Maw Books:  Can you share with us how you ended up being an American living in Japan, marrying into the culture and raising a family there?

Suzanne Kamata: I originally came to Japan on the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program, an initiative by the Japanese Ministry of Education to bring native speakers into the English classroom. I worked as an assistant English teacher at junior and senior high schools in Tokushima Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku. I’d asked to be placed outside Tokyo, or other big cities so as to experience “the real Japan.”  My second year on the program, I met the man who would become my husband. I’ve been here ever since.

Maw Books:  Given this background much of your writing is set against a multicultural backdrop and explores the topic of cultural differences.  Share with us how being transplanted and immersed into a different culture has influenced your writing.

Suzanne Kamata: I’ve now lived in Japan for twenty-one years! Even now, I can’t say that I fit in here, or that I understand everything about Japan. I’m always dealing with cultural differences, and this preoccupation makes it into my writing. It’s harder and harder for me to write fiction set in the United States, though I try, sometimes.

Maw Books:  Of all the stories that you have in you, what led you choose the story that you shared in Losing Kei?

Suzanne Kamata: I wrote Losing Kei just after I became a mother, so I suppose all of my anxiety about becoming an expatriate mother in Japan (and moving in with my mother-in-law) made it into that story.

Maw Books:  Losing Kei is about Jill, who wants to flee her crumbling marriage in Japan, but doing so means giving up her own child because she has no custody rights as a foreigner.  Can you share with us a little bit about the custody laws in Japan?  Is there anything currently being done to try to change any of those laws?

Suzanne Kamata: In Japan, there is no such thing as joint custody. I suppose Japanese officials think it’s too confusing or harmful for children to be shuttled between parents. What frequently happens, however, is that children of divorced parents are often cut off entirely from the non-custodial parent. Since I first conceived of Losing Kei, many similar real-life custody cases have gotten attention from the press.  While most of those stories ended badly, rumor now has it that Japan has reconsidered its stance on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which, among other things, protects visitation rights of non-custodial parents.  Perhaps happier days are ahead for international families like Kei’s – and for Japanese families everywhere.

Maw Books:  I hope happier days are ahead.  What was the most difficult moment that you had while writing Losing Kei?  And how you were able to push through it?

Suzanne Kamata: Maybe the hotel scene where Jill loses her son. I suppose knowing that she would pick herself up by her bootstraps and try to get him back helped me to continue.

Maw Books:  How is the reaction to Losing Kei different or the same depending upon whether your reader lives in Japan or the United States?

Suzanne Kamata: Readers in Japan are more sympathetic to Jill. One reviewer wrote that after a year, Jill should have known what she was getting into by marrying a Japanese man. That’s so not true. I’ve lived here for over two decades, but I only learned recently that if my husband died, custody of my children would go to his parents.

Maw Books:  The husband in the book is entirely fictional and in now way resembles your husband, but I know your Japanese husband was concerned that people would think that the husband that you created in the novel is based on him. What do you do to ensure others, including your husband, that not all Japanese men are like the one that you described?

Suzanne Kamata: Hmm.  I guess I’m trying to make up for that now by writing a very sympathetic Japanese male character in my novel-in-progress.

Maw Books:  But based on that question, do you see any of your friends or family personalities influencing the characters?  In particular, the overbearing mother-in-law?

Suzanne Kamata: The overbearing mother-in-law is not based on my own mother-in-law, but on other mother-in-law stories that I’ve heard over the years. Several women I’ve talked to said that they came close to divorcing their husbands because of their mother-in-laws.  Another character, Eric, is a composite of happy-go-lucky surfer guy babe-magnets that I’ve worked with over the years.  One in particular went through a kind of spiritual transformation. He started out as a curry-and-rice-eating lad, and became a urine-sipping yoga teacher.

Maw Books:  A urine sipping yoga teacher?  Yikes!  What was the best piece of writing advice that you received while writing Losing Kei?

Suzanne Kamata: My publisher made some very good editing suggestions which I incorporated.  I tend to be subtle to the point of obscurity. At his suggestion, I also cut a scene where Jill goes back to her husband  – and is rebuffed. I decided that that was out of character.

Maw Books:  I don’t know how I’d feel if she went back.  That’s interesting to think about.  What is the greatest comfort or joy in being a writer?  And what’s your biggest insecurity?

Suzanne Kamata: Writing is fun, and there is always joy in finishing a story or an essay or a novel. It’s also very satisfying when readers respond to my work, when they enjoy my stories and love my characters, or when they find something that they can relate to. Of course not everyone likes the same thing, and negative reviews can make me feel bad for days. As for my insecurities, I worry that fans of Losing Kei (including my agent) will be disappointed by my work-in-progress.

Maw Books:  Can you tell us a bit about Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs. What inspired you to put together this volume of writing and why was it so important to you to share these stories?

Suzanne Kamata: My twins were born 14 weeks premature and, as a result, my daughter is deaf and has cerebral palsy. When she was diagnosed, I was eager to read stories concerning families of special needs kids. I found a lot of “don’t worry, be happy” type essays – and I acknowledge that there is a need for uplifting, inspirational material – but what I really wanted to know was how having a child with special needs would impact my marriage, my son, my life. I wanted an idea of what was to come in the years and months to come. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and I wanted to hear it (or read it, rather) straight. I also wanted confirmation that others had gone through the same emotions – anger, sorrow, grief – that I had, and somehow survived them. In conversation, most people don’t want to hear about the difficulties. People say “You must be a saint,” or “Bless your heart” or “You must be so strong.” Nobody wants to hear about what a drag it is to be caught in the rain with a wheelchair.

I often turn to literature to make sense of things, but I couldn’t find any literary collections on the subject. I decided to put the book that I needed together on my own, and as I got started, I discovered that there were others hungry for just this kind of book. As I wrote in the introduction, Love You to Pieces is intended to be a portable support group for readers  in far-flung places, but I also hope that it will help relatives, teachers, and caregivers to understand the lives of families of special needs kids. I think it also stands alone as a literary collection.

Maw Books:  Your newest anthology, Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering is a collection of stories as the title suggests about raising children within two cultures.  What has been your experience raising children who are bicultural?  Difficulties, highlights?  And how has those experiences shaped your worldview on parenting?

Suzanne Kamata: I’ve found that raising children bilingually isn’t as easy as most people think.  So much effort is required! Also, I’ve found that my son’s identity is constantly shifting. Sometimes he identifies as Japanese, sometimes as American, sometimes as mixed – which is fine. My identity shifts quite a bit, too.

It’s hard to say what kind of parent I would be if I were raising monocultural kids in suburban America, for instance, but here, I often feel that I am parenting in opposition to Japanese culture. Where we live, at least, in rural Japan where there are few foreigners, ideas about gender roles tend to be very conservative. My son sometimes says things like, “Even though she’s a girl, she’s a doctor.” I can’t imagine a kid raised in the U.S. saying something like that!  I’m always trying to remind my children that there is a world beyond Japan, that there are many ways of thinking, and many different kinds of people.

I find sometimes that it’s hard to maintain my authority because I’m a foreigner. For example, my son’s second grade teacher told the class about the time he saw a ghost. My son was very scared and I tried to reassure him, but of course he didn’t believe me when I said there was no such thing as ghosts.

Maw Books:  That was a fascinating answer!  A three part question about literacy in Japan:  How is literacy different in Japan and the U.S, especially for children?  Are there different teaching methods that work or don’t work? What is expected of a student in Japan that you wouldn’t find in the U.S?

Suzanne Kamata: The Japanese written language is composed of two phonetic alphabets – one for Japanese words and one for words borrowed from foreign languages – and Chinese characters (kanji). Kanji can be read in different ways, and there are really no clues as to how to pronounce a character, so in order to learn the Japanese written language, you have to memorize a lot of things. While I think that rote memorization can be really boring, it seems to work with Japanese kids. Japan enjoys a literacy rate close to 100%.  I can’t tell you exactly, but it’s the nineties – much higher than that in the U.S.

Maw Books:  A question that I ask of every author I interview is to share a recipe with us, especially if it appeared in their book or is a family favorite.  I later make and blog that dish.  Is there a recipe that you would like to share with us?

Suzanne Kamata: In my novel, the main character’s mother-in-law teaches her how to make miso soup.  We eat a lot of miso soup in our house, too. It’s very easy, healthy, and there are endless variations. I usually use boil a sauce pan full of water (or use fish broth), and then chop up whatever vegetables are on hand and then throw them in the water and boil until tender. Some combination that I like are julienned carrots, sliced onions, and dried seaweed; daikon radish and green onions; and tofu and dried seaweed. After the vegetables are as tender as you want them to be, scoop some miso (I use about 1/3 cup) into a strainer and push it through with a spoon or something.  You can also make the miso paste dissolve by stirring with a spoon or with chopsticks. There are many kinds of miso here in Japan. I use a reddish one with dashi (broth) already included.

Maw Books:  We eat a lot of Asian food in our house.  I’ll be sure to pick up miso paste when we are out next.  What are three books that you loved as a child?

Suzanne Kamata: Little Women, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland

Maw Books:  And what are three books that each of your children love?

Suzanne Kamata: I asked my son, and he said the biography of Ichiro that he recently read, the Vampirates series, and WINTER OF THE ICE WIZARD by Mary Pope Osbourne from the Magic Treehouse series.

My daughter loves the Miki Falls series by Mark Crilley, Momotaro, and Cinderella.

Maw Books:  Have you found that growing up in different countries, that your children’s reading selections or habits are different then what yours was as a child?

Suzanne Kamata: I was never all that interested in comic books, but my children love manga, and my son learned to read Japanese via manga. I was worried for awhile that he would never progress beyond comics. (There are a lot of adults in Japan who only read comic books, not novels.) However, he now reads novels. He really loves the Vampirates series. He reads a lot, though, which I think (hope) he got from seeing me read.

Reading is harder for my daughter because of her disabilities, but she definitely has an interest in books. She likes books with lots of pictures, such as manga.

Maw Books:  What the last book you read, what are you reading now and what do you hope to read soon?

Suzanne Kamata: I just finished Sound + Noise, a novel by Curtis Smith, one of the contributors to Love You to Pieces. He’s a wonderful writer, and I appreciate that he writes about unglamorous types, such as families with disabilities and middle-aged people falling in love. I’m currently reading Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor by Brad Gooch, which I requested from the local library. They also ordered The Help by Kathryn Stockett for me. I will read that next.

Maw Books:  What are you working on now and what can we expect from in the future?

Suzanne Kamata: I’m working on a novel that I’m calling The Baseball Widow, another family drama set in Japan. I’m pretty close to finishing a first draft. I also have the beginnings of a couple of young adult novels which I hope to work on next.

Maw Books:  Anything else you’d like to share?

Suzanne Kamata: I really enjoy your blog! Thank you for having me as a “guest.”

Maw Books:  Thanks Suzanne!

Links of interest:  Suzanne Kamata website.  Maw Books review of Losing Kei.
Losing Kei is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

What I found fascinating about The Secret Keeper is that the author Paul Harris is also a journalist who covered the war in Sierra Leone.  I wanted to know how much of his personal experience played into the writing of this book and was thrilled to be able to ask Paul some of those questions.  Please welcome Paul to the Maw Books Blog . . .

Maw Books:  How and why did you become a journalist? Can you briefly share a few highlights from your career?

Paul Harris: I always wanted to be a journalist and I think I have been lucky to have had that ambition from a young age. When I was about 9 years old I started a newspaper at my school (it lasted one edition!). So it was simply a matter of doing student journalism, getting a journalism qualification and then battling to get a job. The reasons why I  wanted to be a journalist are a mix. Every journalist (I would hope) wants to change the world a little bit for the better. But every honest journalist should admit that it’s a chance to have an awful lot of fun, see some exotic places and get to see your name in print. My main highlight would be covering the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. It was a panel set up by archbishop Desmond Tutu to examine apartheid era crimes by all sides. It was a privilege to watch a nation try to heal itself like that, with all the moral compromises and complexities that that involved.

Maw Books:  Starting a newspaper at nine?  It’s no surprise you became a journalist!  You spent a month in Sierra Leone covering the civil war.  It is obviously this experience that drove you to write The Secret Keeper.  But you’ve also covered many other conflicts across Africa and elsewhere. Why did you choose this story over any of the other stories that you could have told?

Paul Harris: I think Sierra Leone held the most fascination because for me it was the most extreme experience.  More so than two months embedded with the military during the invasion of Iraq or other conflicts which I just dipped in and out of.  In Sierra Leone I was operating alone, in a strange country amid utter chaos.  It was a heady mixture of excitement and fear.  It was also the conflict that put a full stop on my African experience. I decided to leave shortly after.

Maw Books:  I can only imagine the things you must have seen and heard.  Why write a novel in the first place?  Is it something that you have always wanted to do or have been interested in?  What led you to turn from journalism writing to novel writing?

Paul Harris: I always wrote fiction, especially when I was a child. I fell in love with Tolkien and spent many hours writing my own stories set in fantasy worlds (writing a fantasy book is still a secret ambition of mine). Then, after I had left Africa, I decided to take my desire to write a novel seriously and followed the dictum: write what you know. So I began the process of taking some of my own experiences as a setting and starting to work what sort of themes I wanted to explore.

Maw Books:  Was it easy or difficult to switch to a different style of writing for The Secret Keeper from your journalism writing?

Paul Harris: It was very liberating actually. Fiction is an opportunity to play around and say exactly what you want. Journalism has rules to stop that sort of thing.

Maw Books:  I imagine being an war correspondent stationed abroad can be very frustrating when faced with the ignorance of others who either have little to no interest in the stories that you are risking your life to bring to them.  Do you think you can reach a new demographic with a novel (as opposed to journalism writing), to those who may not be aware of some of the current conflicts around the world?

Paul Harris: Definitely. The best fiction can bring the most obscure parts of the world to people’s attention and reach people that don’t consume too much news or have become disillusioned with it. I imagine that Khaled Hosseini has done more to bring Afghanistan alive for people than a thousand news stories.  Perhaps, hopefully, what happens is someone will read the fiction and then be inspired to find out more about the reality.

Maw Books:  I must admit that Hosseini spurred my desire to read more books that take place in Afghanistan, which I’m lucky to say I have.  What do you hope the reader learns, if anything, after reading The Secret Keeper?

