The Writing Process Blog Tour is spinning a web through the community of children’s book writers, catching two new authors with every post!

Lisa Doan, fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) alum and author of the middle grade series The Berenson Schemes, tagged me. Find her responses here.

And here are mine:

What am I currently working on? 
I am currently revising a story set in Thailand about a girl named Tida who is sold to a brothel by her uncle, but learns to use her village weaving skills to buy back her freedom. Tida’s story is inspired by what I saw in Thailand and other developing countries where I worked or spent significant time. It is primarily born out of my fear for girls like Tida and what happens to them. I wanted to write a story that give them a voice and lets them be heard. I also wanted one girl to fight the odds and figure a way out. That is how Tida came into my dreams and eventually landed on the page. I have a fairly clean draft completed, but want to go through it one more time before I send it to Erin Clarke, my editor at Knopf. While she’s reading it, I plan to complete the companion story to Lara’s Gift.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 
That’s a good question. All of my stories are set overseas in places where I have lived or worked for a good chunk of time. Most, if not all, of my stories will likely include a key canine character. For me dogs and kids go hand in hand. Most of my childhood memories feature a dog front and center. My stories will likely always feature a strong female character who becomes empowered by the obstacles she faces and overcomes.

Why do I write what I write? 
When I was a kid, I enjoyed reading and learning about kids my age in other countries. As I got older, I looked for books set outside of the United States because I was very curious about the world and other cultures. It was often hard for me to find this kind of book so I vowed in high school that I would one day write the kind of book that I would have wanted to read as a kid. And I’m very grateful that Erin Clarke made my dream possible by publishing Lara’s Gift which is set in Imperial Russia about a girl who learns to fight for what she believes is right for her and in so doing finds a way to follow her heart.

How does my individual writing process work?

Some of the best advice I got while I was a MFA student at the Vermont College of Fine Arts was from Marion Dane Bauer. She shared the five questions she asks herself before she starts writing a story with me and they’ve been my north star ever since. The questions include:

1)      Who is my main character?

2)      What does my main character want?

3)      What stands in my main character’s way?

4)      What is the inciting incident, ie the moment that sets the story in motion?

5)      What is the climax, ie the highest point of tension in the story?

If I don’t have answers to these questions, then I know that I don’t have a story arc and keep plugging away until I do. Once I nail down the critical plot points [inciting incident and climax], I get a poster board and map it out. I work out the scenes between these two points until I feel confident there is a strong “cause and effect” linking the scene that follows.

My first drafts read much like a screenplay in that I’ve got lots of action and dialogue. I call this the skeleton of my story. The frame holding up the story must be solid before I start layering the skeleton with details that evoke the five senses. I find this process of identifying my critical plot points works best for me and allows me to stay focused on my story. I am not big on outlining because I like to let my characters show me the way through the story. And in the process I find I am always surprised. If I knew everything that was coming, I would probably grow bored with my story and never finish writing it.

So that’s me.

I’m tagging one more author, another VCFA alum and friend, Stacy Nyikos who’ll be sharing her answers with you on Monday, May 19, 2014, so be sure to visit Stacy Nyikos’ blog!

Meet the fabulous, witty, brilliant award-winning author, Stacy Nyikos!! She is the author of numerous books for children. Her upcoming releases are Toby, the adventures of a curious little sea turtle as he follows his heartsong from egg to ocean, and Waggers, a new puppy who tries to be good – he tries really hard!  – but his tail gets in the way. Stacy holds an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she isn’t chasing stories (or being chased by them), she’s on adventures with her daughters and their dog in the wilds of Oklahoma.

