susanuhlig

Ronica Stromberg’s book Living It Up to Live It Down, the second novel in her new series, has been nominated for the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Award. The book has also been nominated for the Sid Fleischman Humor Award.

Q. Your publisher, Royal Fireworks Press, lists this series as inspirational fiction. What inspired this series?

Like most writers of inspirational/religious/Christian fiction, I like to think God inspired it. :) I have ideas for eight books in the series, and they all came to me in different ways. The second book, Living It Up to Live It Down, was probably the most unusual. I was just going about everyday life when, one day, the phrase "living it up to live it down" popped into my head. I didn't know what it meant—or even if it had meaning—but, as a writer, I appreciate words and different turns of phrases. I kept thinking about the phrase, and over time, it became clear that this phrase was actually a story—about a young teen "living it up" at school and in her community to "live down" the fact that she is a pastor's daughter.

I am not a pastor's daughter. My father was a rough, agnostic Marine. But I felt compelled to write this story, and when I sat at my computer to do so, the words came so quickly I felt as though I were taking dictation. Some writers refer to this as writing "in flow." It had never happened to me before. Most often when I write, I plod.

Q. The first book in the series, A Shadow in the Dark, is a mystery. What prompted you to not continue with another mystery in the second book? Or does the publisher’s website just not mention the mystery aspect?

I came up with these books as stand-alones, but when I learned the inspirational market favors series, I stitched the books together with the same main character. The series is unusual because some books in it are mysteries, some romances, etc., but they all are inspirational young adult books about a young teen named Kirsten Hart. And even though the second book, Living It Up to Live It Down, isn't defined as a mystery, it has mysterious elements. One of Kirsten's main quests in that book is to understand her friend Sarah, the pastor's daughter.

Q. In your first book for Royal Fireworks, The Glass Inheritance, the main character learns about the Depression and WW2 and her grandmother’s involvement with a man who belonged to a pro-Nazi group. Can you tell us about the research you did on that project?

I've been fascinated by the Depression Era, World War II, and the Holocaust for years, trying to understand what led people to such depths. Besides reading tons of books about this, I've visited Japan; the Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buchenwald concentration camps in Germany; other German sites associated with Adolf Hitler, including underground bunkers; Pearl Harbor; The Heart Mountain Relocation Center (the Japanese internment camp in Wyoming); and many Holocaust museums around the world. I had researched far more than I was able to put in The Glass Inheritance, but the book gives upper elementary children an introduction to these historical events.

Q. How long have you been writing for children?

I first attempted writing a children's novel at eight years old. I started many books throughout my childhood and early adult years but never finished them. I always wanted to write though. About thirteen years ago, I started finishing what I wrote and submitting. I sold The Glass Inheritance first but had magazine articles and stories in anthologies hit print before it.

Q. Would you like to tell us about your current work-in-progress?

To be honest, I haven't been working on novels much lately. I've been immersed in promotions and presenting. I have started the third book in The Kirsten Hart Series and need to rework an inspirational romance I wrote a couple of years ago. I have some fun ideas for picture books and short stories also and need to take the time to get them down on paper.

Q. What’s the worst part of writing for you?

Rejection. Specifically, not knowing why a piece is rejected. If I've made mistakes in my writing, I want to know what they are so I can overcome them.

Q. And the best part?

The finished product. I love books. It thrills me to have a part in something I've always loved.

Read more about Ronica on her website: http://ronicastromberg.wordpress.com/my-books/

susanuhlig

Recently I’ve had ICL students set at the wrong “altitude” in relationship to their main character. They’ve talked about “little arm,” “tiny mouth,” “short body,” and more. That’s adult-size looking down to see child-size. When we are in a child’s viewpoint, arms, mouths or bodies of kids are viewed as the right size unless part of plot/character issues. In that case the main character likely views his shortness, skinniness or cuteness as a flaw, not a simple description of who he is.

So this got me to thinking. We’re so used to seeing the world at the adult height that it is easy to forget what it looks like from kid height. Recently I experienced a direct example. My six year old grandson looked up at me and said, “you have hairs in your nose.” After struggling with that brief moment of being offended, I said, “yes.” Then I told him everyone did. I explained the purpose of those hairs. Of course, later I checked the mirror to see if, gasp, I needed to trim my nose hairs.