Paul Harris: I think, at heart, it’s a story about moral complexity. That very few things are black and white. Good people do bad things, bad people do good  things. Everything is a shade of grey.

Maw Books:  What was the personal emotional impact on you from your experience in Sierra Leone?  How does covering war stories change you?  And how do you suppress this emotion in your journalism writing?

Paul Harris: It was pretty intense. I thought I was fine but after I left (and was incredibly relieved to get out) I noticed that I was behaving in certain strange ways: edgy, short-tempered, constantly nervous. I remember walking through a Nairobi street when a car exhaust backfired several times and it set my heart racing so much I thought I was about to have a panic attack.  But I think for most journalists the impact of covering conflicts will be as varied as the person. Some very fine friends make their whole careers out of it. Some of them thrive, others become very damaged. For me, it gave me a great sense of perspective and the preciousness of life and a feeling that war truly is the greatest folly of mankind. As for suppressing the emotion in writing, I think the simple rules of writing journalism will keep a lot of it out. But also a little bit of emotion – and breaking those rules – is generally a good thing. There is no such things as true objectivity, especially about tragedy, and nor should there be.

Maw Books:  Was the experience of writing The Secret Keeper cathartic in any way?  A way for you to release some of the emotions that you felt while in Sierra Leone or any other war torn country?

Paul Harris: I think it was. It felt good to get it out on the page, probably more than I realized I needed.

Maw Books:  After witnessing so much real-life drama how do you recreate that drama in The Secret Keeper?  How are real life emotions different than emotions as written on a page?

Paul Harris: What a fascinating question. I think (I hope) that I tried to recreate that drama as accurately as possible and give my characters emotions that would ring true. I think authors should aim to recreate authenticity. Because readers are not fools and will spot a fake. So I guess it is up to the readers to say if I have succeeded or not.

Maw Books:  How have the real life people you met in Sierra Leone influenced the characters/personalities in your book?

Paul Harris: A lot, but not all. The romance between Danny and Maria was inspired by an affair that a colleague and a local aid worker were having.  Kam, Danny’s driver and fixer, was based entirely on my driver in real life. Ali was inspired by a guy I met on a helicopter trip.  I did not even speak to him, but he just looked so… shady and yet totally at home in his environment. I just extrapolated him from there. The scenes in the hotel bar were all taken from real life. That place was a real “Star Wars” bar that everyone went to every night. Covering a conflict like that at leaves gives one a vast amount of exotic source material.

Maw Books:  I thought Kam was quite the character!  How much (if any) of you is there in Danny?  Is there anything specifically that happened to him that is based upon your real life experiences?

Paul Harris: I think inevitably there is a lot there. A friend pointed out that there is very little physical description of Danny in the book and I guess that is because in my mind’s eye he was basically me. There are several specific incidents inspired by real life events: the shooting outside the RUF leader’s house, the trip to Bo and the fire fight up country towards the end of the book. Mining those events for fictional purposes did feel a little surreal at times.

Maw Books: Knowing what your author photo looked like I have to admit that I kept picturing Danny as you.  And what fascinating experiences!  Was there a particular scene that you knew you had to write about?  That never changed from the moment you conceived it?

Paul Harris: Weirdly, the last sentence was pretty much the first sentence that came to my mind. Writing the book felt like a journey to get to that point and though it took lots of turns and twists, I felt I never really lost sight of it.

Maw Books:  What surprised you most about your book and/or characters as you were writing? Did anything turn out radically different than you’d originally thought it would?

Paul Harris: This is a tough one. I had an unusual experience writing the character of Danny’s girlfriend, Rachel. I wanted her to be a sympathetic, good person.  But at the end of the first draft my editor said she didn’t really care for her at all, saying she came over as negative and complaining. With that in mind I went back and reread those bits of the book with a fresh eye and was astonished to discover she was right. I had written her in print in a way completely different than what I thought I had. So I went back and rewrote her parts to do her more justice.

Maw Books:  While I was reading The Secret Keeper I kept visualizing the story as a movie playing out in my head.  If The Secret Keeper were a movie, who would you cast as your characters?

Paul Harris: That’s a fun question. A lot of people say it feels very cinematic. Perhaps Penelope Cruz as Maria. As Danny is inspired by some of my own experiences, I think modesty forbids me making any suggestions. I’ll leave it to readers’ imaginations. They are likely to be more honest than mine.

Maw Books:  I could totally see Penelope Cruz as Maria.  Good choice!  Can you briefly share with us what you think the current state of Sierra Leone is and what you think is in it’s future?

Paul Harris: Sierra Leone – I am delighted to say – is doing well. It is still desperately poor and has huge needs, but the war is over and has been for almost a decade now. Progress is slow but with such a history any sort of progress is to be celebrated. The same can be said of much of the rest of the region where equally devastated countries, like Liberia, are also recovering and stable. It is good news in a troubled world.

Maw Books:  I was haunted with the blank stares and listless ex-child soldiers as you wrote about them in the book.  Maria, works for an orphanage that took in ex-child soldiers in an attempt to rehabilitate them and place them into homes.  Will you share with us some of your experiences with child soldiers in Sierra Leone? Is enough being done for them?  What, in your opinion, needs to be done?

Paul Harris: My experiences were mostly limited to meeting them at  roadblocks and trying to negotiate my way through them. It is incredibly scary and also incredibly sad, to meet such young children, armed with machine guns, drunk and high and dangerous, and yet fundamentally still children who respond to a laugh and a smile. It is a problem that felt almost impossible to solve and I am no expert. But they need all the help and understanding they can get to help them recover from traumatising experiences that we can never imagine and yet not lose sight of the fact that they remain children.  Like everything else in Sierra Leone, resources are small and the need is great.  But, at the very least, no more child soldiers are being created.

Maw Books:  I have a special interest in Sudan.  You have spent some time in Sudan.  Can you briefly share a little bit about some of the stories that you covered there?

Paul Harris: I spent some time traveling with Christian missionaries who were buying back black African Sudanese who had been captured in slave raids by Arab Sudanese. I know that sounds incredibly medieval but the South of Sudan back in the 90s was just that kind of place. It is a different world.  I also covered a lovely story on a sort of ‘Olympics’ that aid groups organized in the area for local kids who had little else to enjoy in tough childhoods defined by the ongoing civil war. I loved south Sudan.  People were generous and kind and it really felt like going back in time.  My favourite moment was sleeping in a south Sudanese village, deep in the bush and being awoken by terrible screams and shouts. In the middle of a war zone, you could imagine all sorts of horrors. But the next morning we discovered one of the village elders had had too much to drink and his wife had kicked him out of their hut. It was their argument we had heard.  As someone who fundamentally believes that every human being is basically the same, it was a good lesson in the universality of human experience!

Maw Books:  I’ve read a bit about the slave trade in South Sudan.  It’s just so crazy!  And now for a few more “lighter” questions.  What’s the last book you finished and what’s on your nightstand right now?

Paul Harris: The last book I read was the excellent Columbine by Dave Cullen. I have not got anything on my night stand just yet as I am about to start doing research for a new book and am going to draw up a long non-fiction reading list based around US politics to kick things off.

Maw Books:  What is the best writing advice you have ever received and in turn the best writing advice that you could give?

Paul Harris: The best advice I got was write what you know. It was a great help in giving me the focus to write a book after several false starts over the years on less solid ground. My advice would simply be: a writer writes.  So many people say they have books in them, but never finish what they start.  You have to persevere. To the end. It sounds blindingly obvious, but the main reason most people don’t get published is because they don’t write a book.

Maw Books:  That makes perfect sense.  If you could have dinner with any five people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?

Paul Harris:

Jesus Christ (just to solve the mystery of who he actually was)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (the most ‘good’ person I have ever met) Aristophanes (great sense of humour)
JRR Tolkien (he created an entire world inside his head)
Mae West (she would make it a proper party)

Maw Books:  Speaking of dinner, a question that I ask of every single author I interview is to share with us a recipe that I will later make and blog about.  Do you have a favorite from your world travels that you would care to share with us?

Paul Harris: Food during a lot of my travels has not been that good (two months of military rations in Iraq!). But here is a dish from Cape Town in South Africa, with its origins in the Cape Malay community, people descended from Malaysian slaves brought over by the Dutch in the 17th Century.  It is called Bobotie and is a bit (only a bit) like a moussaka.

Link to Bobotie recipe.

Maw Books:  Seriously, sounds delicious.  I’m going to try to get everything I need for it.  So what are you doing right now?  Do you have any more books in your future?

Paul Harris: I am just starting a second book. Set against the backdrop of an American presidential campaign. I covered the 2004 and 2008 elections and want to capture some of that amazing excitement and drama. As I said earlier: write what you know.

Maw Books:  Anything else you would like to share with the Maw Books readers?

Paul Harris: Just to say thanks for reading and commenting.  The experience of doing this sort of thing online is a lot of fun and also blogs like Maw Books are so important these days. For readers and for authors.  We’re entering a whole new world together.

Giveaway: I was able to pick up a second copy of The Secret Keeper that I would love to pass on to you.  To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me what you found the most interesting from this interview with Paul Harris.  If you would like to double  your chances of winning, also leave a comment responding to my book review of The Secret Keeper.  Giveaway is open world-wide and I’ll pick a winner on May 27th.

Links of interest:  The Secret Keeper website.  Maw Books review of The Secret Keeper.
Genre:  Mystery/thriller.
Publisher:  Dutton Adult.  April 2nd, 2009
Hardcover, 336 pages.  ISBN: 0525951024
The Secret Keeper is available from your independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
.

Maw Books:  You say you wrote Crocodaddy based on your own memories with your own father and watching  your two sons play in the backyard pool.  What was the moment like when it “clicked” and you realized that you had the base for a fun story?

Kim Norman: Many of my inspirations come from wordplay. I just love words, especially made up words, which kids are good at inventing.  So I kept thinking Crocodaddy MUST be in a book, and probably in rhyme, but… what KIND of book.  That took a bit more time.

Maw Books:  Did you start writing it right away or did you let it “stew” for a bit?

Kim Norman: Yes, I’d say as much as a couple of years. I like to walk in the early morning, and I’d think about it then, during my walks. Not every day for two years, of course, just now and then. Finally I drafted a version that had some solid rhymes and a bit of suspense, but my critique group thought it might be a bit too intense for toddlers, maybe even scary. So during another walk, the rhythm of that refrain came to me, (”Crocodaddy, Crocodaddy, whatcha gonna do?….”) and somehow that added extra playfulness to the story.

Maw Books:  The illustrations for Crocodaddy by David Walker are adorable.  What is it like to put your book into the hands of an illustrator in hopes that they have the same vision as you?

Kim Norman: You know, that is such fun. I always wait with anticipation to see what they come up with. Not just how the characters will look, but also how they add to my story. So far, none of my illustrators have disappointed me in that regard. I often show students during school visits how the illustrators have added to the story beyond my words on the page. I’ve already begun to see sketches for TEN ON THE SLED, one of the two books I’ve got coming out next year. Again, the illustrator made me laugh out loud with humorous touches she added to flesh out my story. And, of course, with CROCODADDY, David Walker’s paintings are so lush, I want to jump into the paintings and join the fun.

Maw Books:  What is your favorite spread in Crocodday and why?

Kim Norman: Gosh, hard to pick just one. Can I cheat and pick 2? The first is “slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y Crocodaddy sinks.” I like not only David’s painting, but the design of the whole page, including the way the book designer arranged the text. (Oh and let me just put in a plug for book designers everywhere, at this point. At Sterling, a young man named Scott was in charge of the book’s overall design. It was he who chose that delightful crocodile-bumpy typeface for the cover, the text arrangements and all that other great stuff. Such an important contribution to the quality of the book.)

Number 2, a page that’s so sweet it speaks for itself without a single word from me, is the final page where dad and son are walking off at the end of a fun day. I won’t give away the delightful surprise on that page, but students always gasp with satisfaction when I point it out.

Maw Books:  That end illustration is wonderful.  You have illustrated books for other authors.  Do you ever intend to illustrate one of your own books?

Kim Norman: Well, to be honest, I just did that one book, THE MUSEUM DUCK, which is sold locally in our county museum. It was a great experience and a nice credit to get me started, but the longer I watch the amazing illustrators in my critique group as well as the illustrators of my own books, the more I know I’d still have to learn if I were ever to illustrate my own books. I’m a graphic artist, but my drawing muscles have withered in the past decade or two thanks to clip art. So, while I’d be very capable of designing the layout and choosing typefaces, I think I’ll have to leave the illustrating to the real pros until I’m closer to retirement, with more time to hone my skills.

Maw Books:  Crocodaddy is the perfect book to read-a-loud to a child because of the tempo and rhyme.  I’m not a writer so I’m clueless on all of this but is getting it just right difficult to do or does it come naturally to you?

Kim Norman: I adore writing in rhyme. It seems to come naturally to me, although I probably picked up many tips and tuned my ear to it by reading old poets when I was a child. Our house was full of my dad’s poetry books, like A Children’s Garden of Verse and A Treasury of the Familiar. Rhyme is the only type of writing I find addictive. I have to keep at it until it’s just right. Other types of writing… I tend to procrastinate. The one downside of writing in rhyme is that — if you change a word — you often have to go up and change the whole stanza above. But that’s fine, too. I always tell my editors, who are a bit apologetic asking me to change things — knowing the extra work of rhyme — that it’s okay. There are always other words to choose from.

Maw Books:  What is the best thing about writing books for children?  And what are some of the challenges of writing books for children?

Kim Norman: Probably the best thing is the kids themselves. Getting to meet them and interact with them at schools, once my book is published. And I seem to still have a childlike outlook about many things — humor, fantasy and imagination — so children’s writing just felt like home to me when I decided to give it a try after dabbling in several genres.

The biggest challenge of writing for children, especially picture books, is that EVERY word must count. There’s no room for extraneous plot points, or even unnecessary words, in a picture book. So editing a picture book usually involves cutting — which can be fun and excruciating at the same time. It’s kind of fun, seeing how tight and spare I can make it, but sometimes that means cutting a phrase or sentence I thought sounded especially nice.

Maw Books:  You were really active in musical theater and love to sing and dance. How has that background influenced your presentations when you go into schools to talk about books and reading?

