Susan Hill Long is in the House!

It's a book birthday!!

 I'm thrilled to have my pal, Susan Hill Long, stop by to talk to

us about her new middle grade novel, JOSIE BLOOM AND THE EMERGENCY OF LIFE, which Kirkus calls "entertaining and emotionally resonant. 

Publishers Weekly said, "Long nails the voice of a kid trying as hard as she can to tackle adult problems on her own when the adults in her life fall short." 

What's the story about?

Josie Bloom discovers the first wad of money stuffed inside a packet of bologna, and the second hidden between the trash can and the bin liner. That money comes in handy when she finds the PAST DUE  notice from the heating company. 

Seems like Grandpa has been spending more time feeding squirrels than paying the bills. But when a bill arrives that's too big to handle, Josie's going to need a plan to get more money - while keeping Grandpa's odd behavior a secret.

And here's a link to the first page. I always open a book and read the first paragraph before I commit to pulling it from the bookshelf. Do you? 

That's a terrific cover. What's with the squirrels in your books?

I love it, too. The art is by Sara Mulvanny. Thank you and ah, yes. There are squirrels on the cover of this new book and there was a squirrel on the cover of my last book, THE MAGIC MIRROR: Concerning a Lonely Princess, a Foundling Girl, a Scheming King and a Pickpocket Squirrel. [Note from O'Connor: I ADORE this book!!!]

Where I live, the squirrels are bigger than my dog. It's true

Susan's dog, Pippin

my dog is small, but these are some big squirrels. I'm telling you. I don't even like squirrels.

Then why do you put them in your books?

Good question. They just appear. As in real life, Squirrels Are Everywhere. In the case of JOSIE BLOOM, Grandpa starts feeding the squirrels to an extreme degree, yet another item on his list of odd behaviors.

What is Stargardt Disease?

Stargardt is a disease of the eye. Josie's best friend, Winky, is losing his vision to it, and with that his ability to play baseball, the game of his heart. There is a lot of marvelous research being done using stem cells to cure this disease.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Susan! I love this book.

Thank you for having me! I'm excited to have his book out in the world. I hope your readers will enjoy JOSIE, and if they do, that they'll write me at my website, www.susanhilllong.com. (I will gladly write back!) 

**********

Susan Hill Long's books include JOSIE BLOOM AND THE

EMERGENCY OF LIFE, THE MAGIC MIRROR: CONCERNING A LONELY PRINCESS, A FOUNDLING GIRL, A SCHEMING KING, AND A PICKPOCKET SQUIRREL, and, WHISTLE IN THE DARK. Special recognition for her work includes a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; Bank Street Best Books; Oregon Book Award and the Katherine Paterson Prize. She lives in Oregon with her husband, two daughters, and their dog, Pippin.


 

Nancy Cavanaugh is in the house!

I’m always on the lookout for fresh new middle grade books and I found one! 

 

This Journal Belongs to Ratchet has a fresh story, a fresh character, a fresh format.

Eleven-year-old homeschooled Rachel Vance, aka Ratchet (because of her flair for fixing cars), yearns to go to school like the other kids in the neighborhood; to buy new clothes, not clothes from thrift stores; to have a “normal” dad, not a wild-haired grease monkey of a father with a passion for environmental causes, and most of all, to know if the contents of a mysterious box will tell her more about the mother she never knew.

Cavanaugh adeptly lays out the story through Ratchet’s writing assignments, using a variety of formats, including free verse poetry, freewriting, descriptive essay, list poetry, journal writing.

The story flows like a well-tuned engine – at a pace that will keep middle-grade readers turning the pages like  a double overhead cam V-12 and enough action to jumpstart their interest like a fresh spark plug. Okay, okay….my car engine references are lame, but Ratchet’s story is anything but.


 From the book jacket:

If only getting a new life were as easy as getting a new notebook. But it’s not.

It’s the first day of school for all the kids in the neighborhood. But not for me. I’m homeschooled. That means nothing new. No new book bag, no new clothes, and no friends – old or new.

The best I’ve got is this notebook. I’m supposed to use it for my writing assignments, but my dad never checks. Here’s what I’m really going to use it for:

RATCHET’S TOP SECRET PLAN
Project Goal:
Turn my old, recycled, freakish, friendless, motherless life into something shiny and new.
This year, I’m going to make something change.



And now, I’m pleased to introduce author Nancy Cavanaugh:

Nancy Cavanaugh

I loved the way you used the writing exercises to tell Ratchet’s story.  How did you decide which writing format to use for each chapter?
 
I’m a former teacher, so for us teachers, it’s easy to come up with writing assignments.  The difference this time was that I was the one coming up with the assignments, and I was the one who had to do the assignments.  Most of them are assignments I used while teaching, but I did eventually run out of ideas.  When that happened, I used one of my old language arts textbooks and checked out other writing textbooks from the library to get more ideas.  

As for deciding which assignment to use for each part of the story, I have to say the story sort of decided that for me.  It seemed that each part of the story was best told through a specific writing form, and this was really just something I figured out as I went along.