One of my favorite picture books as a kid was Harry the Dirty Dog. It’s the one childhood picture book I easily recall from start to finish and one I can read over and over again. This is the story of Harry, a dog who hates his bath. He hates it so much that he buries his scrub brush in the yard and runs away! He gets so dirty on his adventure about the town that he turns from a white dog with black spots into a black dog with white spots. When he starts to miss his family and arrives home, they don’t recognize him! This is the very point in the story that drops me back into the emotional state of a child fearing that Harry will never be reunited. I was so caught up in Harry’s world, I was actually really scared that his family would never recognize him. [Semi-spolier alert] Because Harry is so clever, he figures out a way [I wont say exactly how, you’ll have to read the book to find out.] to show his family that it is really him underneath all the dirt. This moment is so well done in such a “less-is-more-kind-of-gesture,” I am again planted back into my childhood feeling the happiness of their reunion. It’s the books that make us feel our way through story that we love so dearly and Harry the Dirty Dog is certainly one of these books.

Harry the Dirty Dog is bound to delight every child, but will surely hit home with kids who share Harry’s sentiment about taking baths!

From Random House: Gene Zion was born on October 5, in 1913. He attended the New School of Social Research and the Pratt Institute. In 1948, he married artist Margaret Bloy Graham, who then collaborated with him on all his picture books. When their marriage ended in 1968, Zion also ended his career as an author. Zion is best known for his creation of the rascally dog, Harry, who appears in such books as Harry The Dirty Dog, No Roses for Harry, Harry by the Sea, and Harry and the Lady Next Door. He died in 1975.

School Library Journal (Elizabeth Bird*) puts Harry the Dirty Dog at #43 in its top 100 picture books.

*About Elizabeth Bird

Elizabeth Bird is currently New York Public Library’s Youth Materials Collections Specialist. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she’d love to tell you about but that she’s sure you’d find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of NYPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Here’s a true treat! Listen to Betty White read Harry the Dirty Dog.

For other great books about dogs, check out 101 Best Dog Books for Kids.

For published authors and unpublished authors, check out our writing contests.

Today I welcome Susan Hughes to Best Dog Books, a blog that features interviews with authors who’ve written a canine story for kids or young adults.

AOB: What is the title of your book? Pub date and publisher? Genre? Targeted age group? Illustrator?

Bailey’s Visit: #1 The Puppy Collection, March 2014, Scholastic Canada, fiction, ages 7-9, illus: Leanne Franson

AOB: Who is your key dog character(s) and what kind of dog is he/she? Feel free to list as many different breeds or mixes as necessary. Tell us a little more about him/her.

Bailey is an eight-week-old chocolate Labrador retriever puppy with green eyes. He loves to play. He has two speeds: full speed and full stop! Sometimes the roly-poly puppy goes so fast that he loses his balance and does a somersault, head over tail.

AOB: In 70 words or less, provide a succinct plot description of your story.

Kat and her best friend Maya are dog-crazy. They can’t have dogs of their own, so they are excited when Kat’s aunt opens a dog-grooming salon. Not only that but Aunt Jenn has a special guest, 8-week-old Bailey is board with her for three days. When the girls meet the chocolate lab it’s love at first sight. Can they convince Aunt Jenn to let them help out?

AOB: Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? And why?

When I was a girl, I used to read and read and read. (I still do!) When I was young, I read every book about dogs and horses in our school library and then in our local public library. My favourites were Old Yeller, Irish Red, Black Beauty, the My Friend Flicka series, Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind, and all of Marguerite Henry’s other horse books. My dad read me  The Secret Garden, so I have a special place for it in my heart.

AOB: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Read, read, read! Also, to become a writer, you have to write. You won’t always feel like it, but do it anyway, on a regular basis. Be disciplined. Once you’ve “finished” a manuscript, set it aside for a time, and then come back to it. Reread and revise and repeat!

AOB: Where can readers go to find out more information about you and/or your books?

Web page

Twitter

Thank you Susan Hughes for joining us at Best Dog Books!

For other great books about dogs, check out 101 Best Dog Books for Kids.

For published authors and unpublished authors, check out our writing contests.

Today I welcome Tracy Weber to Best Dog Books, a blog that features interviews with authors who’ve written a canine story for kids or young adults.

AOB: What is the title of your book? Pub date and publisher? Genre? Targeted age group? Illustrator?

