The Day Job: A Writer's Inquiry

Inquiry XI: Jill Santopolo

2010-10-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

Today I am delighted to welcome Jill Santopolo to The Day Job.

Jill is author of two middle grade mysteries: Alec Flint, Super Sleuth, the Nina, the Pinta and the Vanishing Treasure, and The Ransom Note Blues: An Alec Flint Mystery. She is also the accomplished executive editor at Philomel Books a Penguin Young Readers Group. Jill holds her MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College. She lives in New York where she likes to read, write, run and do an occasional cartwheel. You can find out more about Jill Santopolo and her books at www.jillsantopolo.com

Let's get started!

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

JS: I always wrote stories—I actually just came across a box of my earlier works this weekend (kindergarten and first grade mostly)—but I never really thought I’d be someone who would write stories as a job. I just wrote because I liked writing. Luckily for me, I got the chance to make some money doing something I loved to do.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

JS: I’m still working other jobs! I edit books and teach fiction writing. Truthfully, I’m not sure I’d ever write full-time. I like switching things up and concentrating on different aspects of the writing and book-publishing industry.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

JS: Right now I’m an executive editor at Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, and I edit everything from picture books to edgy teen novels. I’m also an adjunct professor at McDaniel College where I teach an online fiction writing class.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

JS: I think both jobs are challenging in that I have to figure out ways to give feedback—to students and to authors I edit—that help them to realize their true potential. In both cases, I want the people I’m working with to become the best writers they can and make their stories the best that they can, and (hopefully) my comments will help them get there. I take that responsibility very seriously, and because of that, I find it challenging.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

JS: My favorite thing about being an editor is seeing a book an author worked really hard on succeed and sharing in that happiness.

EEM: Least Favorite?

JS: I hate, hate, hate having to reject manuscripts. A ton of submissions I get just aren’t right for me for one reason or another, and I know I have to pass on them, but I feel bad about doing it because I know that the authors have spent a lot of time creating those pieces.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

What other effects did it have on your writing?

JS: Getting the regular writing in is hard. I’ve become a bit of a juggler and have had to accept the fact that some weeks I just might not be able to get the keyboard time in. But because my time is limited, when I do sit down to write, I’m very focused and get a ton done. I also have figured out ways to pre-write in my head so that when I sit down to put fingers to keys I know what I’m going to say.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

JS. Ha! I have. But that’s all I’m going to say about that.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

JS: I just sent a manuscript off to my agent that’s pretty different than the first two books I have out. And I just started something that’s different than all three of the stories I’ve written before. So in some ways the process is easier because I’m more confident that I can make it work, but it some ways it’s just as difficult because I try to challenge myself to grown and stretch as a writer with each project I tackle.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

JS: Hmm, I’m not really sure. I think everything happened the way it happened because of the people I knew and the places I’d been up until that point. I’m not sure if things would’ve worked out any other way…

Hrm....So Jill is just about the only author/writer that I have ever interviewed to admit to adding a co-worker into her work as a protagonist or villain. How about you?

Inquiry XX: Lori Calabrese

2010-10-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Today, I would like to introduce children's author Lori Calabrese

Lori Calabrese is an award-winning children’s author. Her first picture book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, was awarded DFP’s Best Children’s Book Award. She writes for various children’s magazines, is the National Children’s Books Examiner at Examiner.com and enjoys sharing her passion for children’s books at festivals, schools and events. Visit her website to learn more, www.loricalabrese.com.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

LC: I never imagined I’d be a writer and if you had told me I’d be a children’s author, I never woulda thunk it! I’ve always been a reader, but didn’t realize my passion for children’s books until I had my own kids. Having the opportunity to share stories with them night after night is a time that I really cherish. I think that’s why it’s so important to me to write the best book a child can read.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

LC: You mean you missed my episode of MTV Cribs? Just kidding, of course. I’ve quickly learned that writers write because they have a passion for it. Unless you’re Stephanie Meyer or J.K. Rowling, chances are you’re not going to be able to quit your day job. Children’s authors love creating stories and making words sing and the ultimate payoff is seeing children enjoy your books.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

LC: After graduating high school, I attended Pepperdine University, Boston University, and St. John’s University. I might not have known where I wanted to go to school, but I did know that I wanted to work in television. I graduated from St. John’s University in Queens, New York with a B.S. in Communications and had a ten-year career as a TV producer. When I decided to become a stay-at-home, I made the leap into full-time freelance writing and to sustain my writing career, I write for children’s magazines, write work-for-hire books, and write for web content sites.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

LC: The most challenging was working as a TV producer. You’re under tight deadlines, under the pressure of live television, and you often work long hours.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

LC: My favorite part of working as a TV producer is really hard to pinpoint. I loved the pressure of live television, making sure everything went off without a hitch, and working with some fascinating people. But I also loved post-production and the editing process, too.

EEM: Least Favorite?

LC: My least favorite would have to be the travel. I’ve been on one too many bumpy flights!

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in? What other effects did it have on your writing?

LC: Fortunately, I was able to write as a TV producer. Although I was writing scripts for TV shows and DVDs, I was constantly able to hone my writing skills and creativity. I think as an author all your life experiences influence your writing style and contribute to finding your voice. Even though my experience writing scripts for television shows and DVDS was completely different than writing children’s stories, I think it’s definitely influenced my style and helped get me where I’m at today.

But it wasn’t until I left my job as a TV producer that I started to freelance and focus on getting those word counts in. Today as a freelance writer, I’m able to write regularly, and although I might have different projects going on, I do my best to focus on my Work in Progress whenever possible.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

LC: I haven’t based any of my characters on one of my co-workers. These days, I get most of my inspiration from my two boys. They constantly crack me up and have such a fresh take on the world. In fact, the idea for The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade came to me when one of my sons had the flu. When everyone asked how he was doing, I would say, “He caught the bug.” It made me stop and wonder why we say that. Something clicked, so I expanded on the play on words of getting sick and catching an insect. Hence… “The Bug” was born.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

LC: I’m currently writing a contemporary young adult novel and, although it’s the second novel I’ve written, I don’t find the process any easier than the first because the subject matter is different, the characters are different and it’s a lot like starting from scratch. Although I constantly learn from what I read and write, I think as a writer you’re always learning.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

LC: You live and you learn and everything you do stems from experience. I don’t know what I would do differently. I always say after the fact that I wished I did this or didn’t do that, but the truth is everything I’ve done so far has gotten me to this point and I definitely look forward to the road ahead.

EEM: Thank you for taking the time to answer these interview questions!

LC: Thank you so much for having me!

Inquiry XIX: Anne Broyles

2010-09-28T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today I am pleased to welcome MA author, Anne Broyles.

Originally from Arizona, Anne Broyles lives in Andover MA. She is the author of "Shy Mama's Halloween," and "Priscilla and the Hollyhocks." As a scholar of theology, Anne has written and co-authored nine other books in the religious field. Her current focus is primarily on middle grade and picture books. When Anne isn't writing she enjoys doing school visits, hiking, traveling and, of course, reading.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

AB: I thought of myself as a writer from the time I was small, and still have one of my first “books”—two pages of colored paper stapled together of very short stories and illustrations. Yet it didn’t occur to me that writing was a career choice until I was in high school. Even then, I didn’t know anyone who made a living writing until I’d made my own decision of career. I became an ordained minister after college and seminary because it combined many of my gifts: helping people, writing, public speaking, drama, music, dance.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

AB: I write for the pleasure of writing, not for fame or money (though if either of those came, I’m up to the task!) My two children’s picture books have received what Cynthia Leitich Smith calls “non-revenue-producing awards” and I enjoy the rewards of satisfied readers, interacting with students and teachers at school visits, and connections with other writers. I’ve published 17 books for adults and youth in the Christian devotional field and that has given me lots of opportunities for travel, public speaking, and interaction with authors and editors.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

AB: I was a hotel chambermaid and cashier at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, housecleaner, nanny for 3 British kids, and worked at numerous churches during college. After I got my B.A. I went right to seminary, ordination and work as a solo pastor in a local church parish when I was 26.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

AB: During seminary, I spent one summer as a bar and nightclub minister in the resort area of Lake Okoboji, Iowa. I worked 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. and was supposed to go from bar to bar looking for people to help. What made this job tricky? I was undercover; I could not tell anyone I was a minister, so only the bartenders knew why I was there. As a young, single woman, cruising from bar to bar drinking only OJ and chomping down beer nuts, there was a fine balance between looking approachable enough to be a listening ear, and appearing ready to be picked up for a one-night stand. I didn’t always strike that balance and had to fend off some persistent men!

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

AB: Working nights meant days off to enjoy the lake and recreational activities.

EEM: Least Favorite?

AB: I had to walk home at 2 a.m. in the midst of all the drunk and disorderly men who had stayed until the bars closed. I always carried my keys between my fingers to protect myself, and walked really fast, but I never felt safe until I was inside my cottage with the door locked behind me.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

AB: No matter what my job, I have always written, but it has sometimes been hard to find the energy to work all day and also create quality writing time (plus relate to family and friends, exercise, and have time for reflection/thinking/daydreaming).

From the first year of my professional life as a United Methodist minister, I wrote magazine articles and high school curricula in addition to my 60-hour a week ministry. I couldn’t NOT write. But I often felt pushed and pulled between the two careers, time-crunched and stressed at not being able to give enough time to writing.

What other effects did it have on your writing?

AB: In 1996, as I madly typed away on an impending deadline assignment, I received a call that a 21-year-old woman from our church had accidentally overdosed on alcohol and heroin. I left my computer, drove to the hospital, and spent the next twelve days going back and forth to Bridgette’s hospital bed until she was taken off life support. Those were stressful, emotional days as I tried to do my other church work, interact with my family and complete the writing assignment. I felt an anguished push and pull between responsibilities, and didn’t get much sleep.

The following year, an emergency surgery saved my life and kept me in the hospital for eight days. Having almost died brought clarity. I realized that while someone else could do my job as a church pastor, no one else could write the stories in my head. Five months later I took early retirement from ministry and began to write full-time. I’ve never regretted the decision.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

AB: No.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

AB: I am working on several picture books and an historical young adult novel. The process is easier than it was in the beginning because I know more about the craft of writing and have two great critique groups, but it is a hard time to sell some of what I write.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

AB: Sometimes I wish I had started writing and working on craft sooner.

EEM: Thank you for taking the time to answer these interview questions!

The Lanternlight Dreamers

2010-09-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased to announce that it is official! The Lanternlight Dreamers has been scooped up by Jill Santopolo at Philomel/Penguin. The release date is not yet available, but as it becomes available I will post! I am so excited to work with Jill once again and am so thankful for having a wonderful agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, who supports my projects so well.

Good news, but off to work all the same!!

Inquiry XVIII: Laurie Adams

2010-09-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today we are pleased to welcome Laurie Gifford Adams.

Laurie Adams was born in New York State, but currently resides in Connecticut where she works as a teacher and writes her stories. Author of Finding Atticus, Laurie Gifford Adams is a member of SCBWI, IWWG and RWA. She is currently working on a collaborative project about internet safety. She has a husband, a daughter, a son, a cat and a dog. When she is not writing she is reading, gardening horseback riding, walking or coaching.

Let's jump right in!