Which type of writing in the book is your favorite?


Though I love it all, I have to say that the poetry is my favorite – not because I think it’s better than the other writing assignments and not because I necessarily like poetry better than the other formats.  I like the poetry best because in most cases, I used poetry to tell the most emotional parts of the story.  Each word in the poetry seems packed with Ratchet’s passion, and that somehow makes the poetry more powerful.


As the wife of a car enthusiast, I related to the car repair aspects

of the story.  I read on your website that you have experience in that area.  Was it difficult coming up with car repair work that an 11-year-old could realistically do?

Well, here’s the thing.  I’m married to a former industrial arts

teacher.  He taught me how to take apart a small engine and put it back together again, and the two of us taught elementary and middle school students how to do the same thing.  It was great fun and super satisfying to see how capable kids can be when it comes to this kind of stuff.  When working on engines, what it really comes down to is understanding how they work, and kids are certainly capable of understanding that.  As a result, a kid like Ratchet would have no trouble helping her dad the way she did in the story.

 
I know that like most authors, you’ve probably put bits and pieces of your real life into your story, such as the car repair work.  Can you give us any other examples of how you’ve used real life tidbits and/or some that you tweaked a bit to fictionalize it?
  
The best example of that in this story is Ratchet’s father.  All of his “Good Lord” antics come from my Grandma Cavanaugh.  She used to always say, “The Good Lord says this . . . The Good Lord says that . . . .”  So I had fun using that part of her personality to make Ratchet’s dad the passionate person that he is.


I’m always interested to know:  a plotter/outliner or a go-with-the-flow kind of writer?

My ideas for stories almost always start with a character.  I think about who that character really is inside and what their problems might be.  As I do that, the character’s voice begins to emerge.  The character and voice come much easier than the plot.  When I have to determine the direction of the story and start figuring out the plot, the writing gets more difficult for  me.

 
What can you tell us about your relationship with your editor at Sourcebooks?
  
My editor is Aubrey Poole, and first I’ll tell you that she’s amazing!  Through lots of revision, she has done so much to make RATCHET the beautiful book that it is.  I’m so grateful for her vision of what the book really could be, and I’m thankful for her insights and her patience as we worked together to take the story to another level. 
 
Can you tell us anything about what’s next?
 
My next book, ALWAYS, ABIGAIL, will be coming in fall 2014 from Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky and will be another alternative format.  The entire story is told in lists, letters, and writing assignments, in which a girl named Abigail uses her language arts class’s Friendly Letter Project to cope with the worst school year ever – and in the process turns it into the best year ever.


A great classroom guide to This Journal Belongs to Ratchet is HERE.

Visit Nancy's website HERE

Read Nancy's chat with Augusta Scattergood HERE.

Read about Nancy at Smack Dab in the Middle HERE.

Carolyn DeCristofano is in the house!

At my celebratory book launch lunch. 

Double yikes.

 The talented author, Carolyn DeCristofano, is in the house today to talk about her amazing new nonfiction book for children, A Black Hole is NOT a Hole (illustrated by Michael Carroll) and her writing process.


This fascinating book has garnered oodles of rave reviews, including a starred review from Booklist:


"...this book will snatch readers from their orbits and fling them into a lasting fascination with nature's most attractive phenomena."


And a starred review from Kirkus:


"Stargazers will be entranced, and even those not especially attuned to matters celestial will come away feeling smarter, awestruck and with a sense of finally understanding this fascinating, other-worldly phenomenon. An excellent resource. Hole-y astronomy!"

So, let's get started!

Carolyn, you have a real gift for making science understandable to those of us who aren't science-oriented. But you also make reading science such a pleasure with your lovely language. Can you tell us a bit about that writing process?


Thank you, Barbara! It’s an honor to hear you use “lovely” to describe my writing!


I am still learning what my writing process is like; here’s what I know so far.


When I have extended periods for writing—which is rare—my process involves a lot of napping and fridge check-ins. You never know when the contents of the fridge are going to spontaneously move around on you. Gotta’ keep your eye on that hummus (or ice cream in the freezer).

An early draft. From this verse, only the first line made it to publication.

 Thank goodness!  

When I am actually writing, my process is like playing with a ball of clay. I pick it up, not necessarily having a well-defined object in mind. Then I smoosh and twist and generally play around with the ideas. I’m experimental. Even when I know exactly what a passage has to do, I’ll try several different approaches.


I know a few people who would need to have a lot of research under their belts before starting, but I often begin just writing. In this phase, I don’t let facts – or possible mistakes – get in my way. If I’m not sure I understand a concept, then I write what my best understanding is.


This approach feels like cheating. However, it is good for me. It has led me to some new insights about the ideas in my books. I think that this early writing also helps establish my voice in the work, and it focuses my research.


After I draft a section of text, I go back and rework it—many, many times. I crave feedback during this stage. At this point, I am completely disciplined. I can spend a whole day on a few sentences. This is when I get picky about facts.

