! So bite the bullet and pick a tense within the first few days. Even if you decide on a different tense for your next draft, it'll still make the transition easier.

Not that you would be as silly as me and not pick a tense. I mean, really. What was I thinking?

Thanks for the fab interview! . . . . GOOD LUCK! And if you or any of your blog readers are looking for a NaNoWriMo cheering squad, I love having writing buddies. You can add me here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/230633

— Steph
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Actually *looking down at my shoes* choosing a tense was a problem for me last year. Thanks for the awesome advice, Steph!

You can read more about Stephanie's NaNoWriMo experience HERE, and I strongly recommend visiting her enormously entertaining blog HERE.

NaNo-ly yours,