Author Interviews

Get to Know Acclaimed Editor and Middle Grade Author Kara LaReau

By on July 12, 2019   /   Author Interviews, Editor / Agent Spotlight  

Kara LaReau is the author of many beloved middle grade, chapter book and picture books. After receiving her Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, she worked as an editor at Candlewick Press and at Scholastic Press, and via her own creative consulting firm, Bluebird Works. Among other celebrated titles, she edited Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie (winner of a Newbery Honor), The Tiger Rising (finalist for the National Book Award), The Tale of Despereaux (winner of the Newbery Medal), The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (winner of the Boston Globe Horn Book Award), and the Mercy Watson series. She’s the author of The Infamous Ratsos, a chapter book series illustrated by Matt Myers, and The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters, a middle grade trilogy illustrated by Jen Hill. Rise of ZomBert, the first in her new illustrated middle grade series, will publish in spring 2020. For more information, visit Karalareau.com

I had the good fortune to get to know Kara when she was the author-in-residence at Hollins University Summer Graduate Program in Children’s Writing, Literature & Illustration
We were roomies in the alumni cottage, where we enjoyed porch sits, her blueberry crumble and many good talks. The students were all wowed by her insightful lectures, one-on-one mentoring, wit, and wisdom about craft.

My interviews for The Mixed Up Files have always been conducted over email. However, this interview was miraculously conducted in person while Kara and I drank coffee and listened to the rumble of the dehumidifier. After all, we were in the Roanoke Valley, where you can swim in the air. But it’s so beautiful–with lush green pastures all hugged by the Blue Ridge Mountains– that you don’t care. Plus, there are bunnies everywhere on campus. It’s easy to see where Alumna Margaret Wise Brown got her idea for The Runaway Bunny. Anyway, I had much to ask Kara. Gosh, it was hard to whittle down my questions since I had admired her for so long.

Why do you write Middle Grade?
I don’t set out to say I’m going to write a chapter book or middle grade. The story comes to me, and that’s when I figure out what it is. That age range was a formative time in my life. When we talk about what is your internal age–that is one of my default ages. And that’s why I enjoyed editing middle grade so much too. It’s kind of like I’m creating the library that I wish that I had had when I was that age.

Do you come up with characters or conceit first?
With the Bland Sisters (Kara’s first middle grade series, The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters), the characters came first. I wasn’t necessarily intending to write a novel about them. I was just writing a short scene about these two very boring girls. Just for fun. I wrote a little more. They kept speaking to me. In the first book, there’s a moment when there’s a knock at the door. I established they never go outside. This created a moment of extreme tension and curiosity. I wanted to know what could be on the other side of the door to motivate them to open the door. For me, the answer was pirates. And of course, they would have to be lady pirates.

I love it. Why Lady Pirates?
It’s my own feminist sensibility, and I tried to imbue the series with that spirit. I’ve tried to create stories that feature women in roles that are most often attributed to men. In the second the book, The Uncanny Express, they encounter a female magician who has encountered a lot of sexism. In the third book (Flight of the Bluebird), I wanted to parody an Indiana Jones style mystery. I thought it would be a fun to have a female action hero in the vein of Indiana Jones. I’m really interested in subverting gender norms.

Once again, I love it! Why is subverting gender norms important to you?
I’m hoping to portray for boys and girls who are reading these books unsung female heroes. For example, the character of Beatrix in book three is based on Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman and Nellie Bly–female pilots, journalists and explorers.

Tell us about your research process.
Each (of the Bland Sister books) was different, and each required more and more research. The first one takes place on pirate ship, and to find out what a ship looked like back then, I looked at books. I also looked at the different roles of pirates, and how they talked to each other. I read Robert Lewis Stevenson, as well as Herman Melville Billy Budd and brushed up on Moby Dick. There are lots of Melville references in the book.

While the first book was a parody of pirate stories and Melville, the second was set on a train and I knew it just had to be a parody of Agathe Christie, particularly Murder on the Oriental Express. I decided to re-read Murder on the Orient Express. While I didn’t have time to re-read all of Christie’s work, I actually watched the entire Poirot BBC series. I watched it over the summer and took notes on all the tropes that I noticed and that I could use. I also researched poisons and disguises. In doing that, I immersed myself in her world and that gave me the confidence to start writing the book.

