Behind the Books: Snowballing
In a post last September, I described how the text for Under the Snow came to me in a burst of inspiration after months of being stuck. I was pleased with the result, but I didn’t have any major expectations for the book. Over the years, I’ve become used to being a solid mid-list author. […]
Behind the Books: Submissions
Today you’re in for a treat. I’ve invited Erin Deedy of Peachtree Publishers to be a guest blogger. Here is her description of the submission process–the same one my book A Place for Butterflies went through in 2001–and some advice for aspiring authors. Every day, aspiring writers mail their manuscripts to us. Many wonder where […]
Behind the Books: My Writing Partner
This is my ever-ready, ever-reliable writing partner, Princer—a.k.a. Princey, Little Guy, and Mini Munchkin. My husband rescued him from the mean streets of Cambridge after someone abandoned him. He was scrawny and mean, but my husband loved him anyway. The first time I met Princer, he bit me—hard enough to draw blood. For some reason, […]
Behind the Books: When Topics Choose Me
Sometimes animal encounters are so thrilling that I can’t resist writing about the critter in question. Here’s one example. While researching a book in Costa Rica, I was lucky enough to encounter three different kinds of New World monkeys. And they had me at “Hello!” Each morning, the loud, low calls of howler monkeys woke me […]
Behind the Books: Stealing Ideas
If you’ve read my last couple of Wednesday posts, you know that many of my book ideas come from things I observe or experience—often in the natural world. But I admit that once I stole an idea. A few years ago, my nephew (Shown here with his sisters on Halloween. He’s a zombie.) thought insects […]
Behind the Books: Choosing a Favorite
Whenever I do a school visit, one of the questions kids ask me is “Which of your books is your favorite. I never feel completely comfortable answering this question. Sometimes I say my current work-in-progress is my favorite. After all, if I hope to complete it, I have to stay enthusiastic about it. This is […]
Welcome to the World, Under the Snow
Children’s books can be released anytime of the year, but most come out in September or March. Up until now, all of my trade picture books have had March pub dates, but my new title, Under the Snow, came out September 1. A fall publication definitely makes sense for a book about winter and snow, […]
Behind the Books: Aha Moments
It was 1996. My first children’s book had just been accepted for publication, and I was headed to East Africa to do research for a second book. Life was good—or so it seemed. As friends and family heard about my success, I received a flood of phone calls. They congratulated me, of course. But they […]