Kim Norman: It has been immensely helpful. No one ever has to ask me to speak up. Unfortunately for my friends, I tend to speak too loudly on the phone, probably because of all those years of having to project to an audience. I also perform a few songs I wrote myself, so the music always adds a nice highpoint at the end of the presentations — to the younger students, anyway. I usually skip the songs with older students who would think they’re too babyish.

Maw Books:  It’s better to have an outgoing presenter than one who you can hardly hear.  Why do you love to visit schools?  What do you think you get out of it in addition to the kids walking away with a “spark” for the love of books.

Kim Norman: I do love it, probably because I’m a natural-born show-off. I’ve also been a home schooler for about a decade, including teaching classes at several co-ops, so I love teaching, too. I’m pretty good at controlling a crowd. In fact, I had a proud moment last week at a small school, where I’d been warned the 2nd grade class can be rambunctious. At one point, they were all listening intently to the story of my struggles with an “Evil Inner Editor.” (I also show pictures of her, which are good for some laughs.) At the end of that section of the talk, a woman who’d been sitting in the back of the room took a second to introduce herself. Turns out she was the principal, who said she was very impressed that I’d tamed those famously energetic 2nd graders.

Maw Books:  Do you have a funniest moment from your school visits?  A time when a child said something really funny or you had an embarrassing moment?

Kim Norman: Can’t think of anything particularly embarrassing; maybe because I’m hard to embarrass after all those years onstage, rolling with the punches. You’ve got to be prepared for anything in theater, ready with an ad-libbed line if something goes wrong, like the time I played the evil Miss Hannigan in ANNIE. I opened a door at the appointed time and found a chagrined policeman who was supposed to be delivering Annie back to the orphanage. He was alone because “Annie” had forgotten her entrance.

Gotta be quick with the rewrites in a situation like that, so countering a silly question or even a student who is being flippant & rude, (a fairly rare occurrence) — it’s all part of the think-on-your-feet training I had in theater.

I don’t want an audience that’s TOO tame, though. I like enough action and noise to know they’re enjoying the performance. (I do consider it a performance, although there is much more student interaction and participation than if I were simply giving a one-woman show). So there are many places where I invite laughter, especially when I show images of my homely “Evil Inner Editor,” created by a computer program which distorts images like a funhouse mirror.

Maw Books:  I’d love to see you in action!  What were you like as a young reader and what are you like now?  Same?  Different?

Kim Norman: I AM different now. I read almost no nonfiction as a child. I was addicted to fiction back then — absolutely INHALED books during what I call my “golden age of reading” around 5th grade. Read all the great series: Little House, Oz, The Black Stallion, even Freddie the Pig. Then as a young adult I spent about half a decade reading thru 19th century classics: Dickens, Austin, Elliott. Some I liked, some not so much. Now I find myself reading more nonfiction, particularly memoirs, (which — I realize — are probably closer to fiction sometimes!)

Maw Books:  I love memoirs.  Some of my best reads.  What is one book you will never be too old to love?

Kim Norman: Oh dear, do I have to pick only one? In that case, I’ll cheat and pick one from picture books and one from midgrade. In picture books, anything with cumulative verse/repetition, like The House that Jack Built. (Both my books coming out next year are based on cumulative verse classics.) And in mid-grades, I love stories set in the early to mid-20th century. I’m fascinated by the Depression and WWII eras. Not the war part, but the way families were living on the home front. (At which point, I should put in a plug for my friend Doris Gwaltney’s marvelous midgrade set in that time frame, HOMEFRONT, Simon & Schuster, 2006.)

Maw Books: I love books set during World War II too.  I’ve just put Homefront on hold at the library.  If you could have anybody illustrate one of your books, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?

Kim Norman: When my kids were little, and we were checking out books from the library, I always loved Steven Kellogg’s jolly illustrations. So much to see on each page! Someone sent one of my early manuscripts to him, and he kindly responded with a handwritten letter. What a sweet guy. He DID illustrate the book of my good friend Debbie Guarino, Is Your Mama a Llama?, which is still in print after nearly 20 years. That’s amazing in this industry of sometimes yogurt-length shelf life.

After that I discovered Stephen Gammell. You could spend hours looking at  one of his books and still find something new next time you opened it. He illustrated I Know an Old Teacher by Anne Bowen, a member of my critique group, and since I love her, I try not to be too jealous.

But so far, I have been very happy with all the illustrators hired by my publishers. My editors are more familiar with all the talent out there, so I’m content to let them do the choosing.

Maw Books: By the way, I recently met Ann Bowen, she’s a local author to me. This is a question that I ask of every author I review and that’s to have them share a favorite recipe of theirs, whether they appear in their book or not. I try to make it and then blog about it later.  Do you have a yummy favorite recipe that you’d like to share?

Kim Norman: How fun! In the past year or two, I’ve been trying to shake up my side dishes. The same old frozen vegetables can get boring. So one of my favorites is roasted vegetables. Any root vegetables will do, although an absolute MUST for me is parsnips, which I discovered a only couple of years ago and wondered, “Why didn’t someone tell me about this delicious vegetable years ago!!?” In roasted vegetables, the natural sugars in the vegetables caramelize, increasing their sweetness.

Cut the parsnips and other vegetables, (carrots, potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes, etc.) into chunks, maybe an inch or so. I like to include large slices of red pepper for added color. Place in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt, (and black pepper, if you wish.) Cook in oven, 400 degrees, for about 30 to 40 minutes, turning with a spatula at least once during that time. The parsnips will turn a golden brown and the peppers might blacken in a few spots, but they’re still pretty and yummy that way.

Another great thing about this dish is that the flavors combine, so the veggies taste even better the next day, if you’re lucky enough to have some left over. I’ve been known to eat them for breakfast before anyone else is up, so I don’t have to share. (Bad mom! Bad bad mom!)

Maw Books:  I don’t think I’ve ever had a parsnip in my life.  This sounds delicious!  Tell us a bit about your two upcoming books, I KNOW A WEE PIGGY WHO WALLOWED IN BROWN and TEN ON THE SLED?  And when can we expect to see them?

Kim Norman: Oh, one of my favorite topics: upcoming books! Well, as they say, “the good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise,” both books should be released on 2010. Dutton has hired Henry Cole to illustrate WEE PIGGY, which tickles me no end. He is such a prolific and popular illustrator. WEE PIGGY, as the longer title implies, is a variation of “I know an old woman who swallowed a fly,” with colors replacing foods in the repetition pattern. At a county fair, Wee Piggy dashes from one colorful adventure to another, wallowing in brown (mud), yellow (butter), red (canned tomatoes… maybe), etc. I say “maybe” because many of those choices will be left up to Henry Cole to illustrate. I built in a rhyme scheme that allows the reader to guess the color coming up on the next page. (Thank you to my critique group buddy, Joe Kulka, for that great suggestion.)

And TEN ON THE SLED is a phrase that popped into my head one day as a variation of the old favorite “Ten in the bed.” In my version, ten arctic animals find themself in a race with an ever-growing snowball filled with the animals who have been recently ejected from the sled. Liza Woodruff is illustrating that, and I’ve already seen her marvelous first sketches. Sterling is hoping to have the book out by the fall of 2010, in time for the winter/holiday season.

Maw Books:  They both sound fantastic!  I look forward to checking both of them out when the are published.  I wish you the best of luck!  Do you have anything else you’d like to share?

Kim Norman: Can’t think of a thing. You’re a terrific interviewer!

Maw Books: Ah, shucks . . thank you Kim!

Kim Norman: Thank YOU, Natasha!

Links of interest: My book review of Crocodaddy,  Kim Norman website,  David Walker website.
Genre:  Picture book, ages 4-8 (I would put it more like ages 3-6 though)
Publisher:  Sterling.  May 5, 2009
Hardcover, 32 pages.  ISBN 978-1402744600
Crocodaddy by Kim Norman is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Check out what other bloggers are saying on the Kidz Book Buzz tour:  A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, A Patchwork of Books, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama,Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Fireside Musings, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Olive Tree, Our Big Earth, Reading is My Superpower, SMS Book Reviews, The 160 Acrewoods, Through a Child’s Eyes

Nicki Richesin:  Congratulations on the success of your new novel EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL.  You must be excited to finally see this baby in print.  I want to talk a little about the heroines in your life and your work.  In your incredibly moving essay “Things To Remember Not To Forget” in BECAUSE I LOVE HER, you describe your mother’s influence and how you often feel like an impostor and she’s the “real” mom you hope will show up for spaghetti dinner to save you.  Why do you think, even as adults, we often feel like our mothers were the real deal?  Gen Xers were labeled as the slacker generation early on, but I get the sense that there’s something deeper than this at work.

Katherine Center: Oh, I’m definitely not a slacker!  Especially when it comes to mothering.  I’m trying as hard at mothering as at anything I’ve ever done.  It is possibly the only thing I’ve ever worked this hard at and not aced flat-out.  I mean: I think I’m doing a good job, but only time will tell.

I actually think young moms feel this way because we’re kind of like Velveteen Rabbits waiting to become Real.  You can’t wish it overnight.  You can’t take a seminar on it.  You can only become a real mom-a competent mom-by putting in the hours and evolving into that role.  My mom assures me that her generation had the exact same feeling about their mothers.

Nicki Richesin: The first time we spoke on the phone, your kids were screaming and begging for treats in the background.  Your life in that moment doesn’t seem that far removed from Lanie your heroine in EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL.  Did you draw on your own experience as a mother to create this character?

Katherine Center: Heck, yes!  I could never have written her character if I didn’t have kids and know inside and out what it feels like to be torn between what’s best for your kids-who you love so desperately-and what’s best for you.  Because sometimes those two things are in direct opposition.  Everyone Is Beautiful is kind of a “How Mama Got Her Groove Back” story, and it’s all about that struggle to take care of everybody-including yourself.

Nicki Richesin:  At your recent reading in Oakland, you explained how you found your agent through your friends urging you to talk to “the lady novelist” in your neighborhood. Could you share that story again?

Katherine Center: Well, I’d written The Bright Side of Disaster and I literally had on my To Do list: “Find agent!  Sell novel!”  And people kept telling me there was a novelist who lived just a few blocks over and saying I should call her.  And I was like, “I am NOT stalking the neighborhood novelist.”  So I never called her.  And then I had another baby and the novel wound up in a drawer.   I almost forgot all about it.  But then I ran into her at the park one day with my kids.  My friend told her about my novel in a drawer, and she offered to read it.  I sent her the first three chapters, and she liked them and offered to pass them along to her agent.  Her agent read them and offered to represent me, and before I knew it Random House had bought the book in an auction.  I owe all the writing I’m doing now to this woman’s kindness, and I feel grateful for that every day.  Her name is Vanessa Del Fabbro, and she’s a lovely writer.

Nicki Richesin:   In your essay from Because I Love Her, you beautifully express this yearning we all have to hold onto the moment and preserve the beauty of our children’s youth, but recognize this is impossible. You even wonder whether gadgets like camcorders and cameras prevent us from fully experiencing these shared moments. How have your reconciled this loss?

Katherine Center: I can’t reconcile it.  I think about it constantly-about how life slips through our fingers.  It’s a depressing thought, I know, but being around children and watching them grow and change forces you to notice time passing.  We cut off my daughter’s very long hair last weekend, and my eyes filled with tears.  Even though I knew it was time, and even though she looks like a completely adorable 1920s girl detective with her new bob, I want my long-haired girl back.  I want them both.  And while I’m at it, I want my babies back, too-those plump little muffins that I took for granted when I was so sleep deprived.  I’d give anything to pick up one of my 3-month-olds again and feel that peach-fuzz hair and those little thighs.  It’s the same reason I can’t get rid of some of the baby clothes.  I just have to keep them forever in the attic.  Even if I never take them out again.  I just need to know they’re still there.

Nicki Richesin: If Hollywood were to adapt THE BRIGHT SIDE OF DISASTER for the screen, who would you cast as the lead characters?

Katherine Center: It has been optioned! Varsity Pictures optioned it last fall, which was cool.  And I could see a lot of different people playing Jenny Harris.  But it would have to be somebody with sass-somebody who can banter and sort of crook her eyebrow.  This topic comes up a lot at book clubs.  People have suggested Rachel McAdams and Reese Witherspoon.  I’ve heard Ellen Page-if she were older-and Janeane Garofalo-if she were younger.  Ben Affleck always comes up as an option for either of the guys-since I met him once at a reading and have a photo of him carrying the book.  It would actually be fun to see Jennifer Garner as Jenny and Ben as Dean-the bad boyfriend.

Nicki Rishesin:: Have you ever read a book, and thought oh man, I wish I had written this or it seemed to be a story you wanted to tell?

Katherine Center: When that happens, it’s really exciting.  I recently read a screenplay by Jane O’Brien (Conan’s sister) that had me pacing around the house in the wee hours of the night because I was so thrilled about how good it was that I couldn’t sleep.  There are all different kinds of great writing out there, but the kind that can keep me awake at night is usually writing that’s funny and authentic and sad all at the same time-which of course is exactly the kind I try to do.  David Sedaris, Tina Fey, Catherine Newman, and Marisa de los Santos all do this-make you laugh and break your heart at the same time.  It’s not an easy thing to do, and when I see it done well, I just want to stand up and cheer.

Nicki Rishesin:  Publishers Weekly praised BRIGHT SIDE for its “sharp dialogue and a narrative that’s heavier on the sass than the diaper rash.”  I couldn’t agree more!  How did you create such a rich vibrant and spunky character in Jenny Harris?  Have you ever felt similarly abandoned and been forced to keep calm and carry on?  I know your devoted hubby teaches at your childhood alma mater. Not exactly Jenny’s background?

Katherine Center: No-not Jenny’s background.  I am very lucky that my sweet husband has stuck by me.  But I have had my heart broken a couple of significant and horrible times.  And I’ve certainly faced all kinds of sadnesses and challenges that I feared I wasn’t up to.  And then I surprised myself.  Those moments of rising up beyond my capabilities have often been the ones that stuck with me or changed me or taught me the most.  Those are my favorite stories-about people surprising themselves.  But those moments of surprise don’t come easy.

And as for how I created Jenny: I don’t know.  It’s a good question, and I just don’t know.  It’s magic.  (Or possibly lunacy.)  I’ll just be going about my day and suddenly hear someone talking in my head.  And so I just write down what they’re saying.  I actually can’t imagine writing a book in the 3^rd person, because the main character is usually talking to me, and I’m just writing it down.  It’s not a conscious process.  Characters talk in my head, and then they start doing things, and then other characters come in and say things.  Mostly, I’m just watching them, and listening.  I get to know them slowly-the way you do with friends.