When I started to writing The Flight of the Blue Bird, I knew that there was going to be an airplane. I watched Casablanca and Indiana Jones films. I was setting the adventure in a real place (Egypt), and there were details about archaeology and the Egyptian culture that I needed to be sensitive to and get right. I found James Allen, a professor of Egyptology at Brown University, and discovered he lived five blocks away from me. He gave me all kinds of fascinating details that inspired me to create the backstory in this book. I also watched documentaries about Howard Carter (the British archaeologist who discovered the intact tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun or “King Tut”). To have confidence to move forward, I did all research beforehand so I could immerse myself in it. Jim Allen read my pages, and then gave me suggestions here and there. Then I also decided the airplane would figure prominently in the plot. I found a husband of a friend of mine who is a pilot, and he also read some of my pages to make sure the aeronautical details were correct.

How long do you do research?
About a month or so. Then it usually takes me a month to a month and half to draft and two months to revise.

In addition to your current middle grade series, you have a popular early chapter series, The Infamous Ratsos. Tell us about where you are with that series.

I’m going to start drafting the sixth one. The first three are out in the world. The fourth one comes out next spring. Illustrator Matt Myers is due to start the fifth one next. The sixth one I’m hoping to start at the end of the summer.

Did you originally conceive of The Infamous Ratsos as a series?
After the first book, I knew I had more ideas as adventures. It turned out when my agent sent out the project, Candlewick wanted to know if I had another idea, so they signed up a two-book contract. In each book, Louie and Ralphie Ratso are learning something knew about themselves. They make mistakes just like we all do, but they’re always eager to learn from those mistakes.

Can you describe the books?
In the first book, The Infamous Ratsos, Louie and Ralphie think they need to be tough, and they equate tough with being mean. But that’s not their true nature, and they eventually realize it’s much easier to be kind than tough. The second book, The Infamous Ratsos Are Not Afraid, is about the brothers realizing they are afraid of admitting they’re afraid. They learn that everyone is afraid of something, and that there are a lot of different ways to be brave.

How did you come up with the different themes for the Ratso series?
I ended up watching a documentary about toxic masculinity, The Mask You Live In. The film showed how boys are conditioned at early age by society, by media, even by their own families to adhere to a very oppressive definition of masculinity. My books examine and subvert different characteristics of toxic masculinity: acting like you’re tough, pretending as if you’re not afraid of anything, pretending you don’t have emotions, refusing help, solving conflict through violence, and shunning feminine traits.

You have a new middle grade series. Tell us about it.
The new middle grade series I don’t want to give name since my publisher hasn’t announced it yet. The first book is called The Rise of ZomBert. It’s about a girl and her best friend, who is a boy, and a cat they find, who may or may not be a zombie.

When does it come out?
Spring 2020

What might be familiar to your readers and what might feel different?
There is a lot of humor in it. However, it is very different as the humor is not as on the surface as it is with Bland Sisters, which is very slapstick. It’s for a slightly older audience than the Bland sisters. And it’s darker than the Bland Sisters. It’s definitely has creepy and scary moments.

How are you feeling about it?
I’m excited. I’m starting to see art come in from (Illustrator) Ryan Andrews that’s bringing in moodiness that compliments the text so well.

Can you give a snapshot of the first book?
I describe it as Bunnicula mixed with Stranger Things. It takes place in the suburbs. There is something going on this neighborhood. And the kids slowly figure out what that’s going on. And they seem to be the only ones that know that truth about what is happening.

What is something about you that most people don’t know?
In The Bland Sisters, the running joke is how much that Kale loves to clean. I actually hate cleaning! That was sort of my response to people when people assume that certain characters are based on the author, which Kale is, but only to a degree!

Anything else you want to say?
I want to thank you for taking the time to interview me, and thank my readers for reading my books. I hope they will check out Rise of ZomBert next spring!

Hillary Homzie is the author of Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, Dec 2018), as well as Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, October 2018), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, October 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. She teaches at Hollins University Graduate Program in Children’s Literature and Illustration as well as at Sonoma State University, where she directs the Arts & Humanities internships program and teaches communications. Hillary also teaches the Middle Grade Mastery Course and the Chapter Book Alchemist Course at the Children’s Book Academy. She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page as well as on Twitter.

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Inside the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival with Dawn Greenberg

By on June 19, 2019   /   Author Interviews, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  
Dawn Greenberg and Sally Cook

  THE SEVENTH ANNUAL CHAPPAQUA CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL brings together exciting authors, favorite characters, and heartfelt stories for children and teens. This small, welcoming town is the place to make a lasting connection between young readers and books. How did this wonderful event come to be? I asked founder, Dawn Greenburg that question–and lots of others.