These both have reminded me that I need to think about what my young main character is seeing from her altitude. I may have to walk around on my knees a while to see what the world looks like from that height. I need to dig back and remember when I had to look up at every adult. I need to remember how I had to use a chair to reach the upper cabinets in the kitchen, and sometimes even climbed up on the countertop. I need to pay more attention to kids who are the age of my main character and see the things they have to deal with in an adult sized world and convey that in my writing.

The other thing I sometimes see students do is write with the wrong “attitude.” As an adult we think it is funny or cute when kids do certain things. Unless they are trying to be funny, often what they are doing is very serious business. The two year old pretending to go to work on his ride-upon car is practicing what he’s seen a parent do. The four year old ballerina believes she dances beautifully. At that age anything is possible. The six year old asking about nose hairs is not trying to offend, he’s being honest. Let’s not taint those experiences with adult reality and attitude in our writing.

My adult daughter let me read her sixth grade diary. She wrote about boys, boys, boys, her friends, and her older sister. She wrote about stuff that happened at school. We, her parents, were only mentioned once. That was when her fish died and she said we laughed. I look back and can’t remember laughing. I don’t know why we would have laughed. Whether we did or not isn’t the point. She felt we didn’t care or didn’t care enough. To her that little fish dying was important. Callous parent me, I can’t even remember what kind of fish it was. In my defense, I do remember her winning it at a Vacation Bible School and remember what she named it. But to that sixth grade girl the life and death of that fish was an important event.

I need to convey the child attitude in my writing. I need to share child concerns, questions and experiences as honestly as I can to make my stories more believable to my child audience.

I plan to be checking my altitude and attitude often as I write. How about you?

susanuhlig

Ann Ingalls co-authored LITTLE PIANO GIRL (Houghton Mifflin, January 2010) with her sister, Maryann Macdonald.   Ann lives in Kansas City and Maryann lives in New York.  Ann also writes for children’s magazines.  Read more about her at her new website:  http://anningallswrites.com/

Q. Tell us how LITTLE PIANO GIRL came about.  What inspired it? 

I had written a nonfiction alphabet picture book called J is for Jive. When looking for endorsements for that work, a member of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors suggested that I change the W in the alphabet book from Work Songs to Williams. The more I read about her, the more intrigued I became. I shared the idea with my dear sister and she wanted to partner for this project. We have co-authored lots of things, some of which have sold to magazines and one that won a third place in Missouri Writers’ Guild’s poetry contest several years back.

Q. What brought you and Maryann together to work on this project?  (Besides the fact that you are related…)

Maryann and I share a love of music, storytelling, and the same ideas about what makes a good picture book. We edit each other’s work and enjoy good music, singing together badly and a serious love of oatmeal raisin cookies.

Q. What can you tell us about collaborating on a project?

This requires respect for the other’s ideas and flexibility. We split up the research and shared what we each learned. We each interviewed prominent individuals in the jazz community, read the same liner notes, Mary Lou’s hand-written notes, interviews in Melodymaker Magazine and Downbeat. I sought out the endorsements. We each looked for agents and we passed the manuscript back and forth or read it aloud to each other about 100 times. No kidding.

Q. Where did you and your sister grow up?

We grew up in the Detroit metropolitan area where Polish food is good and Motown Music is grand. We taught each other lots of silly dance moves and cheers. We were both cheerleaders in high school and can still remember some of them. No more splits or cartwheels for us.

Q. How long have you been writing for children?  What got you interested in writing for children?

I have been writing for children since the first day I entered a classroom. When I started teaching special education in Michigan in the Dark Ages, interesting text was not available for older readers with lower reading ability. That was great practice for keeping it simple but using some high interest words.

Q. Now that you’ve sold a book do you still plan to write for magazines?

Yes, ma’am. I love to write anything that pleases others. I’ve worked with some of the greatest editors at High Five and Primary Treasure (Kathleen Hayes and Aileen Andres Sox.)