When we weren’t modeling for glamor shots, these gals and I (front, age 8) embarked on a writing project together – a mystery story set in a boarding school. We never finished, but projects like these cemented my interest in reading and writing. 

Can you give an example of a time when writing about a concept before you were sure you understood it led you to new insights?


When I was writing A Black Hole is NOT a Hole and started to tackle Einstein’s theory of relativity, I realized for the first time that Einstein had fundamentally redefined what gravity is. Up until the time when I wrote that section, I thought of Einstein as the guy responsible for telling us about weird time and space effects, but I didn’t really get how all of this was connected to gravity. Having this “Aha” moment allowed me to connect some important dots for readers, hopefully helping them have their own “Aha” moments.


I love the analogies that you use to help young readers understand various scientific concepts. Will you share some examples of that from A Black Hole is Not a Hole?


“A black hole is like a whirlpool”—but not exactly one—is an analogy that appears early in the book. I began with the idea of a tornado, but I realized that tornadoes move around a lot, seem to strike more or less randomly, and do a lot of damage. That’s exactly the opposite of the point I needed to make. My goal for this book was to create an exciting read that avoided the scary imagery that is so often used to describe black holes.


Luckily, the tornado analogy led me to the whirlpool analogy. I like the whirlpool because I think just about every reader has seen water swirl down a drain. It’s immediate and non-threatening. Even Mr. Rogers let us know you can never go down the drain. (To help keep this a “safe” image, the analogy is developed from the perspective of water-loving fish—thanks to fellow writers’ group member Kimberly Marcus. Kim suggested this brilliant idea after I nearly drowned a duck in my first draft!)


One of my favorite analogies is not as extended. I like it because I wanted to be very specific in my description of what happens when a star goes supernova—which is important to understanding how some black holes form. I needed an image that people could really relate to: “The (star) material rebounds like an ocean wave slamming against a rock cliff.” At first I hesitated to use this, because many possible readers live far from the ocean. In the end, I decided that in our video-drenched world, chances are good that the image is at least somewhat familiar.

The target audience for A Black Hole… is readers aged 9-14. Here I am at 14 (left).

Which do you think is most critical in conveying information to young readers: the text, the illustrations, the sidebars, or all of the above?


It’s all important—but the text and illustrations are most critical. Every reader needs to find a point of connection, and depending on the day or the person’s learning style or the topic, different elements will serve that role. I didn’t always appreciate that.


Of course, each element, including captions, provides something unique. The sidebars allow for depth and sometimes some extra fun without interrupting the flow of the main storyline. Captions sometimes provide important information. Illustrations bring clarity, emotion, and tone to the ideas in the text. But without the text, the ideas in the illustrations would be incomplete or perhaps ambiguous when, as science illustrations, they should be targeted toward a specific meaning.


Something else I’ve come to appreciate: For the whole piece to work and provide accurate information that really resonates for the reader, all of the elements have to be tuned to the same key.

Can say more about what you mean?


Sure. In one illustration (in A Black Hole is NOT a Hole), a boy is on his way into a black hole. In the text, I’m encouraging readers to take this trip as a thought experiment, realizing that traveling to a black hole is not possible in the foreseeable future.


Mike (Michael Carroll, illustrator) could have chosen to depict an astronaut in full gear. However, for this book, that would not have worked very well. Astronauts in gear are faceless, cold…detached. The astronaut image lends too much realism.


Mike painted this boy as a kid would look on any given day. The reader can identify with the scene and yet see it as fantasy. Any kid can run a thought experiment, and doing so is part of the fun of science and black holes. The illustration conveys that message well.


The overall design is also perfect (--in my opinion; I had nothing to do with it). So often, space books are illustrated in dark colors. A Black Hole… is bright and energetic, thanks to Sue Sherman (the book’s designer) and Mike. There are many colors, beautiful images, generous white space, informal sketches, sassy speech bubbles, and fun sidebars set against a punch of yellow. They signal that the book is energetic, fun, and accessible.


You are also a science educator. How does that work with your writing?


There is a constant competition for time, but each effort benefits from the other. Three years ago, I co-founded Blue Heron STEM Education, an educational consulting company, thinking that this would give me more flexibility than a regular job, thereby supporting my writing life. I was wrong and right. I am busier than ever, but on the other hand, I have flexibility. I enjoy teaching STEM—science, technology, engineering, and math—and it helps me stay in touch with learners and readers of all ages. Also, two different education jobs led to the opportunities to write my first two books. So, in the balance, I guess it works!

Black hole earrings that I designed and made for author visits. 

(The shiny metal circles represent X-ray rings around black holes.)

 In your bio on the book flap, it says that you first wrote about science in eighth grade in a note to a classmate: “P.S. Science is S-O-O-O-O-O boring.” What’s the scoop on that?


  
Oh, that year I really did not enjoy science at all. It was Earth Science. I had to do a science fair project and procrastinated so long that all I could come up with was growing mold, and I even had to borrow some from another classmate! Thank you, Cindy Smith! Anyway, if I remember correctly, someone told the teacher that I was the author of that note, which my teacher had seen when he peered over my friend’s shoulder while she was reading it. He was so great about the situation. He caught me at a quiet moment and complimented me in general. Then he said that science would eventually click for me. He was right. Ironically, the first really big click was about geology, when I learned about how the rocks where I lived showed evidence of two different continents having been crammed together millions of years ago.