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

LA: I have always loved writing. I still have my earliest attempts at being published when I was 13 years old and sending horse stories to horse magazines. I received lots of form rejection letters, but what amazes me even now is that those rejections didn’t have a negative impact on my desire to write. I just kept at it.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

LA: Success? Riches? Well, to answer the latter first, if you’re expecting to get rich from writing, then you better readjust your expectations. The majority of people can’t even make a living writing, let alone get rich. If you’re writing because you are passionate about the experience, then you’ll be blessed with a different kind of “rich”. (That may sound trite, but for me, it’s true.)

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

LA: I was a newspaper reporter for a few years, and I have written and published many freelance articles in magazines, but my main income is from teaching English in a public school.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

LA: As a writer, I have several favorite things about being a teacher. First off, once I got my masters, I no longer had to go to school during the summers so I was free to spend more hours writing. (However, I have discovered that I’m actually more productive during the school year because I’m on a tight schedule so I schedule in writing time. In the summer it’s easy to get distracted sometimes because I figure I have all the time in the world to get to those revisions or to start that next chapter.

My other favorite thing about this job is, because I’m writing middle grades/YA, I have a built in audience when I need to bounce ideas off others or when I need to research how teens would react to a situation or how they talk. It’s very convenient to just stand in the hallway and pretend I’m watching out for trouble in the halls when really what I’m doing is paying attention to how the kids interact with one another. Sneaky, I know, but so perfect!

EEM: Least Favorite?

LA: My least favorite part of teaching is the amount of time it takes me outside of school. Too often I have to grade papers or create a test or lesson for the next day when I’d rather be writing. There’s a whole lot of frustration connected to that when you have characters who are dying to be active.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

LA: I’ve worked on writing through a good many lunch periods at school because I couldn’t bear to be away from the story for the entire day. At night, because I also have two kids (who are now in their early 20’s) I’ve always had to specifically set aside time to write in between their activities and taking care of family life. It’s not easy to find that time and balance when you’re working full time and have the family, but if you dedicate a certain time that’s your writing time, then at least for me, as I see the clock getting closer to that time I find my mind starts to switch gears. Does it always work? No, sometimes there are too many distractions, but when I sit down to write, I make sure I’ve reserved myself at least a two hour block of uninterrupted time. It’s worked for me.

What other effects did it have on your writing?

LA: I’ll never forget several years ago after I’d been teaching about 6 or 7 years I was on my way to school one day and I had been able to eke out a little writing time before I left. I was so into the story and so upset that I had to leave my writing to go to school that I cried throughout the entire drive. That only happened to me once, but there have been many times over the years where I’ve been very frustrated to not be able to write when the creative juices are flowing.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

LA: I have never based a protagonist or villain on a co-worker, but I have based characters on kids I grew up with, my parents (as grandparents), my husband’s elderly uncle whom everyone loves after they meet him and, in FINDING ATTICUS, Atticus, the Golden Retriever is actually a combination of the Golden Retriever we had for fifteen years and our much beloved mixed breed dog that we have now. I do have one secondary character in FINDING ATTICUS who was named after a co-worker.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

LA: I am currently working on two projects. First, the project that is almost complete is an Internet safety book that I’m collaborating on with a cop. He approached me with the idea and after we spent several sessions brainstorming to see if we were compatible with our ideas, we decided to give it a go, and it’s worked very well. We are on our last round of edits and revisions now and hope to be done very soon.

The other book is a next in the series after FINDING ATTICUS. I love to write “issue” and “lesson” books, so this next book deals with an autistic child and bullying as the main conflicts.
As for the process, as soon as you start at the beginning with the next project, you’re starting from scratch with blank pages that need to be filled. As a result, I wouldn’t say the process gets easier; however, each time I complete a book, I bring away from it new learning as a writer, so I guess probably it’s a little easier because I use previous knowledge to start out one step ahead of the last book.

One very cool thing is that people are constantly asking me when I’m going to be finished with the next book. It’s a pretty cool feeling to know I have “fans” who are waiting. (It’s also a lot of pressure to know they’re waiting, so it’s a double edged sword, for sure.) Knowing people are waiting for it does make it more exciting to write, though. I just hope in the end the wait will be worth it for them.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

LA: If I could begin my writing journey over again with the knowledge I have now, I would join writers groups sooner (because I’d find out about them) and I would take advantage of conferences and workshops. The more I write, the more I feel like I have to learn and that makes me want to take more classes. Networking is essential in this business. The more people you meet, the more information you’ll have for your writer’s toolbox. Maybe writing a book is a solitary job, but when you’re not at the keyboard, get involved with other writers. Once I figured that out, my confidence as a writer went up significantly.

EEM: Thank you for taking the time to answer these interview questions!

LA: Thank you for inviting me to participate. It’s always great to reflect on why I do keep at this despite the frustrations.

Pause!

2010-08-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

This week, work is taking all my time. Busiest week of the year! Check back next week for a new interview! In the meantime, I hope you are doing more writing and reading than I am!

Inquiry XVII: Erin Dionne

2010-08-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today I am excited to welcome Erin Dionne to The Day Job.

Erin Dionne is a writer who lives in New England that I had the pleasure of meeting at the first Kinship Writers Association Literary Festival. She is the author of Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies and The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet. She is currently working on a new Middle Grade novel ELSIE WYATT ~~HATES~~ LOVES MARCHING BAND. When Erin isn't writing her fabulous stories, she is busy outside of Boston with her husband, daughter and dog named Grafton. She roots for the Red Sox, teaches English at an art college and sometimes eats chocolate cookies. To read more about Erin Dionne and her books you can visit her on the web at www.erindionne.com

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

ED: I have a memory book that my grandmother gave me when I was in kindergarten. It has a page for each school year K-12, and there’s a place for a photo, a few lines about what you want to be when you grow up, best friends, favorite color, etc. In first grade, in my big, scrawly handwriting, I filled in the blank “When I grow up, I want to be AN AUTHOR.” So…yeah. Basically, ever since I could read, I wanted to be a writer.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

ED: Ha! I’m still working at other jobs! I think instant success and riches comes to very few writers—it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And, really, if you’re in publishing for the money, you’re in for a rough ride.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

ED: Before I published any fiction, I worked as a marketing assistant in a publishing company. I learned about the industry (I was in the college math textbook division, but it still taught me a lot!) and its cyclical nature. I also worked in journalism as both a magazine editor and a freelance newspaper writer (I wrote for the real estate section in a small local paper). This helped me learn how to work with deadlines and work with editors. Now, I’m a college English teacher. It’s a job I love and it gives me time to write and be with my family. Oh, I also worked at a bookstore, which was really enlightening!

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

ED: Being an editor was definitely challenging. Our magazine was published monthly, and we had several months of lead time, so we’d be developing the December issue in September. I had to come up with stories for each issue, assign them to writers, field pitches from freelancers, and write my own pieces. I was the multitasking queen!

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

ED: Seeing an issue come together was pretty amazing, and I got to do cool stuff like interview Adam Sandler and Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of South Park).

EEM: Least Favorite?

ED: It was super stressful; the magazine launched right before the dot-com bubble burst. It lost funding, everyone lost their jobs, and the whole thing crashed and burned in a spectacular fashion.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

ED: My day job of teaching gives me a lot of flexible time that I can use for writing. Although, being the mom of a toddler eats into most of that flexible time! I rely on a strong family support system so that I can work and mom and teach.

EEM: What other effects did it have on your writing?

ED: Being a professor and talking about writing all the time really helps me to evaluate my own work and push myself as a writer. It also means I’m comfortable speaking in front of an audience, which—believe it or not—can be a major part of a writer’s life. I do school visits, talk to library and parent groups, and present at conferences. So those teacher skills come in to play a lot.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

ED: I haven’t based anyone on a colleague, although I always look to my teacher friends for advice and will name the teachers in my book after them.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

ED: Right now I’m in the middle of edits on my third tween/middle grade novel, ELSIE WYATT ~~HATES~~ LOVES MARCHING BAND. I’ve heard that every time you write a book, it’s like you’ve never written anything before in your life—and I’m definitely finding it true in this case. I have different expectations of myself, my work, and my goals. Plus, there are new external pressures that come with following up published works. So it’s been nerve-wracking and stressful. I just keep reminding myself that I’ve done this before and gotten through it…and I keep a lot of chocolate on hand.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

ED: Part of me wants to say that I should have started regularly submitting work two or three years before I actually did (does that make sense?), but in retrospect, the nearly ten years it took me to get published were valuable ones. I honed my voice and discovered what types of stories spoke to me. So, no. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve learned so much along the way; every step has been valuable.

EEM: It has been a pleasure! Thanks so much for dropping by!

Inquiry XVI: Stephen Swinburne

2010-08-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

This busy Monday we are excited to welcome Children's Book Author, Stephen Swinburne.

Steve was born in London, England. When he was 8, he left England with his family and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth to New York City.

Steve holds a bachelor of arts degree in biology and English from Castleton State College, Vt. He has worked as ranger in a number of national parks.

He loves to travel and observe nature and wildlife. A safari in Africa, hiking in Scotland, monitoring sea turtles on a Georgia island, a winter trek through Yellowstone and watching shorebirds in New York have all led to book projects.

Steve is the author of Wiff and Dirty George, Ocean Soup, Whose Shoes, Armadilo Trail, and A Butterfly Grows, just to name a few! He lives in South Londonderry, Vermont, with his wife Heather and daughters Hayley and Devon.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

SRS: No I wanted to be an adventurer, a marine biologist, and then in my teens, a rock star. I love being a writer but I still think a rock star would be pretty cool.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

SRS: It was NOT instant success. Even after my first book was published, it took many many years to achieve any name recognition. I have over 25 books published and I wish I had a nickel for every librarian who says, “I’ve never heard of you but it’s great to discover your books.”

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

SRS:

I’ve worn lots of different shoes in the many jobs I’ve had in my life. I found my first job when I was nine years old. I wore old sneakers as a newspaper delivery boy. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I’d wake early to roll up the newspapers, stuff them in my bicycle basket, and then ride around the neighborhood at breakneck speed. I’d throw the papers at people’s houses, hoping not to break any windows.

I wore grimy sneakers as a dishwasher, new sneakers as a busboy, and black shoes as a waiter. I yanked on hard-tipped boots when I drove trucks and laced up high-top sneakers when I made pizzas. I climbed ladders and painted houses in tattered running shoes. I gardened in sandals. Playing drums in a rock band, I wore cool-looking, pointy-tipped black and red slip-ons. When I was a National Park Service ranger, I wore sturdy hiking boots. When I helped sail boats, I wore deck shoes. In the years that I labored in an office brown wing tips adorned my feet.

Now I write for a living, and I wear whatever I feel like wearing on my feet. Some days I sit at my desk in slippers, and some days I wear wool socks. My feet might have flip-flops on or moccasins or nothing at all. No matter what my feet are wearing, they are always happiest when they are under my desk while I’m writing books.

One of the jobs that helped pay the bills and gave me a chance to write was photographer. If you can handle a camera and take photos, so many opportunities open up to you.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

SRS: Working in the corporate world was a real challenge. I once had a job as a manager of financial and employee communications at an electric utility company. I managed to keep that job for over 7 years and never once felt like I was an electric utility employee. My head was always in children’s books.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in? What other effects did it have on your writing?

