Here is an interview I did with children's book author TERRY PIERCE.
When and why did you start writing for children?
Throughout my life as a teacher (twenty-two years), I'd always thought about writing for kids, but the year before I stopped teaching, the desire to do so became very strong. I knew it was something I had to pour myself into 100%. In 1999, I went against all "sound" advice and quit teaching to follow the dream of writing for children. I gave myself a five year time limit to get a book published. Four years later, I received my first book contract (for Greatest Goofiest Jokes).
What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?
I'd
say to focus on two things: First, work on promoting your book
locally. For me (and I think I was an average first-time author),
that really was the most realistic thing to do. An author should have
a great book launch, send press releases to local newspapers, set up
book signings, notify schools (if you're prepared to do school visits)
and tell everyone you know about your book. I carried my first book
with me everywhere to generate excitement about my launch. I had
people there from friends, family, and colleagues to credit union
tellers and my gynecologist! The second thing I would recommend is to
take care of yourself. Remember what got you to that point--writing!
Make sure you continue to write daily, read daily and stay on track
with what is organic to you as a writer
What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?
Just ONE??? I'll have to cheat here and answer by genre
(you can find a complete list of my favorites on my blog http://www.terrypierce.blogspot.com).
One of my favorite picture books is SAILOR MOO, COW AT SEA by Lisa Wheeler. This book is great on so many levels. The illustrations are lovely, the text is perfect and it's a model example of a good rhyming picture book (complete with the magic 3's). I use this one whenever I teach workshops on writing for children. My favorite easy reader is THE SNOWBALL by Jennifer Armstrong. It's a fun, rollicking story, also in rhyme. My favorite MGN is Charlotte's Web. I love it on so many levels, like so many other people. What more can I say? Last, I have many favorite YA's and can't choose just one, but I would recommend reading anything by Richard Peck. He not only is a master of capturing "voice" but his word choice and attention to detail are something that we can all learn from. Sometimes I re-read sentences of his in awe of the beauty of his writing.
What is your favorite dessert and why? Ha!
Okay, the best dessert I ever had was at the 1999 SCBWI Summer
Conference. It was a multi-layered work of art that included custard,
raspberries and blackberries, chocolate, whipped cream, and raspberry
sauce--all in an edible bowl (I'm gaining weight just thinking about
it!). My favorite "every day" kind of dessert is ice cream. I love
ice cream, especially Kahulua Chip ice cream from Mike's Ice Cream in
Hood River, Oregon.
TERRY PIERCE is
the author of fifteen children’s books, her most recent works being Tae
Kwon Do! (Random House Step-Into-Reading).Visit her web site:
http://www.terrypiercebooks.com
Hi Tina,
Thanks so much for doing this! What a fun idea to interview local writers. I'm honored to have been your first one.
Happy blogging!
Posted by: Terry P. | March 15, 2007 at 08:19 AM