What bad writing habit annoys your copy editor the most?


I get hung up on tenses-- especially with if/then language, which is common in science. Sometimes the situation gets pretty convoluted. I might need to convey the past thoughts of a scientist, who was thinking hypothetically while making a prediction. At other times, the reasoning might be happening in the present, as I take readers through a thought process that reflects current ideas. The subjunctive tense comes in sometimes, but not always. I just cannot seem to figure out how to construct these phrases and sentences.


Are there any other bad writing habits that you struggle with?


Yup! As anyone in my writers’ group or Alyssa (Alyssa Mito Pusey, my editor) will tell you, I tend to write the same idea in a lot of different ways, putting a slight twist on each version. Usually, I do this to “explain”—or, as it turns out, over-explain—an idea. I appear not to trust the reader when I write like that, but really, the problem is that I don’t always trust myself to get it right the first (or fourth) time.


Thanks so much for stopping by, Carolyn!


Bye, Barbara. Thanks so much for letting me visit!

*******

Learn more about Carolyn in this interview with Kirkus.

Augusta Scattergood is in the house!

Today I'm delighted that Augusta Scattergood stopped by to answer some questions about her terrific new middle grade novel, Glory Be.

AND she didn't come empty-handed. She's got a signed copy of Glory Be to give away to one lucky winner.

Leave your name and email in the comments for a chance to win. (Or email it to me, if you prefer,  barbaraoconnor at mac dot com) Names will be chosen in a drawing.

Being a Southerner myself, I love reading "Southern books." What do you think makes a book "Southern" besides setting?

I believe a lot of Southerness comes from a sense of timelessness—some might say old-timey-ness— in our writing. That plus a whole lot of tarnations, dangs, and the use of the helping verb was: I was walking, I was listening, etc.

My fabulous editor cautioned me not to go overboard with the hokey expressions (of course, she said it nicely, and obviously didn’t use that expression but I got the message): too much pimento cheese, the languorous descriptions of mimosa trees, clouds, hot dusty roads. So I worried I might edit all of the “Southern” out of it. But the book takes place in about two weeks, and I also understood the need to speed up the action while conveying the feeling of summer in the South. 

I think the setting is primary, especially in making a kids’ book “Southern.” But it’s also the language, obviously. And even the characters’ names! I mean, would Brother Joe, Old Lady Simpson, J.T., and even Hanging Moss fit into a book set anywhere other than the South?

I know that like most authors, you've put bits and pieces of your real life into your story. Can you give us an example of how you've tweaked one of those real life bits to fictionalize it?

I’ll share the story of my Junk Poker box. That Buster Brown shoebox is a prevailing image in GLORY BE. The two sisters’ boxes contain treasures —if you call skate keys, Crackerjack prizes, and Elvis’s wallpaper treasures — that help young readers know them better. And then Jesslyn up and dumps out all her junk, which says a lot about their changing relationship.

When we were little, my sister and I sneaked around during our forced afternoon naps and created a game that was basically Black Jack, played with saved pieces of junk. We called it Junk Poker. I remember a lot about that game, even if my sister does not. I’m older. I get to embellish that story.

The Junk Poker Buster Brown box

Food is important to Southerners. What sorts of food did you use in Glory Be? Any reason for those particular foods?


Oh, don’t even get me started. Of course, Glory’s maid/ cook/ caregiver Emma cooks when she’s mad, when the family entertains, when she’s asked to provide a delicacy for an event. She made chicken spaghetti (one of the few things my mother knew how to cook) and Red Velvet cake when the Yankee Laura came to supper. Glory thought the spaghetti might appeal to a non-Southerner. Emma fixed a picnic basket for the big July 4^th celebration and a peach pie while worrying about Glory and Jesslyn getting in trouble. Bacon and hot biscuits for breakfast, sweet tea— all foods I love and remember from my childhood.

Any Southern expressions that you had to explain to your editor or copy editor?

Pure D. They had no clue what that meant.

And I wrote/say bald-faced lie, which they thought should be bold-faced. I won that battle.

We went back and forth about “couldn’t hardly spit.” To my ear, it just didn’t sound right any other way. Certainly not “could hardly spit.”

And then there’s the whole ice/iced tea and screen/ screened door thing.

What's one thing you fought to keep in your story (a character, plot line, theme, etc)?

  

Elvis almost left the building!

I had to fight a little to save a scene about Jesslyn and her boyfriend sneaking off to Tupelo with Glory hiding in the back of the station wagon. On our first editorial pass, my editor wondered if it contributed to the forward push of the story (that whole action-taking-place-in-a-short-time thing). But since she was just wondering and we were brainstorming together, I knew I had an opportunity to cling to Elvis on this one. When I told her my own personal story of actually visiting his little house in Tupelo, owning a plaster-of-Paris statue when I was Glory’s age, and a few other embarrassing Elvis moments, we agreed he needed to stay.