Q. Can you tell us about your current work in process?

I am working on about 30 or more projects and crossing my fingers on a couple that publishers are holding. Each of those manuscript has had 3 or more readings by the editorial board but I never count my chickens even after they’ve hatched.

Q. What would you like to tell others about writing a historical picture book?

It took two years to do the research, one year to write it, six months to find an agent ( I need a new one!), six months to get a contract, one year to find an illustrator, one year for her to do the illustrations and one year for Houghton Mifflin to print and market the book.

Q. Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

I love to read other people’s work. I love it when they read mine and offer suggestions to make it better.

I can’t eat chocolate because it gives me migraines but take pleasure in seeing others enjoy that. Eat some chocolate for me.

slatta

One of the joys of being a children’s book author lies in the knowledge that your words have the power to encourage budding scientists, entrepreneurs, and yes, authors, to follow their dreams. Several years ago, a man sent me email thanking me for writing Stella Brite and the Dark Matter Mystery. His daughter, who was in middle school at the time, was a big fan of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. She read my book because she wanted to learn more about the science of the dark matter in Pullman’s books.

            The three of us kept in touch over the years. Fast-forward to the past month. She’s looking at colleges now, and wants to be a writer. She’s got talent; I’ve read some of her work. She and her father email me to ask about good college programs for aspiring writers. I give her what advice I can, and I’m feeling really happy—I can’t wait to see this girl’s writing career take off! A few days later, dad emails me again, this time with discouraging quotes from another acquaintance, a college creative writing professor and poet. Publishers care only about making money, you have about as much chance of getting published as winning the lottery, poetry and fiction are both dying mediums, etc. You've heard it all before. Oh, and he also dissed genre fiction ("sci-fi, romance, teen vampire stuff"). Do you want to seek out this guy and slap him? Me, too. Writing is a difficult enough business without nay-sayers like this. What we need are more mentors.

I think that most writers, published or pre-published, can think of at least one person who nurtured their talents, taught them the craft, and encouraged their efforts. Your mentor could be a teacher, or someone in your local writing group. You may find him or her online. Here are a few authors who have helped many aspiring writers realize their goals:

One of my dearest mentors is Anita Riggio (http://www.anitariggio.com/ ), my thesis advisor in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program at Lesley University. And now she’s started an online mentoring and revision program, at http://www.covesidewritingworkshop.com/.

Darcy Pattison, who came to Champaign-Urbana earlier this year for our Novel Revision Retreat, also has a terrific online program, at http://www.darcypattison.com/.

And I have to give a shout-out to the contributors of the new Teaching Authors blog, April Halprin Waylan, Carmela Martino, Esther Hershenhorn, Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, JoAnn Early Macken, and Mary Ann Rodman--mentors all. Esther, who recently stepped down as the Illinois SCBWI Regional Advisor, has a new book out: S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. It is a must-read for any aspiring author, young or old!

So, give it up for the mentors who give us the courage and the tools to write! Who encouraged you? Tell us about him or her in the comments.

Sara Latta lives and writes about science in Champaign, Illinois, and is working on a YA historical novel.

juliebowe

I met Heather Bouwman earlier this year at a children’s literature event in Minneapolis. I wasn’t familiar with her debut novel, The Remarkable & Very True Story of Lucy & Snowcap, when I arrived that morning, but after meeting Heather, seeing the beautiful cover art for her book, and hearing other folks talk about this remarkable debut, I couldn’t wait to read it. I had the pleasure of doing just that a few weeks ago, and I’m on board with Kirkus Reviews which calls the novel “a remarkable and very true debut…beautifully written, fully realized, fast-paced—this blurs the line between fantasy and history and has winner written all over it.”

