Author Interviews

An Interview with Author Lois Peterson

By on April 19, 2013   /   Author Interviews  

Today I am welcoming fellow Canadian author, Lois Peterson, to the Mixed-Up Files!  Lois was a mentor of mine when I first started writing for kids.  One of the highlights of my careers was the joint book launch we did for my debut and her hi-lo middle grade novel, Beyond Repair.  In addition to writing contemporary books for kids, Lois works as a librarian and educator.   There was so much I wanted to ask her… here’s what I could squeeze in;

You tackle a wide range of issues in your books, from mental illness (Meeting Miss 405) to grief over a dying Grandparent (The Wrong Bus) to foster care (The Ballad of Knuckles McGraw) to poverty in Africa (The Paper House.) Where do you get your ideas from? What comes first – the story or the issue?

For all but one of my books, I got the germ of the story first, and the issue only arose as the story played out in my mind and on the page. I often tell kids that I get most of my ideas in the bathroom… in fact, many of them do come from there (I take the longest showers in the world). Very often, it begins with a visual image in my head – a girl being taken down a hallway by her father for a reason I did not yet know (Meeting Miss 405) , a boy watching a train go by (Knuckles), a child scavenging in a garbage dump (The Paper House)…

Usually I have to write the story to learn where it’s going, although in some cases I do have a larger idea of the premise of the story. For example with Silver Rain, after I  saw the movie ‘They Shoot Horses Don’t They’, I became fascinated by how dance – which should be something for celebration and pleasure – was used to take advantage of desperate people during the Depression. I did lots of research about the era and the phenomenon of dance marathons, and out of that came the image of a young girl checking the mailbox every day for a letter from her father. I did not know until I was half-way though the book just how dance marathons would feature in the story, although I knew I was headed in that direction from the beginning. And Learning a little about Kibera from a friend who visits Nairobi regularly got me dreaming up a story set in that region of the world.

The only book that began with an idea rather than a story germ was Disconnect. I wanted to explore the issue of being over-dependent on technology… something I think about a lot. But this made it a hard book to write as I had to avoid preachiness, and instead create a believable main character with a compelling story to tell.  While the book has been well-received, and rights have been acquired by publishers in six countries, I don’t think it’s my strongest book from a perspective of story or characterization. In fact, I still think too much of my own opinions about technology dependence shows through!

Ten percent of author royalties from each book of your books is donated to a non-profit organization. How do you decide who will receive the donation? Is it difficult to find the appropriate non-profit organization and make sure they are worthy or legit? Do you have any tips for authors who are considering doing the same?

All the organizations to which I direct royalties from my books are those I am involved with in one way or another. Some I work or have worked for, donate to, or volunteer with. Others do such good work that I am really proud to be able to support them in a small way. I would always suggest that anyone wanting to do something similar either look for organizations they have some knowledge of, do some research through resources such as Charity Village (www.charityvillage.com) to see what their mandate and mission is,  how well they fulfill it and how well it meets their own values.

I’ve worked in the non profit sector in one way or another for more than 30 years, and have great respect for the work they do in communities at home and abroad.

You have also written books for other writers, maintain an active, informative blog, and teach a variety of writing and editing workshops. One thing that caught my attention was your process of “reverse outlining”. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Until recently, I never outlined a book before I started writing. I just toyed with the general idea, then once I had the opening scene and voice in my mind, I would start writing. However, in recent years I have been studying story structure – the Hero’s Journey, the Three-Act Dramatic structure, etc. Rather than starting with the structure and building a story outline around it, I wondered if I could analyze early drafts using those and other plotting tools, in a way that would help me see where I needed to go and what I needed to do in the next draft.

So now for some stories, after I have written the first draft I use a grid to track specific story elements so I can identify gaps, repetition and other issues. Then in my next draft I adjust and address these elements as I go along. Then I do the same thing for the next draft.

It would take too long – and too much space – to explain it in greater detail here. But anyone wanting to know more about it can download material from the Writing and Publishing Tips page on my website at www.loispeterson.blog.com, or contact me at loispeterson@telus.net.

I do find that the more I write – and read – the more I learn HOW to write. So probably by the time your blog readers read this, I may well be testing out another system of story development!

Can you tell us a little about your current WIP or upcoming releases?

I have nothing scheduled for publication in the next year or so. In fact, I’ve been going through a bit of a drought lately, with too little time or energy to put in much time at my desk.

But I am now working on two very different projects. One is a YA story in verse called My Alphabet Life – written in  26 episodic chapters that I can work on anywhere (I use index cards for working away from my desk.) The other is a novel for younger readers called Cheese Dreams, which features talking mice and a girl whose father, a repeatedly failed businessman, is now running a cheese shop.