I think a serious story for kids is best told with an element of humor infused. Plus, Elvis provided one more thing that helped Glory realize she was growing away from her older sister. That whole Beatles vs. Elvis thing.  So Elvis made the final cut.

Elvis has NOT left the building!

It's always fun to hear where other writers do their work. Tell us about your workspace.

I do my best work at a local community college that shares space with a public library. Big windows, mostly quiet, and very sketchy internet. I get there early and try to grab a study room. I reward myself with a walk on the trail afterwards where I think about what I just wrote/ revised/ messed up and put back together. Working at home has way too many distractions.

On the way to the library

Bougainvillea:  Just one of the many things I see on the trail around the campus when I walk. Or when I amble and think...

Note how neat the desk at the library is.
That stickie on my computer says "What's the page turn????"!!!!

Thanks so much, Augusta for stopping by!

And don't forget, y'all....leave your name and email in the comments (or email it to me, if you prefer) to be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of Glory Be.

Winner to be announced on Monday 

From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors

An interview with me on one of my favorite blogs, From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors

Many thanks to my dear friend and amazing writer, Kimberley Griffiths Little.

Lisa Graff is in the house!

I'm so happy to have my pal, Lisa Graff, stop by on her blog tour today!

Lisa's new book, Sophie Simon Solves Them All, is a hilarious romp, perfect for the younger set.

I love this book!

Lisa is also the author of some other favorites of mine:

Umbrella Summer
The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower
The Thing About Georgie

So, let's chat with Lisa:

What was the worst job you've ever had?

I've had a whole slew of weird jobs, but probably the strangest one was my work study job during my freshman year of college, back when I was still pre-med (this did not last long). I worked at an eye research lab at UCLA, and one of my many tasks there was to cut up frozen rat eyeballs into microscopic slices and stick them on slides for examining. It wasn't very, um, appetizing, as you might expect, but I must have a bit of a macabre streak, because I actually enjoyed the job quite a bit.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

My middle school had the very strange practice of hosting a "money jump" during the school-wide assembly at the end of each semester. Twice a year, the name of every student who had received straight A's on their report card that semester would be put into a hat, and one was selected to jump--in front of the entire school--across a long taped-together strip of dollar bills. As far as you could jump, that how much money you got to take home. I remember specifically that after the jump, the entire student body would count out loud as Mrs. Rouse, the language arts teacher, slapped the bills into the winner's hand -- Twenty-six! Twenty-seven! It was very dramatic.

Anyway, I'm sure you can see where this is going. At the very end of seventh-grade (a year in which I was so awkward that I wore stretch purple leggings almost every day), I was called down for the money jump. I didn't really want to do it. Sure, it was cool in theory. Who wouldn't want to earn money for good grades? But the idea of having the nerdiest (and, let's face it, probably least coordinated) kids in the school jumping for cash in front of hundreds of their classmates was obviously a potential disaster in the making. And so of course I fell flat on my butt. I earned exactly four dollars. The most humiliating part of it was when the entire school counted out my earnings as Mrs. Rouse doled out the dollars to me -- Three! Four! . . . And that was it. I was the least successful money-jumper in the history of Big Bear Middle School.


What was the book that made you fall in love with reading?

The first book I remember absolutely devouring was Around the world in 80 Days. I was in fourth grade, and I had found the book randomly on the library shelves, without anyone suggesting it to me, so it really felt like was just mine--a book that no one else in the world had ever discovered before. I loved it so much that I actually built a fort in my room by nailing a blanket into the wall (I'm sure my mother loved that), the sole purpose of which was to read that one book. I would it in there, for hours, curled up with the outside world miles away, completely absorbed. It was magical.


What is your stupidest fear?

I am afraid of very many things, but the absolute stupidest one is that I will walk into my bathroom some morning, bleary-eyed, and discover a boa constrictor in my toilet. This actually happened to my parents (twice! Well, it was the same boa, but it made two appearances before they caught it . . . ) when they lived in Mississippi, before I was born, and I must have heard the story so many times when I was a kid that I became downright traumatized. I fully realize that the chances of this happening to me are slim to none, but still to this day I feel the need to check inside every toilet before I squat, just in case.

What word or phrase do you drive copyeditors crazy with (e.g., use too often or incorrectly)?

I just think I might just use the word 'just' just a tad too often. But it's just a habit I just picked up somewhere. (Ugh. Seriously, my 'just' usage is out of control. I can't help it.) I also have absolutely o idea how to use semi-colons, so I try to avoid them at all costs.


Who is your literary crush (besides me)?

You! Definitely you! :) Also George Bernard Shaw. And Louis Sachar. And Katherine Paterson.

In the realm of fictional literary crushes (specifically The Hunger Games), I will proudly declare myself a member of Team Gale (although Peeta's not too shabby, either . . . )

What's one thing you thought would be in your story (a character, plotline, them, etc) that didn't end up in the final version?