 

Q.      What was the intent of the original Chappaqua festival?  How, if at all, has it changed?

DG      We remain focused on our original intent with the Chappaqua festival: to connect authors and readers.   I probably didn’t fully grasp what that meant originally, but in truth there is something so special about seeing a kid chatting away unguarded to an author they only met before in the pages of a book. We want kids to love books but we also want them to realize that the act of writing is as simple as putting pen to paper and letting your mind go. In having our authors explain how and why they write what they do, I think it greatly expands our kids view of what they can capture with their own words.

The beauty of our festival is that the excitement is palpable as those connections happen. I hear from so many parents and community members their gratitude and relief that we have shown that books still matter in our digital world — and that we bring so much excitement to our sleepy town one day each year.

 

Q.      Can you remember a book that made an impression on you in middle grade?

 DG      I was a voracious reader and had read all of the Nancy Drew books by second grade. From there, I think I graduated to Agatha Christie.  I grew up in a small town and much like Miss Marple, I fancied myself able to see the intrigue beyond the picket fence.

 

Q.      In October, Chappaqua will host its seventh annual book festival. Does any year stand out as memorable to you, and why? Do you have a story to share about a glitch, dilemma, or mini crisis that popped up in any year?

 DG      Every year I say the festival was the best ever and we’ll never top it. I log almost 20 miles on festival day making sure our authors are happy and that everything is glitch-free. We’re on our feet from 5 am to 8 pm when the last box is packed away. We try to present a “what me worry?” face to the world, but we fuss over every detail to make sure the day works. However, there is always, without fail, one book that doesn’t arrive. We work on our order for months and go line by line with our fastidious book handler and yet we still manage to have a shipment that doesn’t come.  The first few years, it would absolutely ruin my day, but I’ve learned to take it a little more in stride.

 

Q.      What advice would you give adults about attending the fair with their kids?

DG   My best advice on festival day is to have a plan using our website author biographies, but allow for a lot of serendipity. With this many authors, you should try to make a list of the top ten or 15 that are “must sees” for you. We are trying to help that process greatly with more maps and color-coded guides this year, hopefully even an app. But you’ll be amazed at the authors that you’ll find just by wandering.   Our area is so very rich with marvelous and celebrated authors! You should keep your eyes open and your energy high for chance encounters. You should prioritize authors who aren’t from our immediate area — Jarrett Krosoczka, Cece Bell, Cynthia Levinson, Kate Messner — because we can’t guarantee they’ll be back next year.

 

Q.      Do you have any great tips for authors about how to be a success at a book fair?

DG      For authors, I’d suggest arriving rested and relaxed.   The first 30 minutes can be a bit overwhelming as everyone rushes to find their table, but you’ll settle in soon. In fact, we ask our local orchestra to provide a three-piece ensemble from 9-10 am to keep everyone’s nerves under control. Authors who bring something cute and eye-catching seem to do well with the youngest readers. For example, Diana Murray’s unicorn horn is a huge hit.  But giveaways aren’t necessary. A colorful pile of books and a warm smile is enough.

 

Q.      I read that you’ll be hosting 145 authors this year. Last year there were 90. What are the challenges of putting together such a huge fair? What innovations can we look forward to?

DG   In addition to adding almost 50 authors, we will have a kick off keynote address by Jarrett Krosoczka and three author panels. We were given the approval to expand our “footprint” on the school fields, so we’ve taken the opportunity to add even more authors we admire — including SIX Project Lit Club authors — and to add panel discussions.   Additionally, we’ll be closing the street in front of the field, which will allow a bit more of a flow for our families as well as easy access to the town gazebo where we’ll hold our author readings. We’re also thrilled that KidLit TV will be on hand and authors will be interviewing each other and streaming live from the festival!  We hope to create a lot of wonderful content from those interviews. We love when our authors have time to catch up and discuss future collaborations.

Mark your calendar for Sat, Oct 5th, 2019 @ Bell Middle School in Chappaqua, NY 10514. Rain or Shine.

#chapbookfest   @chappaquabookfestival

DAWN GREENBERG and a group of friends founded the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival in 2013. Since then it has grown from 65 authors to 145 from all across the northeast.  In her professional life, Dawn managed international rights for United Feature Syndicate and Warner Bros./DC Comics. She is the mom of two boys, 16 and 13. She believes books can change lives.