I have also recently been working and reworking picture book stories. It’s a genre I truly love, and although I have been writing and submitting them for much longer than I’ve been writing in any other genres, so far publication has eluded me. But I keep trying.

And I continue to work on Escape From the Marshes, an adventure story set in the Marshes of Southern Iraq in the 1940s. I’ve been working on it, on and off, for about ten years and often wonder if I will ever get it done.

It is somewhat comforting to know that even mentors have droughts.  But with Lois’s writing talent, I don’t think it will be long until we see some of these WIP in print.  In celebration of her enormous contribution to middle grade books, I want to thank Lois for taking the time to answer my questions.

Yolanda Ridge is the author of Trouble in the Trees (Orca Book Publishers, 2011) and Road Block (Orca Book Publishers, 2012).  She is also in a bit of a drought but hopes to have another book on the shelves soon!

 
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An interview with independent editor Harold Underdown – and a giveaway!

By on April 12, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Giveaways, News  

  So just what is happening with the publishing industry these days?

Amazon seems to be growing in influence. The major trade publishers are discussing a merger. Some small presses are closing while others are opening. Editors who’ve worked for years developing wonderful children’s books are leaving or being downsized.

What does this mean for the average writer? Is this good or bad?

A little bit of both. While the smaller pool of editors may mean that it lowers the odds of being published, some of these editors are actually making themselves more accessible to the aspiring author.  Talented editors, with many years of experience are bravely setting out on their own by re-making themselves as independent editors. Interestingly enough, they offer their services to the very publishing houses they left.  But the best part is that they offer help to the individual writer looking to polish a manuscript before submission. Lucky us!

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One such independent editor is Harold Underdown. Harold has over 20 years experience as a children’s editor and has worked with companies like Macmillan, Orchard Books, Charlesbridge and ipicturebooks. He has an amazing website filled with TONS of great information found here:  http://www.underdown.org/.

He attends conferences, holds workshops both with editor Eileen Robinson, on his own, and at the Highlights Foundation. But the best thing is that Harold also works with individual writers to craft fantastic submission-ready manuscripts.

I am lucky enough to have worked with Harold in the past and I asked him if he’d be willing to share some information about what he does with the MUF readers.

Harold, thanks for joining us.

        Why did you decide to become an independent editor?

I decided to become an independent editor because the alternative–moving into another profession–was unacceptable to me. I had to make this choice because in 2001 a company that I was working for closed down, having run out of its initial funding. I looked around, did not see any good prospects in-house, and embarked on this path. I love being a children’s book editor and am glad that I have been able to stay in the field in this way.

           What does an independent editor do?

An independent editor does just about everything an in-house editor does, with the arguable exception of acquisitions, and with the happy exception of not attending a lot of meetings. We edit manuscripts, we coach clients through multiple rounds of revision, we consult on the phone about where a manuscript “fits” in the market, we help pull together the people needed for a writer to self-publish successfully, and we read a lot of books and manuscripts and talk about them. We generally have both publishers and writers as clients.
Many independent editors also give workshops and presentations at conferences. I do this at SCBWI conferences and at the Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, PA, or through Kids Book Revisions, a working partnership with fellow independent editor Eileen Robinson. I keep up a schedule of these at http://www.underdown.org/conferences.htm

         How do you choose clients to work with?

I usually am contacted by potential clients by email, and I spend some time finding out what they are looking for from me, and reading some of their manuscript (or the whole thing, if it’s a picture book). I then offer to work with the people who I feel I can help, and who I feel I can provide with the kind of help that they won’t easily find elsewhere for less. So I do turn clients away. If someone has a manuscript that’s outside my experience, such as something for the Christian market, I turn them down.

If someone has a manuscript that only needs the kind of feedback that they could get from an inexpensive critique at a local SCBWI conference, I turn them down. My services aren’t cheap, and I like to provide good value for money. I also turn people away if they seem like they would be difficult to work with, though that doesn’t happen often. More typically, it’s for one of my two main reasons, and I’d say I turn away at least as many projects as I take on.

What are the advantages of working with an independent editor?

I don’t know if I’m the right person to ask–you should ask some of my clients! But from what people tell me, there is  one reason why many of them work with an independent editor. They have gone as far as they can with the avenues that they have for getting feedback on a manuscript, whether that’s their critique group, a writer friend, conference critiques, or all of those, and they know that they haven’t yet reached the place where they want to be. And so they reach out for help from a professional editor. Their manuscripts are in many different stages–ranging from early drafts with significant flaws to oft-revised drafts that need a final polish. What they have in common, though, is that they need or want to get help to move it up another level.

What do you think of mid-grade novels?

 I love middle-grade novels, and read them for pleasure as well as for work. They are one of the oldest of the many forms in which we write for children, with their roots in the 19th century–books such as Treasure Island, Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, and Tom Sawyer that are still read today, and many others that are not. Today there is a tremendous variety of genre and point of view and style to be found in middle-grade novels.