I’m so pleased to be interviewing Heather today. But before we begin, here’s a brief summary of The Remarkable & Very True Story of Lucy & Snowcap (from the jacket flap):

Set on fictional islands off northeast America in 1787, this story features two twelve-year-old girls from different cultures – one a native islander and one English – who join forces on a journey to save themselves, their people, and one special baby. It is part historical (based on convicts who were sent to the Americas before the Revolutionary War and Australia’s history) and part fantasy (the land holds magical properties). Above all, it’s a captivating adventure in the tradition of The Princess Bride – with shipwrecks, curses, chases, murder plots, kidnapping, rebellion, narrow escapes, magic (of all kinds), romantic legends, thieves and politicians (sometimes both), a caring school teacher and a handsome horse groom, a pair of feisty (sometimes difficult heroines, and the mysterious power of storytelling at its center!

Please join me in welcoming Heather Bouwman to KidLit Central.

Julie: Hi, Heather! Thanks for being with us today. I’ve read your book and I’m happy to report that all the nice things people are saying about it are very true!

Heather: Thank you! It’s great to be here at KidLit Central—thanks for inviting me.

Julie: Before we begin talking about Lucy and Snowcap’s story, I wanted to say how much I love the cover art for the book. I think it’s absolutely lovely and marvelous in that it holds several small (but significant) details that my eye didn’t catch at first glance. How did you feel when you saw the art for the book?

Heather: Well, here’s the dementedness of human nature for you: I was initially a little disappointed. I’d been envisioning Garth Williams-style line drawings or (even better, I thought) an eighteenth-century style cover with fancy gold lettering and no illustrations. (Yeah, I’m not a marketing person….) But about ten minutes after I saw the cover, I started to like it—and people keep telling me how much they love it. So I’m very happy with it. The artist, Nicoletta Ceccoli, has done quite a few children’s books and is a very talented artist.

Julie: The story takes place in 1787 on a cluster of thirteen islands off the New England coast where three British ships, carrying convicts, shipwrecked in 1775. What about that particular time period appeals to you?

Heather: I wrote my dissertation on colonial American literature, especially texts by and about Native Americans. I’ve been long interested in the literature of exploration and colonization—which certainly fed into this novel. Then, when I was researching my dissertation, I wandered off on a tangent reading about convict transportation to the American colonies—none of which made it into my thesis. But I knew that somehow convicts had to be an important part of the novel.

Julie: The islands’ original inhabitants – the Colay – are forced to live on tiny Sunset Island after the British overtake the large Island of Tathenn. Tell us a bit about the islands and how the setting came to be.

Heather: The setting is loosely based on my brief experiences living on the Apostle Islands (in Lake Superior)—first for just a few days to visit a friend who was volunteering for the Park Service there, and later to volunteer there myself for a few weeks. (When I volunteered, I lived in a snug one-room cabin on Manitou Island surrounded by raspberries and serviceberries, and I gave tours of the historic fish camp there. I also cleaned the island’s vault toilet; volunteer work does have its minor downsides.)

I love islands. Not tropical paradise kinds of islands—though these are great, too, I’m sure—but big woods, cold water kinds of islands. Islands with eagles and bear and old growth forest, islands where you swim at the risk of hypothermia.

The islands in the novel are completely made up, of course. But for me, at their core they resemble the Apostle Islands.

Julie: As the title suggests, portions of the novel are “very true” and other portions are “remarkable.” Historically speaking, in what ways is the novel very true?

Heather: There really were convicts who were sent to the American colonies in the 1700’s—in some places (most notably Virginia) these convicts were a substantial percentage of the white settlers; and they’ve been largely ignored in American histories. I wanted to bring back their memory. And many of the convicts in the book (Philip, Snowcap’s parents, Adam’s grandmother) were modeled in part on real convicts.

But the novel is fiction, of course, and not meant to be historically accurate. As for how it portrays colonization, it’s more alternative history than historical fiction—a “what if” kind of story.

Julie: The story is also “remarkable” – indeed, fantastical. Tell us about the fantasy-elements that are woven into Lucy and Snowcap’s story. When you began writing the book, did you imagine that it would contain both history and fantasy, or did one element (or the other) emerge as the story developed?

Heather: The book started as straight fantasy—there were no convicts, no English, just Lucy and her island village and this baby boy who was turning to stone. Pretty quickly I realized I didn’t know why the baby was transforming, or exactly how Lucy was going to save him. Luckily, I was reading about convicts at the time; and one thing led to another….