I always write several drafts of a book, and so much changes between the first and the last draft that sometimes the two are barely recognizable. That said, Sophie Simon definitely went through the least changes of any of my books. There were two chapters in the book that were greatly modified for the final version, one from the teacher (Mr. St. Cupid)'s point of view, and one from the point of view of a ring-tailed lemur (!!). Fortunately, my very wise editor encouraged me to change those things. There was a truly awful scene in Pete's Pet Store, which will never see the light of day. I'm not sad about that in the slightest, except for losing a very sassy parrot who didn't make the final cut. Maybe she can sneak her way into a different book . . .


If you could combine three of your favorite children's books into one, which books would they be and how might you blend the stories or characters?

Oh, this is such a good question! And hard. Hmmmm. I will pick . . . Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Graceling, and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! In this new book, entitled Don't Let the Graceling Be a Wimp!, Greg does his best to get through middle school without being stuffed in a locker, with the help of his best friend, Pigeon, whose secret grace is the ability to shout really loudly. And, um, there's sword fighting.


You used to blog about conducting beauty experiments (which was highly entertaining, by the way). Which one was the biggest failure? Success?

A yes! That was about two years ago, when I was attempting to try all of the beauty advice from six women's magazines in six months. I got through five months before my medicine cabinet (and my brain) pretty much exploded. It was lots of fun, though, if also extremely weird.

Definitely the most ridiculous thing I did during that period (and there were a lot of ridiculous things) was to give myself a beehive hairdo, which I word--with fake eyelashes and blue sparkly nails--on a five a.m. plane trip to Arizona. Because, you know, why not? I actually set off the metal detector at the airport because of all the bobby pins I had stuck in my head. (I think it was something like 87. It was a little insane.) So I'm not sure if that would be considered a success or a failure.

The things I liked the most were the small, creative tips that were easy (and cheap!) to implement, and actually somewhat useful. Like putting powder on your face before you foundation, to make everything last longer. Or dabbing a bit of lip gloss on your eyelids for a quick pick-up if you're out and about. Or (my favorite) using a quick swipe of hand sanitizer on your armpits if you're ever caught without deodorant (the hand sanitizer kills the bacteria under your arms and thus the smell as well--who knew??) My absolute least favorite thing I did--including the numerous weird haircuts and dye jobs I suffered, which were also brutal--was the day I had to boil four cups of rice in far too much water, then let the leftover water cool . . . and then I had to drink it. It was slimy, milky, definitely putrid, and it did not, as claimed, do a single thing to clear up my complexion.

I see on your web sit that at one time you wanted to change your name to Lisa Graff, Great Scientist. What would be your second choice?

Hmmmm. If I had to change my name now I would probably choose to go by my middle name, Colleen, which I love.


Okay, here's a problem for Sophie Simon to solve:

Your teacher has chosen a cheese factory for your class field trip. All the kids in the class would rather tour a nearby chocolate factory, but just can't seem to convince the teacher. They're looking to you do do the job. How would you do it?


Oh, my! How could anyone ever choose between cheese and chocolate? Two such wonderful treats . . . Well, short of inventing a time machine so that they could travel to both during the same school day (probably a difficult task, given Sophie's constant lack of funds), she would most likely have the students mention to their teacher the amazing health benefits of chocolate (Did you know, for instance, that it can help lower high blood pressure as well as prevent blood clots? Bring on the cacao!), as well as its fascinating history (discovered in the Amazon 4,000 years ago, used as an Aztec health elixir, and finally unleashed to the world by Spanish monks . . . It's practically a soap opera!)

The teacher, however, might counter with some fun facts of her own--cheese has its own fabulous health benefits, for one thing (preventing hypertension and osteoporosis, anyone?) and the study of different methods of cheese making around the world could fill up a social studies class for years. So really Sophie would be left to choose which group truly felt the strongest about their particular dairy product. To do this, she would most likely unleash the wisdom of Solomon, and threaten to set both the cheese and the chocolate factories on fire if neither side would come to a decision. And whoever agreed to go with the other for the sake of saving their favorite food would be the victor. (If no one agreed, well, I guess everyone in town would have the makings for a lot of cheese and chocolate fondue parties . . . )


Thanks for the fabulous questions, Barbara, and for letting me stop by!


Want to win a free copy of Sophie Simon Solves Them All?

Farrar, Straus & Giroux is giving away a free copy of Sophie Simon Solves Them All to one lucky blog reader! Just send an email to graff.lisa@yahoo.com, along with the name of this blog, for a chance to win (winners will be notified within the week). Or follow along on the rest of Lisa's blog tour for more chances. For the full schedule of stops, visit www.lisagraff.com.

School Library Journal Interview

An interview with little ole me in the November issue of School Library Journal.










Photo credit: Getty Images

Blogging for a Cure Presents Robin Brickman

Today I am honored to feature a good friend and brilliant artist, Robin Brickman. Robin is one of the generous artists participating in the Robert's Snow project to raise money for Dana Farber cancer research. Her beautiful snowflake will be included in the online auction.