• Murder Strikes a Pose, published January 8, 2014 by Midnight Ink. Appropriate for ages 12 and up, but targeted to adults and teens.

AOB: Who is your key dog character(s) and what kind of dog is he/she? Feel free to list as many different breeds or mixes as necessary. Tell us a little more about him/her.

• Bella is an 18-month old purebred German shepherd. She belonged to a homeless man named George, who “rescued” her from an abusive family. Bella is huge, unruly, loyal, and loving. She suffers from a rare digestive disorder called EPI.

AOB: In 70 words or less, provide a succinct plot description of your story.

• George—a homeless alcoholic—is murdered outside Kate Davidson’s yoga studio, leaving his intimidating German shepherd, Bella, alone. Kate digs into George’s past to catch the killer while she looks for a new home for Bella, before Animal Control sends her to the big doghouse in the sky. With the murderer nipping at her heels, Kate will have to work fast, or her next Corpse Pose may be for real.

Links to reviews or blurbs  (Blurbs under the book’s description.)

• Publisher’s Weekly

AOB: What inspired you to write this story?

I love dogs—so much so that my husband has nicknamed me the “creepy puppy lady.” I adore my own dog to a fault, even though she’s no Rin Tin Tin. I’ve read cozies since long before I knew there was a genre by that name. And my lifework is yoga. My mystery series was like a stew that had been slow cooking inside of me for years.

The one day, while trying to distract myself from a grueling workout, a passage in Susan Conant’s Black Ribbon made me burst into laughter. I knew I’d found my author soul mate. I jumped off the exercise bike, ran home, got online, and proceeded to buy every book she had ever written. While I was at it, I stumbled across a site about cozy mysteries. http://cozy-mystery.com/

That’s all it took.

I began to wonder, what would happen if a yoga teacher with a crazy dog like mine got mixed up in murder? And if she did, could I write about it? A feisty yoga teacher named Kate Davidson popped into my head a few days later. She insisted that I tell the story of how she found the love of her life—a German shepherd named Bella—while solving the murder of her homeless friend, George. She promised me that her story was both entertaining and important. Kate is one stubborn woman. She refused to leave, no matter how much I begged her to. I had no choice but to give in.

AOB: What was the biggest challenge you had writing your story? How did you overcome it?

• Self doubt. I’d never written so much as a short story before I sat down one day to write a novel. I had no idea if I’d ever be able to finish it, much less sell it. I overcame those fears by telling people about the book. Their enthusiasm and support kept me going. Basically, my yoga students and friends believed in me more than I believed in myself!

AOB: What other YA/MG books have you written? Do any of them feature a key dog character? If so, which ones?  What are these stories about?

• Murder Strikes a Pose is my first novel.

AOB: What kind of story can we expect next from you? Is it about a dog? If so, what is it about?

• My next book will be the second installment in the Downward Dog Mysteries series, tentatively titled A Killer Retreat. It stars Kate, Bella, and a new canine character, a Jack Russell Terrier named Bandit.

AOB: What else would you like us to know about you or your story?

• I would categorize Murder Strikes a Pose as a happily-ever-after, human-animal love story. Although the book is ostensibly a murder mystery, the true story is about Kate’s growing love for Bella and how Bella saves Kate from herself. The story also highlights the issues of both human and animal homelessness in a real, relatable way.

• The series is a personal tribute to my own special-needs German shepherd, Tasha. She is the love of my life.

AOB: Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? And why?

• Books have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. Honestly, there isn’t any single book that stands out more than the others, but I’ve been a voracious reader since I was six. Reading has transported me to places I’ll never be able to go in real life while teaching me about a world much larger than Billings, Montana, where I grew up.

AOB: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

• Don’t give up! Writing is in many ways a brutal business. You slave over your work, never knowing if it will get published, much less read. You fall in love with your characters. Then, once you are published, your work is on display to the world for strangers to both praise and criticize in public. Dealing with that is all part of the job. Writers are some of the kindest people I know. Reach out to them. They will help you.

