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Last year, I was asked to write a blurb for the upcoming book Kimchi and Calamari, by Rose Kent (which is a really nice book, by the way). I agreed. However, recently after perusing Amazon and looking at the images, I think my quote was not used.

Now, I am NOT upset in any way, shape or form that it wasn’t used. In fact, I am pretty relieved. I had never written a blurb before, so I tried to “sparkle”; and whenever I try to do that my writing comes off really fake. I realize now I should’ve just written an honest line about how nice I thought the book was instead of trying to be some kind of marketing soundbite. Oh well.

I think the reason why I overreached was because I was so flattered to be asked. Famous people give blurbs! It’s their name that helps sell the book, right? But in the case of Kimchi and Calamari, I couldn’t imagine how having my name on the cover would help it, except perhaps as an additional, unnecessary curiosity factor. I imagine the conversation would go something like this:

“Look, this person Grace Lin liked the book.”
“Grace Lin? Who’s that?”
“Um, wasn’t she on one of those reality shows?”
“No, I think she’s an actress on that sci fi show, Battlestar Galactica.”
“Gee, I wonder if this book is about aliens eating human food, then.”
“Maybe, are you gonna get it?”
“Naw, I hate that spaceship stuff.”

But, regardless of my blurb-writing shortcomings and pitfalls, it is the idea of the blurb that I find fascinating. Do these one to two line quotations REALLY make a difference? Do they push a browser over the edge to actually buy the book? Or does the difference come in the judgement of the book? Do these blurbs bias the readers mind, filling them with preconceived notions? Does it elevate the book to a certain stature if Famous Person A endorses it? But book people are smarter than the average George Foreman grill buying public, aren’t they? They don’t need a big name to validate their purchase or opinions. They can choose their own books without a celebrity sanction, I’m sure. Right? Right?

I ask this as I shove my George Foreman grill into the closet.

Originally posted January 24th, 2007

Our question of the week is:What outside influences do you use to keep yourselves focused?

ALVINA:
What outside influences do you use to keep yourselves focused?

This is a somewhat ambiguous question--so many ways to answer it! When it comes to my job, it's all about people. I'm influenced by my coworkers and wanting to be good to work with and do a good job; by the authors and illustrators I work with, not wanting to let them down; I'm influenced by the librarians, teachers, parents, booksellers, and others who will read the books I work on; I'm influenced by the knowledge of the reader I am and the memory of the reader I once was as I child; and lastly I'm especially influenced by the child reader that I'm trying to reach, what I think they will love.

I also do have some inspirational quotations up in my office to help me keep things in perspective. One is "Follow your compass, not your clock" which is something I heard at a talk given by Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon. Someone had said this to her when she was trying to make a big career decision amd was conflicted, and I love to think about it when I get frustrated with work, or start thinking that I should be at a higher level, etc. I think, my clock might be saying I'm ready for something else, but my compass is telling me what is most important.

Another quotations is on I commented on in Grace's "Hope and Beauty" post above. "It is Simple. We are where we should be, doing what we should be doing, otherwise we would be somewhere else, doing something else."

And one last quote is from college. I think my roommate Grace (a different Grace!) penned it when we were stressing about midterms or finals. "Feel a sense of iner peace. Do your best. It's never too late!"



ANNA:
One thing that always brings me back to focusing is looking at work that inspires me, and reminds me why I wanted to make books in the first place. This is one of my all time favorite books. It awes me on so many levels. The quiet, perfect pacing, the understated storytelling, the somewhat unresolved, haunting ending.

This book brings me back to my desk for other reasons as well- my older sister gave it to me as a birthday present when I was applying to college. Chris Van Allsburg taught at RISD, and this was one of the deciding factors in my decision to go there to study illustration. So I guess this book also reminds me of all the hope and excitement I felt taking my first real step towards being an illustrator.

GRACE:
Well, I like to write when things are completely quiet with no distractions; I do have a music mix on my ipod I listen to when I paint.

But the one thing I’ve always done is make a folder for my work (I po

Quite often when adults hear that I write for children their first question is,
“Are you going to write an adult novel?”
This is always said very nicely, even eagerly, or in a slightly encouraging tone – as though children’s books are training wheels for the real thing.