 

Author Phyllis Shalant (aka Annabelle Fisher) and reader find an amazing connection at Chap Book Fest

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Author Spotlight: Lara Williamson

By on June 17, 2019   /   Author Interviews, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, New Releases, Publishing & Promotion, Writing  

Lara Williamson and I crossed paths more than two decades ago (eek!), in London, while working at J-17 magazine. Lara, who hails from Northern Ireland, was a fledgling beauty editor while I wrote an advice column and edited articles. After I returned to the U.S., Lara and I stayed in touch. First we exchanged emails; then we exchanged manuscripts. (I had the pleasure of reading an early version of Lara’s breakout novel, A BOY CALLED HOPE, hailed by the Sunday Express as: “Warm, heartbreaking, and hilarious in turn,” and shortlisted for the prestigious Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.)

Lara’s books—available worldwide—have been translated into Russian, Italian, Korean, Turkish, Estonian, Romanian, and Ukrainian. Her latest novel, THE GIRL WITH SPACE IN HER HEART, launches in the U.K. on August 1 from Usborne. Find more about Lara on her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

MR: Lara! First and foremost, thank you for joining us on the Mixed-Up Files. I am beyond excited to have you here!!! *blows kiss*

LW: Oh, it’s my pleasure. It’s so lovely to join you on the Mixed-Up Files. And talking about Mixed-Up Files, when I was about ten the first slightly more “grown-up” book I picked for myself, and read by myself, was From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, by E. L. Konigsburg. And, not surprisingly, I loved it. I recently bought myself a new copy and must re-read it, and re-live the magic I felt all those years ago.

MR: For readers not familiar with your books, can you tell us a little about your background and your path to publication?

LW: I grew up in Northern Ireland and studied fashion design. After I left college, I worked on a teen magazine called J-17. It was such a creative time and a solid foundation for everything that came after. At work I had to come up with ideas for photoshoots and write copy to a deadline – all good grounding for writing a book. Fast forward a few years and one child later, I wanted to write the MG book I’d always dreamed of writing and naively I thought, “How hard can it be?” Very, was the answer. In the end, I wrote a number of books and got an awful lot of rejections, probably over one hundred in the end. And I can’t say I didn’t feel dejected; I did. But in this business you’ve got to persevere. You’ve got to actively chase your dreams. So in 2013, I got the urge to write a little book – a quiet little book, a book about families, life, heartbreak, and hope. But mostly hope. I thought, for it to be published it might need adventure and zombies and I could expect more rejection. I was wrong. The quiet little book about hope was the very thing that turned everything around. It got snapped up by an agent and a publisher and the rest is, as they say, history.

MR: Your first three books, A BOY CALLED HOPE,THE BOOK WHO SAILED THE OCEAN IN AN ARMCHAIR and JUST CALL ME SPAGHETTI-HOOP BOY, all feature male protagonists. What is it about boys’ stories that resonate with you? 

LW: Ah, I wish I had the perfect answer for this one. One of the stories I had worked on previously, and had been rejected, was from a girl’s point of view so I had written a girl before. But something in me – call it gut instinct –  just felt that these stories were about a boy and I couldn’t shake that feeling, so I had to go with it.  Sometimes, when you’re writing, you’ve just got to listen to that inner voice that tells you to go a certain way. Trust and believe in yourself. That’s what I did, in the end. I went with my own instinct and it proved to be right. Also, my books are emotional and full of heart and there are lots of books for girls on those subjects, but I think boys like those stories too.

MR: Your forthcoming novel, THE GIRL WITH SPACE IN HER HEART, is the first of your novels to feature a female protagonist—Mabel Mynt. What was it like to write from a girl’s perspective this time? Did it feel different?

LW: To be honest, I wasn’t sure I could achieve it at first. I’d written three books from a boy’s POV. What if I couldn’t be a girl? I know, that sounds daft because I am one. But I did worry about it for a while and I doubted myself in the beginning. In the end though, I decided to go with it and write the way I always do. I figured there was no big difference, because what it came down to was the story and the hope within it – and it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or girl, because everyone needs hope in their life. It’s universal.

