Stacy Nyikos and Sea Turtle TOBY

I'm delighted today to welcome Stacy Nyikos to the blog. Her newest picture book, Toby, is a delight, with a sweet story and charming illustrations. Stacy and I overlapped at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and during our shared workshop I was impressed by her talent and insights.

First a bit about Toby: "Birds, and crabs, and crocs - oh my! Can Toby outslip, outslide, out-double flip and dive them? Join this curious little sea turtle as he follows his heartsong from egg to ocean."

Hi Stacy! So great to have you here. What inspired you to write about sea turtles?

That’s easy. Countless, very excited, energetic young readers! I do a lot of author signings at aquariums, and the number one question I get from children is, "Will you write a story about a turtle?" This went on for almost five years, but I never had a story idea. Then one day, I was coming home from an aquarium signing, and I think all of that collective energy from those eager readers finally hatched its own idea and Toby was born. I didn’t even make it home. I had to pull over and write the story down. It was awesome.

  

Toby is not your first publication. How did you get your start?

Sea animals gave me my start. My girls were in the aquarium/zoo stage. We visited A LOT of them. The giftshop was, of course, one of the most exciting exhibits. The girls were repeatedly drawn to the plush animals, toys, rocks. I searched and searched for a couple of books to take home, something that would last longer than a week. It was a hard search. I finally decided to try to do something about it and started writing books featuring sea animals. I’ve since moved on to dragons, fantastical worlds, and dogs, but sea animals will always be closest to my heart. They inspired me to write for children.

I know you've written both picture books and longer work. Do you have a preference?

I don’t. I don’t have that much control! The story decides what kind of form it’s going to take. I’m just along for the ride. As fate would have it, it’s usually when I’m months into a longer novel that a rush of picture book ideas comes to me. I’ll take a day – sometimes a week – off from the novel to get the ideas down and hash out a few rough drafts, before getting back to the novel. The break usually gives me a second (or sixteenth) wind for the novel, which moves along faster again. It’s as if I need that break from the marathon of a novel for a few picture books sprints to finish any of it.

  

We were together at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA rocks!) How did that experience change you as a writer?

Vermont College helped me understand how better to wield the tools in my writer’s toolbox. It also trained me to write more consciously, to direct my story a little more effectively. I have to turn off the conscious writer sometimes to let my characters play, but I enjoy being a little more clued into what I’m doing now. I like to think it makes me more even-keeled, but the secret drawer of chocolate in my office still needs a lot of refilling.

Would you share your writing process? In particular, how do you write a rhyming picture book like Toby?

Oh man, sharing my writing process is like voluntarily showing my messy closet to my mom because my process is REALLY messy. I’m not much of a plotter. I like to let a story develop, to experience it – at least the first draft – the way my readers will. That’s half the fun of writing for me. But it’s really messy. My characters like to take off and do their own thing, leaving me hanging high and dry. I spend a lot of time herding them back, or following them if they just won’t come. Mondays are generally pretty cranky days because they do not want to get back on my storyline. The other days aren’t much better. I wake up thinking about plot lines, forget where I’m driving because a character will suddenly appear in the seat next to me and start chatting. Story dogs me even when I don’t want it to, and I never have a pen when I should, which makes my whole writing process messy, messy messy (but secretly, A LOT of fun :) ).

What's coming up next for you?

I’m in the early stage of marketing for another picture book release in November, Waggers, which is about a newly adopted puppy who tries to be good – he tries really hard! – but his tail gets in the way. Writing-wise, I’m working on a picture book about a family of singers who can’t actually sing, The Four Tenners. I’m also working on a YA novel, Skin Deep, a retelling of Moses in a Blade Runner setting. I started it at Vermont College and am now revising. And finally, I’m laying the groundwork for a new YA, Legacy, about a high school senior whose parents are all over her to take the college, job, career fast track and her grandfather who helps her find a her path.

Find out more about Stacy at http://www.stacyanyikos.com/blog.html

WEIRD ROCKS Rocks!! Plus a Giveaway

When I was a kid my first hobby was rock collecting. It all started with one of those little sampler boxes that we picked up at a museum. Then my parents took us rock-hounding: searching for gems in places open to the public. Then my sister found (and subsequently lost, sadly) a lovely ruby. Then I got my masters in geology. Then I married a geologist...well, you get the drill.

What I would've given for a copy of this book when I was young! Michele Corriel has written a truly fun exploration of some of the weirder rocks on the planet. Today she's here with a guest post, plus she's giving away one copy of WEIRD ROCKS. It would be a great addition to any library. All you need to do is comment and I'll put you in my random giveaway generator!