I thought it was just something about me – but on NPR a few days ago Katherine Paterson said that people often asked her that, too. Why do people do this? Obviously, they think it's easier to write for children -- but do they realize how insulting the question is? That it implies that people only write for kids because they aren’t good enough (yet is often implied, too -- that's where the encouraging tone comes in) to write for grown-ups?

It’s not easy to write ANYTHING good – but I don’t think the age group that you’re writing for has anything to do with a book’s difficulty. It just takes a different kind of talent, or set of interests – and if anyone doubts this, think of how few people there are who have written great children’s books AND great adult novels. I really can’t think of anyone!

The closest is probably C.S. Lewis – I at least really like That Hideous Strength and Out of the Silent Planet; but are these books as good as the Narnia books? Louisa May Alcott and E.Nesbit both wrote trashy books for grown-ups, I’ve never been able to even finish any of them, and I’ve read their kids books over and over and over.

If you think this just proves the point that kids books are easier: Thurber's adult stories make me laugh (and still are read in literature classes), but I don't think anyone would still read the book about the Princess who wanted the moon(Many Moons ) if it weren't for the great illustrations. And Dickens and Thackeray would be out of print today if their children's books were their only books.

Robert Louis Stevenson did write for adults, and actually, some of his adult stories are pretty amazing (if you like well-written, well-plotted adventure stories) – but are they as good as the best poems in A Child’s Garden of Verses? I don’t think so. If you count YA, then I can think of one person: F.Scott Fitzgerald. His Basil and Josephine stories still make me laugh out loud. I especially love the ones about the ten-year old, totally obnoxious Basil (based on Fitzgerald himself), with his best friend who – no matter how crazy and impossible Basil’s ideas were -- responded to each one with an immediate:
“Let’s do it!”

But those aren’t BOOKS. Maybe there are people who write brilliantly for both age groups that I just haven’t read. If you can think of any, please put them in the comments! And another question: what do YOU say when adults ask if you’re going to write for adults? I usually just mumble no. No child has ever asked that question, by the way: they just say “Have you written any other books?” and

Calling all kids' book folks--writers, illustrators, booksellers, librarians, editors, etc. What has been the most OUT THERE story idea you've ever heard? I'm talking about those times when you're at a gathering and someone overhears that you have something to do w/kids' books. Then they immediately launch into the "I have a GREAT idea for a kids' book that I KNOW will get published soon..." and all you can do is sigh.

I'll start -- I was at a party a while back and a seemingly normal guy told me about his story idea. It was about a selfish child who loses her precious red shoes. She needs to be taught a lesson... (so far okay) and THEN things got interesting. "The girl whines that she can't find her shoes and Jesus comes in the form of a giant hand which comes from a cloud to tell her she doesn't need the shoes and she should learn her lesson..." This guy with beer in hand blabbed on and on about Jesus and shoes and even bunnies may have been involved, though I'm not sure. Then he said "So, you think you could help me with it?" "Help you?" I said. "Yeah, he replied, "help me get it published....

Originally published September 26th, 2006

I am a week short of a deadline and painting like a maniac. Recently a 9 to 5er pointed out that as freelancers we don't HAVE to do everything at the last minute... painting into the wee hours, and ignoring any and all other commitments to make a deadline. Its true and a really good point I think that many times there is an option, that a carefully planned out schedule could prevent the last minute crunch that often happens. Now granted there are times when a publisher will rush you, spend a long time with revisions and then expect that you can magically cut your work time in half to make the deadline. But that is not always the case.

Often times I think we illustrators (and writers perhaps too?) let this situation happen on purpose. There is something about the momentum of focusing ALL your time, energy and attention on one thing that is really gratifying. Its like a little break from your ordinary life where everything becomes really simple and your paintings become the only thing that is important. Even when you are doing other things... eating a meal, talking with a friend, making the occasional venture outside the house, your creative mind is still engaged. Sometimes in the middle of a conversation about, I don't know, the weather or something, I will bust out with "WAIT, thats what I need to do, a little more green!" Usually the comment is met with silence. Or if the person knows me, they'll just say "Go."

This kind of feast or famine intensity is something I've struggled with over the years. There is something satisfying about it, and yet as I get older, sometimes I don't want such an extreme lifestyle. Sometimes I want to be able to disengage and go to the movies, without obsessing about the project at hand. But its a tough balance to strike. Sometimes I just think this is the nature of the beast.