SRS: Once I was a waiter at the London Business School of Economics. I’d write poems on the scraps of paper I was meant to write orders on. You can always find time to write, if you want to. Get up early. Stay up late. Miss an hour of TV. Carve out an hour to write. Do it every day. Read Annie Lamott’s Bird by Bird, a great book on writing.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

SRS: No and No.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

SRS: I am writing a sequel to my first mid grade novel, Wiff and Dirty George. The Z.E.B.R.A Incident (Boyd Mills Press, Spring 2010). As this was my first novel after writing over 20 nonfiction titles, I’d say I’m still a newbie at novel writing. I love the challenge of developing characters and setting them on a journey and bringing them back. One of my favorite novels is The Hobbit. What a beautiful arc to the story.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

SRS: I'd Begin writing my novels sooner in my writing career. Please check out my websites:

www.steveswinburne.com

www.oceansoupbook.com

www.wiffanddirtygeorge.com

EEM: Thank you, Steve! And everyone else, have a good week.

Inquiry XV: Kristin Nitz

2010-08-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today I am pleased to welcome Kristin Nitz.

Kristin Nitz attempted her first novel in 5th grade. She attended Michigan Technological University to study electrical engineering while dabbling with writing on the side. Her first book was Fundamental Softball. Since that first book about Softball, Kristin has written Play By Play Field Events, Play By Play Track, Defending Irene, and Saving the Griffin. For Saving the Griffin, she won the Kentucky Bluegrass Award and was a nominee for the Georgia Children's Book Award and a preliminary nominee for the Mark Twain Award. Kristin is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. To read more about Kristin and her great books, visit her website at www.kwnitz.com

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

KN: I did always want to be a writer. I knew, however, that it would be extremely difficult to break in. So I decided to get a degree in electrical engineering and write on the side. I’m one of those strange people who think that Calculus is a thing of beauty.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

KN: I wasn’t an instant success. And I’m still really not at the point where I’d be able to support myself fully on my writing.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

KN: I spent some time working at a few different electronics firms and as a teacher at a technical college after I graduated from college. Later, I stayed home with my kids. I was just beginning to think about getting back in the work force when my husband had an opportunity to work in Italy for three and a half years. For me, that was a dream come true. He told me later that if I hadn’t been so relentlessly positive about the opportunity that he might not have decided to do it. I set two short stories, two articles and two novels in Europe. Since our kids attended the local Italian schools, I spent one more year at helping them adjust to life in the States before doing some work as a substitute teacher. After my soccer novel came out, a friend suggested that I consider teaching for the Institute of Children’s Literature. After checking over the course materials, I decided to do it. They laid out all the things that I’d had to teach myself.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

KN: With substitute teaching, I could be with high school seniors one day and kindergartners the next. That was a shift! I generally found the kindergarten classes to be more frightening.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

KN: Interacting with lots of different kids.

EEM: Least Favorite?

KN: Teaching the music class with the child who had a very serious peanut allergy. He actually had his own mat to sit on and his own instruments to use. I always felt quite relieved when he and his class made it safely out the door.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in? What other effects did it have on your writing?

KN: When I was working outside the home, I typically wrote during my lunch break. I was just too tired at night. When I was parenting young children, I did most of my writing during naptimes or Sesame Street. Currently, I try to work on my fiction in the morning when I’m at my most creative. Then I dedicate afternoons to my students’ assignments. I tend to stress the basics like plotting and point of view, conflict and characterization, setting and scene-building. But I also do plenty of Nitz-picking when necessary on grammar, punctuation and formatting.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

KN: Oddly enough, no co-worker has ever inspired me in that way. But in general, people aren’t safe from me. In fact, two of my husband’s Italian co-workers had versions of themselves in SAVING THE GRIFFIN.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

KN: Currently, I’m revising the first novel that I ever attempted. While the bones of the plot are the same, I don’t think that it has two sentences in common with the original.

I spent a lot of time earlier this year working on the revisions for SUSPECT, a YA mystery that will be coming out October 1.

I used to study my favorite books for techniques on openings, closings and transitions all the time. Now I only need their help every once in a while.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

KN: I wouldn’t change anything for myself. When you’re not a genius, luck is often as important as hard work. But here are two pieces of advice that I’ve carried with me since 1999 when I was fortunate enough to win the Missouri Mentorship with author Gary Blackwood:

It takes a lot of conflict to carry a novel.

There’s no room for deadwood in a novel. Everything has to contribute to plot, character, or setting.

EEM: Thanks Kristin!

Inquiry XIV: Penny Blubaugh

2010-07-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today we are joined by fellow Gang-O and fellow VCFA-er Penny Blubaugh.

Penny Blubaugh is the author of the forthcoming book, Blood and Flowers as well as the already available, Serendipity Market!
She has lived in Illinois, Colorado and Texas. She has held an assortment of jobs, of which you will see more about below, but among them were grocery checker, department store clerk, Bank person, flight instructor, librarian and most of all, writer. She has been a writer nearly all her life and is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

PB: Since about age 12. I remember being on a family car trip to the Grand Canyon and writing in the back seat. Some mystery a la Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. But I kept putting serious writing off. (Even though one of my high school teachers seemed quite taken with my play on the discovery of malaria.) Mostly I’d try and stop and try and stop. It’s so easy to convince yourself that you can’t write and shove it off into a corner. Lucky for me I finally did realize that I was supposed to be taking the idea seriously!

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

PB: Once I decided to really write, it took a long time to get some recognition. I’m one of those MFA people from Vermont College so I got some nice comments there, and a year after I graduated I won a short story contest . A few years after that I won a poetry contest. For real publishing, though, it took about ten years. My first novel Serendipity Market came out in 2009. The next one, Blood and Flowers, is due March 1, 2011.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

PB: The best job I’ve ever had was being a flight instructor. That was when I was still a dabble writer. The job I’ve held as a serious writer, and still hold, is as a librarian. I do reference, program planning and publicity, and Young Adult services. Being a librarian has also given me a chance to write articles about authors, and to write book reviews.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

PB: Trust me, libraries are always strange.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

PB: Working with teens. They’re bright and interesting and just amazing.

EEM: Least Favorite?

PB: I dislike program planning, but it’s taught me some highly useful skills.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

PB: I’m using saved vacation days to get in one writing day a week, unless I’m on a deadline. Otherwise, I think more than I do. I also lead a teen writing group at work which is good practice for critiquing – for both their work and mine.

EEM: What other effects did it have on your writing?

PB: I’m pretty focused on that one day a week!

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

PB: Nope. And I don’t think I ever will. The ones I don’t like I try to leave at work. The others are friends and I’m not sure I could do them justice.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

PB: My agent (yea Erin Murphy!) has my new novel about a circus. I told her it has the Lone Ranger, Tonto, German wheels, a traveling casino shrouded in mist, a dead woman in a red corset and lots of tea. While I’m waiting to hear about that I’m thinking about secret places, decaying buildings and underwater cities. We’ll see where, if anywhere, that goes.

As for the process – each piece is its own and each one is like starting all over again. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know anything, and other times I can rely on the knowledge that it is possible to actually write a novel because I’ve done it before. People noticing is great and makes you feel wonderful. It also, in its own way, makes you even more paranoid because then you have something you have to live up to.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

PB: I’d get serious so much earlier!

EEM: Thank you Penny! Everyone else, have a great work week....

Inquiry XIII: Peter Salomon

2010-07-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome Peter Salomon.

Peter Salomon graduated Emory University in Atlanta, GA with a BA in Theater and Film Studies in 1989 and earned his CICP (Certified International Credit Professional) designation from NACM (National Association of Credit Management), FCIB (An Association of Executives in Finance, Credit and International Business) and Michigan State University in 2006. But credit consulting is not all that Peter excels at!

A member of Mensa, he has served on the Executive Committee of the Boston area chapter of Mensa as the Editor of their monthly newsletter, The Beacon. He was also a Judge for the 2006 Savannah Children’s Book Festival Young Writer’s Contest. He is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and is a serious writer who is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

PS: At one point, I thought I wanted to be a pediatrician but that passed; although even then, I was writing. It was simplistic, angstian poetry that left a great deal to be desired in the 'quality literary works of art' department. But, still, I spent all of my free time as a child either reading (anything and everything I could get my hands on) or writing. In high school is when I really started wanting to be a writer, but I didn't have a 'mentor' or anyone, really, who could guide me on that path. Today, there are so many websites and blogs and places to learn how to become a serious writer. So, I lost years that I look back on and realize how un-serious I was being, which I regret. I'm trying to make up for that now.

EEM: As a pre-published writer, what are some of the jobs that you do to help sustain your writing passion?

PS: At the moment I am a Certified International Credit Professional (a glorified collections agent) and that has led me to start my own consulting business for credit and collections. It is not, to say the least, the job I dreamed of having when I was a child. Actually, I have a BA in Theater and Film Studies (with a concentration in set design and construction for musical theater). I like to say that that has made me very good at Jeopardy; but, realistically, despite how much I enjoyed my time at college, it was, perhaps, not the wisest course of instruction for me. Unfortunately, the college I attended did not, at the time, have much of a creative writing program and it never occurred to me, when choosing a college, to look for that. In fact, I took one creative writing course at my college. After one session of reading our work out loud, the teacher, in front of the entire class, informed me that ,despite the fact that I was a talented writer, since I did not write historical fiction I was 1) not going to get an 'A' in his class and 2) not ever going to get published by a quality publisher. That was my one and only introduction to what passed for creative writing at my school. In addition to credit and collections, I do some freelance writing work (recently I have had an article published in Business Credit magazine and a cover story for a local newspaper).

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

PS: Since graduating college I have been a pharmacy technician, a legal assistant, Southeast Regional Administrator for a computer chain, and a cubicle dweller for various companies. For a while during the heyday of AOL in the mid-90s I worked for the Cartoon Network's section on AOL (keyword Cartoon) as both a moderator for their chat rooms and, most enjoyably, I answered viewer mail for almost a year (in character when required). That was the strangest and most challenging since it required a great deal of research sometimes to answer certain cartoon-related questions. I learned a great deal about cartoons. In addition, through countless hours watching the kids in the AOL chat rooms, keeping the peace, leading games with other moderators, and policing the chat it was a tremendous education in reaching and understanding the YA market that I write for.

EEM: How did you come across this job? Actively seeking or by chance?

PS: As usual for me, with all my day jobs, I have backed into them. As I mentioned, my educational background is not in Finance/Accounting. I was looking for employment back in the late 90's and a friend of my sister's was looking to hire someone to manage a small collections company he'd just purchased. I did that for a couple of years, after which I was 'qualified' to find more cubicle jobs in the Accounts Receivable field. Well, one cubicle led to another and here I am.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

PS: With the consulting I'm doing now, I'm hired by businesses to come in and help them streamline their in-house credit and collection departments, making them more efficient and more effective. I've discovered that I'm very good at this, despite the fact that, really, my heart isn't in it. Unfortunately, in today's economy, the budget to hire outside consultants has dried up across industries; which has left me relying more upon freelance writing, which, while paying far less, is, at least, far more emotionally rewarding.

EEM: Least Favorite?

PS: It is, always, difficult to collect monies owed (whether from consumers or commercial accounts) and that is doubly so in an economy such as we're currently living in. In trying to collect from consumers, it is never pleasant to be lied to or ignored or screamed at. In trying to collect from companies, while the screaming is gone, for the most part, being ignored is still part of the life.