Nicki Rishesin:  Could you explain how you work- your practice, discipline?   How do you carve out the time to churn out so many novels with two little rug rats running around?  Do you have a favorite place to work or a writing retreat?

Katherine Center: Here’s how things would look if I were in charge:  I’d get up at the crack of dawn, take a brisk walk, come home, shower, have a cup of coffee with a tasty and nutritious breakfast, and sit down to write for several uninterrupted hours.

Here’s how things actually are:  I get up, and get the kids up, and scramble around looking for missing shoes and library books.  I think about the coffee, but rarely get to it.  I think about breakfast, too, but usually don’t get that either.  I send one kid off to carpool and then drop the other one at pre-school.  Some days I get a walk after that, some days not.  Some days I can arrange a good block of uninterrupted time, some days not.  Lots of times I’m just getting into a groove when it’s time to go to the grocery or pick up carpool.  That’s why I do a lot of my writing with crayons or in the carpool line.

But the kids are also endless sources of inspiration and laughs.  I didn’t know what I wanted to write about until I had them.  And I truly believe that the tension between your real life and your creative life-on a good day-is really great for both.

Nicki Rishesin:  Could you share some of your favorite childhood books and reading memories?

Katherine Center: My parents read to us all the time when we were little, and I remember Go, Dog, Go, Eloise, How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head, and all the Dr. Seuss books as particular favorites.  As we got older, my dad read chapter books to us-Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Tom Sawyer-and made up stories, too.  My dad is a terrific reader.  When he reads, it sounds like he’s just talking.  He also loves words and language-the feel and the sound of them-and I got that from him.  As I got older, I remember loving Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Secret Garden, and A Little Princess-as well as Deenie, by Judy Blume and The Pistachio Prescription, by Paula Danziger.

One great thing about becoming a mom is getting to revisit all those books and stories.

Nicki Rishesin: You’ve been a big supporter of Writers in the Schools. How have you supported them within your community?

Katherine Center: I used to teach for them, so I know about the organization from the inside out.  And I love what they do: teach children about the “pleasure and power of reading and writing” through positive interactions with working writers who come to their schools.  I loved being a WITS writer, because there was no grading and no criticism.  Just finding the things each kid was doing well and praising the heck out of them.  Now, I talk about WITS at every opportunity.  I keep in touch with them and taught at a recent writer training and spoke at their Young Writers Reading series.  I also did a TV commercial for them where I got to read a beautiful poem by a child in the program.

Nicki Rishesin:  Who were your early influences? Did they inform your first story you won for the Vassar College Fiction Prize?

Katherine Center: When I was first learning to write, I loved the minimalists: Raymond Carver and Amy Hempel and Lorrie Moore.  I loved how they stripped everything down to the essentials.  And, of course, Lorrie Moore is so wickedly funny.  I loved her story, “How to Become a Writer” (”First, try to be something-anything-else.”) because it was so funny and heartbreaking at the same time.  I also loved poetry early on: Edward Hirsch and Anne Sexton and Sharon Olds, in particular.  I kept a blank book that I copied poems I loved into. And song lyrics-I still love the sweet melancholy of many of Paul Simon’s lyrics:  “She comes back to tell me she’s gone.  As if I didn’t know that–as if I didn’t know my own bed.  As if I’d never noticed the way she brushed her hair from her forehead.”  I also absorbed so much from funny women writers-Texas political columnist Molly Ivins was absolutely hilarious, and I think I have memorized every single line from Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally.  One time my friend Nicole and I watched it and just talked along with the actors.

Nicki Rishesin: You just finished your third novel GET LUCKY about a woman who offers to have a baby for her sister. How did the idea for this novel first come to you?

Katherine Center: I had this thought once-many years ago-about my sisters.  That if either of them ever wanted a baby and couldn’t have one, I’d act as a surrogate for them.  It seemed like a no-brainer.  But then I actually got pregnant-twice-and re-thought my idea.  I mused on it a lot while I was pregnant, actually-about how pregnancy doesn’t seem like a big deal until you are actually doing it.  And then it’s a huge, all-encompassing deal.  I loved the idea of a character getting herself into something like that-so life-changing and irreversible–with such high stakes.  It seemed like a situation rich for both comedy and heartbreak.  My two favorite things.

Nicki Rishesin:  I know you, like thousands of little girls in the eighties (including me!), had a not-so-secret crush on Duran Duran. Fantasy date night with Simon Le Bon or Nick Rhodes? Candlelit dinner followed by moonlit serenade to “Hungry like the Wolf” or “Rio”?

Katherine Center: This cracks me up!  What was it about Duran Duran?  I honestly can’t tell you.  I go back and look at those videos now and they seem so completely ridiculous.  Women crawling around like animals and all that.  Simon LeBon was my favorite by far, even though John Taylor was technically the handsomest.  That said, in all our defense, they were not nearly as cheesy as many of the boy-bands to follow.  But the idea of me, as a sixth-grader, singing along with my entire soul to lyrics like, “Some people call it a one night stand, but we can call it paradise,” that’s just hilarious.  And so sad.  Just the way I like it.

_____________________________________________________

Katherine Center is the author of two novels, Everyone Is Beautiful and The Bright Side of Disaster, and she has two more forthcoming.  Everyone Is Beautiful was featured recently in People, Redbook, and USA Today.  Katherine started writing fiction in the 6^th grade, when she wrote a novel about how all five members of Duran Duran fell in love with her and she was forced to pick one.  Later, she graduated from Vassar College, where she won the Vassar College Fiction Prize, and earned a Master’s in fiction from the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program.  She now lives in her home state of Texas with her husband and her two feisty little kids-a daughter and a son.  For more about Katherine, or to find out which member of Duran Duran was the lucky winner, please see her website: www.katherinecenter.com.

Nicki Richesin is the editor of four anthologies, Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond; What I Would Tell Her: 30 Male Writers on the Father-Daughter Relationship (May 2010); the forthcoming Crush: Real-life Tales of First Love Gone Wrong by our Best Young Adult Novelists; and The May Queen: Women on Life, Work, and Pulling it all Together in your Thirties. Her anthologies have been excerpted and praised in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Redbook, Parenting, Cosmopolitan, Bust, Daily Candy, and Babble. She lives with her husband and daughter in northern California. Visit www.nickirichesin.com for more information.

Natasha here. Check out my book reviews of Everyone is Beautiful, The Bright Side of Disaster, my interview and a guest post with Katherine.  As if that’s not enough, make sure you go make her favorite soup (I wonder if I can ever talk about Katherine without mentioning that soup!).  I loved this interview!  Because I Love Her would make a perfect mothers day gift for the mother or daughter in your life!  It sounds great and I’m convinced that I need to read this book.

Two video trailers that feature excerpts from Katherine Center’s essay Things to Remember Not to Forget:

Book trailer for Because I Love Her:

Chicken Butt!

Maw Books:  Where in the world did you get the idea to write a book that’s well . . . mainly about a chicken butt?!

Erica Perl: I always thought the nonsequitur joke “You know what? Chicken Butt!” was funny, and I wanted to figure out a way to put it in a book.  Originally, I thought it could be a board book (with flaps) for hipster parents.  But then, when I worked on it, the voices of parent and child just came to me, and it became more of a book told from both a kid and a grown-up’s perspective.  I like writing books that both kids and parents can enjoy, so I was pleased at the direction this one took… it ended up feeling like the scene at our house!  Minus the chicken, that is… we don’t have one.

Maw Books:  Describe you new book in just one word.

Erica Perl: Cluck!

Maw Books:  Chicken Butt! is a great read-a-loud book.  It must be so much fun to do school visits and presentations.  What are some of your favorite experiences from sharing Chicken Butt! and your other books with young readers?

Erica Perl: I LOVE doing Chicken Butt! with school groups.  Basically, I divide the group in two and assign one group the role of “kid” and the other group the role of “grown-up”… they immediately start throwing themselves into it, hamming it up on both sides.  And without realizing it, they do all the reading… I’m just the conductor.  Also, I always pause between the page turns and ask kids to guess the rhymes.  I’ve gotten some great ones, like “chicken stew!” and “chicken hair!”  So we go over the concept of rhyming, which kids love to play with.  And then I always encourage everyone to read the “chicken” lines… everybody loves to read the “Chicken Butt! Chicken Butt!  Chicken Butt!” page together.

Maw Books:  I bet that gets really loud!  Could you talk with us a little about why books with a tempo/rhyme are excellent choices for young readers learning how to read.

Erica Perl: Rhyming books are great because kids can anticipate the rhyme, which helps emergent readers decode more easily.  And rhymes are fun – kids love to play with words and have more ease than grown-ups, who get caught up in what is a “real” word.  Also, I always talk to kids about meter, because I like to make the connection between rhyming verse and musical rhythm.  It’s important that the tempo of a piece is consistent (as you see in Dr. Seuss, for example) so the reader can really lose him or herself following the beat of the words.  This is one of the reasons I like to sing my book NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY with kids, and I always point them to the recording of the song, which can be found on my website: www.ericaperl.com (it is on the “and more” page).

Maw Books:  Did you test your book out on any young readers before submitting it for publication?  Do you have certain young reviewers in your life that you trust?

Erica Perl: I always read everything out loud, alone and to kids.  I trust my own kids, but I try to read to other kids as well… classmates and friends of my kids.  And I get kids to read stuff aloud, to see how they read it.  Always a lot of research before I take a book to the next step.

Maw Books:  Reading out loud definitely makes a difference.  And now you saw how I read it!  Have you had any feedback from parents, librarians, or booksellers expressing dissatisfaction with the subject matter of Chicken Butt! Personally, I thought it was cute when my three year old starting repeating the words chicken butt back to me and laughs real big at the monkey butt.  But I’m sure not all parents would say the same.

Erica Perl: So far, no complaints.  I too am waiting for it, but the teachers and parents I’ve met have been very positive about it.  One parent did tell me that her daughter was surprised that “the governor” would let me put “BUTT” on the cover of a book.  But no complaints from the authorities yet either!

Maw Books:  Phew!   So much of a picture books personality comes through its illustrations.  What is it like when you first saw your words put to the illustrations and are you happy with the way they turned out?

Erica Perl: Extremely happy.  I love Henry Cole and was thrilled with his illustrations.

Maw Books:  What is it with you and chickens anyways?!

Erica Perl: I’m not sure.  This is my second chicken book.  I guess I can’t run that fast… the chickens always catch me!

Maw Books:  Ha, ha!  One of my regular features in my author interviews is to ask for a recipe, either one featured in their book or a family favorite.  Later I make that recipe and blog about it.  I didn’t think Chicken Butt, gave me much to work with as far as recipes but then I saw your adorable Chicken Butt! cookies that you made on your blog. They are so cute!  Can you share the recipe with us?

Erica Perl: They are gingerbread cookies and I made a royal icing for them (egg whites, powdered sugar, lemon juice and a drop of glycerin, which you can buy in specialty stores, for shine).  They were yummy!

Maw Books:  What are some of the challenges and rewards of being a children’s picture book writer?

Erica Perl: I love writing my books and sharing them with kids!  The hard part is how long it takes for a book to come out… I’m impatient and it is hard to wait.  But worth it!

Maw Books:  What’s your earliest reading memory?  And a few picture books that you think nobody should miss?

Erica Perl: I have always loved books and my childhood favorites included SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE and BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES.  I am currently doing a bunch of book events with Ayun Halliday, whose new book, ALWAYS LOTS OF HEINIES AT THE ZOO is terrific, so definitely check it out!

Maw Books:  I saw Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo on display at a bookstore with your book!  Great idea to market them together!  If you could choose any illustrator, dead or alive, to illustrate your next book who would you choose and why?

Erica Perl: Perhaps James Marshall, who I love.  Or Simon James, or Emily Gravett (I’m partial to British illustrators, for some reason).  I also love Matt Phelan’s work.   And I’m very excited about JULIA DENOS, who is illustrating my next book, DOTTY!

Maw Books:  I love Matt Phelan!  What’s the last book you read, the book you’re reading now and a book that you are looking forward to reading?

Erica Perl: I just read KARATE PIG, which is an adorable board book, and THE GREAT PAPER CAPER, by Oliver Jeffers – fabulous.  I’m also reading THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, which is NOT for children but is highly enjoyable if you are a grown up.

Maw Books:  Share with us what it was like to serve on the Cybils judging panel for picture books.

Erica Perl: It was so much fun and I was thrilled that Bob Graham’s HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN WING was our winner – what an amazing book!

Maw Books:  Going off of the Cybils question, what role/influence do you think book bloggers are playing in the book industry?

Erica Perl: Kidlit bloggers rule!  I always tell parents that this is THE place to discover great new (and old) books for kids!

Maw Books:  They do rule!  What do you enjoy to do outside the world of books?

Erica Perl: Cooking, running, going to the zoo and embarrassing my children.

Maw Books:  So what’s next?  What are working on right now?

Erica Perl: My first YA novel, VINTAGE VERONICA, comes out next spring from KNOPF!  Until then, I’m writing more picture books and shaking my CHICKEN BUTT! wherever they’ll have me.

Maw Books:  A YA novel!  How awesome.  I look forward to it.  Anything else that you’d like to add?

Erica Perl: You know what?…  Just kidding!

Maw Books:  Thanks Erica!

Erica Perl: Thank YOU!!!

Erica will be on tour the rest of the week at  Tales from the Rushmore Kid,  Motherreader, A Pen and a Nest, Hen Blog,  Fuse # 8,  Write for a Reader,  Chicken Spaghetti, and Three Silly Chicks.  Erica is celebrating with a  prize drawing of Chicken Butt! and other fun prizes.  To register for the prize drawings, all you have to do is visit any of the participating tour blogs during the week (including this one!) and then leave a comment on Erica’s blog.

Erica S. Perl’s website & blog.
Genre: Picture book, ages 2-8
Published: Abrams Books for Young Readers, April 2009
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN: 978-0810983250
Chicken Butt! is available from your independent bookstore, Powells and Amazon.