Originally published October 10th, 2006

I feel a little like a squirrel preparing for winter (and not because it is once again 40 degrees in Boston). I'm about to start the paintings for a picture book and hole up in my studio, my little hollow in a tree.

This involves several stages:



1. Getting rid of all sketches, notes, books, odds and ends that are filling up all usable table space in my studio so that I won't be distracted (above was my desk at the beginning of the day).



2. Now I can start filling up all usable table space with new sketches, notes, books, odds and ends that will weave their way into the illustrations for this book (this is my desk at the end of the day- I'm in OCD paradise!).

3. Settling all unfinished business that has been hanging over my head and dragging on for weeks so that I can, without guilt, completely withdraw into my head and live in the world I'm about to try and paint.

Its a little like going away to camp when you're a kid. You feel a little nervous about going somewhere new. Hopefully I will make friends with my characters and fall into a groove quickly. Then, before I know it, I'll be emerging from this cave and blinking at the sun. I am glad I have my pen pals at the BRG to send postcards to!

Originally published November 21, 2006

More often then not, when I'm introduced at a book event I'm described as a prolific author/illustrator. While it is usually meant as complimentary (at least I hope so) I always wince a little inside. Just because a person (especially someone in the creative field) creates many works doesn't necessarily mean they are any good.

Of course, I am extremely grateful that I have been able to be so prolific. But the truth is, I have to be. I depend on it. If I don’t produce, I quickly drown--mortgage, health insurance, medical bills, groceries-- everything breaks through the rickety dam of my paying books.

Which is probably why I was so affected by Linda Sue Park’s speech about creating your best work . I didn’t go into children’s books for the money (who does?); and it goes without saying that I want everything that I do and publish to be the absolute best of my ability. But I would be lying if I didn’t say that sometimes my creative juices flow out of desperation for the cold hard cash, that compromises are made to get contracts, and sometimes work is rushed when bills are waiting.

To be able to make a living in children’s books is a gift, but one that is dearly paid for. And is compromising quality one of the unavoidable taxes? That is the question I struggle with when the projects are over and the bills have been paid. Could I have done it better? Should I have done it better? Was it my very best?

The answer is always yes and no. Everything I’ve done probably could’ve been done better. But it was the very best I could do at that time. And while that’s not quite satisfactory, it’s enough to make me try again with another book.

Originally published January 13th, 2007

Recently, at a school visit, a young student rushed up to me and said, “I read The Year of the Dog in 2 hours!”
“That’s wonderful,” I said to her, but inside I felt a strange sense of shock. Gosh, that book took me over 4 years to write, but now takes only two hours to read. The rate of consumption is a lot faster than production!

I suppose the surprise was greater because I am knee-deep in my revisions for novel #2. I’m on my 5th revision, which actually doesn’t sound that bad. But it’s the 5th “official” one, which means it’s the 5th time I’ve gone through it with my editor…the times that I’ve gone through it with myself is about, oh, I don’t know, 133?

The hardest part about working on something for 133 times is that when I get to around revision 131, I start thinking, “Oh, this will be fine. As long as it makes sense, no one will care…just get it done.” But there’s always that other part, the side that wants to get every word is right, that makes me stay up until 5 in the morning and haunts me when I try to concentrate on other things, that pushes me to revision 132.

And I think all authors are like that. Because we want those two hours of reading to be the best we can possibly make them.

Originally published October 16, 2006

Some (ah-hem…many) truths about being a children’s book author (or at least some truths about me). In no particular order.


Petrified of…

1) Running out of ideas

1) Getting burnt out

2) Reading a bad review that is in some small way right

3) Reading a bad review that is completely wrong but your editor says it’s not professional to send hate mail

4) Doing a story hour and noticing there’s a kid in the back who doesn’t care to listen!... or worse, throws spit balls and says something bad about your mama

5) Never meeting that goal to become a moderately successful and semi-known author

6) Not making the next sale and going back to living off of the credit cards and eating pasta 6 out of 7 days of the week (7 is reserved for being luxurious—McDonald’s 99 cent menu)

Worried publisher will…

1) Lose too much money on the books

2) Lose faith in the author

3) Not agree to make changes to the book’s design

4) Use ugly fonts

5) Continue to use the ugly author photo you mistakenly gave because you were sleep deprived

Sick of…

1) Pulling all night-ers

2) Not having time or energy to keep the work area clean

3) Tripping over random computer wires because you don’t have time to figure out where to put them

4) Accidentally drinking yesterday’s coffee

5) Constantly being reminded of work because the “office” is in the “home”

6) Publishers not understanding that creativity can’t be forced—a deadline can’t be made if the author or illustrator is having a mental block! It’s not like accounting! You can’t help it if your brain doesn’t want to be clever or smart or creative today!