Sometimes it’s easy to think of a non-fiction picture book (or any non-fiction book) as a way to get information across to young readers. But for me, it’s much more than that. It’s an opportunity to understand language. It’s a new door opening for a poetic perspective. A new inlet to creativity. 

For example, you can’t say the “obsidian black sky” before you know what obsidian is. You can’t say “the granite feeling of winter” without knowing how old and stubborn granite can be.

There is also something empowering about being able to name things. (Think about Voldemort and how by never saying his name everyone became even more afraid.) For me, non-fiction is more empowering than the Hallow's elder wand.

So when I’m sitting down to write a non-fiction picture book, I think very hard about the words I’m using and how to embracing the language in a way that can open the door for young readers to use those words and to understand the concepts, not just in the scientific way, but in a poetic way as well.

In the same way, non-fiction books can used in the classroom as a means to seeing vocabulary not only as definitions but to hear how melodic words can be, how close beauty is to an idea. And, of course, as a way of avoiding the dreaded clichés.

Another way to use non-fiction for creative writing is to use the old “what if” scenario. What If the continents never drifted apart? What kind of world would we live in? Would we be a single country?

I also like to try to think out of the box when I approach a subject that has the potential to be very dry. I try to come up with a new way to introduce the reader to something as boring as, say, a simple rock. For every rock we come across there is a history as ancient the earth itself. Sometimes, even older (I’m thinking of meteorites). I think of star dust and mysteries. I think of cities destroyed by volcanoes. Or inland oceans whose only signature is the fossils they left behind.

Besides the words themselves, besides the story behind the subject, there are the people whose lives are dedicated to sorting out a single question.

The world is such a fascinating place, and it is the job of the non-fiction writer to get that point that across to the reader.

Check out the WEIRD ROCKS trailer, and then comment to win a copy!

Guest Post by Nancy Bo Flood: HEART in NONFICTION BOOKS

Nancy Bo Flood, a good friend and talented fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts grad, has a new non-fiction picture book out, COWBOY UP! RIDE THE NAVAJO RODEO, with photographs by Jan Sonnenmair. I invited her to come by and talk about non-fiction picture books, because they have become an important part of the young child's reading experience.

Here's Nancy:

Informational picture books for children keep getting better with engaging stories and images.  Regardless of the picture book topic, we see innovative designs, creative presentations, plus captivating images that often mix photographs and historical papers with colorful art.

The most striking new quality of current nonfiction picture books for children is that each book is a story – a story with setting, characters, plot or “through line,” and most important “heart.”  What I mean by heart is that the author’s passion for the subject shines right through the words and captures the heart of the reader.  When children read that last page, they not only know new information, but perhaps even more important, the reader cares.  Wow!  I want to read more.  Where’s another book?

For example, Leda Schubert’s picture book biography of Marcel Marceau won this year’s Orbis Pictus Prize – the best in nonfiction children’s literature.  MONSIEUR MARCEAU: ACTOR WITHOUT WORDS tells a true story with a blazing heart.

Look over the entire list of winning books recognized with the Orbis Pictus prize  this year. The list is found at the National Council of Teachers of English’s (NCTE) site. The entire list is invaluable as a variety of examples of books that tell a story, engage readers, and provide a depth of information.

My own recent nonfiction picture book, COWBOY UP! RIDE THE NAVAJO RODEO, is a nonfiction “hybrid” of poetry, narrative and photographs.  What I worked to create was a book that showed the heart of Navajo rodeo – the determination of the young riders as they try to stay on a bucking sheep , race around barrels on a galloping horse, or ride without saddle on a bucking bronco.  I wanted to show that these wranglers are kids like any kid, they strut the midway, slurp a refreshing shaved ice, fight back tears when they don’t make a winning ride. To show the real heart of this sport, I wanted the reader to experience the riders’ fears, failures and successes, and also the excitement of the crowd, the involvement of every family member from the grandmas and grandpas to the cousins and baby sisters.

In summary, we see that the key qualities of good nonfiction books remain true.  Research is thorough and in-depth, and whenever possible, includes primary sources.  Information presented is accurate, often presenting “both sides” of controversial topics so readers can analyze and make up their own young minds.

But the newest components – story and heart - are now part of a good factual book regardless of the book’s topic. Nonfiction books, including picture books, are written with all the same skill and craft as any book – and with passion, heart and story.  