I was super excited when I realized that Ingrid Law was going to be at the LA Times Festival of Books!  I even brought two copies of the book to get signed.  So then I was super bummed when I missed her panel and couldn’t find her signing at any other time.  So, so sad.  I would have loved to chat with her for a moment & get a photo as well.  So many authors there and I didn’t get to see half that I wanted to.

BUT I’ve got the next best thing: a fantastic interview with Ingrid today!  I’m thrilled to present another author who can claim a Newbery under their belt.  So please welcome Ingrid Law to the Maw Books Blog!

Maw Books:  You wrote Savvy in a relatively short amount of time (five months, I believe).  Was this a story that you had been thinking about writing about for awhile before you sat down to write it or did it just hit you with a force that you just had to get it all out?

Ingrid Law: I think of Savvy as a gift.  It came into creation so quickly and with so much excitement and love.  I had been submitting a different manuscript to agents for about six months but kept getting the usual “Dear Author” responses.  However, a couple of the agents who read the whole thing told me in personal notes that they like my writing and to send them future projects.  That boosted my confidence so much and made me realize I needed to start a “future project.”  I sat down to write Savvy without knowing a thing about what I wanted to write.  I decided to write the craziest sentence I could think of without judging it too much.  That sentence became the first sentence of Savvy and stayed the first sentence forever.  After that, the words just rolled out. I think it was a story that just wanted to be here. I just feel fortunate that I got to be the one to tell it.

Maw Books: I’d thought I’d share that first sentence with our readers:  “When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he’d caused it.”

What surprised you the most as you were writing Savvy? Did anything turn out different than what you intended or did any of your characters/story evolve on their/its own?

Ingrid Law: There were connections in the book to things that were happening for me through the writing process, connections I didn’t consciously recognize until after the book was in print and I had to start talking about it publicly.  That may sound strange, but sometimes I think we know things, yet don’t truly understand their impact until we talk them out.  As feelings become words they alter into concrete meanings.  The biggest example of this in Savvy is, while writing the book, I very consciously told myself to ignore any voices that popped into my head that whispered to me that it might not be good enough, that an idea might be too strange or weird, that told me not to trust myself and tell the story my own way.  Of course, it’s this very same thing that Mibs has to learn as well.  But I can’t remember making a conscious connection between these two things at the time.

Maw Books:  That is a fantastic lesson in follwing your own heart!  As a debut author, did you have the confidence or premonition that Savvy would do so well with readers and critics or were you taken completely by surprise with its reception?

Ingrid Law: Completely surprised!  I thought of it as such a little story.  Cozy and fun.  I knew it was quirky and had some unusual elements.  My sense of humor is usually one that comes out in mostly in my writing, but being a bit of a shy person, I wasn’t sure how other people would respond to it.  I’ve been really amazed and so incredibly thankful for the reception it has received.

Maw Books:  You say that if you could pick your own savvy, you would probably want to fly or breathe underwater.  I’d like to know more about that.  What about flying or breathing underwater would be cool to you?

Ingrid Law: I’m such an escapist and I love solitude.  Flying or breathing under water would allow me the ultimate escapes in beautiful, serene ways, into places where there aren’t a lot of people.  And both would feel weightless, which would be nice, being a fairly weighty person myself!

Maw Books:  I think I’d rather fly than breathe underwater.  Large bodies of water terrify me!  Where were you and what were you doing when ALA called to tell you that you Savvy received a Newbery Honor?  How did you react and what did you do to celebrate?

Ingrid Law: I was sitting in bed hoping that they would call, but not wanting to hope too hard so that I wouldn’t be too disappoint if they didn’t.  They called at about 6:55am.  I was playing a game on my iPod–one that keeps my mind focused when I’m anxious.  After the call, I immediately woke up my daughter to tell her, then cried for fifteen minutes (you would have thought that someone had died), called my family, talked to my fabulous editor, agent, and publishers.   To celebrate, first my daughter and I went and filled a shopping cart for the local food bank–spreading the good, you know?  Later, we had fondue dinner with some wonderful friends from Walden Media who were in town for ALA.

Maw Books:  I love hearing those stories!  Brandon Dorman, Savvy’s illustrator, is a BYU graduate – my alma mater. I loved this cover as soon as I laid eyes on it. After reading the book, I loved the cover even more. What was your reaction when you first saw the book cover of Savvy?  And likewise, what do you think about the other covers for the other editions.

Ingrid Law: Brandon is a genius!  I just got to meet him recently, too, and he’s such a great guy with a really beautiful family.  He is doing the cover of my next book as well and even the sketches are amazing.  I was over the moon when I saw his cover for Savvy.  But I’ve also loved seeing what other art departments for the foreign editions come up with.  In Finland, they used Brandon’s cover.  But the German, Dutch, and UK covers are all so different and interesting!  I can’t wait to see what kinds of covers appear in Korea or Croatia or China (not to mention Indonesia, Italy… am I missing any?).

Maw Books:  Savvy has been optioned for a feature film.  If you could control everything about the movie (ha!) who do you think would be the perfect actors/actresses to be cast into your characters roles?  And if somebody else were to write the screenplay, what would you say they weren’t allowed to change at all and something that you feel has a bit more of a creative license?

Ingrid Law: Oh, such a hard question about actors!  And I almost hate to say who I can imagine in the roles, because I know that if Walden Media does decide to greenlight the film, they will do a great job.  But…. since you asked. bI think Madeline Carroll might make a great Mibs, Luke Benward could match her well as Fish.  Rocket?  A younger, dark haired version of Zac Efron, maybe (he’s got to have those awesome blue eyes)… or maybe Ben Barnes (probably still too old)… who else? Bobbi?  I’m not sure.  Maybe Anna Sophia Robb?  Now you’ve got me thinking and having too much fun.  Someone like Robin Wright Penn, perhaps for Momma–but not quite so thin.  I don’t know!  I love to know what other people think, though.

Enough about actors.  The folks at Walden Media love Savvy and are very protective of the book, so I feel like it’s in good hands.  The screenplay is already close to done and I actually get to meet the screenwriter, Karen Janszen, in LA (or will have just met her when this interview goes up).  So, I’m excited about that.  In regard to changes, I’m doing my best to hold onto a kind of flexible open-mindedness for now. Rigidity makes things more fragile, right?  I am open to seeing what other people’s talents bring to the story.  But I do want it to have heart.

Maw Books:  I would see this movie the day it comes out!  This is a question that I ask every single author I interview and that’s to share a recipe with us – either a family favorite or a food that is featured in the book.  Later, I try to make the recipe and then blog about it.   In Savvy, Mibs wants the perfect cake for her birthday – a cake with pink and yellow frosting, and perfect sugar roses – which isn’t really asking for much since her mothers savvy is being perfect.  Are you the type of mom who would make a cake from scratch, out of a box or buy it from the store?  Do you have either a cake recipe or a family favorite that you could share with our readers?

Ingrid Law: Right now, I can barely manage ordering take out, I’m so busy.  A cake from scratch would be like climbing Everest.  My daughter’s birthday is at the end of the month.  I’ll be sure to buy her something beautiful and delicious.  For years, a dear friend always made my daughter’s cakes because she had mad cake skills!  I’ll make one now and then from a great gluten-free mix (I have a family member who needs this concession).  Then I’ll have fun decorating it.  But that’s pretty easy.

But a favorite family recipe?  I’ll give you a favorite pie recipe from when I was growing up, since Momma’s all about the pies…

Close to Perfect Chocolate Pie

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Nilla Wafer crumbs
6 Tbsp melted butter

Mix well and pat into pie pan. Chill for one hour (more or less) OR bake it at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Filling:
Blend for a minute with a mixer or in a blender:
1 package INSTANT (don’t make the mistake and not get instant) vanilla pudding
1 package INSTANT chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cups milk

Now add one pint (2 cups) of softened vanilla ice cream and mix it into the pudding blend. Pour this into the crumb crust and chill for several hours. Top it with grated chocolate, mini chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, or whatever your heart desires! I tried whipped cream once, but it put it too far over the top!

Maw Books:  Whoa!  Sounds too easy and too delicious!  Now that you have a Newbery Honor under your belt, for your debut novel no less, do you feel the pressure when you sit down to write your second book?

Ingrid Law: Yes. I’m going bald.

But . . . since I probably should elaborate a bit (not about going bald, that’s not true–yet): I didn’t think about awards or accolades at all when I was writing Savvy. I just wrote it because I loved it.  With the next book, I’m not trying to out-do Savvy.  I think Savvy will always be the most special book to me, and maybe to everyone else as well, because it came first.  I’m happy to have the chance to write more about this crazy family tree.  But again, while writing, I’m just trying to tell a good story.  After the success of Savvy, I couldn’t ask for more.  I just hope that kids enjoy reading the new book.

Maw Books:  Tell us a bit about the new book that you are writing now, which is a companion novel to Savvy and when we can expect to see it hit bookstores?

Ingrid Law: My second book will come out next year–in summer, I think.  Savvy will be out in paperback next March.  I wish I could tell you the title of the next book, but it’s still being tossed around.  Anyway, yes, it is a companion to Savvy and is told from the perspective of an all new character–a cousin of the Beaumonts–Aunt Dinah’s oldest son, Ledge.  I felt that Mibs’s story had been well told for now, and didn’t want to simply plunk her down into a new adventure just because the book was popular.  Since the books are just as much about the inner journey as the outer, I was ready to explore a savvy birthday from the point of view of someone with different concerns–someone with different things to learn.  Plus, I liked the idea of switching to the POV of a boy character.  It’s been fun to create a new “savvy” voice.  For those people who may be going “Wait! What about all the characters I love?” do not fear.  There will be some familiar faces along the way… only they will be 8-9 years older!  Rocket will be there, as will Gypsy.  And Samson will–and won’t–be there as well. *Mwaa-ha-ha* More savvy-powered fun on the way…

Maw Books:  Argh!  Now you made me want to read it!  Thanks so much for joining us today!  It was fantastic!

Ingrid Law: Thank you, Natasha!

Ingrid Law’s website and blog.  Many thanks to Kidz Book Buzz for coordinating Ingrid’s blog tour!  Check out what other bloggers are saying about Savvy: A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews,  Never Jam Today, Olive Tree, Our Big Earth, The 160 Acrewoods, Through a Child’s Eyes.

Want your own copy of Savvy?  (And why wouldn’t you?!)  Check back tomorrow for a giveaway of Savvy.  Don’t miss it!  Now you must excuse me.  I have a pie that I must go bake . . .

Maw Books:  If you could only use one word to describe your new novel Longhorns and Outlaws what would it be?

Linda Aksomitis: Western

Maw Books:  I’m always interested in knowing how authors come up with their ideas.  Where did you come up for the premise of Longhorns and Outlaws?

Linda Aksomitis: Natasha, I’d have to say Longhorns and Outlaws is a mesh of ideas. I always wanted to write something full of old west adventure and excitement, so when I was researching a book I wrote about Southern Saskatchewan (Backroad Mapbooks Southern Saskatchewan) and explored Outlaw Station #1 on the Outlaw trail, everything started to come together.

Maw Books:  Tell us about your background in ranching and horses and how that influenced you in writing Longhorns and Outlaws.

Linda Aksomitis: I grew up on a horse ranch, doing all the usual things – riding gymkhana, barrel racing, horse shows, and trail rides. Then I married into a rodeo family, so I continued to collect all kinds of valuable experiences for writing about the old west, from getting chased by cantankerous cows to branding calves in the spring. Without this background I wouldn’t have considered starting a novel like Longhorns and Outlaws, because there are just too many experiences involved to rely on third person research, at least for me!

Maw Books:  Tell us about researching Longhorns and Outlaws.  Did you do all the research first?  Combine writing and research?  How do you decide when and where to set your book and which historical events to include?

Linda Aksomitis: As you’ve guessed, Natasha, there was lots of research involved in writing Longhorns and Outlaws. The first was, of course, years of experience with horses and cattle, and just as important, getting to know others in these Western communities, so I can help my readers relate to how it feels to be part of that segment of society. I first discovered the outlaws I included in the story in 2004, on a couple of research trips through Southern Saskatchewan and Montana, so spent a year finding out all I could about them before beginning the first draft of the novel in 2005. Before I started the second draft in 2006, I took a week long trip through Montana, following the Yellowstone River from Billings to Culbertson, taking pictures, visiting museums, and talking to people. Then I took another few days to come from Culbertson up to Saskatchewan’s Big Muddy, finding tons more information in addition to what I’d gathered the year before. My final draft in 2007 focused on archival print materials, which I drew from to create a lot of Lucas’s past and perfect the voice and writing style I wanted for the story.

Maw Books:  What about young fictional heroes appeals to you as a writer?

Linda Aksomitis: I like stories that are full of adventure, so I find books with young heroes both more fun to write and to read!

Maw Books:  Lucas likes to learn by the book while his brother Gil is more of a hands on learner.  Which type of learner are you?

Linda Aksomitis: Natasha, what an interesting question! I’m really a cross between Lucas and Gil, I guess, since I do learn many things from books, while others I have
to get completely immersed in and do. I think it depends on what I’m doing, which may be part of what Lucas learns as he gradually becomes proficient at riding Ebenezer and riding drag behind the cattle herd.

Maw Books:  What’s your favorite scene from the book?  Or perhaps one which has changed the least since your first came up with it?

Linda Aksomitis: Ah, you’re right and many scenes changed during the various edits of this book! The one that changed the least was how Lucas managed to free Ebenezer from the outlaw corral. I’d say the scene was inspired by the many old westerns with daring rescues and escapes that I watched with my dad as a child, so it came to life in full detail when I started writing.

Maw Books:  Was there any point while writing Longhorns and Outlaws that you struggled writing the book?  And vice-versa a point where the creative juices just flowed?

Linda Aksomitis: I always struggle with the beginning, Natasha. In fact, I workshop it with my writers’ group, then rewrite the first chapter at least 20 or 30 times before it comes to its published shape. It’s challenging to get enough backstory included to set up a scene, but still have the excitement I want to pull the reader into the story. The first chapter is also the place where I need to establish the writing style and voice, so it takes a lot of revision to get the exact feel I want.

Maw Books:  Would you describe you book as being a good match for reluctant readers?

Linda Aksomitis: I think there’s a book for every reader and the ideal reader for Longhorns and Outlaws is one who’s drawn to the old west by interest or experience. My author visits in areas where the children come from horse and rodeo backgrounds have been very positive, since there really aren’t that many westerns for them to read. I also hoped that Longhorns and Outlaws would appeal to readers who’ve had some first hand experience with surviving hurricanes, as many in the coastal areas have. Reluctant readers should be drawn along by Lucas’s many challenges and adventures!

