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Revision update: Halfway through chapter 10 of 29. Goal: To be finished by the end of the month.

Kirby Larson

Today, I’m thrilled to have an interview with Newbury Honor winner Kirby Larson. I met Kirby at the Austin SCBWI conference, where she gave an awesome talk about her journey from unpublished writer to her current success and all the peaks and valleys in between. I asked her to answer a few questions on research, both the research she did for her fictional Hattie Big Sky (2007 Newbury Honor book) and the research she nows does for her non-fiction books. She also talked about writing with a partner and writing on your own.

But, before we get to Kirby’s wisdom, tomorrow I’m at the Houston SCBWI conference with another incredible lineup: author Cynthia Leitich Smith, Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins assistant editor Ruta Rimas, Henry Holt creative director Patrick Collins, Simon & Schuster senior editor Alexandra Cooper, Scholastic senior editor Lisa Ann Sandell, Harvey Klinger agent Sara Crowe and National Geographic Children’s Books editor-in-chief Nancy Feresten. So check in next week for reports from the conference.

And now, onto Kirby…

You said at the Austin SCBWI conference that you did a lot of research for Hattie Big Sky. Can you tell us about the work you did and how the research helped you develop the idea for the book?

KL: I was an abysmal student of history so I knew nothing about homesteading in the early 20th century, nor even about WWI. I initially thought I might be doing something like a more grown-up version of the Little House books. But when I became aware of the tensions and prejudice of those part

from Carma Dutra, contributing editor for The National Writing for Children Center

Kirby Larson’s portfolio includes the 2007 Newbery Honor Award book, Hattie Big Sky (Delacorte); and Junior Library Guild and IndieBound Next List selection, Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival, (Walker), co-written with her good friend, Mary Nethery and illustrated by New Orleans resident, Jean Cassels. She is at work on a middle-grade historical novel, as well as a second nonfiction picture book with Mary.

Recently, Kirby Larson talked with me about her career as a children’s book author.

Carma: When did your professional writing career begin?

Kirby: Define professional! I sold my first piece, a personal essay about wilderness camping with my husband when we had two kids in diapers, to Signposts magazine for $12 in 1984. I began writing for children in the early 90s.

C: Can a children’s book be published without an agent?

K: Though I now have an agent, I had 6 books published without one, and I have friends who are selling successfully without agents. I think the key is to make sure you’re putting out the best work possible.

C: What is the best route to an agent?

K: See above. Do your best, be professional. And go to conferences where agents you’re interested in are presenting to suss out whether or not they might be a good match for you and for your work.

C: Do you have a favorite source of inspiration?

K: My son’s college loans, which we’re still paying off. Seriously, if I waited for inspiration, I’d be in big trouble. To paraphrase Madeleine L’Engle, the writer who waits for inspiration doesn’t get much writing done.

C: Describe what you like most about writing for children.

K: The fact that writing, reading and daydreaming are essential elements of my job, and the joy of connecting with my readers, young and old.

C: Did you have an “Aha moment” when you knew you were going to write for children or did the realization happen gradually?

K: Most of the short fiction I was writing — the stuff I cared about — featured kid characters. Then, one day, I read the picture book MING LO MOVES THE MOUNTAIN (written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel) to my then-young children and I knew what it was I wanted to do for the rest of my life: write books for children and young adults.

C: At the recent SCBWI event in Davis, California, you mentioned five years passed before Hattie Big Sky was written and published. Did you write any novels or stories during that time and if you did do you plan to publish them?

K: Hattie was a time-consuming labor of love. I did some revising of old manuscripts and note-taking on new ones on off days during that period, but that book was my primary focus. After I sold it, in the two year gap before it came out, I co-wrote TWO BOBBIES: A TRUE STORY OF HURRICANE KATRINA, FRIENDSHIP AND SURVIVAL with my dear friend, Mary Nethery. That nonfiction picture book, illustrated by Jean Cassels (a New Orleans resident), was published by Walker in August.

C: Have you ever experienced writer’s block? If so how did you break it?

K: I have definitely experienced writer’s block this past year — thanks to the Newbery Honor. I broke it by running away from home to Mexico for 2 weeks in March with another good friend. She had a book due on April 1 and so we wrote like maniacs after our morning Spanish classes every single day for each of those 2 weeks. She finished her book and I nearly finished a draft of a middle grade historical novel. Since my return home, I have finished it. Now it’s time to revise.

C: Have revisions ever changed the original intent of your story? In what way?

K: This is an intriguing question but I’m not sure how to answer it. I think revisions have changed the shape of a story and maybe individual story elements but I can’t think of a time where the intent was changed because my intent is always to tell a given story the best way I can.

C: Do you visit schools outside of Washington State? How often?

K: I’ve been on the road a lot this past year, visiting schools all around the country. I’ve even been invited to speak to an international school in Qatar in April! I do love to visit schools, but am working on slowing down the pace of my travel.

C: What projects are you working on now?

K: I am working on the revision of the middle grade historical referred to above and Mary and I are writing another narrative nonfiction picture book which will be coming out from Little Brown in Fall 09.

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NOTE: Last week, Kirby Larson and Bonny Becker were guests on Book Bites for Kids. Listen to a recording of that interview here.