7) Going to the doctor’s or the bank or the library or the bookstore or a wedding or the park or a family reunion or on the bus or the bathroom or the soup isle and meeting someone who has a story that he/she thinks would make for the BEST KIDS’ BOOK EVER!!!!!!

8) People asking if it’s okay if they mention you in his or her cover letter

9) People asking for editors’ names and phone numbers

10) Hearing that kids mostly spend their time watching TV and not appreciating a good story on paper

11) Reading that Madonna’s books are on the bestseller list

12) Reading that Madonna is now hiring Rembrandt to illustrate her new book because her spiritual advisor brought him back to life for the very occasion.

11) Reading that 5 more celebrities will be writing about their childhoods because they think when they stuck a cookie up their nose at the age of 6 it was much funnier than when you did it…because they’re celebrities.

12) Knowing your books are just as good or better than the ones selling like hotcakes but no one has heard of your books so Joanne Smith will settle for what’s on the cardboard display with the flashing lights and toilet flushing sound because she’s in a rush and her kid’s is getting whiny and your

Some quotes that keep me working, or help me to look at my work in a new way:

"When you write don't think, listen." -Madeleine L'Engle

"Nobody ever gets what they want and that is beautiful. Everyone dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful." -They Might Be Giants
(This one I stole from Linda, she sent it to me several years ago and it hangs on the bulletin board next to my desk)

"I was tracking something very slippery, very elusive, and had to use every sense I had to stay on the trail - other people were distracting. Later, I discovered what I was hunting was my own spirit." - Ana Forrest

What are some of yours?

Originally published October 17, 2006

Libby's posts on beginnings, and then Anna's post about BLOW OUT THE MOON (which was a beginning for me, too), and then Meghan's post about how it feels to begin painting a new book made me think about another beginning--my start at the company I work now.

This week another editor and I took our shared assistant out to lunch, and she was recounting how she felt after she interviewed with me, how badly she realized she wanted the job, so much so that she could barely talk about it after the interview to her boyfriend. This was so different from her reaction to other interviews she had been on that her boyfriend commented, "You really want this job, don't you."

It reminded me about my own beginning. I talk about my "path" in my interview here, but not the specifics, really. Not those moments, those specific moments that I'll remember forever:

-I remember how I spent the night before my interview frantically trying to figure out what to wear. I didn't own a suit then (I still don't, actually), and was trying on skirt after skirt, shirt after shirt. I finally settled on a black business skirt separate, and a nice, deep purple, short-sleeved T-shirt. And I borrowed a long black suit jacket from Grace (do you remember, Grace?!) that didn't quite fit right, but I thought made my outfit look more professional. I found out afterwards that Megan found my outfit "refreshing" compared to all of the boring interview suits. Whew.

-I remember how it was so incredibly hot and humid and sticky the day I interviewed--it was the middle of July. After my interview I was so distracted and excited and worried, because I wanted the job so much, more than I wanted anything else in the world. I was so distracted that after the interview I went to get on the T (subway) and completely forgot about using a token and ended up walking into the turnstyle without paying. Ouch.

Other moments:
-A few weeks later, I was standing at the information desk in the children's section of B&N where I worked, waiting for the phone call. I had interviewed for two jobs at the time, the EA job and also a position at the Horn Book, a job that my coworker at B&N also interviewed for. The Horn Book told us that they would wait to see who Megan hired for her editorial assistant before making their decision, because they assumed that was the more desireable job, but that process had of course dragged on longer than expected, so we were waiting for that call, too. I would have loved either job. So I was standing at the information station talking to my coworker when the intercom buzzed saying that she had a call. My heart started beating faster when she took the phone and I could tell that she was getting good news, and I felt a mixture of dispair and hope. When she got off the phone she was trying not to be too happy because she knew I was worried about my own situation. But I was happy for her. And even though I despaired that I wouldn't end up with e

When I was a child and a teenager, I would read almost anything: just gulp it down and the fatter, the better (picture books were thin books, chapter books were fat books to us). Now I’m much pickier – but last week I had the flu for a few days and I read the way I read as a kid when I couldn’t go outside: I just put a big stack of fat books next to me and when I finished one, started the next. One of the books I read was Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (Newbery winner, 1938). It opened to this:


--and my first thought was: the author must be the illustrator (she was). I kind of like the drawings in this book – they’re just so bizarre. And I also always liked Arthur Ransome’s drawings for Swallows and Amazons, which was published in the 1930s, too. They’re charming and suit the books.