EEM: Do your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

PS: As a consultant, I work from home so I have the time to write far more regularly than I have had in the past when I worked in a cubicle. For instance, a few years ago I brought my laptop to work everyday and during lunch hour, I'd speed eat my food and then spend the rest of the hour in my car, writing. It averaged out to about 40 minutes a day to write. Being at home means I need to balance work/writing/kids/house/etc. but it seems to be working, though financially it is, as usual lately, less than an optimal solution.

EEM: What other effects does it have on your writing?

PS: I'd like to say there's little crossover between finance and writing, but really I've managed to find some, such as the article I wrote for Business Credit back in April. Other than that, though, I tend to look at my credit/collections work life and my writing life as separate entities, though I have spoke with some marketing professionals who have recommended I not do that, since the ability to write is a tremendous asset in the business world.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspires your stories?

PS: Fun collection stories? While, yes, I do actually have some, most are either 'confidential' or relatively meaningless. Back when I was collecting on consumer accounts I received a Christmas card from a debtor who wanted to thank me for treating her so kindly. I still have that card, it meant that much. But it's not really inspirational on a writing basis.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

PS: Oh I have had some villains in some jobs. But, other than perhaps a scenario or two, it hasn't translated to my writing. I would think that is a greater reflection of the market I write for: Young Adult. I tend to use conglomerations of high school/college scenes or people more than adults for inspiration as that is what the market is.

EEM: Walking toward this goal to be a writer, what is some of the hardest things you have faced?

PS: Those moments working a day job where you realize 'I haven't written anything in days' and have no time to do so anytime soon. Free time is a tremendous luxury and not to be squandered. And time 'wasted' in a job you don't love is a difficult thing to deal with as it seems almost to be a personal insult, of sorts, on the writing aspect of my life.

EEM: Is it easy to keep the inspiration going?

PS: I've been writing since I was seven. I've written poems on napkins aat diners. I wrote a poem on a discarded prescription that someone left on a plane (I still have that one; it was entertaining to realize, years later when I became a pharmacy technician, that I wrote a poem on a birth control prescription...). Inspiration has never been the problem. Time, dedication, determination, consistency, voice: those have been, over the years, the problem.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

PS: Yes, but perhaps even if I'd had the teaching and mentoring and education I most needed it still would have taken 4 practice books to find my voice enough to write the manuscript that finally resulted in signing with my agent. I wish I knew then what I know now, but that is a familiar lament to most people. If anything, I wish I had ended up in a career path that my day job would have included writing in some aspect but I've enough regrets as is to add to the list. The journey's led here: agented, working on revisions for a publishing house and writing each and every day. And isn't that the definition of writing happiness?

Well, at least it'll do until the book sells...

Awesome! Thanks Peter!

Inquiry XII: Rose Kent

2010-07-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today we are joined by author Rose Kent.

Originally from Long Island, Rose spent much of her childhood writing poems and stories in Kings Park and in a cabin in Maine. Straight out of high school Rose entered the Navy. Later she honed her writing skills as a freelance journalist. She found her way into writing for kids after she adopted her own son Connor. To hear more about Rose Kent and her work go to www.rosekent.com.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

RK: I dreamed of many different grownup me’s. I wanted to be Batgirl, a firefighter, a pediatrician, an Olympic gymnast like Nadia Comaneci, and – believe it or not – a backup singer to Bobby Sherman. (He was that ‘70s heartthrob-singer whose face was always on Tiger Beat magazine.) I wrote about all of my dreams. Writing was the way I expressed these young girl wishes, the constant in my childhood, going back to when I first learned to form letters. It was also how I entertained myself and escaped.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

RK: I didn’t start my early professional life as a writer so I didn’t encounter instant success or juggling jobs. I attended the U.S. Naval Academy and, upon graduation, took a commission as a naval officer for five years. That was a tremendous learning experience – about the Navy and life. From there I entered corporate America and worked in public relations at Kraft General Foods, the folks who make blue box Macaroni and Cheese and Velveeta. Later, I did freelance writing for corporations and universities. Throughout these years, though, I always wrote stories and poetry on the side. It was after I started a family that I began working hard at the goal of publishing a novel for children.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

RK: I’ve found challenge, satisfaction, and quirks in all the work I’ve done. Being on active duty in the Navy and spending some time aboard a ship was challenging. I can recall spending the summer during my senior (First Class) year as a midshipman at the Naval Academy aboard an amphibious assault ship. The ship was about to deploy so the crew spent weeks conducting readiness drills. It’s an enormous task to get a ship seaworthy, and I was so impressed with the crew’s dedication, both officers and enlisted. There was a drill for everything and a right and wrong way to do things. I remember we had to practice putting on a protective mask very quickly, in case there was a chemical weapon attack. It had to be put on my face precisely, in less than ten seconds, so the seal wasn’t broken. This was a humbling experience. It took me several attempts before I got mine on and secured. Thank goodness some seasoned sailors gave me extra help.

EEM: How did you come across this job?

RK: Remember that Village People song popular in the early 1980s that went,

“We want you, we want you, in the Navy?” I decided I wanted them too! Attending the Naval Academy and later serving in the Navy was a terrific experience. I was in one of the first classes with women and this presented unique challenges, but I’m grateful for it all. I learned so much about staying strong and focused. These were lessons that have served me well in writing novels, too.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

RK: I loved the esprit de corps, working with men and women who took such pride in their work and sacrificed so much for their country. Working with them made me a better officer, and I believe, a diehard patriot.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

RK: It was tough getting word counts in during my Navy days since I worked days and I was getting a master’s degree at night. I kept a journal – even when I was aboard ship. That way even if I didn’t have enough time to write stories I would capture the story ideas for a future time. I also believe that reflecting time – when you are actively thinking about your writing, whether it is scenes, dialogue, plot – also counts and I did that when I was working other jobs.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspired your stories?

RK: Serving in the Navy and working for a major food corporation both influenced my work. My time at Kraft General Foods made me appreciate the role that food plays in all our lives, not only the obvious in terms of nourishing our bodies but also nourishing our spirits. My first book, Kimchi & Calamari (HarperCollins publishers) is about a wise-cracking Korean adopted boy in an Italian-American family who jokes that he feels like a combo platter of kimchi and calamari, which is Korean and Italian food, so you can see the influence. And as a naval officer I got to work with many terrific senior enlisted personnel who held the rank “Chief.” Some could come across as crotchety and gruff, but underneath it they were always rooting for the sailors, and they were always dedicated to the mission. In tribute to them, I have a retired Navy chief in my newest book, Rocky Road (Knopf Books), which is about a girl who moves to upstate NY with her family to open an ice cream shop with the last of their savings. Here is the Rocky Road book trailer: http://vimeo.com/11357915

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers?

RK: I think some of my characters are composites of people I have known but never one real person. I’ve always felt like I couldn’t take the soul of a real person and replicate it in fiction because I couldn’t completely understand their ways or inner workings, and I need to do that when I create a character.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

RK: I’m in the midst of writing a middle-grade novel about eleven-year-old Mimi, a petite stubborn redhead who longs to be good at something and decides to set a world record. I’m having a ball writing this because this character is quite unpredictable and unconventional. I’d love to boast that the writing process has gotten easier, but the truth is, each story is a mountain to climb. There are comfortable, even pleasant, stretches of writing along the way, and there are steep ascents when the words don’t come or plot problems set in. I liken it to raising children: no two are the same, you lose sleep from all of them, it’s hard work, and it is worth every bit of the effort.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

RK: I think we are all passengers on our writing journeys, not necessarily driving them. To change the past significantly would change the writing that we produce, and I wouldn’t want to do that. I will say that I wish I had done more of what I try to do now: to celebrate each small success. Sometimes that means finishing a chapter, getting through a first draft, sending a manuscript off to an editor, whatever. Toast the glass or have some chocolate! We all get caught up in the worry mill. What if I can’t finish this draft? What if an editor doesn’t like it? Will it get good reviews? Will I market it enough? Worry never helps create writing. It’s like adding a fifty-pound pack on our backs as we climb the mountain.

EEM: Thank you for taking the time to answer these interview questions!

RK: Thank you, Erin! I believe we learn so much from listening to fellow writers, and your blog allows us to do this. It takes a village to raise a writer too, so thanks to all in this village. And to those looking for inspiration to finish that chapter, that first draft, or to finally send something out to an editor, I say go for it. Believe!

INquiry XI: Rita Williams-Garcia

2010-06-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome prolific author, Rita Williams-Garcia

Rita is the author of seven award-winning novels including Jumped, Like Sisters on the Homefront and Every Time a Rainbow Dies. She continues to break new ground in young people's literature with her latest work, One Crazy Summer. Known for their realistic portrayal of teens of color, Williams-Garcia's works have been recognized by the Coretta Scott King Award Committee, PEN/Norma Klein Award, American Library Association, and Parents' Choice, among others. She recently served on the National Book Award Committee for Young People's Literature, and she sponsors a short story contest for young writers. Read more about Rita and her work at www.ritawg.com.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer?

RWG: Pretty much from the crib. As a girl I loved making up stories. I’d quit a game of kickball to go off and daydream. This didn’t exactly endear me to my sister and brother or friends but once a scene or idea popped into my head, I’d want to see it through. When I was twelve I found The Writer’s Market and The Writer’s Handbook and a lot of rejection. I felt like a writer. It was great.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

RWG: A cabin in the woods with a typewriter. A Pulitzer Prize. One million dollars. Bookshelves filled with works by Rita Williams. Then I’d open that rejection letter. Thank goodness I knew rejection early on. I sold a story to Highlights Magazine at 14 and a short story to Essence Magazine (never published) while in college. But the novel that I’d written in college would languish eight years before it got whipped into total submission. In the meanwhile, I studied dance in the heart of New York City at Phil Black’s dance studio and at Alvin Ailey’s while I auditioned for shows. “Just let me be good enough to make the next cut,” was my mantra. I never thought I’d land a job. My boobs were too big for my then smallish frame, and I couldn‘t sing. I just wanted to be good enough to audition.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

RWG: I was tempted to audition for a semi-nude dance gig on a cruise line, but changed my mind. Shortly after, I answered an ad in the NY Times for an office assistant at a company that created software for advertisers and media. In exchange for low pay, I asked for time off to audition and to use the company typewriters before and after office hours to rewrite my novel. Even though it was office work I wore pants to avoid slips and nylon stockings. Dancers didn’t wear slips, girdles, and pantyhose--only church ladies and office workers. I refused to buy a coffee mug because my stint as “office worker” was temporary. Hah! I met a man, got married, had children, a series of promotions, got my MA in Creative Writing, and even managed to write and publish five novels while under the employment of the same company. So much for temporary.

EEM: What was the most challenging thing about this job?

RWG: My company had a strange way of promoting. It wasn’t so much a promotion but a piling on. “Since you’ve handled that responsibility, we’ll give you more in addition to what you‘re doing now.” In spite of being a software systems company, there was little development for in-house technologies, so I created my own systems to perform my job. During data releases to our international clients, I worked until the wee hours of the morning and had to be on site early morning to deal with issues. Although I was writing my novels, I didn’t have time to be an author. Besides write, and rewrite, I had not a clue what authors did. I couldn’t have named ten current authors in the YA or children’s book world. Jackie Woodson. Walter Dean Myers. Bruce Brooks. Virginia Hamilton. It all got murky after that.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

RWG: I enjoyed teaching myself database management systems. Problem solving, tracking “cause,” and ruling out were fun to me. This can only happen if that happened first. These are symptoms of those types of problems. Back then, working the logic centers of my brain released endorphins. Now I struggle to remember which book I meant to grab from the bookshelf.