Interview: Author Sherry Garland

Years ago, when I was starting out, I met several authors who were beyond kind to me. They offered advice and support and never made me feel anything but accepted. One was Kelly Bennett, whom I featured recently, and another was today's guest, Sherry Garland.

Sherry moved to College Station, Texas, from Houston just about the time I was getting started with my writing. She was a real role model - highly successful, having written beautiful books that I continue to admire. And her career continues, through thick and thin, with gorgeous books of all stripes. I'm really pleased to welcome her to my blog. Here's Sherry:

You’ve been a successful author for many years now. Can you tell us a bit about how you began – your early sales, and the books you’ve published?

October, 2012 marks my thirtieth year of being a published author. I have thirty published books, so it averages out to one a year, but in fact there were many “dry” years with no books and some bountiful years of two or more books.

I give credit to my high school English teacher as the person who started me on the long journey to becoming an author. She encouraged me to read great works of literature and to write. She made our senior honors class enter a state-wide essay contest.  I won first place, was in the newspaper, on TV, honored at a banquet and received $100 (that was big bucks back then). She made me feel that I had a talent for writing. I also took journalism and wrote some items for the high school newspaper.

However, it was fifteen years later before I considered writing as a career and joined a writer’s group in Houston. I read tons of how-to-write books and attended conferences. At one conference I met an editor and submitted a proposal to her for a romance novel.  She bought two manuscripts from me (I used a pen name). I didn’t like writing love scenes and the editor was discouraging, so I quit writing altogether and figured my career was over. About five years later, I saw an ad in a writer’s magazine placed by an educational publisher wanting someone to write a children’s NF book about Vietnam. I had never written for children, but I knew a lot about Vietnam because of my friendships with the Vietnamese community in Houston.  That NF book launched my career in the children’s publishing industry. Because of that research, I sold seven books about Vietnam (2 YA, 4 PBs, and 1 NF) plus two magazine stories. Suddenly I was a children’s author!

Please share with us your most recent publications. Can you talk especially about your “Voices of...” collection – how that came into being and what’s planned for the future?

Even though the books are only 40 pages long, they have to be 100% historically accurate. It takes me about one year to do the research then write the book and back matter that includes a 1500 word historical note, glossary of terms and bibliography. Every time I write one, I feel like I have done the equivalent of a master’s thesis! It does make me good at playing Trivial Pursuit.

It started when my editor at Scholastic asked me to write a picture book about The Alamo. I was getting nowhere fast then one day, while sitting in the courtyard of The Alamo, I had a “Eureka” moment: I would tell the story from the perspective of sixteen first person narrative, some real historical figures, some fictitious people. The editor loved it and hired Ronald Himler to do the wonderful illustrations. That book sold very well, in fact this book is used in nearly every elementary school in Texas; it is even sold at the Alamo gift shop. When the Alamo book went out of print, Pelican Publishing, a regional publisher who specializes in southern and southwestern books, reissued it. 

One day the president of Pelican Publishing asked me if I would write a Voices of Gettysburg book using the same 40 page format. It was a topic that worked well with 16 narratives, alternating the POV between Union and Confederate soldiers and citizens. It was illustrated by Judith Hierstein and released in 2010.

Then, I saw a TV documentary about the Dust Bowl and knew it was a topic I had to write about. Being a native Texan, I have many older relatives who lived through the Dust Bowl period. Voices of the Dust Bowl, also illustrated by Judith Hierstein, was released in 2012.

Pelican also asked me to write about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I felt out of my element because I did not know much about WWII.  It was difficult to alternate the POV between Japanese and American narrators, plus get in all the historical data that needed to be presented, but I am happy with the results. The talented Houston artist, Layne Johnson, agreed to do the illustrations. Release date for Voices of Pearl Harbor is spring, 2013. 

Do you prefer to write picture books or novels?

A very tough question.  After 14 novels, I used to consider myself a novelist first and foremost.  I would happily say that it was easier for me to write an entire novel than one picture book. But after 14 picture books, I have become quite fond of the PB genre, too.  Nearly all of mine are historical in nature (except for the folk tales), so it takes a long time for the research. As I get older, I am finding it harder to sit still long enough to write an entire novel. One novel took me three years to research and write, so I want to make sure the novel is something I truly care about before I invest that much time in it.

You clearly love to do research as most of your books have some historical or cultural details. Please talk about how you choose your subjects and how you conduct your research.