Julie: Speaking of Lucy (a Colay native), here’s an excerpt that introduces her to the reader, followed by an excerpt that introduces Snowcap (destined to be Governor of the islands’ British inhabitants):

            At her birth, Lucy had been touched by a ghost – or something even more otherworldly. Everyone (except her father) said so. As proof, she had a birthmark on her face that was the exact shape of her grandmother’s hand. Everyone (even her mother) said so… the mark was raised and rough and looked like a slap. Lucy’s mother said a caress, but almost everyone else thought: a slap. (From page 20)

            Most days were good days for Snowcap. She was clever, rich, powerful, and pretty – everyone told her so. Even the little mark above her right eye was called an angel’s kiss rather than what it really was: a birthmark. She was special, and special people, she had learned, had allowances made for them. Particularly special people whose parents were dead. Particularly special people who would be Governor one day. (From page 38)

When the girls’ paths first cross, they heartily dislike each other and see their journeys as separate and distinct. What would you say the girls are searching for, individually and collectively?

Heather: I’d say they’re both searching for love, though neither of them would admit this at the beginning of the book; I’m not sure they’d even admit this at the end of the book! They want to know that they are loved and important and special—just for being themselves, just as they are.

They also both want, in a sense, restitution: Lucy for her people’s mistreatment, and Snowcap for her parents’ deaths. But restitution—and its shadow twin, reconciliation—is something they can only find together, collectively; it can’t be gotten alone. The trick for me was to get them to work together and to trust each other without forcing them to be friends—because I really don’t think they’ll ever be bosom buddies.

Julie: What was the research and writing process like for you?

Heather: Long! When I began writing I had no idea what I was doing or how to write a book, and I wrote a draft and pretty much shelved it away for years. When I moved to Minnesota—and especially after I had my second child—I got more serious about my writing and revised the book and started sending it out. But I think my growth as a serious writer didn’t begin until I connected with other writers—at The Loft Literary Center (in Minneapolis) where I took classes and participated in the Mentor Program there; by joining SCBWI and the Children’s Literature Network; by joining a critique group; and by networking with other writers and learning from them.

Julie: And your path to publication? What was that like?

Heather: Again, long—but good. When I sent the manuscript to Marshall Cavendish, it was on the basis of an interview I’d read with Margery Cuyler; I thought she sounded nice, like someone who’d send a kind rejection letter! And her assistant did, in fact, respond with a rejection—and it was kind—the nicest rejection I’ve ever gotten. After telling me (for over a page) all the things they didn’t like about the novel, the assistant said something like this: If you’d like to revise and resubmit, we’d be happy to look at the manuscript again. Wow! So of course I did that, and then I heard back from Robin Benjamin, who was later to become my editor, who wrote to say that she had some comments for me and would I be interested in receiving them? I said, “Of course!” And then Robin sent me copious line edits as well as a longish editorial letter; and I did another round of revisions. THEN I received a contract from Marshall Cavendish—almost two years after I’d originally sent them the manuscript. After that: more revisions. The short version of the story is that the manuscript was taken off the slush pile; but the reality is that I had to do a lot of work to move from the slush pile to the contract. But it was well worth it; the book is FAR better because of Robin’s careful and insightful editing and my subsequent revisions. Robin is a dream editor.

Julie: Well, now we know who your favorite editor is! How about your favorite authors?

Heather: There are so many…! Among children’s authors, one of my favorites is Joan Aiken, and in Lucy & Snowcap there are moments where I felt like I was writing an homage to her. I love Aiken’s sense of alternative history—and I first learned what an oubliette was from reading The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. But I have other favorites authors, too (not in any particular order): E.B. White, Edward Eager, E. Nesbit, Christopher Paul Curtis, Gary Schmidt, J.K. Rowling, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Roald Dahl, M.T. Anderson, Shannon Hale…I could go on and on.

Julie: (Note to reader: An oubliette is a hidden dungeon with a door in the ceiling as its only opening. You'll find one in Lucy & Snowcap too.)

How have your favorite authors/novels influenced your writing?