What do you think defines a great mid-grade novel? Can you give some examples?

A great middle-grade novel is one that both tells a wonderful story, drawing upon all  of the tools a writer has to craft plot, character, and setting, and that contains a theme that directly and gracefully speaks to the concerns and needs of its audience. Some examples: Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, Virginia Hamilton’s M.C. Higgins the Great, Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Tamora Pierce’s Wild Magic, Adam Rex’s The True Meaning of Smekday, Linda Sue Park’s A Single Shard, David Almond’s Skellig — I could go on and on. There are so many!

How are mid-grade novels different from YA novels?

That is a frequently discussed question, and due to the differences often being less than clear-cut, I often feel like falling back on the age of the protagonist! But there are some other differences, all of which have exceptions. YA novels tend to be told in first person, or an under-the-skin third person, while middle-grade novels are more likely to have objective narrators. Both focus on themes relevant to their audiences, which is why middle-grade novels have so many missing or dead parents, as children around that age are starting to become more independent and wonder if they could cope on their own. Teens, on the other hand, generally ARE more independent and are focused on their peers. Not that middle-grade children aren’t, of course, but in a different way–and this is where the differences get murkier, as they are often differences of degree.

To get at the differences, I am going to suggest an exercise for your readers. Take a novel that everyone would agree is YA–let’s say Paper Towns, by John Green–and take one that everyone would agree is middle-grade–let’s say Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan. Read them both  (they are both well worth reading anyway). And then post your observations in the Comments below….

What trends do you see in publishing?

I see the same trends that everyone does. I see digital publishing changing the way books are sold–and the way books are discovered. I see self-publishing becoming a viable option, though I don’t see it bringing about the end of publishing companies. Those are probably the two areas where the most change has happened recently, and will continue to happen. Where’s this all going? I don’t know, but I’m open to seeing what happens.

I don’t pay much attention to trends in types of books, by the way, such as whether or not dystopias are still hot. It’s fun to speculate and trade that kind of gossip–and I do too when I’m chatting with friends–but I think writers will do best by writing the stories they are driven to write, not the ones they think will sell. Trends come and go, but when you write what you must write, you do your best work, and that is what sells.

One way that I keep up is to use Twitter as a news conduit, though I do use it for other things. I follow a very limited number of people–mostly news sources, along with a few others I know. And those news sources, from Publishers Weekly to individuals such as Jane Friedman and Mike Shatzkin, help me follow what’s going on in publishing generally and in our world in particular without spending a lot of time.

Anything you’d like to add?

Yes: read every day. Read books that interest you, current books, books like the manuscript you are working on or not like the manuscript you are working on. Books nourish the soul. That’s true for everyone, but particularly for those of us creating them.
Thanks!

And a huge thanks to you Harold for giving us all this excellent information. Again, you can learn more about Harold and his services and see all of his fantastic writing information at his website:  http://www.underdown.org/

As an additional help for the aspiring writers out there, we are offering a giveaway of Harold’s much-acclaimed book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, 3rd Edition

 

To enter to win an e-book version of this book, please comment below. And yes, doing the exercise that Harold suggested above and commenting below does gain you an entry into the giveaway!
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Jennifer Swanson’s greatest wish is for someone to invent a transporter (like in Star Trek) so that she can send her kids to their events with the flip of a switch so she will have more time to write!
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Stuart Stotts Interview and Giveaway

By on April 8, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways, Nonfiction  

Stuart Stotts

 

Stuart Stotts is a songwriter, storyteller and author from Wisconsin. He’s worked as a full-time performer since 1986, and he gives over 200 shows a year for kids, families, and adults around the Midwest, and sometimes farther. He’s a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops for teachers, parents and librarians. Stuart’s travels have taken him to such far places as Greece, Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Great Britain, as well as to other exotic locales like Green Bay, LaCrosse, and Fond du Lac.

Stuart has worked extensively as an artist-in-residence in elementary, middle, and high schools. He has released several award-winning recordings, and is also the author of The Bookcase Ghost: A Collection of Wisconsin Ghost Stories, Books in a Box: Lutie Stearns and the Traveling Libraries of Wisconsin and Curly Lambeau: Building the Green Bay Packers, the story of the man behind the early years of the Green Bay Packers. We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World was an ALA honor book. Stuart’s newest book, Father Groppi: Marching for Civil Rights, was published in February 2013. It’s another Badger Biography.

 

From IndieBound: “Growing up on the south side of Milwaukee as the son of Italian immigrants, young James Groppi learned early on what it felt like to be made fun of just because of who you are, and he learned to respect people from other races and ethnic groups. Later, while studying to become a priest, he saw the discrimination African Americans faced. It made him angry, and he vowed to do whatever he could to fight racism.