Yes, I’m not a sci-fi, fantasy sort of gal.  I write realistic fiction, both historical and contemporary. Of course, all of my historical works, such as the two Dear America books, are inspired by actual historical events Even my contemporary novels have real events as their basis. For Shadow of the Dragon, I was inspired by the news about the beating death of a Vietnamese teenager by a gang of skinheads. For Letters from the Mountain, the idea came from a TV documentary about teens who “huffed” dangerous inhalants. I wrote The Silent Storm after experiencing a hurricane in Houston in 1983.

interior spread from Voices of Pearl Harbor

Because I want the novels to feel “real,” I have to research every aspect of the time period or culture – clothing, housing, language, means of transportation, lifestyles, customs, philosophies, religion – the list goes on and on.

I have two criteria when I choose a subject: 1) I have to love the topic myself and 2) it has to be something that will interest young readers and/or teachers. 

I know you’re something of a “school visit expert.” Do you have any tips or strategies that you can share with readers?

I consider doing school visits much like going into battle. Hope for the best but expect the worst. Be flexible. Don’t lose your cool when things go wrong.  Something will always go wrong – AV mechanical problems, schedule mess-ups, doors locking you out in the rain, fire-drills, kids throwing up on your shoes, and on and on. Always have a written contract that explains what materials are needed, length of presentation, size and age of audience, number of presentations, travel arrangements and fees.  Don’t trust the organizer to remember everything.  Get a schedule ahead of time. Get both school and home phone numbers of the organizer.  I have more information on my website.

What are you working on now?

Two YA novels set in the 1960s; two contemporary middle grade novels; a YA mystery; and a weird YA novella that I am afraid to send out to anyone because it is more edgy than my other works. And lots of picture books.

How can readers learn more about you and your books?

My website is:  www.sherrygarland.com

My blog is called “Into the Woods We Go”: sherrygarlandblog@wordpress.com

Thanks, Sherry! 

Here's one of Sherry's book trailers, this one for The Buffalo Soldier:

The Gut Shot: Hitting Readers Where it Counts

Okay, disclaimer time: Kelly Bennett is one of my favorite people. She was one of the first published writers who treated me like a equal (when I was a naive newbie). And she's enormously talented, having written acclaimed, fun and charming books like Your Mommy Was Just Like You, Not Norman, Dance Y'all Dance...and many more, including her most recent release One Day I Went Rambling. Plus, she's a Vermont College grad! 

Check out her website at http://www.kellybennett.com/ and all her fabulous books.

So when Kelly agreed to write me a guest post I told her to have at it, and she suggested writing about...FOOD. 

Who doesn't like food? (Silly question.) But, how can food be used in story? Here's what Kelly has to say:

Children know food. Eating is something they’ve been doing all their lives. By middle childhood most have accumulated a trove of textural, olfactory, visual, and aural food memories: the crunch of celery, the stinky sock stench of ripe cheese, the sticky spicy-cool sweetness of candy cane, the rasp of dry toast against the roof of a mouth, the slurp of spaghetti, to name a few. They’ve formed opinions about foods and, through the media and stories, have knowledge of foods they’ve never experienced personally. Additionally, they’ve amassed food memories, some with strong emotions attached (think mother’s milk, birthday cake, “clear your plate” and “no dessert until you…”). Why not draw on what readers already know—food—to connect them with your characters and spice up your stories? In other words: Aim for the gut!

Here are some examples to get you Thinking Food:

Plot: Each of us spends “more than fifteen full days a year doing nothing but eating” (Food Rules by Bill Haduch), so at its most basic food plays a central role in reader’s lives. Use it in character’s lives, too. Food issues, the quest for food, preparation of food, lack, need, or abundance of food, can serve as a plot points.

•       Perfect by Natasha Friend, teens with eating disorders.
•       James Cross Giblin’s The Boy Who Saved Cleveland, a survival story all about corn.
•       Joan Bauer’s Close to Famous and Sprinkles and Secrets by Lisa Schroeder both center on cupcakes. 

Characterization: Consider the immortal words of J. Wellington Wimpy “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Thoughts, attitudes, and opinions about food add flesh to our character’s bones.

• In Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look, this description of the new girl says it all: “When the ice-cream truck came down the street, Christina was always the first in line.”
• Tracing the Stars by Erin Moulton, stars Indie Lee Chicory who loves chowder almost as much as she does her golden cola drinking lobster.
• The Chocolate Touch, John Midas is a nice boy with “one bad fault: he was a pig about candy.”

Mealtimes:  Back-story and motivation are revealed, stories unravel, and secrets are shared.