EEM: Least Favorite?

RWG: My least favorite part of my job was sitting in meetings and listening to projections. Not that it was boring, but that the plans and projections were always scrapped or set aside to deal with “real world” issues. Why not start with those to begin with? Only when I write do I enjoy sitting still.

EEM: Did your day job allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in? What other effects did it have on your writing?

RWG: I was allowed to come in an hour later, which gave me a relatively smooth train ride to get some work done. I used my vacation and personal days for any author appearances. In some ways my job was actually supportive of my writing career--especially co-workers who had watched me from those early typewriter days. However, the stress of my job was tremendous. I spent a good deal of my energy thinking about work related problems and of course, doing the actual work. When I slept, my dreams were related to work. After 25 years with the company I had to pack up my coffee mug and resign.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

RWG: Nah. I kept my writing self separate from my day job self. A funny thing happened about ten years ago. I was in Bryant Park writing during my lunch hour. I get into a rhythm when I write and once I’m “in” I don’t notice the world around me. When I came back to the office, two co-workers approached me. They told me they saw me in the park writing but were afraid to say hi because they weren’t sure it was me. Apparently my face changes when I write.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than when you started out?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

RWG: I’m writing a gaming novel. It’s the same as my other work in that it gives my mind something fun to do. It has many challenges built in as I imagine deeply and work through each one. But I’m afraid what will be noticed is that it’s a different work, a different genre, when in actuality all of my work is different from each one. Still, I’m a long way from the slew of rejections. I still get them, but I also have published work. It also helps that I work part time for the VCFA Writing for Children and Young People MFA. Working with other writers forces me to articulate what I know. The biggest perk is having more time to be a writer. Think about writing. Daydream about my characters.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

RWG: I’d program myself to be more natural about the state-of-being verb. Seriously.

I used to say I should have studied Communications and Creative Writing as an undergrad instead of Economics (which then morphed into a Liberal Arts degree). The jobs I tried to get after college were copywriting for advertising agencies and editorial for magazines. Today I’d be a creative director on Madison Avenue or an editor for The Utne Reader or Knitter’s World. Or, I should have gone to Hollywood to write sitcoms (I used to study the breaks and beats as a kid) or crime serials. Truth is, if I had a paying creative job when I got out of school I wouldn’t have clung to my serially rejected novel. I think I’m working the job I’m meant to have.

EEM: Brilliant! Thank you so much, Rita!

Inquiry X: M. Macclesfield Read

2010-06-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

This week we are joined by pre-published writer M. Macclesfield Read (Don't you just love the sound of that?)

Read is a writer for kids (and all those youthful) represented by Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. She lives on a farm in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, two daughters and plenty of animals!

Michelle says: "Growing up in the Read family, I could not escape the Read effect; we had so many books in our house that they randomly fell from shelves, stopped doors from closing, slipped into the toilet and even cluttered up the fridge. It was hard for my brother and I to get anything out of our parents, like a word or a pat on the head, or dinner, because they were always absorbed in their books."

Michelle writes adventure stories, whether set in the present day or the days of myths and legends, historical or fantastical. Her heroes are always armed with heart and humor and her greatest wish is that the reader will be not only entertained, but also inspired. You can read more about M. Macclesfield Read at her website: http://mmacclesfieldread.com

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

MMR: I have always wanted to be a novelist. As a kid, I read and wrote constantly. I never left home without a book to read and a notebook to write in. However, I also had a drive to be in the medical profession, so I went into physical therapy and wrote as a hobby.

EEM: As a pre-published writer, what are some of the jobs that you do to help sustain your writing passion?

MMR: I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Physical Therapy in 1991. I worked mostly in private practice for twelve years, treating outpatients—people who are basically leading normal lives but need help with a physical problem or two. I really enjoyed the social aspect of this job, getting to chat with folks from all kinds of backgrounds with all kinds of stories to tell.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

MMR: As a university student, I had a summer job at a rehabilitation center for birds of prey. The job was challenging, the boss was strange, the birds were amazing.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

MMR: I had many spectacular moments in this job. Getting to watch the secretive pair of snowy owls was very special. The snowy owl enclosure was out in the woods, and it was hoped that the pair would breed, so we had to try not to disturb them. When I did get to see them, it seemed as magical as it would be to catch sight of a pair of unicorns.

I also had the chance to try falconry with a trained red tailed hawk. The hawk had claws that could have taken my nose off, and wings that would wrap right around my head if I made the wrong move, so it was quite a rush to hold out the gloved hand and have him land on me.

But my most favorite part of the job was eating lunch every day with the barn owl who lived in the lunch room. Owls don’t have a lot of facial expression, so I always found it a little crazy, in a good way, to sit beside this flat faced fellow every lunch hour and get stared at.

EEM: Least Favorite? That would have to be feeding live chicks to the injured immature bald eagle who was terrifyingly large and aggressive.

EEM: Do/did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

MMR: When I worked full time as a physical therapist, I only wrote when I was really moved or inspired. Later, when I realized that I was never going to lose the drive to write a novel, I started by writing ten minutes before bed every night. Gradually, I have eased out of physical therapy and am now at home full time, thanks to my husband who works plenty hard enough for the two of us. So I now write every morning for two or three hours, five days a week.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspires your stories?

MMR: I could more than fill a book with anecdotes from my time as a physical therapist. When you get to chat with fifteen to twenty people a day, you gather a lot of material. But patient confidentiality is an important issue, so I can’t share many of these stories...yet.

My favorite work anecdote is from when I was pregnant with twins. I was wearing a light colored cotton dress and I was six months pregnant, but I was the size you’d be at nine months with one baby. So this dress described a rather large footprint. My patient looked at me as I was stretching his elbow and said, “Hey, what are you going to do with that dress after you have the babies?” I shrugged, “Why do you ask?” And he said, “I’d like to have it for a snowmobile cover!” I never wore that dress again.

Although I rarely use stories from work, I have had my eyes opened many times in dealing with patients and hearing their stories, and so have gained a broad perspective which has helped me to create more engaging characters and situations in my writing.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

MMR: I have had several bosses that would make good villains, but my characters all seem to come out of my head. I can’t say I’ve ever based a character on a real person. I’ve taken eccentricities from people I’ve observed and fused them into a character I’ve been creating, but never taken a whole person and used them. On the other hand, it would be fun to take my most villainous boss and make a caricature out of her!

EEM: Walking toward this goal to be a writer, what is some of the hardest things you have faced?

MMR: Trying to find time to write was the hardest thing for me once I decided I really wanted to have a go at a novel. I didn’t feel I could take time away from my family. Becoming a novelist was just a dream of my own that I thought might never happen, so it was hard to justify spending hours hammering away at the computer. But now that I have an agent, it seems easier to allocate time to write.

EEM: Is it easy to keep the inspiration going?

MMR: I seem to have inspiration coming out of my ears, but at times I have trouble sitting myself down to write. I have four die-hard fans who read my work as I write it, and their enthusiastic feedback goes a long way toward helping me keep my momentum.

EEM: We’ll check back with you in one year and see how different your answers are! I am interested in this evolution!

Inquiry IX: Eric Pinder

2010-06-07T15:54:00.001-07:00

Today we are joined by nature writer and fellow resident of the Granite State, Eric Pinder.

Eric’s lifelong interests in science and the outdoors led to jobs at the Appalachian Mountain Club and Mount Washington Observatory. For seven years he lived and worked as a weather observer atop the snowy, windswept, 6288-foot summit of Mount Washington, the “Home of the World’s Worst Weather.” His experiences there inspired several books, including his first book for children, Cat in the Clouds (published by The History Press). He is also an avid nature photographer.

His articles and stories have appeared in Weatherwise, Appalachian Trailway News, Newsday, Bostonia, and other publications. He teaches at Chester College of New England. His books include Tying Down the Wind, Life at the Top and North to Katahdin, which is about the appeal of mountains and wilderness. (Read a review.) His second book for children, If All of the Animals Came Inside, is forthcoming from Little Brown in Spring 2012, illustrated by Arthur creator Marc Brown. Eric is also working on a novel and several more children’s books. He is completing his MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts and is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

EP: I still want to be an astronaut when I grow up. But yes, I’ve always wanted to write books, too. Growing up in a house full of books made me want to see my own on the shelf someday. The first story I can remember writing was a science fiction adventure set on the moon.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

EP: Right after I graduated from college, an outdoor magazine bought one of my essays for $80, which sure felt like success and riches at the time. Naively, I thought writing for money was going to be easy. I soon learned that rejection slips always outnumber paychecks. That $80 check ended up being my total writing income for the year.

Later, there actually were two amazing years when I probably could have lived off my writing income alone. Not that I was rich, and I still kept my day job, but it was great to finally get promoted from “starving writer” to “moderately well fed writer who can occasionally splurge on Indian food.” The independence of being a writer and being your own boss is wonderful, but the downside is how unsteady and unpredictable the paychecks are. So I’ve almost always had to supplement writing with other jobs.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

EP: To help pay the bills, I’ve led guided hikes in the White Mountains, prepared teacher certification tests, worked at a mountaintop weather observatory, taught college courses, and even delivered pizzas part time. I think every job offers something a writer can use (besides money). For example, I now have a great idea for a murder mystery novel set in a restaurant, after seeing what goes on behind the scenes.

Barnes & Noble once asked me to design on online Meteorology 101 course for them, and I ended up teaching the class online for several years. Speaking at schools and libraries is another nice way to supplement writing income. One thing I’ve noticed, whether I’m teaching a weekend workshop for the Appalachian Mountain Club or a college writing class, is that teaching is a great way to learn new things. You have to learn, just to keep ahead of all the surprising and interesting questions you’ll get asked.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

EP: For seven years, I lived and worked on top of Mount Washington, at a weather observatory famous for having “the world’s worst weather.” My very first day on the job, crewmates introduced me to the sport of deck sledding: You kneel on a plastic sled, hold out your arms like sails, and then the hurricane-force gusts whoosh you across the icy observation deck like a hockey puck. Very fun.

My workday started at 4 o’clock each morning, taking weather observations and reading the forecast over the radio. In the winter—by “winter” I mean September through May—the first thing I’d often have to do was climb to the top of the tower with a plastic sledgehammer to deice the instruments in 100 mph winds. In theory, my day ended at 4 pm, but the mountain always threw surprises at us. Rescuing a lost hiker with a broken leg sometimes had me working till after midnight, then catching a few hours sleep and starting the routine all over again. It was exhilarating but exhausting work. And it gave me a lot to write about.

EEM: Strange, indeed! How did you come across this job? Actively seeking or by chance?

EP: By chance, and it ended up changing my life. A few years out of college, I was working in a windowless office in Massachusetts while trying to be a nature writer like Thoreau or Barry Lopez. It’s hard to write about moose and mountains when all you can see is concrete and fluorescent lights.

A friend called me up and mentioned a summer job on Mount Washington. The deadline for applying was the very next day. Despite being really tired from my mind-numbing day job, I rushed in an application. I figured it would be nice to go there for a few months, experience some crazy weather, and maybe write an essay about it. I wasn’t planning to stay long. But while I was there, a fulltime job opened up, and I guess I liked it, because I stayed for seven more years. My experiences there inspired several books, including my first book for children, Cat in the Clouds. I often wonder how different my life and my writing career might have been if not for that serendipitous phone call. Who knows what I would have been writing about instead?