Heather: With Lucy & Snowcap I was trying to write a multi-plotted novel (think Dickens) as well as a story with an intrusive narrator (think Princess Bride)—though the narrator got toned down a lot by the final version of the novel. With my more recent writing I’m trying to be more spare, more E.B. White. I’m starting to realize—what my dissertation director tried to teach me so many years ago—that more words aren’t necessarily better. And I’m trying to be funnier—which is a lot harder than you might think.

Julie: Think it, know it, live it. :) Do you have any words of advice for those who are interested in writing historical fiction, fantasy, or both?

Heather: With both fantasy and historical fiction, one could keep researching and outlining the world of the book forever. At some point you need to stop doing that and just start writing. Write. Trust that when the time comes you’ll have the information you need.

Julie: Aside from writing novels for children, what other interests keep you busy?

Heather: I like to read….! I also spend a lot of time hanging out with my two sons. I practice a traditional Korean martial art. And I work full-time: I’m a college professor—I teach literature and writing at the University of St. Thomas (in St. Paul, MN). There are a lot of other things I like to do, too—cook, travel, watch movies, count the stars, clean house—but I rarely have time to do them, mainly because I need to sleep. Okay, I’m lying about cleaning house. I don’t like cleaning, and I’m GLAD I’m too busy to do it….

Julie: Busy is right! But, thankfully, not too busy to give us such a captivating novel. Do you have any new writing projects in the works? What can we look forward to from you in the future?

Heather: I’m working on two very different projects right now—a young adult historical piece and a short, contemporary novel for younger readers. I hope you’ll see one or both of them sometime soon!

Julie: I’m sure we will, Heather! Thanks again for sharing your story with us. We wish you and Lucy & Snowcap much happiness and success!

Heather: Thanks so much, Julie!

susanuhlig

Judy Young, from Springfield, Missouri is a poet and children’s author, whose 8th book comes out this month.  She is speaking at the Missouri SCBWI Conference in St. Charles on November 7th.  Judy has a big picture window AND A FIREPLACE in her office. (Not that I'm jealous or anything...)

Q. How did you get started writing for children?

I was very fortunate! S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet, my first book for children, came about because of “who I knew.” I happened to know my husband! Ross is a professional artist. He usually doesn’t do illustrations, he paints paintings, but Sleeping Bear Press saw an ad of his in a national publication, and he was contacted asking if he’d illustrate a nonfiction children’s book about Missouri. Sleeping Bear did not yet have an author for the Missouri book of their Discover America series, so I submitted my work. They liked the idea of a husband and wife team, that I’d been published in magazines and that, at that time, I worked in the schools so knew school curriculum. So, I was selected to write S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet, and my husband illustrated it. It was a first for both of us. Three years later, when queries for R is for Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet and Lazy Days of Summer were both accepted on the same day, I quit my day job and became a full time writer. (That was an exciting day – I still zoom up to cloud nine just thinking about it!) I now have eight titles published and three more that are scheduled for release between 2010-2012. 

Q. Many of your books are written in rhyme.  Do you have any advice for writers who also want to write rhyme?

Yes, several of my books are a mixture of rhyming poetry and nonfiction prose. One thing important with writing rhyming poetry for children is to not force the rhyme by using unusual sentence structure. When conducting poetry-writing workshops for adults, I often see wording such as “to the store he did go” because they can’t figure out a way to make what they want to say rhyme with “went.” It is very awkward sounding, hard for young readers and listeners to comprehend, and will invite “reject letters” from publishers. Writing poetry takes as much time as any other kind of writing. You can’t take the easy way out but have to work to make the rhymes work. Many revisions and rewrites are necessary until you can say what you want AND make it rhyme naturally fluently. My other bit of advice would be about meter. Learn metric patterns and practice them until your poems “scan” or use good and consistent meter.

Q. Several of your books are also ABC books, yet we hear over and over that ABC books are hard to sell.  What do you think made yours sell?