AOB: Where can readers go to find out more information about you and/or your books?

• Web page

• Facebook

• Twitter

Thank you Tracy Weber for joining us at Best Dog Books!

For other great books about dogs, check out 101 Best Dog Books for Kids.

For published authors and unpublished authors, check out our writing contests.

Today I welcome M.C. Delaney to Best Dog Books, a blog that features interviews with authors who’ve written a canine story for kids or young adults.

AOB: What is the title of your book? Pub date and publisher? Genre? Targeted age group? Illustrator?

The title of my book is OBI, GERBIL ON A MISSION! It’s part of a series of books about a little gerbil named Obi.  Wait, you’re saying, a gerbil?  But isn’t this a blog about dogs?  Well, dogs play a big part in this series.  In fact, the reason Obi, the gerbil in the series, goes on a mission in OBI, GERBIL ON A MISSION! is to rescue a dog.

Publisher: Dial Press 2012 (hardcover) Puffin Books (paper) Also 2012

Age Range: 3^rd to 5^th grade.  However, my goal when I am writing a book is to create a fun story that everyone, young and old, will enjoy.

Genre:  Humorous animal fantasy

Illustrator:  Me

AOB: Who is your key dog character(s) and what kind of dog is he/she? Feel free to list as many different breeds or mixes as necessary. Tell us a little more about him/her.

The main dog character is named Kenobi.  He is a very cute, very fluffy, very excitable golden retriever puppy. In addition to running around the house like a maniac and chewing up everything in sight, Kenobi has a sad-eyed, puppy-dog look that he uses whenever he knows he’s been a bad dog and wants to be forgiven. There are also a couple of minor dog characters, including a really mean German shepherd who isn’t sure if he can trust his owners because they serve him dog food that says “Real Beef Flavor” on the dog food bag but that the German shepherd swears has hardly any flavor at all.  There’s also a Newfoundland who thinks he can read.

AOB: In 70 words or less, provide a succinct plot description of your story.

Obi, the gerbil, is very happy being an only pet.  But all that changes when Rachel, her human mother, receives a new pet on her birthday – a golden retriever puppy that Rachel names Kenobi. Much to Obi’s dismay, Rachel now gives Kenobi all of her love and attention.  Jealous, Obi takes matters into her own paws.  She shows Kenobi how to escape from the house.  With Obi’s help, Kenobi slips out the kitchen screen door and runs off.  Rachel is heartbroken at the loss of Kenobi.  Obi feels just terrible about what she has done. She sets out on a mission to bring the puppy back.  She goes where no gerbil has gone before – outdoors.  It is a world of ferocious dogs, a hungry owl, and mean spirited cats with sugary-sweet names.  Obi has to find the puppy and then get the puppy – and herself – home safely.

Kirkus called my book “fast-paced and funny.”  I hope that everyone who reads the book finds it just as entertaining.

Other links to reviews or blurbs you wish to share:

AOB: What inspired you to write this story?

Well, there really was a little gerbil named Obi.  She was my daughter’s pet.  At the time, my daughter was in third grade. The reason why my daughter had a gerbil for a pet was because she really wanted a dog for a pet.  But we lived in a small apartment and we couldn’t have a dog for a pet so we got her a gerbil for a pet instead.

My daughter named her gerbil Obi, after her favorite character in Star Wars – the Jedi knight, Obi Wan Kenobi. Which is just what the girl in the Obi books does.  She names her pet gerbil after Obi Wan Kenobi.  When we got my daughter her gerbil, the gerbil was just a little baby.  Nobody knew if the gerbil was a boy gerbil or a girl gerbil.  Not even the person who worked at the pet store knew.  And that’s just what happens to the Obi in the book.  None of the humans in the story know if she’s a boy or a girl.

My daughter’s pet gerbil also figured out how to sneak out of her cage.  So does the Obi in the book.

So how did Obi come to be written?