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

EP: One quiet morning, a raven swooped up over the edge of the railing and almost landed on my shoulder. We were just inches apart, staring at each other for a long moment. Then the raven cawed and swerved away. Witnessing crazy weather and having close encounters with wildlife made this the ideal setting for someone like me, interested in writing about science and nature. I also got to know some great people and form lifelong friendships. When you’re stuck at a remote mountaintop outpost with just a few other people, sharing hardships and constantly witnessing natural wonders like the northern lights, your co-workers become family.

EEM: Least Favorite?

EP: My least favorite part of any non-writing job is the office politics. It gets in the way of what’s important.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

EP: On the mountain, usually I was too busy to write during the day and too exhausted to write once my shift ended. I’d jot down notes, ideas and memory prompts for later, but had to wait for a day off before mulling over those thoughts and getting any serious writing done. One thing my day job did do was make me eager to write when I finally got the chance, because there were so many great stories to tell.

Teaching writing at Chester College has been challenging and inspirational in different ways. I’ve been privileged to work with some amazingly talented students during the past five years, and they’ve motivated me to step up my game and get more writing done, just to try to keep up with them. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve read student work and thought, “Wow! I wish I’d written that.”

EEM: What other effects did it have on your writing?

EP: I think we all tend to write the most about what we know the best. Living above the clouds and talking about weather all day pretty much guaranteed a lot of blizzards and ice storms in my writing. If Jacqueline Briggs Martin hadn’t already done such a great job with Snowflake Bentley, I’m sure that’s a topic I would’ve explored. It’s a common but frustrating experience to browse the bookstore shelves, discover a title and think, “Hey, wait a minute. I was going to write that book.”

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspired your stories?

EP: One cold March day, a student showed up for my Nature Writing class in a scuba-diving wetsuit. We were going for a field trip that day, so we looked for a cold pond for him to jump into. “Get ready,” I told the class. “You’re going to hear some great quotes as soon as he hits the water.” In New England in March, believe me, ponds are ice cold. As he slowly submerged himself, yelping and hollering, it turned into a great classroom writing exercise. We had fun translating the noises into onomatopoeic words.

Teaching, especially teaching Nature Writing, has definitely inspired some stories. On field trips, we’ve stumbled across snapping turtles, snakes and wild turkeys, and once found a mysteriously flattened owl at the edge of a waterfall. Some great quotes and anecdotes have come out of those experiences. I bring a notebook along on each field trip, and someday a book will emerge from all of those experiences.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

EP: I’ve never directly based a character on a real person, though one time I did create a villain who was kind of a patchwork assembly of behavioral quirks and eccentricities from several different people in real life. It was kind of like putting together Frankenstein’s monster out of spare parts.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

EP: Writing is never easy for me. I’m a slow writer, and getting started on a new project and trying to find the right words is always painful. That’s why I have so much sympathy for Flaubert. He spent five years writing Madame Bovary, and was in agony the whole time. I know how that feels. The only thing that’s changed over the years is my confidence. I know now that if I keep working through the pain and don’t give up, eventually something decent will emerge. Last week I spent hours revising a picture book about dragons, and boy did those dragons put up a fight. I’m still covered in burns and bite marks. But the result was worth it.

I’m hard at work right now on several more picture books and my first young adult novel. Those are at the top of my to-do list. I’m also planning another creative nonfiction book with a nature theme, thanks to all of those field trips at Chester College.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

EP: I’d travel more, sooner. Several former co-workers from Mount Washington went on to work in Antarctica, and now I really regret not going too. An amazing book could have come out of that experience. I suppose I could still go, but committing to a 13-month stint at South Pole would have been a lot easier ten years ago.

EEM: Eric, you are a joy to listen to! Best of luck and thanks so much for your insights.

Inquiry VIII: Jessica Dainty Johns

2010-06-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

Today I am very excited to introduce my cousin and fellow writer, Jessica Dainty Johns.

Jessica holds an MFA in Creative Writing in the genre of fiction from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has worked with such acclaimed authors as Hester Kaplan, Rachel Kadish, and AJ Verdelle. She was a 2005 winner of the Margaret Woodruff Award for creative writing and has had fiction published online at Fiction Weekly. Jessica has taught at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and is currently teaching an interdisciplinary course entitled Adaptation from Between the Lines for Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program. She is co-founder of the Kinship Writers Association. She lives, works, and writes in the greater Boston area.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

JDJ: I went through the standard teacher veterinarian astronaut spoutings, but I’ve always written stories. I recently went through my saved papers from grade school and reread the stories I wrote in first grade, second grade, etc. I could recognize my love for words even then, though most of them were misspelled and sloppy. I can remember getting in trouble in fourth grade for making an in-class assignment to write a story about a pumpkin too long. So although I may not have realized it, or maybe my practical side was fighting it even then, but I’d say, yes, I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

EEM: As a pre-published writer, what are some of the jobs that you do to help sustain your writing passion?

JDJ: I’ve worked in bookstores, classrooms, at swimming pools. Now, I’m lucky enough to have a supportive job that also allows me windows of time to focus on my own work. I nanny full-time, and I have been with the family for almost 3 years now. They do everything they can to work with my schedule, to allow me time to write, and to pursue teaching and writing jobs outside of their employment. I am really very lucky. I’ve also designed some courses, one on adaptation which I teach through Lesley University’s MFA for creative writing’s interdisciplinary courses. Another, on imagery, I’ve lectured at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and am currently shopping around in a modified version to other writing programs in the Boston area.
The greatest thing I’ve done is start The Kinship Writers Association with my cousin [you]. Running workshops, being in contact with agents and editors, and reading other writers’ works really helps to keep me motivated and inspired, as well as gives me no choice but to network and build my professional side of being a writer.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

JDJ: The most challenging job I’ve had was working in a K-4 Behavioral and Developmental classroom. I was meant to be an assistant but because of disorganization and under staffing, I wound up being the primary kindergarten and first grade teacher, making lesson plans, designing and enforcing disciplinary structure. I found myself disagreeing with the policies the classroom often practiced when dealing with the children, but had to follow them as part of my job. It has been one of the only times in my life where I went home not liking myself on a continual basis. The children were wonderful, though, and had so many levels to them. Watching them, and the parents, and the teachers – it was like a goldmine of characters to feed the imagination, and though I haven’t used any of them yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if they show up in suggestion at some point down the road.

EEM: How did you come across this job? Actively seeking or by chance?

JDJ: I had moved home to save money after getting engaged and my mother, who has worked as a teacher for over three decades, helped me get the job. I’m not sure I could have quit anyway, as I would not have wanted to leave the classroom and children even more unprepared, but it was definitely not an option when my mother endorsed me for the position. So I was actively seeking, but not for that particular job.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

JDJ: The children and the moments when you could see them as just kids. We had children who were severely emotional disturbed, children with OCD, children who had been molested, but they were still kids. And it was great to be a part of the days where I could let them feel that way, when the policies and discipline regulations of the classroom didn’t interfere.

EEM: Least Favorite?

JDJ: The way issues were handled. They used professional crisis management (PCM), which I didn’t agree with, where the children were often physically constrained until they calmed down. The teachers were always yelling. There seemed to be no consistent positive reinforcement or reward-based discipline. It was very difficult to watch let alone be a part of.

EEM: Do your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

JDJ: The time is there now, at least during the school year when the kids are gone for part of the day. My use of it has gotten better and better, but as with inspiration, it comes and goes. I have large breaks on Mondays and Wednesdays when both the children are at school, and, after working out (another big part of my day), I head to the bookstore with my computer and stay there for at least two hours, though I often stay much longer. Sometimes I get ten pages, sometimes I get none. I am working on not letting myself get distracted and to only open Word on my computer (you know how that pesky internet can be) unless I need to research information for a story.

EEM: What other effects does it have on your writing?

JDJ: As I said, I am incredibly lucky to have the freedom my job affords me, but I get more and more career-ancy as the years go by. As much as I want to be published and own the title “author,” I also want to teach. I have been researching schools to pursue a Ph.D. and, in such cases, my job is a positive inspiration to motivate me forward with those separate but writing/English-related dreams.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspires your stories?

JDJ: I have taught swim lessons for years and have been a swimmer since I was little. I am working on a novel right now that loosely involves swimming but relies on a recurring dream of breathing underwater that I have had since I was a kid. This novel also focuses on a protagonist with OCD and while I suffered severely from this during my childhood and teenage years, I will probably also draw on some instances from my work in the behavior classroom.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

JDJ: I haven’t but there are aspects of personality of some people that I would love to build a character around. I’ve worked with people twenty/thirty years older than I in a job I viewed as a part-time/transition job. And they were pompous and condescending and it makes me wonder why they are still there, what else they wish they could be doing. I find most of my characters are often searching for something outside of their present condition, whether it be consciously or unconsciously. I often take an abstract and try to shape it in to something concrete in a story, and that abstract may be just a suggestion or assumption on my end that my mind runs with. I am sure bits and pieces of past co-workers are all over my stories, even if I didn’t mean for them to be!

EEM: Walking toward this goal to be a writer, what is some of the hardest things you have faced?

JDJ: Keeping yourself motivated can be challenging, especially as a fiction writer who primarily writes short stories. I remember going to my first publishing panel while a student in my MFA program and having one of the panelists say something along the lines of “Memoir writers? Good for you, you’re writing at the right time. Fiction writers? Get used to it now, you probably won’t ever get published.” The waiting game is difficult. Submitting to literary magazines and journals, even when you send twenty or thirty stories out at a time, you wait 3-6 months to hear back, and if they’re all rejections, you have to start all over again. First time novelists have a better shot I think, as unpublished writers. But if I want to publish a collection, I feel there is an expectation to prove your worth beforehand. I have a story published online, and while there are many reputable online journals, I still feel the hierarchy of print v. virtual is very much present in the literary world. So though I have a collection sitting on my computer, I’m waiting until I can write in my query, “My works have appeared in X, Y, and Z.”

EEM: Is it easy to keep the inspiration going?

JDJ: Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Inspiration for a story often comes to me in a single image or in a sentence or phrase. When starting a new story, I can sometimes write straight through and knock out a story in one sitting. In between those lightning bolt moments, though, when I’m just knit-picking at stories in need of revision, I can get a bit more down-hearted. However, I am now comfortable with wanting this bad enough to deal with all the waiting, all the bad drafts, all the rejections. Some days are harder than others, but I will always be a writer.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

JDJ: I’m not sure I would. I started college thinking I’d go the practical route. Become a dentist so I could make enough money to write because writing is what I really wanted to do. And even though I spent my first 3 semesters of college borderline depressed before I sucked it up and admitted to myself I wouldn’t be happy unless I just did English, I still can’t regret it. Even for the simple reason that I got all my sciences and maths out of the way in my freshman year and for the next 2 years of college, I took only what I wanted to take. But I also think it showed me how important this is to me. That I couldn’t commit my life to something I didn’t love. Even now, when my job is not what I want to be doing for my life’s work, I am happy because it allows me the freedom to work toward my ultimate goal, and it does not directly conflict with what I love to do. Oh and maybe I would have told my 4th grade teacher to shut it, “I’m a writer.”
We’ll check back with you in one year and see how different your answers are! I am interested in this evolution!

