Tracy Barrett

Tracy Barrett is a hard working RA for the SCBWI for years.  I would see her around the summer conferences always helpful and kind.  Tracy is also one of these "Brainieacks" that I often find in children's literature.  Professor at Vanderbilt University, published author and scholar. We are so lucky to have her in our mist. I give you Tracy Barrett.

When and why did you start writing for children?

In 1975, I wrote some short stories for an educational publishing firm. I later found out that I was the only non-professional in the group (I was a college student) and was edited the least of any of them, so that gave me confidence that I could actually do it!

Grad school and life got in the way, and my first nonfiction book wasn't published until 1993. My first novel, Anna of Byzantium, came out in 1999.
I started writing because I had developed all sorts of research skills as a grad student and was bored in my day job. I've always loved history, so that's the focus of my nonfiction work. My fiction is mostly historical or time travel, so I haven't strayed far from that love!

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

Don't assume that one publication will open all doors. Anna of Byzantium has sold almost 200,000 copies, and once it was on bookshelves and on reading lists and winning awards, I thought that my problems with finding publication were solved, but my next novel was rejected 24 times before it was bought! It too won some nice awards and has sold well, but I was close to giving up before my wonderful editor at Henry Holt fell in love with the story and the characters and accepted it. She's now published four of my novels and three more are under contract with her. You have to keep working on craft, attending conferences, and making conference.
And join SCBWI!

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

I don't think you can go wrong with Charlotte's Web; it's beautifully written, with great characters, wonderful humor, and very moving passages. It's also about how writers can save the world--or at least a pig--so writers should feel flattered by it!
My favorite more recent books is, or books are, Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series.


What are you working on now?

I'm roughing out Book 4 of my series "The Sherlock Files." Title still to be decided, but at the moment I'm leaning toward The Case of the Missing Heiress. Book 3, The Case That Time Forgot, will be out in May, 2010. I also have a book I'm very excited about coming out in Fall, 2010: King of Ithaka. It's a historical/fantasy/coming of age/adventure/love storyyoung-adult novel based on Homer's Odyssey. My agent is currently reviewing my revisions to another YA novel, still untitled, based on the legend of the Minotaur.
Did I mention I was a classics major in college???

What is your favorite dessert and why?

Linzertorte, because a. the house smells AMAZING when you bake it; b. it's very easy to make but looks complicated, so you impress your guests; c. it has lots of almonds in it, so you can pretend it's good for you and ignore all the butter and egg yolks; d. it's the perfect combination of flavors. Or it would be if I could figure out a way to put chocolate in it.

Tracy Barrett is the author of numerous books and magazine articles for young readers.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree with honors in Classics-Archaeology from Brown University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Italian Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Her scholarly interests in the ancient and medieval worlds overlap in her fiction and nonfiction works.

A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study medieval women writers led to the writing of her award-winning young-adult novel, Anna of Byzantium. Her most recent works for young readers are The Ancient Chinese World (Oxford University Press 2005) and On Etruscan Time, a sequel to Cold in Summer (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2005).

For ten years, Tracy Barrett was Regional Advisor for the Midsouth with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She has taught courses on writing for children and on children's literature, and frequently makes presentations to groups of students, librarians, teachers, and others.

She teaches at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Comments

[Olgy Gary]

Good interview, Tina. Good questions and you got great answers from Tracy. I liked her answer to your question on advice to new writers, "Don't assume that one publication will open all doors." Isn't that the truth! One of my writing "bibles" is Donald Maass' "Writing the Breakout Novel," where he talks about that breakout novel can be anywhere from your first to your Nth title. In Dan Brown's case it was The DaVinci Code that made folks want to read his earlier works. So, yes, good interview and good answers from Tracy. :-)

[Kristin Tubb]

Tracy, your advice is gold, as always! Thank you for sharing your experience! Thanks for the interview, Tina!

[Elizabeth Dulemba]

Great interview Tina! And I'm a Tracy fan!
:)
e

[Jackie]

I'm so glad I ran across your interview. "The Sherlock Files" sounds like a fun read for kids, and I'm going to check it out.

[Genetta Adair]

Loved this interview, Tina! I love Tracy anyway, but I especially liked reading about how she began her writing career and that it hasn't always been an easy path. Her books are fun reads, and her perseverance has paid off. She's an inspiration to me.