MR: The loss of a parent is a major theme in all of your novels. In A BOY CALLED HOPE, Dan Hope searches for his absentee dad; in ARMCHAIR, Becket Rumsey is separated from his mom; In SPAGHETTI-HOOP BOY, Adam Butters searches to learn more about his biological mom; in GIRL WITH SPACE IN HER HEART, Mabel’s dad walked out on the family. What is it about the subject of loss that drives you as an author? What are you trying to say to your readers?

LW: I have slowly realized that all my books are about loss, in one shape or another. Honestly, I’ve tried to write about stuff that resonates with me. I don’t think I could write any other way, particularly when I’m writing about feelings. In our lifetime, we will all experience loss in one way or another. It’s not necessarily the most obvious way, either. There are many ways. I’ve tried to write about it in various forms and then  comfort the character in the book, and make them realize that they can come through that loss and out the other side. It’s important to me that at the end of my books, my character will walk away a stronger person. If I didn’t believe that, I don’t think I could write the stories. I’m not saying that within the story everything goes perfectly; it doesn’t. Some of the losses cannot be changed, no matter how much the character wishes for it. But in all my books, there’s always hope for the future, and that’s what I’m trying to say to my readers (and myself) most of all.

MR: Your breakout novel, A BOY CALLED HOPE, was received to wide acclaim and racked up tons of awards. With that it mind, what was it like to write your subsequent books? Did you feel pressured to live up to the success of HOPE?

LW: The second book syndrome! It’s like having a successful first album and then wondering if you can repeat the magic. And sometimes it does feel a bit like magic. There are times when I’ve written a book and can’t even remember all the steps it took to get there. You write and edit for ages and then–whoosh!–it’s done. So, yes, it can feel like a pressure when you’re writing the second book (and third, and so on). I wanted to repeat the magic…do it all over again. But that’s the thing about magic; it’s hard to pin down no matter how much you wish you could. In the end, I’ve learned to be grateful for any successes I have – big or small, because I’ve never forgotten the hundred-plus rejections. We should celebrate everything. Have you written a sentence today, or 500 words, or a chapter? Have you finished writing a book? Pat yourself on the back. It’s a huge achievement. You’re one step closer to your dreams. The real magic is there – it’s within you.

MR: What’s your writing process like, Lara? Do you have a specific routine? Writing rituals?

LW: I’m so chaotic in my writing, for a reason I’ll explain in a minute. Okay, so I know everyone is different. Some writers meticulously plot and, seriously, I’m envious. There are days I wish I had a writing shed with lots of pieces of paper on the wall spelling out the plot. I wish I knew about rise and fall within chapters. I wish I was organized and knew all there was to know about writing. But no, none of those things actually applies to me. I sit at my dining room table and write for a few hours most days. All I know is the beginning of my book, and the end, and I know what the character wants to achieve. Then I write in the most messy, muddled-up way; a sort of outpouring of emotion and feeling. And it works for me. I’m basically writing myself a comforting story: a story of hope. I’m writing about things that matter to me, and if it’s a bit chaotic – fine. Emotions sometimes are. They come slowly… they come in a rush…maybe some don’t make sense to start with; maybe some do. I’ve had to accept that I am the writer I am, and there will probably never be notes or plans on the wall–but I’ve got it all going on in my heart. And because of that, I let my heart take the lead and plan the route; I’m just joining it on the journey. And that’s okay.

MR: Would you care to share what you’re working on now?

LW:  I’ve just written a small 10,000 word story for seven-to-nine-year-olds. It’s completely random and was a lot of fun to write. I’d also like to write an adventure too. Again, I wonder if I can. It’s like the writing a girl situation all over again. I’ve never written an adventure before, but I’d like to give it a whirl. I’ve also written a younger book that’s coming out in 2020, but I can’t tell you anything about it yet (sorry!). Oh, and I’ve started another MG but am only 10,000 words in. So, I’m doing a few things at once and will see which one sings to me most–and then go with it.

MR: And finally, no Mixed-Up Files interview is complete without a lightning round. So…

Preferred writing snack? Crisps (salt-and-vinegar flavor).

Coffee or tea? Tea (chamomile).

Cat or dog? Dog.

Favorite authors (you don’t have to say me; that’s a given 🙂)? Ha! You know I love you! But other than you, Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Nay.

Superpower? Seeing into people’s hearts.

Favorite place on Planet Earth? Home – always.

Hidden talent? Wiggling my ears and raising one eyebrow. And tap dancing too. Maybe all at the same time!

MR: Thank you for chatting, Lara. Big hugs!!

Big hugs back! And thank you!

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