Father Groppi marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of the civil rights movement. But he knew there was work to be done in his own city. In Milwaukee, he teamed up with the NAACP and other organizations, protesting discrimination and segregation wherever they saw it. It wasn’t always easy, and Father Groppi and the other civil rights workers faced great challenges.”

 

What’s your favorite thing about middle grade books (as a reader or a writer)?

I can write for an audience that is able to understand bigger ideas, and that also has some experience in the world and the ways in which it is complex. At the same time, I have to make sure that what I write is well-explained and clear to those who might not have a lot of background knowledge. It’s a balancing act. In addition, adults often use these kinds of books as a quick introduction to a subject. For example, if you like the Packers and want to know more about Curly Lambeau, my book is a good quick read, and will tell you the basics of what you probably want to know. Or you can read the 350 page book about him, if you have the time and more interest. But for those who just want the essentials, middle grade non-fiction does a good job.

 

What do you enjoy most about writing biographies?

I have to try to get inside the complexity of a person. Groppi is a good example. He was a hero, clearly, and stood for great things, and took action. At the same time, he was, from what I can tell, impatient, sometimes impulsive, and a divisive figure. Many people hated him. I really liked him, and find him inspiring, but for others that was not the case.

Biographies also give a good window into a time or an era or a movement. You get to see what’s happening through someone’s eyes, not just a series of events. Father Groppi’s life shares many parallels with others who cared about civil rights and equality. It’s also a unique course that he charted. The age old question about biographies has to do with how much people are products of their times, and how much time is a product of certain people. I think it’s both, although we tend to gravitate toward the heroic ideal of one person making a difference.

Did you choose to write about Father Groppi, or was the topic chosen by the Historical Society?

I was asked to write the book. I didn’t know anything about him when I began. I think what was surprising was that he had very little overt success that he could point to. Milwaukee schools weren’t desegregated, the Elks Club campaign ended without accomplishing its goals, and the Fair Housing Marches also ended after 200 nights without anything solid to show. In the long run, these actions created a climate that did lead to fair housing laws, but the connection is not as direct as “we did this protest, and something changed.” I also think that is not so uncommon in social change. Gandhi said, “It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

 

Why do you think it is important for young people to learn about people like Father Groppi?

A big idea for me right now is the idea of standing up for others. It’s related to all the talk about bullying, but is bigger than that. Father Groppi stood up for black people, as a person of a privileged class. There was no reward for him in it. His life would have been easier if he hadn’t gotten involved. But he took the chance, and I hope that would inspire others to stand up, too, despite how hard it may be at times.

“In 1963, Father Groppi attended the March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Dr. King, who was the most well-known leader of the civil rights movement, inspired him. But Father Groppi knew that thousands of other activists who were not famous were working just as hard, taking risks and facing violence. He was determined to do his part in working for justice.” (pp. 38-39)

I like this idea, because of the sense of thousands who weren’t famous but who were important anyway. That’s the heart of the lesson.

 

If there was one single thing that you wanted readers to get from Father Groppi, what would it be?

Stand up for what you believe in. Do something, don’t just talk.

 

How does your singing and songwriting influence the books you write?

 

I often find that music manifests in my work. I’ve played at many protest events, and written many songs with a social change intention. This connects better with Father Groppi, and my “We Shall Overcome” book than some of my others. I have a book, fiction, about music changing a situation. We’ll see if it ever sees the published light of day. 

 

What books do you recommend to readers who enjoyed FATHER GROPPI?

My own We Shall Overcome is good. I like Claudette Colvin by Phil Hoose. Anything by Ann Bausum is good in this area. The Eyes on the Prize video series is also good.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to write middle grade books?

Respect your audience, and get some feedback from them directly on what you have written. Let kids be the guide.

What’s next?

 My novel about the Fall of the Berlin Wall, which I’ve been working on for about five years, seems to be getting closer. But it may in fact be far from being done. I’d like to write a biography of Charlie Christian with a friend of mine in Oklahoma City, who is the world’s expert on the man who brought the electric guitar into the world as a solo instrument. And other fiction projects. And traveling around, leading workshops. And performing. And spending those giant royalty checks. And watching my oldest daughter graduate from college. And enjoying a beautiful Wisconsin spring.

 GIVEAWAY

Stuart has kindly offered to give away a signed copy of Father Groppi. Comment by Midnight April 15. Winner will be announced April 16.

*******EDITED TO ADD********

Because of recent issues with the website, we have extended this giveaway!

 Comment by Midnight April 24. Winner will be announced April 25.

 

Jacqueline Houtman is the author of  THE REINVENTION OF EDISON THOMAS (Front Street/Boyds Mills Press).  Like Stuart, she lives in Wisconsin, but they have never met. It’s a big state.

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