Maw Books:  And what do you want children to come away with after reading one of your books?

Linda Aksomitis: I hope children feel they have had a great old west adventure!

Maw Books:  Tell us about Kidnapped by Outlaws, the sequel to Longhorns and Outlaws and when can we expect to see it available in stores?

Linda Aksomitis: In Kidnapped by Outlaws, Lucas end up in even more trouble with the border outlaws, some of whom appeared briefly in Longhorns and Outlaws. Much of the conflict of the story, however, deals with the need to belong and how gangs have fulfilled that need for many young boys and men over the past few centuries. In terms of when it will appear in stores, not for awhile yet, as I hope to get a draft ready for my publisher to see by this summer.

Maw Books:  How many books do you plan on writing for this series?  And what is it like to write a series?  Do you know where the story is going to go?  Do you preplan all the books?

Linda Aksomitis: Natasha, great question, but I really don’t know the answer. I wrote Longhorns and Outlaws planning a series, which was one reason I took so many
drafts before publication. The continuing thread through all the books will be encounters with outlaws, rather than the cattle, so each book lets me explore a new stage and setting. In the Outlaws sequel, Gil appears briefly in the opening scene and Cousin Henry in the last scene, but otherwise it’s new characters and adventures. Currently, I’m searching for a real outlaw story somewhere in the west that draws my interest for book #3, since I like to base my historical fiction on real events of the past.

Maw Books:  What are some of your favorite experiences so far from book signings, school visits, interviews, and other promotional activities for Longhorns and Outlaws?

Linda Aksomitis: I loved doing the virtual tour with the school in Texas! It was awesome to be able to share my slide show and story with children thousands of miles away, then answer their questions.

Maw Books:  This is a question that I ask every single author that I nterview and that’s to share a recipe with us, particularly if it was in the book and then I try to make it later.  Coming to my mind is pan fried bread and beans.  Is this something that you know how to cook or is there another “western-style” recipe that you could share with us?

Linda Aksomitis: Baked Beans & Ham

Ingredients:
1 pound dried navy beans
6 cups water
1 small ham bone with 1/4 pound ham (I usually use leftovers from a large baked ham, including the juice)
1 teaspoon salt (if you use ham juice no salt is required)
1/2 cup of molasses
1/2 cup ketchup

Preparation:  Cover beans and ham with water in a small roaster, casserole dish, or crockpot. Add all ingredients and stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 3-4 hours, until beans are soft. Check periodically to ensure beans are covered with fluid, adding water as required.  Serves 6 to 8.

Maw Books:  Mmmm.  I can’t wait to try this one!  I couldn’t help but notice that with the exception of one color we use a very similar color scheme on both of our websites!  And here I thought I was so original.    Great minds think alike!  How has having an online presence affected you personally and as a writer?

Linda Aksomitis: I’ve been online since 1995 and owe many of my current books to contacts I made via the Internet. Right now I teach a course called Introduction to
Internet Markets where I help other writers take that all important leap to getting established on the Internet.

Maw Books:  Tell us a little bit about the other books that you have published.

Linda Aksomitis: I have nineteen books out right now, but I’ll just focus on my children’s historical fiction here. Run (Pearson Education), which came out in 2007, was a finalist in the 2008 Saskatchewan Book Awards for YA fiction.  Adeline’s Dream (2005), from the same publisher (coteau Books) as Longhorns  and Outlaws, was part of the very popular From Many Peoples series. All three novels are set in the same decade: Longhorns in 1901, Adeline’s Dream in 1910, and Run in 1911. I love this era because it’s a time just before the changes in technology and society that followed World War I.

Maw Books:  Great!  You say you have held 45 jobs for pay and they are all fascinating!  Which of those jobs has been the most unusual, the most fun, the hardest, and the most rewarding?

Linda Aksomitis: I tell people I’m like a kid in a candy store, and I want to try every flavour. Most unusual job: racing snowmobiles (spent more money than I earned). Most fun: travel writing (travel writers can do pretty much anything in the name of “work”). Hardest: waitress (no kidding!). Most rewarding: teaching (I teach people about books and libraries, so what else could possibly be more rewarding?).

Maw Books:  I’d love to be a travel writer (well, maybe just the traveling part!).  I was flabbergasted with all that you have done.  Between all your amazing vacations, ranching, snowmobiling, writing, teaching, etc. it seems like you’ve just about done it all.  Two questions.  How do you manage your time to accomplish so much and what’s the one thing that you haven’t done that you still want to do?

Linda Aksomitis: I manage my time by prioritizing what I want to do, and then planning a year-ahead calendar to make the pieces fit together as well as possible. I also find that the more productivity I have out of each time investment, the more I can do. For example, by using a great deal of the research I did for the travel guide to Saskatchewan in Longhorns and Outlaws, I not only got to know my subject really well, I also maximized my effort in terms of returns on time invested.

Maw Books:  Describe yourself as a reader. What books influenced and inspired you as a child? As an adult?

Linda Aksomitis: I was a voracious reader as a child and read absolutely everything in sight. My favorite books were ones that stretched my experience and imagination, so I felt like I’d really been there. A Wrinkle in Time was my ultimate favorite as a young reader and now I can’t say enough for Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn series for young readers.

Maw Books:  I haven’t read the Airborn series, I’ll have to look into those.  What’s the last book you read, the book you’re reading now and a book that you’d like to read next?

Linda Aksomitis: The last book I read was Meggido’s Shadow (historical fiction from Arthur Slade, another Saskatchewan author); right now I’m reading Journey to a
Revolution (A personal memoir and history of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956) by Michael Korda; and next I’d like to read Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Maw Books:  I loved Elijah of Buxton!  If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only charge was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

Linda Aksomitis: Sit on an open balcony overlooking a beautiful beach seascape in the sun and read a good book.

Maw Books:  Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of the Maw Books Blog?

Linda Aksomitis: Nothing, Natasha, except to say that I’ve really enjoyed our visit and thank you so much for participating in the virtual tour for Longhorns and Outlaws.

Maw Books:  Thank you Linda!

Visit the Cowboy’s and Outlaw’s website and other stops on Linda’s tour to learn more about Longhorns and Outlaws.  My Longhorns and Outlaws book review.

Maw Books:  Would you briefly introduce yourself and the picture books that you have authored.

Mary Nethery: I’m the author of picture books Hannah and Jack (Athenuem); Orange Cat Goes to Market (Shaw’s Imprint, Candlewick); Mary Veronica’s Egg Orchard/Scholastic); and The Famous Nini: A Mostly True Story of a Plain White Cat Who Became a Star! (Clarion, Spring 2010). I also co-authored with Kirby Larson, Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival (Walker), and Nubs, the True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle (Little, Brown, Fall 2009).

I live and write in California with my darling husband and a new baby muse, Dash. Our son, H.A., is a Ph.D. student in philosophy at the University of Duquesne.

Maw Books:  What drew you to writing for children?

Mary Nethery: My mom says I started drawing while in the crib, using my fingers to paint pictures on a damp window-a possible prerequisite for writing? I began to write my first “novel” (with pictures-maybe it was a graphic novel!) as soon as I learned to write in first grade. I wrote all the way through high school, but got pragmatic in college. The absolute pleasure of reading to my son, H.A., brought me back to writing. I realized that the people I admired most were writers-the way they can make you laugh, cry, and just shake your head in awe. I wanted to be able to do that.

Maw Books:  In addition to your picture books you also have published stories in magazines.  Is there a different thought process when you sit down to write for a picture book as opposed to a short story?

Mary Nethery: A picture book is an art form that uses words and art to convey the full power of story. When I write a picture book text I think in on-stage scenes. I consider page turns. I think about the arc of the story and how it should progress through 32 pages with a quick denouement (the “aaah” factor) on the final page. A story created for a magazine must also follow story structure but it can’t rely on the art or the picture book format to carry any aspect of it. So that means making different decisions about what you’re going to include or not include in the text so the story is fully comprehensible on its own.

Maw Books:  In my interview with Kirby last September, she talked a bit about what inspired the two of you to write The Two Bobbies.  We’ve heard her side of the story, what’s your side of the story?

Mary Nethery: It was Kirby’s idea for us to consider writing together, and I must say, “Brilliant idea, Kirby!” We decided we wanted to write about animals, specifically relationships between different species. Lots of possible stories later, I saw the two Bobbies on Anderson Cooper 360 and it just hit me like a brick. This was our story to tell, a gift to Kirby and Mary!

Maw Books:  How fun to be looking for a story and finding a great one!  Also, what is it like to co-author a book with another author, particularly Kirby?  Are there advantages and disadvantages to working together?

Mary Nethery: What’s it like to co-author a book with another author? In a word, if it’s Kirby, fabulous! There’s nothing quite like growing a friendship and a story at the same time. We always put our friendship first-we make sure nothing jeopardizes that. Then at the top of the list is story. Always be true to the story, give it everything you’ve got so it has the best chance to move the reader and make a difference in the world. I’m a lucky person. I learn lots from Kirby-not only is she a brilliant writer, but she’s an authentic, generous and lovely person who knows how to live the writer’s life. You just can’t help but adore her! There are no disadvantages!

Maw Books:  What was your reaction to hear of Bob Cat’s passing and do you know how Bobbi the dog is doing?

Mary Nethery: I cried. It broke my heart. Kirby and I had a plaque engraved for Melinda. It reads: “Bob Cat- Bobbi and Melinda’s Angel, An Inspiration to All.” Melinda had Bobbi come into the room to say goodbye to Bob Cat, and I know that had to be hard-beyond-words for both of them. Melinda has since rescued another cat who looks amazingly like the illustrations of Bob Cat and came with the same name! He’s cousin Bob Kitty. Melinda goes into classrooms with Bobbi to read Two Bobbies, and it helps to cushion the sadness children feel when they learn of Bob Cat’s death. But it was that spunky little Bob Cat who brought my new kitten Dash to our family. After Bob Cat’s death, Melinda told us she’d found Bob Kitty on Petfinder. Kirby and I, of course, rushed to Petfinder to see if we could see his picture. But, no cat, no picture. He was actually on another site. While I was rummaging around on Petfinder, I thought I might just sort of see if there might possibly be any rescue Bengal kittens available. My beloved Asta, a marbled Bengal, had died of lymphoma a year and a half ago and I couldn’t stop grieving for him. There was 3 month old Dashiell, cute as a button, already spoken for, but that didn’t stop me. I lit the candles on my funky altar and before long he was flying from Atlanta, Georgia to California to assume his new role as Baby Mewz. Right now, he’s taking a power nap in his favorite chair! Even Muses need a break.  Here he is in all his Baby Mewz glory:

Dash, the Baby Mewz (all he needs is a cigar!)

Maw Books: That looks like one relaxed kitty!  I noticed that in Mary Veronica’s Egg that all the characters are named Mary:  Mary Veronica, Mary Louise, and Mary Margaret.  Your name is Mary too.  I had to ask:  what was the thought process behind naming your characters all Mary, especially because that’s your name?

Mary Nethery: Well, I’ve never quite forgiven my mother for naming me Mary. Somehow it just doesn’t fit. I always wanted a boy’s name and I always liked my sisters’ names better-Gina and Anita. So I gave Mary Veronica two sisters, named everyone Mary and gave them my sisters’ middle names-Margaret and Louise. Any resemblance to actual persons is entirely coincidental.

Maw Books:  I can’t help but notice that all of your books so far are about animals!  Can you tell us about this obvious passion who have for animals and what draws you to write about them?

Mary Nethery: Oh, I’m definitely passionate about animals. I think they’re the most beautiful and under-rated creatures on earth-I believe in the power of animals to evolve the human spirit. I spent most of my childhood in the company of animals. My friends always say, “If I ever came back as a cat, I’d want to be your cat!” I take that as a compliment. One of my fondest dreams is to “sit” with a tiger. Just sit there in peace and feast my eyes on such beauty. I almost got to once, but no cigar. Yet. When my husband and I were in Kenya and Tanzania, every cat came to say “hey.” The other three people on safari with us had begun their safari before we arrived and they’d seen like one cat. I get in the land rover and we’re surrounded!

Maw Books:  Tanzania, how fun!  Education and teaching is obviously very important to you.  You have a degree in music (I’d love to know what you play!) with minors in art and English Literature (now that combination is just begging for a picture book to result from it!) with a Master’s in curriculum design.  You have also taught school and coordinated professional development.  If a child were to tell you that school isn’t important to them or it’s just too hard, what would you tell them?

Mary Nethery:  I play guitar and piano and I also do vocals. I think the minors in art and English Lit were definitely inspired by my days in the crib! A part of my presentations to kids is about the power of intention. Every child in the room has the capacity to create her own life. Some have more resources and support than others. But you work with what you’ve got and you believe in abundance and things happen. I also show kids that in order to become a writer or an artist (and lots of kids wish they were writers or artists) you have to go to school. It’s not going to happen any other way. Go after what you want.

Maw Books:  What is the best thing about going into schools for presentations?  Do you have any favorite experiences that you’d like to share?

Mary Nethery: I really enjoy school presentations. What I see in children is their glorious brilliance-they never cease to impress me with their insights and the quality of their questions. I like the kind of interaction between presenter and young audience-it’s typically more dynamic than adult to adult, I think.

One of my favorite experiences was presenting in Illinois and having two little gentlemen absolutely enthralled because I was from California- which translated to Hollywood for them. They were kids who weren’t doing so well in school, but came up after the presentation to give me their artwork, which when I looked at it, I thought, “Wow, you guys have something going here. Keep it up!”

Maw Books:  Describe yourself as a reader. What books or authors influenced and inspired you as a child? As an adult?

Mary Nethery: My favorite things about reading are finding books with humor, characters I want to keep as BFF, and insights into the human condition that are illuminating. The writer that influenced me the most, early on, was James Marshall. His quirkiness, droll humor, and sense of abandon and authenticity struck me as something I wanted to emulate. But I never got to meet him, drat. One of my favorite novels is How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. I admire how she drips in the back story as if it were on an IV. That book has haunted me ever since I read the last line, closed the book, and said goodbye to her cast of characters and dystopia she so artfully created. I also love Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy (especially the animal daemons); and M.T. Anderson’s Feed because it’s so visionary and written in such a cohesive style. My favorite picture book is Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh-I adore the sentient Martha! Wish I would’ve thought of that conceit!