• Who’s coming to dinner? Meals are an excuse to bring all manner of characters together.
• What’s for dinner? Mealtime fare reveals economic situations and informs readers about other times, places & cultures.
• Where’s dinner? The place and table establish setting

Descriptions: Food is often used to describe color, especially skin color: white as cream, honey golden, mocha, Joe’s face “pale as an onion” (How to Eat Fried Worms, Thomas Rockwell). At best, food references create multi-sensory descriptions.

• Sid Fleischman describes the prince’s face as “lobster-red from running” in The Whipping Boy. Readers unfamiliar with lobsters will visualize a reddish face and read on. Those familiar with lobsters will round out the image by picturing the prince’s face as hard and crusty like a lobster shell, and a whiff of sea salt.
• Richard Best calls a classmate’s legs “Slim Jim pretzels” (The Candy Corn Contest by Patricia Reilly Giff) –long, thin, pretzel salt, bumpy, too.
• Ruby Lu’s ink “as lumpy as tempura batter” (Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look)—Look is a master of food imagery. Here’s more:
• “At night the rain was a lullaby of a billion grains of rice falling on the roof”
• Ruby likens her father’s fast knitting to “a starving man’s chopsticks at a feast
• Her brother was “wrapped up like a burrito”

Food names serve double duty as they conjure a multi-sensory image while giving name to a person, place or thing:

• The island of “Tangerina” and port of “Cranberry” (My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett)
• Dogs “Fudge-Fudge” and “Marshmallow” (The New Animal by Emily Jenkins)

One of Kelly's inventive Halloween costumes...

Emotion: To quote Pillsbury:  “Nothing says loving like something from the oven.”

• When disappointed in her brother, Ruby “felt all her love for him drying up like spilled soda on a hot sidewalk.”
• When Ruby’s mad she feels “hotter than microwave popcorn.”
• Lowji, Candace Fleming’s Indian character in Lowji Discovers America gets mad, too, he turns “hot, hotter than Bape’s curry sauce.”

Final Words on Food:

If it speaks; it eats. Therefore, as plot, character, description, or emotion, there’s room for food in every story. Bon appetite!

Warning: Food references are like wine and chocolate: as much as we’d like to think otherwise, for best results they should be used in moderation.

Interview with Michele Corriel, Mid-Grade Author

One of my 2k10 classmates has not one but two books out or coming in the next few months! 

Michele Corriel has been a friend for years. We first met when we were both unpublished and Regional Advisors for SCBWI and attending the annual New York conference. She lives in Montana, and at the time my hubby and I were dreaming of living here year round, so naturally we were drawn together. I'm delighted to be here now and have a chance to see her often, and even more thrilled by her success. I invited Michele to talk about her most recent novel, the middle grade TRUE LIES.

Hi Michele! Congrats on the publication of your second middle grade novel, TRUE LIES. Can you give us a synopsis?

Thomas [from the first book in the series] is back with his newspaper crew trying to get the scoop on news at Fairview Middle School. This time they get involved in a jewel heist! There’s also a new character, who I find exquisitely funny and charming. :)

This is the second book in your series beginning with FAIRVIEW FELINES. Do you envision more to come?

The publisher, Ambush Books, asked me to write a short story that will help readers get to know the Newspaper Mystery series. So that’s the first order of business. After that, we’ll see. But I do have an idea for a third book!

What do you like best about series work?

I think the format is very versatile. Newspapers are great vehicles for solving mysteries. And Thomas is so much fun to write, he really jumps off the page.

You’ve had a topsy-turvy road to publishing these stories. Would you share your journey?

Of course. After my first middle-grade came out in 2010 with Blooming Tree Press, I thought I was on the road to success! Then Blooming Tree Press closed its doors in 2011. They’d already asked for a second book and I’d sent it to them. What was I going to do with a second book of a series that had met an untimely demise?

I read about an ebook company looking for out of print YA and MG books. I thought, hey, that’s me! 

So I sent them a letter and a query. They were very interested and even asked if I had a second book in the series. Which, of course, I did. :) Both of these came out together in July. Needless to say, I’m thrilled that Thomas and his pals get another chance!

I love your new covers! How did they come about?

I’m afraid I had nothing to do with them! The publisher had it all done by their in-house design team. But I do love them. They’re very modern and sleek but still get the idea across. I love the cut up words scrambled across the tops and bottoms. Makes me think of kidnapping!

What’s up next for you?

My book Weird Rocks will be out in January from Mountain Press. This is a non-fiction picture book about … well, rocks! I can’t wait.

How can readers find out more about you and where can they find your books?

Everyone is welcome to visit my website at www.michelecorriel.com and the ebooks are available at amazon.com as well as bn.com. There’s a link on my website, too.

Thanks, Michele!