Thanks!

Inquiry VI: Michelle Ray

2010-05-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome fellow Gang-o Michelle Ray.

Michelle Ray was born and raised in Los Angeles. She attended Tufts University, where she studied theater history and literature. Michelle currently teaches middle school English in the DC area. Her debut novel Falling for Hamlet is due out spring of 2011. She is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

MR: I didn’t plan on being a writer. I’ve always been imaginative and have a hard time falling asleep. When I was little, my parents would put me to bed and I would fill the time by telling myself stories. I used to pick shows or movies I liked, like “Little House on the Prairie” or “The Outsiders,” and put new characters in them to see how the story might be reshaped. I’ve never stopped doing this. In fact, that’s precisely how Falling for Hamlet came about. I began wondering, what if Ophelia didn’t go crazy? What if she was a modern high schooler? What if she could text Hamlet? But for all those years, I didn’t write the stories down because, well, I wasn’t a writer. My great love was theater. When I got to college, I took a miserable creative writing class and swore I would never share my ideas aloud again. I ended up being a drama major and focused on directing. I graduated from Tufts thinking I’d make a go of that kind of storytelling. But then I realized I hated being unemployed, I hate rejection, and don’t like convincing other people I’m good at what I do. I became a teacher instead, which, if done right, is never dull, involves great stories, and lets me be the boss (much like directing). But I missed creating something, telling dramatic stories. With writing, I get to be the boss of my own story and I get to do it on my own schedule.

EEM: When you began writing, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

MR: My first novel, Falling for Hamlet, will be out next spring, so I have no idea what my writing life will eventually look like. As of now, I’m still a teacher, and honestly, I have a hard time imagining giving that up. I love it. Even when I get frustrated and complain (which I admit I do a lot), it’s a job I’m proud of and I adore working with young people. But who knows what the future will bring?

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

MR: I’ve been a teacher for 13 years. I’ve also been a waitress (I wasn’t good at that), a receptionist (a disastrous job since I had a phone-phobia at the time), a camp counselor (made me love kids), grill cook (I was a vegetarian and didn’t know how to cook meat), and a frozen yogurt server. Of all the jobs I’ve held, the ones that are most connected to writing have been teaching, directing, and interning in the story department of a T.V. network. All of these jobs help/ed me think about what makes a story work (whether it be a play, a novel, or a script). Directing allowed me to think about actions, facial expressions, motivations, and what is or is not said between people. I think in dialogue, which is how I start each part of a story. Then I paint on the layers. That said, my friends often say reading my work is like watching a movie. I’m a film buff and a rather visual person, so maybe this has affected how I pace or describe scenes.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

MR: I don’t have any cool stories about crazy jobs. I never worked on an oil rig or cleaned the shark tank of an aquarium or anything wild, so I’ll be honest -- teaching is a daily challenge and often quite strange.

EEM: How did you come across this job? Actively seeking or by chance?

MR: When I decided not to pursue theater directing, I got to talking about my future with my then-boyfriend, now-husband, and he suggested teaching. He’d been a teacher in Hawaii for a number of years and loved it. It sounded like a good life, so I got my degree and the rest is history. Of course, when I went back to my high school and told my teachers about my career choice, they all said, “That’s what you told us you were going to do when you graduated.” Isn’t that funny? I had completely forgotten my plan and ended up teaching anyway.

EEM: What was your favorite thing about this job?

MR: I love words and ideas, and I have always loved school. My teachers were so fantastic and made me love learning, so I feel like I’m giving to a new generation the great gift that was given to me. I also love that kids are so weird and honest and funny, and that each day, for better and for worse, you never know from moment to moment what will happen in a classroom. One of the reasons I hated my office and restaurant jobs so much was that they were quiet and predictable. That is not true of a school.

EEM: Least Favorite?

MR: Grading. I hate evaluating works in progress and I hate the time it takes from my writing. Another thing that depresses me is when I feel like I’m not reaching certain students. Sometimes I can’t “crack the code” for making them understand what we’re reading or even how to read better. Sometimes I get upset when I see that they’re bored because, since I’m responsible for the lesson, I consider it my fault if they’re not into the activity. And other times, I worry so much about the choices certain kids are making, and I know that the decisions they make now could affect the rest of their lives. This kills me. People tell me not to take this all personally, but all of it IS personal to me.

EEM: Did your day job(s) allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

MR: Sort of. My workday starts early, so I get out early. And I try to write every day between the time school ends and when I pick up my kids from day care. Then I pick up writing after they go to bed. When I have a tough day at school and am too tired to write, I get a little snarky. I also stop for my favorite shows, like “Glee,” but my husband has gotten used to my saying, “Yeah, I’ll be in to watch in a second,” and an hour passes. I have to set a timer to keep from losing myself in my writing. My family has to have my attention, too, and I feel badly when I want to write and they want to hang out and I have to decide what to do. I’ve gotten good at sitting on the porch with my laptop while my girls play soccer or ride their bikes. I do get frustrated when I have an idea for a plotline or bit of dialogue and they have an idea for an activity that requires me to get up from the computer. I’m not sure what it would be like to have all day to write. I’m afraid I’d just putter around all day. Knowing I have short windows of time makes me use the time well.

EEM: What other effects did it have on your writing?

MR: I spend a lot of time with young people. Watching them go through the ups and down of their teen years (crushes, conflicts at home, hating a teacher, falling out with a friend), keeps the memories of my own youth alive. I draw on hurts and joys from my past to add layers to my characters’ experiences, and working with students reminds me that their feelings are no less valid or intense than that which I feel as an adult.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspired your stories?

MR: I tend not to use any school stories because I think there are some moral issues there that might expose my students’ personal lives. And, even though my friends say my work stories are funny, when I write, I want to escape. But I have included people and places I’ve been. In college I lived in a co-ed fraternity. The house was filthy and reeked. I mean, smelly, smelly, smelly. The banister wiggled, the carpet was stained, people left Chinese food containers out until they molded over. And yet, I totally loved living there. (I can’t say I loved the mess, but I got used to it.) Well, that house and the kinds of parties we had made it into a scene of Falling for Hamlet. Ophelia goes to visit Hamlet in college and just loves how gross it is.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

MR: I had a particularly nasty boss who absolutely must end up in a story some day. She was stranger than fiction and made the boss from The Devil Wears Prada look positively tame. She made me put sweaters on her dog and called me stupid and a lot worse when I couldn’t get the wiggly mutt to sit long enough to get the job done. But no, I haven’t blatantly based any main characters on people I know. Smaller characters are modeled after good friends, and pretty much any time you see a teacher pop up in one of my stories, the character is a teacher I once had or one I work with now. And I pick up elements from people I know and add them in -- like my dad’s hat collection found its way into Falling for Hamlet. For another story, a road trip I wrote in was based on one I took with my husband when we drove cross-country before we were married.

EEM: What are you working on now and is the process any easier than your first work?? If so, in what capacity (people noticing it, the writing itself, the confidence?)

MR: My first manuscript took eleven years to complete because it was interrupted by grad school, a new career, having babies, and a lack of belief that I was (gulp) a writer. [That’s something I’ve not adjusted to yet.] That particular manuscript is still not right, but I’ve given up on it. For now. The first steps toward progress were sharing my “dark secret” that I was writing, and then having my friends read and like what I wrote. Their enjoyment of and involvement in my stories boosted my confidence as much as it shocked me. And since selling my first novel, my confidence has grown exponentially. Taking time from my family and from other things I like to do doesn’t seem like a waste of time anymore, and now I know I can tell a good story. I’ve finished two other manuscripts that have been sent to with editors (fingers crossed), and right now I’m working on a historical fiction piece for teen girls set in 1960s NYC. I’ve been mulling the story over for quite a while, but only sat down to write it this week. We shall see.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

MR: I would spend fewer hours worrying about whether or not it was worth doing. My husband’s constant refrain has been, “Are you enjoying yourself? Then it’s not a waste of time.” That’s about it. Oh, and I’d go to Paris and Venice a lot. No particular reason except that they’re amazing cities so they must be good for my writing, right?

Thanks Michelle! Can't wait to read "Falling for Hamlet" and best of luck with your new projects!

Inquiry V: CG Watson

2010-05-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

This week we welcome CG Watson.

CG Watson is a writer, high school Spanish teacher, musician and songwriter from Northern California. She is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

CGW: I’m pretty sure I was born holding a pencil. As a kid I wrote all kinds of crazy stories, then launched my own line of anti-war-slash-fashion magazines. J From there it was a short descent into bad poetry. When I was about twelve, I taught myself to play guitar and started songwriting, which I continued to do for the next twenty or so years. Took some time off to have kids and started writing fiction again about seven years ago.

EEM: When you began, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

CGW: Sadly, no instant success and riches for me. I’m a high school teacher, and I’ve done that job for the last 24 years (started when I was 22!). So I’ve always had this day job, even before I became a serious writer. However, when I realized that the writing gig was for real, my husband and I looked at our expenses and paid off everything we could, which allowed me to go part time. I might regret that when I’m ready to retire, but for now, I consider it the best thing I’ve ever done. I approach my writing as a second career and take it very seriously.

EEM: What jobs have you held, current or in the past, to help sustain your writing career?

CGW: Just the teaching. It pays the bills, and I would feel like a negligent parent if I didn’t provide health care for my family.

EEM: Has your job as a teacher ever been a challenge or a strange profession for you?

CGW: Teaching is, by nature, a challenging and strange job. Every day is a different adventure. But I love teens, and I get a lot of great material off them. They don’t always love me when I make them work in class, though.

EEM: How did you come across this job? Actively seeking or by chance?

CGW: When I was a kid, it never occurred to me that I could pursue writing as a career, but I was really good at Spanish in school, so I knew from the age of 14 that I’d probably end up doing that, and I never wavered from that track. That said, I’m ready to transition from teaching to full-time writing, so now all I need is a fabulous opportunity.

EEM: I hear you on that. So what would you say is your favorite thing about teaching?

CGW: Talking to kids, picking their brains, eavesdropping on their conversations. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for and FUNNY!

EEM: Least Favorite?

CGW: Apathy in the classroom, and politics outside the classroom. It’s a very different profession than when I first started.

EEM: Does teaching allow you to write regularly? Or do/did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

CGW: Before I went part time, I’d have to write at creative times. But going part-time has been brilliant. I write in the morning before going to work, and I’m very disciplined about using that block of time because I consider my writing a job. But it’s a job that I love dearly, so the hard part is stopping. I also write throughout the day – when the kids are doing homework, after they’ve gone to bed. My husband doesn’t care if I’m writing instead of folding the laundry (which he washes), so there’s a perpetual pile o’ laundry in our house.

EEM: What other effects did it have on your writing?

CGW: The main impact of my day job on my writing is that it gives me a ready-made source of material and a built-in readership since I’m in contact with my target audience every day.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job(s) that inspired your stories?

