Tell me about yourself: married, children, interests or even a
personal peeve.
I’m widowed with two children of my own and two step-children ranging in age from nine to thirty-two. How complicated is that? Well, it keeps life interesting, I’ll say that much. Besides a terrific extended family that I love very much, my interests include – not surprisingly – reading zillions of books. I probably have on the order of about 3,000 books in my home right now. Great for learning and entertainment, but a pain to dust! Also, I’ve always been crazy about all kinds of music, so you can add about 1,000 CDs to that book collection. And, sometimes, I feel like I single-handedly support the live music industry, too; I go to a lot of concerts. Also, when “having time” and “having money” come together – which isn’t often – I absolutely love to travel. I like to meet people and try new things, immerse myself in the local culture, that sort of thing. I guess you could say I think life’s too short to stand still for too long. “Seize the day” is my motto. My children will attest to that, I’m sure.
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What role did books play in your childhood? What were your favorites
and why?
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that books were, and still are, one of the most important things in my life, hence the massive home library. As a child, I can remember spending many, many hours a day reading books so absorbing that my mother would have to call my name literally a dozen times before I would hear her – and she would be standing right next to me! I lived books. I worshipped them and the wonderful ideas they gave me, and I still do. If I could do nothing else at all, I would be perfectly happy to just read for the rest of my life. And, my children are just like me. This is a book-addicted family, no doubt about it; it must be in the genes. Growing up, my favorite books were stories about children and their relationships with animals – again, not surprising – as well as mystery and crime stories, science fiction, and the classics, like Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
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Who are some of your favorite children’s book authors today and why?
I really enjoy so much of today’s children’s literature and I started reading it to my own children right in the hospital on the day they were born. I’m quite sure that’s why they both started reading for themselves at such an early age. But some favorites that stand out for me are The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber and Nicola Bayley, Holes by Louis Sachar, and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Those books explain complicated concepts to young children in ways that they can understand, but also in ways that force children to think. I admire that. That’s tough to do at all, but to do it as well as these books do is truly a great achievement.
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When did you first decide to become a writer?
Well, I don’t think I ever decided to become a writer. As I said, I’ve always read voraciously, but I’ve always written quite a lot, too, and many people have told me how well I write. Over the years, quite a few have told me that I should have “become a writer.” Well, I didn’t really do that, unless you count spending over twenty-five years writing analytical reports and advertising copy in my job. But, writing creatively, no. Not until I started the “When…” series, which was born out of some personal tragedies. Not to be a downer, but that’s part of answering your question. You see, I was widowed suddenly at thirty-eight when my husband died in a car accident. He was much older than I was, so his two children were already grown and gone, but our two children were only three and seven years old. After the initial shock of just telling them of his death, I was soon faced with having to explain death to them. How do you do that? How do you help them really understand what you are saying? Well, for once, I was speechless, so I did what comes naturally; I looked for a book that would help me. But, I couldn’t find one that expressed my views about death. So, that’s when I wrote “When Leaves Die.” It was the story I told my own children to explain life and death and the constancy of love through both of them. It helped them a lot.
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What encouragement helped you along your way?
Well, beyond the fact that people told me I should write, it took another personal tragedy to really propel me in that direction. It was only twenty months after my husband’s death that I found myself running for my life from the attack on the World Trade Center where I worked. The horror of that day, with all those lives lost – one of which easily could have been my own – made me ask myself that if I had died on 9/11, what would my life have been about? Creating great brochures? Well, that just wasn’t enough. My late husband had been an artist, and my children and I have about a hundred of his drawings that show us who he was and what moved him. I wanted to do something like that, and I realized at that moment that my medium wasn’t paint and canvas, but words and ideas. So, I started to write. I used the challenges my children faced growing up every day as the springboard for stories that I hoped would help them handle those situations. The result was the “When …” book series. That’s a long answer to your question. The short answer is death and the love of life encouraged me to write – even demanded it. They were the kick in the head that I needed to make me realize I had been wasting my time. I never would have had the guts to do it otherwise. I’m basically a lazy chicken under it all.
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What motivates your creativity?
Well, besides being a lazy chicken, I’m also really silly. I really enjoy goofing with my children, twisting up ideas, seeing the humor in everything, and just generally looking at things in a bizarre way. I think a lot, too, probably too much sometimes. And, I read into things a lot. See? There’s that “reading” thread again. I’m always looking for the “meaning behind the meaning,” so to speak. So, I guess my ideas for stories come out of all that monkey-business. I’m a high-energy person. I can’t shut off my head, even if I want to. And, my children will attest to that, too.
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What is the hardest part of being an author?
Being objective about your own work is the toughest, I think. After all, you wouldn’t write if you didn’t think it was worth doing, would you? Everything you write is perfect, isn’t it? But, then you put it down for a while and come back to it later – sometimes months or even years later – and you re-read it and you say “what kind of nut would write such nonsense?” And, the nut is you – there’s nothing that can be done about that -- but the nonsense has a germ of a good idea in it, if only you could, as Michelangelo said (I think it was him (he?)), “cut away the marble to reveal the statue inside.” So, you take a stab at clearing away the debris yourself, and you do a pretty good job until your mental “filter” clogs. When that happens, you put it down and go through the process again and again until you get the words right. I am continually amazed at how much can go wrong in only three hundred words. I must have rewritten my own work twenty times. Imagine if it had been up to me to write Tolstoy’s “War and Peace?” You’d still be waiting for that one! And, editors can really help. They call your bluff and squeeze the creative juices out of you. Editors are very smart and valuable people. I recommend them highly.
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What do you love about writing?
I love the mental clarity that comes from transferring the ideas rattling around in my head to paper in a way that makes sense to other people, in this case, to young children. It diffuses the turmoil in my mind and brings me peace. I can finally say to myself, “There now, it’s done. Rest.” Until it’s time for the next story, of course!
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What effect, if any, does your “day” job have on you as a writer?
It allows me to eat and stay dry while I write. And the years that I spent working in advertising and publishing have prepared me for writing and publishing my own work. So, in that sense, I’m very, very fortunate. When I think back on it – on my whole life, I mean – I find that in some strange way, this haphazard chain of higgledy-piggledy events seems to have had an underlying plan that I never consciously intended. All of it somehow seems to fit together -- to have “inexorably brought me to this place,” -- yet if you had asked me at the start where I would wind up, I doubt that I could have predicted this. Interesting. There’s a book in there somewhere.
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What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment as a writer?
Personal happiness, I think. I’m happy to be doing something that’s gratifying to me and that others enjoy. It’s enough. I’m satisfied with that.
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How would you describe the person you are today?
That’s a tough one. How would I describe myself? I guess there’s no chance you’ll let me skip to the next question, huh? Well, let me see. “I think, therefore I learn, therefore I am no longer who I was. Repeat until done.” Does that answer your question?
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Are you interested in doing personal appearances? How can interested parties contact you?
I love to do personal appearances! I knew all that hamming it up in school plays would pay off some day. See? “The Plan” again. Spooky! Anyway, I have so much fun goofing around with the children in my personal appearances at libraries, schools, and children’s parties. Basically, we pick one of my stories to “read,” then I pull out the props and the “wee folk” and I dramatize it together. It’s a blast! I’ve never had so much fun, and judging from the giggles I hear from them, they’re doing fine, too. Children are such a joy! This world’s pretty nice as it is, but do you ever think how much better it would be if adults could just hang on to more of the sparkle and wonder of childhood? Life is really just a big game. I think it’s time we all had a little more fun with it, don’t you? [makes a silly face] See? You smiled! Admit it!
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