Well, my editor at Dial (then Dutton) called me one day and asked if I had any animal stories – if I did, she said, she’d be very interested in reading it. I told my editor that, yes, as a matter of fact I did have one. But I was just saying that — I didn’t really. So I got busy trying to think of a story about an animal. I couldn’t think of a darn thing, though. Weeks went by and I still had nothing. Then one morning I was at my desk, trying to think of a dog or some other animal that I could write about.  I was having trouble concentrating, though, because I kept hearing this squeak, squeak, squeak coming from my daughter’s bedroom down the hallway.

The noise was coming from her pet gerbil, Obi. The little gerbil was running around like crazy on her exercise wheel. This, in turn, was causing her exercise wheel to squeak like crazy. Squeak!  Squeak!  Squeak!  It was squeaking so much, I couldn’t think.

“Hey, c’mon, Obi, knock it off!” I yelled out.

Like the gerbil could understand what I said, right?

Well, the gerbil kept right on running. And the exercise wheel kept right on squeaking. And then, suddenly, inspiration struck me. “Hey,” I thought. “What if I wrote about a gerbil?”

I started thinking about what a gerbil might do in a story.   Well, one thought led to another thought and before long I had an idea for a story about a gerbil named Obi.  And that’s how the Obi books got started.

AOB: What was the biggest challenge you had writing your story? How did you overcome it?

The illustrations were probably the biggest challenge.  While I love to draw, I’m really not that good of an illustrator.  I’m particularly not that good at drawing dogs and other animals.  I had to draw and redraw the animals so that readers (as well as my editor) wouldn’t stare at one of the drawings and ask, “What the heck is that supposed to be?” My latest Obi book has a guinea pig in it.  I quickly found out as I was doing the illustrations that I couldn’t draw a guinea pig to save my life.  My drawings of the guinea pig look more like a furry meatloaf than a guinea pig.

AOB: What other YA/MG books have you written? Do any of them feature a key dog character? If so, which ones?

What are these stories about?

A number of years ago, I wrote a children’s middle school novel titled DEEP DOO DOO.  Now out-of-print, it was a political whodunit.  Who did it was a black Lab who came onto people’s TVs as a mystery dog called Deep Doo Doo. His surprise TV appearances (and political commentaries) disrupted the local governor’s race.

AOB: What kind of story can we expect next from you? Is it about a dog? If so, what is it about?

The latest book in the Obi series (OBI, GERBIL ON A SCHOOL TRIP!) was published last year (2013). In this new story, Obi goes to school where she meets a bunch of school pets – a guinea pig, a hamster, two bunnies, a turtle, and a frog named Einstein who is something of a math wiz – he knows, for instance, that 2 + 2 = 9. Sorry, no big dog roles in this latest story. Kenobi does show up, but it’s just a brief special guest star like appearance.

AOB: What else would you like us to know about you or your story?

OBI, GERBIL ON A MISSION! was chosen by Bankstreet College of Education as one of the “best children’s books of the year, 2013.” The first book in the Obi series – OBI, GERBIL ON THE LOOSE! – was the winner of the Florida Sunshine State Children’s Choice Award in 2011.

AOB: Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? And why?

Booth Tarkington’s PENROD.  It wasn’t that I loved the story so much, it’s that I enjoyed the experience of reading the book. I would read it after my parents put me to bed.  I would read under the covers with a flashlight so my mother and father, should either of them happen to look in on me, wouldn’t know that I was still up, reading.

AOB: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Don’t give up.  That’s what I keep telling myself, at any rate, when I’m trying to draw something that I’m having a lot of trouble drawing – you know, like a guinea pig.  That’s also what I tell myself when I’m trying to write something that just isn’t coming out the way I would like it to.

AOB: Where can readers go to find out more information about you and/or your books?

My website:  

Thank you M.C. Delaney for joining us at Best Dog Books!

Thank you for having me!

For other great books about dogs, check out 101 Best Dog Books for Kids.

For published authors and unpublished authors, check out our writing contests.