I am so pleased to be part of Susanna Reich's blog tour for her new book, Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin. I love non-fiction and this story about frontier artist George Catlin is just fascinating. I give you Susanna Reich.
When and why did you start writing for children?
It took me a long time to find my voice. My creative energies were going in a different direction--a nonverbal one. I used to be a professional dancer. Then I worked for ten years as a floral designer.
I started writing as a way to publicize my wedding flower business, and sold my first article to Bride's magazine. It was a big thrill. By the early 1990's, my husband and I had started a family, and we had also become friends with children's book illustrator, Ed Young. Writing for kids grew out of what was going on in my life--enjoying picture books with my daughter, being inspired by Ed, getting paid for articles about wedding flowers, gaining self-confidence by running a business.
I thought that writing picture books was the logical place to begin. They're short. How hard could it be? Ha ha! Wrong! Those first books were never published, but I learned a lot by working on them. I joined SCBWI and began going to conferences and finding out about the publishing world.
An editor mentioned that it was easier to break in with nonfiction. My local librarian told me there weren't enough biographies of women. My mom was a music historian and suggested I write about Clara Schumann. I wasn't attached to the idea of writing picture books--I just loved to write. I didn't care if it was fiction or nonfiction. Any kind of writing was a challenge. Out of these ideas grew my first book--Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso. In my second book, Jose! Born to Dance, I returned to my love of dance. Then I wrote a novel about a girl who wants to be an actress, Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage.
What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?
Building a career in children's books takes perseverance and discipline. Celebrate the success of being published. Enjoy it! Then get back to work.
Read as much as possible. Learn from the best. Learn from everybody.
Connect with writers and illustrators. The children's book industry is full of wonderfully supportive and generous people.
What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?
Just one? Not possible! Here are a few.
Picture books: Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson. Cricket Boy, by Feenie Ziner, illus. by Ed Young. Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen, illus. by John Schoenherr.
Chapter books: the Owen Foote books, by Stephanie Greene. Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne.
Novels: Holes, by Louis Sachar. The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen.
YA Fiction: Kit's Wilderness, by David Almond. His Dark Materials Trilogy, by Phillip Pullman.
Nonfiction: The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, by Philip Hoose. Facing the Lion, by Joseph Lemosolai Lekuton.
Graphic Novel: The Arrival, by Shaun Tan.
What are you working on now?
After four years of working on Painting the Wild Frontier, I'm writing something short that requires no research! It's a fictional picture book about a cat.
What is your favorite dessert and why?
My day is not complete without something chocolate. Usually sorbet. On special occasions, a really rich, fudgy brownie. Or some white chocolate creme de brulee. Or a chocolate chocolate-chip ice cream cone. You get the idea.
Why? Because everyone needs a treat once in a while.
Award-winning children's book author Susanna Reich has driven big trucks, designed flowers in honor of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and done graduate work in ancient Hawaiian hula. Her new book, Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin (Clarion), has received starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, and School Library Journal. Susanna is also the author of Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso (Clarion), winner of the NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor and an ALA Notable, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; José! Born to Dance (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster), a picture book biography of the modern dancer and choreographer José Limón that won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award and an International Latino Book Award; and a historical novel for ages 9-14, Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage, a Scripps Howard News Service Best Book of 2006 and an ALA/YALSA Teens' Top Ten nominee.
Susanna is Co-chair of the Children's and Young Adult Writers Committee of PEN America, and serves on the Steering Committee of the Metro New York Chapter of SCBWI. She is also Account Services Manager at Raab Associates Inc., the nation's leading children's book publicity and marketing agency, where she has worked since 2000. Susanna holds a B.F.A. in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and lives with her husband, author Gary Golio, in New York's Hudson Valley.
Lustig, ich hätte niemals gedacht, dass dies in der Tat auch so klappt :-)
Posted by: Book Of Ra Tricks | April 05, 2011 at 06:17 AM