Maw Books:  If you could have dinner with any three living authors or illustrators whom you have not yet met, whom would you choose?  And are you the type of person who would host at your home or would you go out?

Mary Nethery: Well, if we’re fantasizing here, I’d own a home that looks like it belongs in Tuscany or St. Remy and we’d eat in the courtyard by candlelight and the scent of lavender. And we could do that because I’d have my own chef and housekeeper. I’d invite Meg Rosoff, Susan Meddough, Philip Pullman and M.T. Anderson. There are more, but my courtyard isn’t that big. Oh, but we could fit one more, Maira Kalman, because I adore Ooh-la-la (Max In Love). Just think of the dinner conversation we’d have!

Maw Books:  Perfect!  I love it!  What’s the last book you finished, what’s on your nightstand right now and what’s in the wings waiting for you to read?

Mary Nethery: I just finished Jennifer Allison’s Gilda Joyce, The Ghost Sonata. I’m now reading The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer from the Gideon Trilogy (lovin’ it). And waiting for me is M.J. Rose’s The Reincarnationist, and The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene.

Maw Books:  This is a question that I ask every single author I interview.  And that is to share a recipe with with us which I then later try to make and spotlight on my blog.  You already have a recipe that you’ve contributed to the book Authors in the Kitchen.  Which recipe was it and would you be willing to share it here?

Mary Nethery: Writers in the Kitchen was compiled by Tricia Gardella, a dear friend. Here’s the recipe I contributed in honor of my Italian grandmother:

My Nonna’s Gnocchi

1.5 pounds of potatoes
1 cup flour
1.5 teaspoons salt

Boil, then finely mash the potatoes. Gently knead in the flour and salt. Form the dough into a ball. On a floured board, divide the ball into 4 equal pieces. Make a snake out of each piece. Cut each strip into 1 inch squares. Drop the squares into a pot of boiling water. When they rise to the top, boil for one more minute. Place in a serving dish and add a marinara or pesto sauce, topped with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Gnocci is an Italian comfort food! Enjoy! (Sorry this is a messy recipe to make, though.)

Maw Books:  What do you do outside the world of books?  Is there a profession other than your own you would like to attempt?

Mary Nethery: I’m always at my computer doing writing things. But I do love to travel to exotic places, eat desserts (especially frosting), play with Dash, find a great fashion piece on sale for lots and lots off, go out to dinner, movies and the theatre with my husband, and spend time with my writing friends. Other professions I’d like to attempt? Maybe a recording artist-I used to sing for my supper when I was in college, or maybe a fashion designer. Sometimes I think it would be exciting to be an ER doctor, but the blood would make me faint. Now that I think about it, I’d love to star in a soap opera!

Maw Books:  In addition to Two Bobbies, I understand you are in the final edits of another book , Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle that you’ve written again with Kirby Larson which will be published this fall.  Will you also tell us about that?

Mary Nethery: What I can say about this story is that it’s truly inspiring, the story of a lifetime. We’ve read about dogs in Iraq who’d been rescued and brought to the states by our men and women in uniform, but none who’d manifested his own destiny like Nubs did. This is a story of the power of love to flourish in even the most dire of circumstances. Everyone involved with Nubs’ story has shown such generosity of talent and love for this project, creating an absolutely stunning book that will make your heart a little bigger after reading it.

Maw Books:  I can’t wait to read it.  Tell us about The Famous Nini:  The Mostly True Story of a Plain White Cat Who Became a Star!

Mary Nethery: I never met a cat I didn’t love! One night I was watching a documentary on cats when I came upon Nini’s story. The idea that a simple white cat could somehow command world attention in the 1890’s didn’t surprise me, but it did intrigue me. Working with the New York Public Library, I found a few books that talked about Nini. Then, finally, I uncovered the person who originally brought Nini’s story to public attention-Jan Morris, a British historian, author and noted travel writer. I contacted her and asked if she knew exactly how Nini became a star. I was surprised and happy when she wrote me back. She said, “Oh I am so sorry, but all I know about the cat Nini I put into those books, and since I gathered the information in the late 1950’s, I’ve really forgotten where it came from!” Now I knew it wouldn’t be possible to solve this mystery. But I remained captivated. What could a cat in Venice in the 1890’s possibly have done to capture the attention of so many celebrities on the world stage-Verdi, the King and Queen of Italy, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Czar Alexander III, Pope Leo XIII? This is what inspired me to write The Famous Nini. I wanted to give Nini his very own story with a beginning, a middle and an end. To write that story, I posed the question: What does a cat have to offer that no other creature possesses? I found the answer in a simple truth- a purr, one of the most primal and soothing sounds in the universe, a gift only a cat can give.  Nini comes out from Clarion in 2010 and is illustrated by John Manders.

Maw Books:  I don’t know anything about Nini.  I can’t wait to read that one as well!  Is there anything else that you’d like to add for our readers?

Mary Nethery: I think I’ve babbled on far too long!

Maw Books:  Thank you so much for joining us today!  It was fun!

Visit Mary at her website.  I loved chatting with Mary and it was my pleasure to host her today courtesy of Provato Marketing, for other stops on the tour please check www.provatoevents.com.

Bonny is the author of The Christmas Crocodile (my book review), My Brother, The Robot (my book review), Holbrook: A Lizard’s Tale (my book review), Just a Minute, An Ant’s Day Off (my book review) and her newest A Visitor for Bear (my book review).  A Visitor for Bear was adorable and will easily be one of my favorite picture books this year.  A Visitor for Bear was also shortlisted for a Cybils award.  Needless to say, I’m excited to have Bonny with us today.  So let’s make her feel welcome . . .

Maw Book:  Welcome Bonny! You’re newest book A Visitor for Bear is receiving a lot of attention, selling well, receiving awards, and making short lists.  What are you thinking or feeling about reader reaction to A Visitor for Bear?

Bonny Becker: I’m thrilled! So many people have told me how “A Visitor for Bear” is their child’s favorite book or how their three-year-old will suddenly use a phrase from the books, exclaiming things like “Begone!” and “I am undone!” I mean, how cool is that? I have to admit, I really love the idea that this story is part of someone’s life. It’s an amazing feeling.

Maw Books:  What led you to write A Visitor for Bear instead of any of the other stories you could have written?

Bonny Becker: Stories have a certain “energy”. When I first started writing, I pretty much wrote or, at least, started writing most ideas that came to me. And then down the road I’d find out that there wasn’t enough there to keep me going. But I’m much better now at knowing the stories that have “something.” And I could just feel how fun this story would be to write.

Maw Books:  What’s your favorite scene that you wrote for the book?  Why?  And also, what is your favorite illustration as well?

Bonny Becker: I think my favorite scene is when Mouse wins Bear over as they sit having tea. It’s one of the last scenes I wrote as I struggled with how the dynamic would change between Mouse and Bear. I really like it because it ended up turning on Mouse just appreciating Bear—which is something I really believe in: that most of us thrive on simply being accepted and appreciated.

I’m not sure I can pick one favorite illustration. I love the spot illustration of Mouse peeking out from a bowl. I really like the ending illustration. All of Mouse’s reactions throughout make me smile. If I could pick one for my wall I realize I couldn’t decide on just one.

Maw Books:  Authors normally don’t give any input regarding the illustrations.  The illustrations for  A Visitor for Bear are WONDERFUL.  What was your reaction when you first saw the illustrations and what is your experience like to collaborate on picture books with an illustrator?

Bonny Becker: Kady MacDonald Denton is the illustrator and I was ecstatic when I saw her early sketches. I had no clear idea what Mouse and Bear looked like. I knew their personalities, but had no image in my head. Kady’s pictures were them! There they were on paper.

I always liken the author-illustrator relationship to that between the buyer and seller in a real estate deal. It all goes through an agent—in this case, the editor. At first it’s scary to give up any say-so in the illustrations. But, I’ve been lucky and had wonderful illustrators, including Kady, David Small, Jack E. Davis, and Nina Laden who did things I could never come up with.

I’m also really excited about the art in my new chapter book “The Magical Ms. Plum” that’s coming out this fall. The artist is Amy Portnoy. This is her first kid’s book, but she’s published some cartoons in The New Yorker and places like that. Her style is funny and warm.

Maw Books:  Holbrook, A Lizard’s Tale is about an artist who feels that he has something special inside of him, a way of seeing the world,  Holbrook hopes to find someone who will appreciate his artistic talent.  Is there a little bit of you inside of Holbrook?

Bonny Becker: Oh, yeah. Totally. I can’t remember when I didn’t want to be a writer. It goes way back and has been a major force in my life. But I do believe that everyone has that “big thing inside” (as Holbrook thinks of it.) And it expresses itself everywhere–skateboarding, cooking, engineering, science, being a good mother, knitting, custom cars, teaching–it’s everywhere! If you look around any room everything, everything is there because of human creativity.

Maw Books:  You grew up in a large family – I know how that goes, I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters myself – and you say that you have a lot of chaos in your life. Was any of that inspiration for both My Brother, the Robot and The Christmas Crocodile?

Bonny Becker: Absolutely. In fact, I worked the names of my brother and 4 sisters into “My Brother, the Robot.” I loved growing up in a big family. You have the same family size I did, but you had a nice even split of boys and girls. My family is still really close.

Maw Books:  Is there a particular book or scene that you feel most proud of?  And why?

Bonny Becker: That’s a tough question. I’m really proud of “A Visitor for Bear” and feel really good about the upcoming “The Magical Ms. Plum.” I think because both feel like I got it right. They’re not necessarily perfect. But I like the way each makes me feel. I hope I captured a kind of emotional experience that I really wanted to capture.

Maw Books:  If you could go back to the very beginning, would you change anything about the way you write?  Would you change anything in any of your books?

Bonny Becker: If I could go back, it would be nice if I knew then what I know now. In other words, I’d be more skilled and have a clearer sense of the kind of things I wanted to write. But I don’t think there’s any way I could have had a short cut to that. Having more confidence—that would have been good. I would tell my younger writing self not to worry so much. But my younger self would probably ignore me.

Maw Books:  What motivates you to write for children and young readers?

Bonny Becker: Reading as a kid was some of the most meaningful reading of my life—getting totally lost in Narnia and Oz and Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane. I really want to recreate that enchantment for myself and for my readers.

Maw Books:  What are some of your favorite experiences so far from book signings, school visits, interviews, and other promotional activities for your books?  Are there any particular moments that stand out to you that make it all worth it?

Bonny Becker: Well, one of the funniest moments was at a reading for “A Visitor for Bear.” A boy, maybe three or four, couldn’t wait to tell me something, but his mom made him wait patiently until I’d finished. At last it was his turn. He stood up, walked right up to me and announced in the loudest possible voice, “Today, I pooped in the potty!” He was enormously satisfied with himself. No buried potty training trauma for that kid!

A really meaningful moment, was at a school visit where a girl came up and told me that her brother had read “Holbrook: A Lizard’s Tale” and had decided to become an artist. Wow! You can’t have a bigger impact than that!

Maw Books:  I’m in the midst of potty training right now!  Ugh.  What are the challenges of being a children’s book writer?  Particularly in a time, when publishers aren’t doing very well in this economic climate?

Bonny Becker: It’s hard to find that line between being a commercial success and writing meaningful stories. Kids publishing has become a business that is so much more than writing a good book. I’m sure there’s always been that element, but now it’s huge.

I can’t decide how much time and energy and resources to spend on marketing versus what I put into my writing. You can’t just write your book and then sit around waiting for the world to come to your door. And, you really have no business complaining if they don’t. But I also see marketing and promotional efforts that, at least for me, would suck up all my time and energy! So I’m struggling to find that balance. And this is true for all the writers I know.

Maw Books:  Do you keep up with the blogs of the kidlitosphere?  Which do you read regularly? Have you considered starting your own blog?

Bonny Becker: I check in most days. Among others, I read Fuse 8, BookMoot, Bookshelves of Doom, Chicken Spaghetti, Educating Alice, Jen Robinson’s Book Page, laurasalas, Mother Reader, Oz and Ends, Read Roger and Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast.

Starting my own blog is something I think about all the time. It’s part of that “write my books” “market my books” dilemma.

Maw Books:  All right!  I had all but one of those blogs in my reader!  Great blogs!  What were you like as a young reader?  And what are you reading now?

Bonny Becker: Voracious and enthralled. I just finished Neil Gaiman’s “A Graveyard Book” which I enjoyed immensely. I’ve also started in on re-reading a lot of fantasy—from the Narnia books to “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke, because I’m going to teach a class on fantasy next fall.

Maw Books:  What is your favorite word?

Bonny Becker: Noooooo. That’s like asking which eyeball do I want to live without. I can’t do it.

Maw Books:  And conversely, what is a word you hate?

Bonny Becker:  Utilize. (“Use” works just fine!)

Pus (shudder)

Maw Books:  Eeww.  Pus I agree with.  What’s the best writing advice that you have ever received?  And what’s the best writing advice that you could give?

Bonny Becker: Received: “If you’re easily discouraged, you should be.”

Given: “All you need to do, all you can do is simply the next draft.”

Maw Books:  This is a question that I ask of every single author I review and that is to share with us a recipe, either one that appears in their books or a personal favorite.  I later try to make the recipe and blog about it.  Is there a particular recipe that you would like to share with us?

Bonny Becker: This is a cookie recipe I make every Christmas with my daughters:

Chocolate Mocha Pecan Balls

Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
½ cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups finely chopped pecans
Confectioners’ (powdered) sugar for coating the cookies

Directions

In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, the espresso powder, the cocoa powder and the salt. Beat mixture until it is well combined.

Add the flour. Beat the dough until it is just combined and beat in pecans. Chill the dough, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and arrange the balls about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes or until they are just firm and let them cool for 5 minutes on the sheets.

Toss the warm cookies in batches in a bowl of the confectioners’ sugar to coat them well. The cookies may be made 2 months in advance and kept frozen in airtight containers. Makes about 95 cookies.

Maw Books:  Delicious!  I can’t wait to try them!  Tell us about A Birthday for Bear and A Bedtime for Bear (I believe there is yet a third?)  What do you love so much about mouse and bear to continue on with the series and when can we expect to see them in stores?