CGW: Lots of funny anecdotes that I jot down for possible later use, but there was a chilling story about kids bullying each other that led me to write what became my debut novel, QUAD. That book was inspired by my observations in my own school, in fact in my own classroom, and the way certain kids figured out how to psychologically dismantle a classmate whom they considered weak. They were immune to my interventions as a teacher, parents were not helpful (because their kid would never do or say such things), and admin is often impotent unless “something happens.” So I went home every day wondering what was the worst thing that might happen to a kid who gets pushed to his emotional limit day in and day out. And then I wondered what would happen if that same kid got pushed past his breaking point. I started writing QUAD to try and process the chilling possibilities of those questions.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

CGW: Ha! Funny question! No, not one of my co-workers. But I’m often asked if I’ve based any of the characters in my books on specific kids at school. The answer is yes and no. I definitely look at personality types that come through my classes and borrow some of their gestures and language. I steal clothing ideas directly from kids (we have a saying that every day at my high school is Halloween, which is true). But nothing more direct than that.

EEM: Would you change anything if you could begin your writing journey over again?

CGW: Yes. I’d go back and either major or minor in the arts or creative writing – at the time, I didn’t realize that teaching wasn’t necessarily my only career option. It’s much harder to transition into a new career now, after having the same day job for nearly 25 years. But for what it’s worth, I’m ready to do the writing thing full-time.

Thanks for joining us Carrie! It was great hearing about your writing journey!

Inquiry III: Cynthia Levinson

2010-05-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome non-fiction writer Cynthia Levinson.

Cynthia is a seasoned traveler, a teacher with over 25 years of experience, a mother, a wife a grandma and so much more. Her books for young readers includes: WE HAVE A JOB: THE 1963 BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S MARCH. She has been published in countless magazines some of which include, FACES, DIG, CALLIOPE and COBBLESTONE. She is represented by the Erin Murphy literary agency and makes her home in sunny Austin, Texas.

EEM: Cynthia has a great deal of information to share :) so we will jump right in!

Did you always want to be a writer?

CL: I have a confession. I did not always want to be a writer. I call this a confession because so many other writers say that they did. They knew from the time they had imaginary friends or stuffed friends or four-footed friends, even finned friends, or, best of all, no friends whatsoever, that they wanted to write. Not me. I wanted to teach, and, in particular, I wanted to make history teaching better.

So, I became a history teacher, and I did make history teaching better, if I do say so myself, for about 200 7th- and 8th-graders, mostly by not teaching much history! I have a sieve-like memory; it would be better at draining cooked veggies than retaining facts. So I could hardly ask my students to remember the date of the sinking of the Lusitania, say, and, anyway, we hardly got to the First World War (I think it’s WW1) before the end of the school year. We fought the Civil War over Christmas vacation, which means, I’m now embarrassed to say, not at all—not even Bull Run or Antietam (I think that’s the Civil War). So, since we weren’t memorizing when things happened, we had to do other things—like learn how archeologists excavate a site and how African princes supported the slave trade.

That lasted three years. My husband and I moved. And, I started teaching nursery school. Fifteen years later, when I applied for a prestigious, high-level education job, the interviewer asked me what my favorite job was. Without even thinking about it, I said, “teaching nursery school.” Then, I said, “I didn’t know that!” I should have known then that I’d want to write for kids.

For better or worse, I got the job, which I alternately loved and loathed and which delayed my having much time for writing (that plus having two kids plus going to grad school, which I started and dropped out of twice) for the next 20 years.

With one exception. Between jobs, I decided to try free-lance writing for adults, to see if I could actually write and sell things. And I made an interesting discovery: I could write things. I could sell things. But, I was lonesome. So, I went back to work and did all my writing there and was generally recognized as the best writer at my 1000-person agency. However, I called much of my writing there “soap-bubble writing” because I spurted it out, and it had to be pretty and evanescent.

EEM: Wow, so what was the catalyst? What led you to writing for kids?

CL: Yo-Yo Ma. In 1991, I think, he left his cello in New York City taxicab. The article in The New York Times about his despair was both so anguishing and so charming (since the Mayor and the Taxicab Commissioner helped him retrieve it) that I realized this had to be a children’s story. Hence, Mr. Below Lost His Cello, which won By-Line Magazine’s National Picture Book Award and which has never been published.

I say “it.” Actually, there must be 95 gabillion versions. At an SCBWI conference critique, an editor at Farrar Strauss and Giroux said one of the versions was just about right; he didn’t have any comments to make about it. But, he also said he didn’t have the energy to spend the next year, which picture books require, working with me on it. I was so discouraged, I went back to work.

The one good thing that came from Mr. Bellow is that I once read it aloud for my daughter, her husband, and her in-laws; when I finished, my daughter said, “You’ve just read your first picture book to your soon-to-be grandchild.” We all cried but not out of anguish or despair.

EEM: What jobs have you had since becoming a writer?

CL: As you can see, I rarely wrote and worked simultaneously. But, that doesn’t mean that my jobs didn’t sustain my writing.

I’m very risk-averse. What my jobs did was allow me to send the two children to college and, then, later to retire, with that life-goal having been met, and start writing in earnest.

EEM: When you began did you experience immediate success?

CL: Are you kidding?! I’ve been selling my work for three or four years and hope to have “instant success” when my first book is published in 2012.

EEM: Out of all your jobs what were you most and least favorite? Most challenging, if different?

CL: Well, I’ve told you about teaching nursery school. (I mean, what’s more fun than playing in a trough of Ivory Snow Flakes with four-year-olds?)

My least favorite was working in the Operations Office of a bank the summer before the bank computerized. Every Monday, we were inundated with all the checks (this was also before credit cards) people wrote over the weekend. Every Friday, we had to stay until our bins were balanced. I was always the last person to leave.

Most challenging—there were a couple of those. Developing Texas’ first plan for educational technology, in 1985, was challenging, especially since desktop computing wasn’t widespread. Still, we learned enough to know we had to focus on technological equity (being sure all kids have equal access), think about ownership and copyright of digitized texts (no music or video 25 years ago!), and worry about viruses.

The other ‘most challenging’ job was overseeing the development of the Texas State Curriculum in all content areas and grade levels. That was a biggie—politically, organizationally, and substantively.

EEM: Did any of this inspire your writing?

CL: I write nonfiction. Although I write about science as well as social issues, teaching history, archeology, and anthropology definitely influenced my writing—learning how to do research and developing a sense of what interests kids and how to convey it. Memorizing lists of causes of the War of 1812 doesn’t do it but learning about The Pig Wars could. (I keep thinking I’ll write a book about wars with strange names. The Burning of the Teaser is another.)

Teaching nursery school let me read as many picture books as I wanted and play with kids. Nothing could be better for developing a sense of what tickles kids.

And, in terms of curriculum tie-ins, there’s hardly anyone who knows state curricula better than me!

Oh, yeah, I also taught teachers-to-be at Southwest Texas State University where I also learned what teachers need, both for the education and the trade markets.

EEM: Looking back on your journey to writing, is there anything you would do differently?

CL: Yes. I’d be less risk-averse, let my children find their own college tuition, and start writing 20 years earlier.

EEM: Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Cynthia! It was delightful having your insight here!

Inquiry III: Kelly Bennett

2010-05-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

This week I am delighted to introduce a dear friend and fellow VCFA graduate, Kelly Bennett.

Kelly is a prolific writer who dabbles in several genres, but is perhaps best known for her wonderful picture books. Picture books include NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY, DANCE Y'ALL DANCE, DAD AND POP, and YOUR DADDY WAS JUST LIKE YOU.

A native of California, Kelly graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1976. Upon receiving an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts from Fullerton College, she continued her education at the University of California at Fullerton and CaliforniaState University at San Jose, where she majored in Communications with a Public Relations emphasis. Kelly is a graduate of the Vermont College Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. Kelly is represented by Erin Murphy of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

Let's get started!

EEM: Did you always want to be a writer? If no, what was your initial dream and what led you to writing later?

KB: The idea of being a writer never, ever crossed my mind until after I was a mom. And that is the only thing I always knew I wanted to be--a Mom. I got married young--to have children. After several years in a less than blissful marriage, I reached a point where I was ready to grow up and become a person. I decided that it was time to do something for myself, so I went back to school. My thought has been to take a volleyball class. I had played volleyball in high school and college, and thought it would be great fun and great exercise. While searching through the Community College catalogue for a volleyball class (which they didn't seem to offer in Tulsa, Oklahoma back then) I came upon a class on writing and marketing literature for children taught by an editor from the Tulsa World Sally Bright. The rest, is history...

EEM: When you began, was it instant success and riches or did you find you had to work other jobs in order to continue your dream of being a writer?

I achieved immediate success--in the form of praise for my stories from my teachers and positive comments on rejection letters. Fueled by these positive crumbs, I continued to write. I supported my family, and my writing, by working as a waitress. The flexible hours were perfect for writing. I could take my children to day care at 8:00 am, return home for a few hours of uninterrupted writing before reporting to work at 11:00.

EEM: What jobs have you held to help sustain your writing career?

KB: Waitressing has been my most constant "wage earning job" while I have been writing. The flexible hours and lack of "take home" responsibilities suited my life style and my writing ambitions. I sold my first book, Sherlick Hound and The Valentine Mystery, co-written with Ronnie Davidson, about a year after I began writing professionally. Since I did need the money, Ronnie and I began writing magazine articles. Each sale meant that I could "give away" a work shift. As we sold more and more magazine articles--traveling, parenting and human interest stories to regional magazines--I began to waitress fewer and fewer days.

EEM: Which job was the most challenging or strange to you?

KB: The most challenging job was as an "order clerk" at Council Oaks Books. At a writing conference, one of the speakers said that if we wanted to be serious writers, we should seek jobs "within our field." And so, when I learned that a position in the order department at a local publisher was available, I applied for it. Although the job had nothing to do with writing, I learned so much about how the book business works, author discounts, wholesale discounts, when books are reordered, promotions for authors, etc. etc. that the job proved invaluable later...when my books were being published. From my experience at Council Oaks, I knew so much more about the publishing business--I also knew what I could and could not expect as an author.

EEM: Which job was your least favorite?

KB: Secretary in a High School counselor's office. The job was stressful and distressing. Working in the school counselors office means one deals with either the "perfect children" who have everything ahead of them and all the opportunities, and the "problem children" who, because of family and/or personal situations have difficult obstacles to overcome. And often, just when we, as the counseling office, could step in and actually work with children, out of fear or need, the families would yank them from the school and move. It was distressing to know that those young people were just being shuffled from place to place without having a real chance to learn or succeed.

EEM: Did your day job allow you to write regularly? Or did you have to get creative to get those word counts in?

KB:I am fortunate that I no longer have to work a "day job." My husband's income is sufficient to support us. However, I find that I need the deadlines and interaction working with others provides. And so, I have involved myself in writing groups wherever I live. This has included serving as program director and president for Tulsa Writers, and assistant regional advisor for the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I have organized conferences and meeting, and have found both enlightening and beneficial as I have have the great fortune to meet many authors, illustrators, editors, art directors, agents, etc.

EEM: Any fun stories from the job that inspired your stories?

I write a lot of travel and parenting articles based on my own experience. And I have about 200 pages of stories from my days of a waitress tentatively called, "Confessions of a Waitron Dog." Additionally, my last 2 picture books are based on my observations of my children and family. Dad and Pop is about a girl who, like my daughter, Lexi, has 2 fathers; and Your Daddy Was Just Like You was inspired by my son Max's struggles and frustrations trying to grow up and do everything his father could do.

EEM: Have you ever based a loved protagonist or an evil villain on one of your co-workers? Wished you had?

KB: Not yet....but ohhh baby, I will....I sure will. Be warned....

EEM: Thanks Kelly!