I have three ABC books, S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet; R is for Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet, and H is for Hook, A Fishing Alphabet. But, these books are not typical alphabet books. They have the ABC component but are more about the subject matter that happens to be arranged in alphabetical order. And they are multi-tiered for different ages. Each page has a letter, a poem, sidebar expository and captivating illustration. Young readers find the letters of the alphabet and what they stand for. They read the poems, or have them read to them. As they get older, they can read details about the subject in the side bar. My publisher has published many alphabet books with the same format about a wide range of subjects. I came up with the subject for R is for Rhyme and H is for Hook and my ideas about two diverse subjects that I enjoy were accepted. R is for Rhyme has had a wonderful success story, with several awards including the Mom’s Choice Gold Award and Educator’s Choice Award. It was also choreographed for the 58th performance by the Creative Dance Department of the University of Utah. It was awesome seeing my words interpreted in dance!

Q. You have two historical fiction books.  Did you come up with the ideas for these or did your publisher approach you?  Did you find it difficult switching from poetry to prose?

Both The Lucky Star, which received a 2009 Storytelling World Honor Award, and Minnow and Rose are historical fiction picture books, and I have another historical fiction scheduled for release in March 2011. I came up with the ideas for all of these books and submitted finished stories to my publisher.

I really didn’t have difficulty switching genres from poetry to prose. The creative process is the same for both, they’re just written in different forms, but I really think writing poetry helps my prose. In poetry, each word plays an integral part. That should be the focus of prose, as well. Writers, especially for picture books, must be flexible. Many words are not necessary and you must be able and willing to get rid of what’s not needed for the story, even if you think you “that one sentence is brilliantly written.” It may be, so kiss it and hug it, and then, get rid of it. My first draft of Minnow and Rose had 4,578 words. Forty-two drafts later, the book ended up with about 1,500.

Q. What do you like best about writing historical fiction?

I like just about all parts, but the research is always fascinating, and I like to make sure I research every little thing. Even Ruth, the main character’s name in The Lucky Star, was researched. The story takes place during the Great Depression and Ruth was one of the top ten names in the 1920s, when my Ruth would have been born. And the book she won in a spelling bee was an actual publication from the Great Depression time period. I want to make sure that everything I have happen could have happened, even if it didn’t.

Q. Your newest book has poetry with illustrations that are completely integral to the book.  Can you tell us how this nonfiction project came about?

My eighth book, The Hidden Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious and (maybe even) Magical Creatures releases September 15, 2009. This book is a “creative nonfiction” in that there are facts about animals, but the main character and what he does is completely fictitious.  Basil B. Barnswhitten is a great animal scout, searching the world for specific animals that are described in poems throughout the book. Also in the poems are clues in which readers are to determine if the creature is endangered, extinct or never existed. There’s a field guide as back matter to give more information about each creature. And the illustrations are so awesome! The specific creatures are hidden in lushly camouflaged backgrounds along with many other creatures on each page. The cover art alone has 44 animals on it!

This book came about and was produced in a very unique way. Laura Francesca Filippucci, from Italy, submitted some illustrations on spec to my publisher. The illustrations had an animal that blended into the landscape, that when you first looked at it, you didn’t notice, but then all the sudden, you see, for example, the building is really a tiger. My publishers liked what they saw and wanted to use her. They contacted me and asked me if I would like to work on the project (yes, a writer’s dream is to be asked by a publisher to do a project!)  I researched and came up with a list of animals to be illustrated. Then, as the illustrations were completed, I wrote to fit the illustrations.

Q. Can you share about your current work-in-progress?

My next book, The Missouri Reader, which comes out in April 2010 is currently at the illustrator. It has everything: poems, performance poetry, nonfiction, biographies, a short fiction story, a rebus story, a “chapter book” fiction story, and even a play! It was a lot of fun to work in so many different genres! But other than final proofing when the galley copy is ready, my part is done. I’m currently working on a novel for middle grade readers (3rd-5th graders), and I have a couple picture book manuscripts that I’m getting close to having ready for submission. I like to let things sit a month or so and come back to them with a fresh look before I actually send them off. As for details, I disclose very little about what I’m working on.

Q. What is your number one goal for your writing right now?

To write a “best selling, Newbury Award winning, to be made into a blockbuster movie” book  – isn’t that everyone’s goal?

Visit Judy at www.judyyoungpoetry.com