Bonny Becker: In “A Birthday for Bear” Bear is his fastidious, grumpy self on his birthday—even denying that it is his birthday. Mouse disguises himself as various deliverymen, etc. trying to get Bear to admit it’s his birthday and enjoy the day.

In “A Bedtime for Bear”, Bear has Mouse over for Bear’s first ever sleep over. But in order to sleep, Bear does need quiet, absolute quiet. To Bear’s great frustration and growing annoyance, Mouse is not as quiet as a… well, you know.

“Birthday” will be out this fall in the form of an early reader. “Bedtime” will come out in 2010 as a picture book and then will come out in an early reader format. Candlewick is interested in developing a picture book and an early reader line for these characters.

Kady is illustrating the upcoming books and is doing another incredible job.

Maw Books:  Tell us about The Magical Ms. Plum?  What is it about and when can we expect to find that out as well?

Bonny Becker: “The Magical Ms. Plum” is a middle-grade chapter book about a teacher with a magical classroom—more specifically a classroom with a magic supply closet. Any kid who goes in there to get something for Ms. Plum ends up finding a magical, miniature animal and has an adventure. It’s episodic—each chapter features a different child, a different animal and a different experience. Ms. Plum and her classroom are exactly the kind of thing I would have loved to happen as a kid. Magic! Magic! Magic! That’s what I wanted more than anything in the third and fourth grades.

Maw Books:  What are you working on now?  And what are your continued goals and aspirations for the future?

Bonny Becker: I’m working on an older age novel—say 10 to 14 year olds. And it too is about magic.

Maw Books:  Wonderful!  Thank you so much Bonny for being with us today!  And I wish you much success.  Needless to say, I can’t wait until Birthday for Bear and your other books!

Bonny Becker website .  Thanks again to Bonny Becker for appearing, courtesy of Provato Marketing, for other stops on the tour please check www.provatoevents.com.

Maw Books:  Welcome!  Would you both take a moment to introduce yourselves and share a bit about you.

Carmela D’Amico: I’ve been writing since I could read. I love reading, hearing, telling and writing stories. I feel so very fortunate that I get to do what I love!

Steve D’Amico: I was the school “artist” at my elementary school, drawing dinosaurs, hot rods and superheroes for the other kids. I became the cartoonist for my high school newspaper and then went on to study design and art in college. I was a window display artist at Macy’s for almost 10 years, where I met and married Carmela. She was a writer and I was an illustrator, and we were both very interested in children’s literature…so a book was bound to arrive sooner or later.

Maw Books:  My husband is also an artist.  You seriously are giving me ideas that I’ve never thought of before!  Most authors do not collaborate with the illustrator for their picture books.  But you have the advantage of being married to each other!  What is it like to work together on the Ella series?  What are the advantages and the disadvantages?

Carmela D’Amico: The advantages are vast. When I write a picture book, I write in such a way that half or more of the story will be told via the illustrations. I’m a very visual/conceptual thinker so this comes pretty naturally to me. I have shown picture book manuscripts that are text alone to friends and editors alike. Even though I include a description of what will be happening visually on every page, it’s hard for others to see what’s going on in my head. (Imagine that!) Often when an editor or friend sees the illustrations later on, they’ll say things like, “Oh, I never realized THAT was what was going on.”

Steve and I know each other so well and we’re so symbiotic when working together, he can practically pluck images out of my mind and render them onto the page.

Steve D’Amico: Working as a team we’re able to make adjustments and revisions on-the-fly, before editorial input. Once we’ve cross-checked each others’ work and we feel things are solid, then we forward our work to the publisher. It’s a very synergistic way of working.

Maw Books:  Who came up with the idea of Ella in the first place?  Carmela or Steve? Did it seem a natural idea to tackle the project together or did you have misgivings in the beginning?

Carmela D’Amico: I came up with the idea of Ella. It definitely seemed natural to tackle the project together. We’d considered working on a children’s book together for some time.

Steve D’Amico: My contribution to the series was mostly visual, although we did brainstorm certain plot points together. The great thing about working together is that when one of us gets stuck, the other one is there to help out. I did all of the character and environment design work, but Carmela was definitely my art director.

We did have a few misgivings early on, not because we didn’t believe in Ella The Elegant Elephant as a story, but because quite honestly it’s not easy developing a creative working relationship within a marriage. That first book was a bit of a trial by fire, but once we figured out our roles and created a development system things came much easier.

Maw Books:  Ella is a wonderful character; small, timid and shy but very eager and smart.  How do you flesh out Ella’s character so she became alive for you?

Carmela D’Amico: By the time I started to write about Ella, she was already fully alive in my mind. I more or less watched her evolve as I wrote. I wish I could say something that would be more helpful to other writers. One thing I did do in the books that came after the first, was to always make sure that Ella was behaving in character. There were many times, while writing a rough draft, that Ella would say or do something that I’d later change because it didn’t seem true to her.

Steve D’Amico: I tried to reinforce through the pictures the type of personality Carmela gave Ella. Her features are extremely simple but also very expressive. She’s also fairly small compared to the other elephants, which kind of gives the impression to me of an underdog or someone who has to try a little harder.

Maw Books:  What are your goals for the Ella series?  What do you want children to come away with after reading one of your books?

Carmela D’Amico: We’re actually taking a little hiatus from Ella at the moment. We did four Ella books in four years. While that was exciting and kept us busy, I’m really enjoying branching out and working on other things at the moment. However, I do intend to return to Ella in a couple of years or so. Ella has been optioned for a TV series and if that comes to fruition I may do another book sooner. My Ella-goal du jour is to see her in a TV series. I think she’s a good role model for young children.

When a child comes away from an Ella book I want them to feel as though their their kindest and most generous instincts have been affirmed, as Ella is an extremely kind and generous little elephant.

Maw Books:  She’d be such a cute TV character!  I hope that works out.  I’m sure you have a lot of different stories planned for Ella.  What makes you choose the stories that you did write about instead of any of the other ones that you could have?

Carmela D’Amico: I tend to choose whatever story moves forward with greatest ease when I apply pen to paper.

Maw Books:  What are some of those rejected story ideas from your brainstorming and are there some stories that you are dying to share?

Carmela D’Amico: There’s one called The Perfect Present about Ella agonizing over what to get her mother for her birthday. And an Ella Christmas book that I’ve been tinkering with.

Steve D’Amico: There was another adventure planned where Ella and her friends play on an abandoned boat that had washed up on shore, only to have the tide come in and leave them stranded at sea. In the story Ella’s quick thinking saves the day, but Carmela and I got a little stuck with some of the story elements on that one, so we shelved it and went on to a different story. Who knows, maybe we’ll revisit it some day…

Maw Books:  They all sound wonderful!  Personally, I’d love a Christmas book.  A birthday book would be a hard book to pass up as well.  What led you to choose an island as the setting for the Ella series?

Carmela D’Amico: I saw the whole of the Elephant Islands in a daydream. I do a lot of my work subconsciously and will often sit back and close my eyes and just “see” what comes. This is how I dreamed up the islands. I thought, why not give this elephant a magical made-up world?

Steve: D’Amico: I loved Carmela’s idea of undiscovered islands…they could look like anything! I wanted to add a fantastical element to the geography, so after much sketching and deliberation I settled on cliff-like islands that were a cross between a flooded Grand Canyon and the islands of Halong Bay in China. The bridges that connect the islands were originally supposed to allow the elephants to travel between the islands during high tide. At low tide, they were all part of a single large island. That part of the environment was never described in the books, but it’s still part of the backdrop of the story in my mind.

Maw Books:  I love the idea of low and high tide.  Interesting to know what you’ve left out but feel as though it exists.  If you’re roles were switched – Carmela was the illustrator and Steve was the author what would change about your books?

Carmela Di’Amico: I honestly am such a fan of Steve’s work, I don’t think I’d change anything stylistically.

Steve D’Amico: Ditto.

Maw Books:  That just made my heart melt a little bit.  Carmela, when you wrote your first book at the age of five, what was it about and do you still have it?

Carmela D’Amico: Sadly, I do not still have it. It was called “What I See” and it was about what I saw on my way to and from school each day. My mom and I would cut through an orange grove to and from school, and the book was mainly about how the oranges smelled and looked and tasted.

Maw Books:  And what do you love about writing so much?  Especially writing for children?

Carmela D’Amico: It’s a challenge for me to fit my thoughts into words because, as I mentioned earlier, I’m a visual thinker. I tend to feel that words limit how we perceive our experiences more than they illuminate or augment them. This being said, words are the most effective tool we have to share our experiences with others. We primarily do this through stories. I guess you could say that, above all, I love the challenge of writing, of trying to share experiences, through words, with other human beings.

I am constantly surprised by how challenging is to write for children! When writing for children you must simplify without dumbing down. Children are wise and they know right off if they’re being talked down to. Boiling a story down to its essence is essential to writing for children and it’s also what I love most of all about the process.

Maw Books:  What were you like as a young reader?  Who are some of your favorite authors and a few books that you think nobody should miss?

Carmela D’ Amico: I went through phases with reading. Sometimes I would read constantly for months, other times not as much and I often would read the books I loved over and over again.

“Mandy” by Julie Andrews really captured me when I was child, as did “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I loved stories about young children who had a private little world all their own because I sensed the similarity between them and me. I didn’t have a little abandoned house in the woods or a neglected garden, but I kept to myself very much as I child. My mind was my “private world”.

I loved “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. Wilbur possessed such naive sweetness and Charlotte such a worldly astuteness about things. I loved how their friendship evolved through the conversations they had. The way E.B. White wove the seasons in and out of the story and his poetic details about nature were a mesmerizing backdrop.

I loved everything Dr. Seuss from preschool age on. By the time I was in college I was able to recite “The Lorax” by heart from beginning to end, and “The Sneetches,” too.

Maw Books:  Steve, you’ve drawn your whole life.  Would you share with us what you were like growing up, why you enjoy working as an artist and what you do when you’re not collaborating with Carmela?

Steve D’Amico: I got a lot of encouragement and support from my parents and relatives when I was very young. I always assumed I’d be an “artist” one day…that’s what they told me!

I was bit of a clown in school and didn’t belong to any particular clique or group, really. I was fortunate to have pretty wide acceptance from most of the kids, who regarded my drawing skills as almost magical. In reality I just practiced a lot…even when I was supposed to be studying, I’d be doodling on a Pee Chee folder or drawing for a friend.

I work at a studio in Seattle called Smashing Ideas where I design games and websites for kids. I’ve done projects for Nick Jr., PBS Kids and The Disney Channel, to name a few. I also do quite a bit of freelance illustration. I just finished a job for Starbucks’ new training manual. I do quite a wide range of stuff, you can check out some of it on my blog at http://stevendamico.blogspot.com.

Maw Books:  My husband also grew up as an artist.  Like you, I’m very happy his parents didn’t discourage his dream to live as an artist although they were apprehensive.  Luckily, he’s an animator and I hope he’ll always be a working artist.  Steve, your illustrations have often been compared to H.A. Rey and Jean de Brunhoff.  Who are some of your favorite artists/illustrators?  What were your main influences in how you approached the illustrations for the Ella series?

Steve D’Amico: I’m always flattered when I’m compared to greats like Rey and Brunhoff, it’s really quite gratifying. The Ella books represent my first foray into charcoal as a medium. Prior to that I usually used pen and ink, because I am such a big fan of comic art. I’ve always been a huge Charles Schulz fan, I became very immersed in the world of Peanuts at a young age. As an adult and an illustrator I’ve gained a new appreciation for Schulz’s draftsmanship…he was a genius as an artist and a storyteller. His character designs were probably an influence on the proportions of the Ella characters to some degree.

H.A. Rey’s rendering style was influential. I used a similar charcoal and wash approach.

I love Dr. Seuss, of course. My siblings and I used to memorize entire pages of his books.

Going a bit further back, I love the pen and ink work of John Tenniel, who did the Alice In Wonderland books. Windsor McKay (Little Nemo In Slumberland), George Herriman (Krazy Kat), Jack Kirby (The Fantastic Four, Captain America), Alphonse Mucha, Maxfield Parrish, Maurice Sendak, Ludwig Bemelmans…I could go on and on.

Maw Books:  What are your work spaces like and do you have any writing or illustrating rituals?

Steve D’Amico: I need clean open spaces to work in. Too much clutter makes me claustrophobic, work-wise.

I tend to sketch and re-sketch my illustrations several times before committing to charcoal. I think a lot about where to put the “camera” and how the drawing will work in the flow of the book layout. Will it be a spread or a spot? Will it bleed off the page or not? Where should the page breaks go?  There are a lot of considerations for each illustration if the series of pictures is going to hang together well and assist the rhythm of the story.

Maw Books:  Ella’s favorite dessert is Zanzibar Cake.  One of my favorite features on my blog is to ask authors to share a recipe with us, especially if it appears in their book and then I’ll later try to make it. Would you share with us why Zanzibar Cake is her favorite cake and where this recipe came from?

Steve D’Amico: You can download the Zanzibar Cake recipe from the Ella website: http://www.ellatheelephant.com.

The recipe was actually given to us by a lady who made it for one of our bookstore appearances here in Seattle, and it was DELICIOUS. If you try it, you’ll see why it’s Ella’s favorite!

Maw Books:  I’m going to encourage everybody to go over to the website to download the recipe!  I’m certainly going to try my hand at it and highlight it later here.  What do you do outside the world of books and design/illustration?

Steve D’Amico: Haha…not a lot, these days. I’ve been pretty booked, so I’m glad that I love my work. I go running for exercise do odd home improvement projects and we have a fairly active social life. We both love to travel, we’re planning a trip to visit Carmela’s relatives in Italy next year.

Maw Books:  And what are you both working on right now?

Carmela D’Amico: We’re currently working together on a picture book called SUKI the Very Loud Bunny.

I’ve been at work on a novel for several years now and hope to have it finished it by 2010.

Maw Books:  Is there anything else that you’d like to share with the readers of the Maw Books Blog?

Carmela D’Amico: Thank you for having us!

Steve D’Amico: Yes, thanks so much!

Maw Books:  My pleasure!  Thank you!

Thanks again to Carmela D’Amico and Steve D’Amico for appearing, courtesy of Provato Marketing, for other stops on the tour please check www.provatoevents.com.  And visit the Ella the Elephant website.