(There are many more artists participating in this event, so please check them out.)


Robin has been illustrating children's books for over 20 years. She is perhaps best known for her breathtakingly beautiful and detailed cut-paper collages of nature books for children.

Her books have been recognized with many awards, including a Reading Rainbow selection, IRA Teachers Choice, the Giverny Award for best children's science book.


Her books include A Log's Life (Simon and Schuster), Beaks, and One Night in the Coral Sea (Charlesbridge).





She has a new book coming out in February 2008 that is magnificent:













And now, an interview with Robin:

How did you get involved with the Robert's Snow project?

I am a member of PBAA http://www.picturebookartists.org/, an internet children's illustration group. The snowflake project was announced by Grace Lin on that group's website, when it first started in 2005. I had already been interested in a fund-raiser involving my art, but I wanted to contribute to one that would have higher or national visibility. As the story behind Robert's Snow became known I was truly moved to be able to contribute. I'd like to mention that the snowflake I made for the 2005 auction was created in memory of Mathias Jessup Bartels, who died suddenly at the age of 17. Purchasing that snowflake became a focus for many people who knew and loved Mathias. It was given to his parents and the contribution of the purchase price went to Dana Farber for cancer research.

How did ten-year-old Robin answer the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

I was going to be a lot of different things, like a veterinarian or interior designer, but I kept coming back to art. I considered art conservation in college, and although I have a great deal of patience for fine and careful work, I did not excell at the math and chemistry needed for that profession. All these years later, however, I bet I could do it.

What are some of your earliest memories of creating art?

I have always loved making things with my hands: sewing and other fiber arts, jewelry, paper-making, bookbinding, stained glass, callligraphy, and illumination. All of these interests came into play when I started to illustrate stories and science.

Tell us a bit about your college experience?

I did decide on a major combining botany and art, something I continue to do even now!

Your road to children's book publication in six (or ten or a hundred) easy steps?

I don't know of any sure fire road to pubishing success other than developing a solid portfolio that is truly your own style and one that will impress your professional peers. There are wonderful books and groups available for information that did not exist when I started out. However, there are so many people trying to get going in this profession, sometimes it helps to not know how hard or unlikely it is. Finding what resources work for oneself, is trial and error.

Any particular inspirations, heroes or mentors?

What helped me was joining WMIG http://www.wmig.org/, twenty years ago. The monthly meetings, at one another's studios, are a mixture of critique and inspiration. I created my 3-D technique in part to impress that very skilled group of illustrators.

Will you share with us the story behind your most recent published book?

My next book is WINGS! It is a sequel to BEAKS! Sneed Collard has written a wonderful set, and these two books are a part of that.

Anything in the works at the moment?

I am working on a few book ideas of my own and being both author and illustrator is my next goal.

Anything you've learned along the way that you can share with newbies?

Persistence and optimism is key! When things don't work out, find the right people in your life to help you get going again.

And now, drum roll, please.....Robin Brickman's beautiful snowflake:

Go place your bids at Robert's Snow.

Blogging for a Cure Presents: Brian Lies

I am delighted to feature one of the artists who has so generously contributed to the Robert's Snow project to raise money for Dana Farber cancer research:

Brian Lies

Brian is an enormously talented artist, New York Times bestselling author, world's best blueberry scone maker, and a dear friend of mine. It is my honor to feature him today in conjunction with the Blogging for a Cure project to draw attention to the Robert's Snow online auction. (There are many more artists participating in this event, so please check them out.)




Brian has illustrated many books for children, including Finklehopper Frog by Irene Livingston (Tricycle Press)and the Flatfoot Fox series by Eth Clifford (Houghton Mifflin).






He has both written and illustrated the popular Hamlet books (Moon Mountain), and his most recent, the New York Times bestselling Bats at the Beach (Houghton Mifflin).




And now, let's hear from Brian:

How did you get involved with the Robert's Snow project?

I honestly don't remember. I'm a member of several illustrator listservs, and my guess is that somebody on one of the lists mentioned the Robert's Snow project. It sounded like a great thing to be a part of, and this is my third year of making a snowflake.

How did ten-year-old Brian answer the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Like many kids, my dream job shifted shape a lot. When I was growing up, lots of boys wanted to be astronauts (there weren't any American female astronauts at the time). I also wanted to be a fireman, an actor, a chemist (my Dad was a researcher), a paleontologist, and a herpetologist. It wasn't until I was in fifth grade that I even really thought about being an author. An author/illustrator, Harry Devlin, visited our school, and I was amazed that you could actually make a JOB out of writing and drawing--both things I loved to do.

What are some of your earliest memories of creating art?

I think my earliest memory is from preschool, making papier mache-covered balloon animals. I got in trouble because I was more interested in mooshing my hands around in the flour paste than actually finishing my project.

Another time, in first grade, we did line drawings on burlap and then embroidered the lines with blunt needles. My drawing was of a lion and a tree and I was proud of it, until the art teacher picked out some of my stitching and "fixed" it. There was a rule against drawing "lollipop trees," which was sad because that's how little kids see a tree--a stick and a blob on top of it. She hung my lion in the hallway and told me how nice it was, but I couldn't even look at it--it wasn't mine any more.

Tell us a bit about your college experience?

In college, I was studying for a "real" career--in psychology, or something equally worthy. I drew to let off steam, and took an art class for fun, but was irritated by "artier than thou" attitudes of the teacher and some of the students. In protest, I used socks and dried American cheese slices to create an assemblage for one project, and was horrified that during the in-class critique, only one student suggested that I was poking fun at the assignment. I found out that Brown students could cross-register at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), and took a class or two there. But then I started doing drawings for the college newspaper and realized that those illustrations were the best part of my week. A new idea hit me--I could become a political cartoonist! It combined my growing interest in politics, my love of drawing, and my hope to change the world.

During my senior year, I applied to 140 major metropolitan daily newspapers, creating 140 individual portfolios of my editorial cartoons. While my friends were getting acceptance letters from great companies, I collected rejection letters--141 in all (one Ohio paper sent me the duplicate form rejection letters on two consecutive days, as if to hammer the point home). My ideas were good, they said, but my drawing wasn't. I graduated from college with no job, and few prospects.

Your road to children's book publication in six (or ten or a hundred) easy steps?

Then I heard about an art school in Boston--the School of the Museum of Fine Arts--and it sounded like the perfect thing for me. I drew and painted for nearly three years, and during that time, called Jeff Danziger, the Christian Science Monitor's political cartoonist, to ask for advice. Jeff liked my drawings, and took me into the next room to meet Cynthia Hanson, designer of the Op Ed page, who took me on right then as a freelancer, to do editorial illustrations.

A year or so later, lightning struck. I was standing in a store in my neighborhood of Cambridge, MA, when the woman in line ahead of me turned around. She'd overheard me talking with a friend and asked, "Did I hear you say you're an illustrator?" I said yes, and she asked, "Have you ever done any children's illustration?" Again I said yes--I was working on a picture book at the time, and was hoping to send it to Houghton Mifflin, one of the biggest publishers in Boston.

It turned out that she was the art director at Houghton Mifflin, Susan Sherman--the very person to whom I was planning to send my story! We arranged a meeting for a portfolio review, and a month after that, she sent me my first book to illustrate--a black and white chapter book. I've worked with Sue now on a number of books, both at Houghton Mifflin and Charlesbridge Publishing, where she now works.

Any particular inspirations, heroes or mentors?

My first inspiration was Harry Devlin, when he visited my fifth grade library. Several of his books had been favorites when I was younger (THE WONDERFUL TREE HOUSE and THE KNOBBY BOYS TO THE RESCUE), and seeing the man who had actually made those books (with his writer wife, Wende Devlin) was astounding.

But I'm also inspired by the illustration-world mirepoix of NC Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish, for their color work, and Winsor McCay for his no-holds-barred imagination in "Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend."


Will you share with us the story behind your most recent published book?

BATS AT THE BEACH came about because my daughter, who was a 2nd grader at the time, saw a frost pattern in a guest-room window which she announced looked "like a bat, with sea foam." That sounded like a book to me--what would bats do at the beach? I liked the idea of inverting the typical day at the beach and seeing what it would look like at night.

Anything in the works at the moment?

I'm working on another bat book, BAT NIGHT AT THE LIBRARY, which is due to be published in fall, 2008. I'm having a lot of fun with it!

Any particular goals you have yet to accomplish?

There are lots of things I'd like to try, from wordless picture books to novel-length pieces, and anything in between. I like the idea of writing books for a variety of ages, so when kids decide they've outgrown my picture books, for instance, they could switch over to my chapter books. When I was a kid, I hated to realize that I'd finished all of my favorite authors' books there on the shelf. But if I could have learned that there was a whole NEW shelf, in another section of the library, with MORE books by those authors...that would have been great!

Anything you've learned along the way that you can share with newbies?

I think the most important thing is NOT to focus just on getting published, even though that's an aspiring author/illustrator's immediate goal. What's really important is craft--making your writing or drawing as strong as it can be. What's your weakest skill? Description? Dialogue? Drawing hands? Work on those. I think weaknesses are fairly easy to see in writing or drawings, and you're often judged not by what you do brilliantly, but by those weaknesses.

I think getting published is a lot like golf (which I don't play)--if you perfect your swing, the ball should go more or less where you want it to. Likewise, if you learn to tell stories in an original and compelling way, either in words or pictures, and hone your skills so that they're truly professional. . . you're going to get published. It may take a while, but you'll get published.

The other most important thing if you want to write or draw is to DO it, as regularly as you can. My ability to draw waxes and wanes. When I'm in the writing stage of a book and don't draw for several weeks, my drawing becomes terrible. It's only after drawing daily for a week or so that my skills return, and the mental muscles get back into shape. But it's important to build those mental muscles first--and the only way to do it is by spending time practicing.

And now.....drum roll, please:

Brian's Snowflake: Free Fall