I’m guessing that these authors weren’t ever professional illustrators (girls, what do you think?). And do you think authors this amateurish could get away with illustrating their own chapter books today? I hope it’s possible, even if the illustrations aren’t up to Grace’s charming drawings in the equally charming Year of the Dog, it’s just FUN to find colorful illustrations like these scattered throughout a book, especially when the author is the illustrator:

The girl on the left is described as fat -- I’ve never seen the word “fat” mentioned so often in a book as it was in Thimble Summer. People were also described as “fleshy,” as when someone says, “They are one fleshy family.” I didn’t know people were that preoccupied with weight in the 1930s – or was it just this author? Pigs were mentioned a lot, too – one is described as “unusually greedy and selfish, even for a pig.” This isn’t a criticism, I enjoyed the book; I just found this sort of thing unusual:

“Garnet watched Mrs. Hauser [the mother in the “fleshy family”] get into the car. Did she imagine it, or did she really see the Ford sink down a little on its springs, as if it sighed under a great weight.”

I ask myself this question a lot. I also often ponder who knows what kids will like and why and then I ask if it’s possible to entirely determine what the picture book age will like at all. Do authors know best? Do editors know best? Librarians? What about those pesky reviewers? Consider the picture books you liked as a kid. Why did you like them? Was it the story? The illustrations? Was it the way your mom or dad read to you? Can an adult read to a child in a certain, excited way that will make them like the book despite the so-so storyline? I asked my mom why she never read us kids Dr. Suess, for example. She said “Because I never liked Dr. Suess. I read to you kids the books that I liked.” Then again, as I recall, there was a book that my little sis LOVED that I know my mom got bored with pretty quickly. It was called Bear By Himself. None of us could figure it out… yet she loved it.

SO many things go into what influences kids… the same as adults. They watch TV and then want the next superman book. That’s why they can’t be trusted to pick out books for themselves at the bookstore! I’ve watched them in action.
Mom says—pick out one of these books that you’d like Mommy to read…
Kid—goes straight for the spinner rack
Mom—Honey, no, not Scooby Doo
Kid—Ignores mom and continues pulling out Scooby Doo books
Mom—Honey you’re making a mess. Please put the books away and come sit down so we can read a story
Kid—continues making a pile and starts shoving Scooby Doo books in mom’s face
Mom—shakes head
Kid—knocks down the whole rack of books and booksellers come running.
Mom—gives up on reading a book and lets kid buy a sticker book
Hmmm, maybe kids aren’t reading at all! This is why authors are poor!

Anyway, one thing I do know—children’s book authors are in touch with that inner child. They REMEMBER being a child probably better than most people. They will never forget their likes and dislikes. It’s not enough to witness your kid doing something cute and then turn it into a story. Kids don’t want to read about themselves all the time. They want to live out their fantasies… get out their frustrations… and so on. Let's just hope all those parents aren't buying sticker books!

Originally published September 14, 2006

A while ago, a fellow illustrator and I were having a discussion and she said to me, “Don’t you ever want to break out? Don’t you ever want to do something really different?”

The question surprised me. Yet, in a way, looking back, I’m surprised I was surprised. It seems to be fairly par for the course that artists radically change their style, sometimes a different one for each book. Meghan even posted how she felt winners of the Caldecott are oftentimes a well-known illustrator who has changed his/her style.

Because, I think we equate change with progress and courage. “It’s so brave of him/her to change his/her style like that,” someone will say, “and not stick to his/her same old way, the same old things.”

But when I hear this, I always think of the artist Giorgio Morandi, a painter we studied in school. For most of his career he painted bottles and vases. The same objects and shapes over and over again—for years and years. Each painting was beautiful, the sensitivity to light, the placement, the simplicity of his strokes. But you’d think that by, say, painting #10, he’d figure he had still life mastered, be bored and would want to move on. But he didn’t.

And I realize how admirable his dedication was; how much braver it was for him to continue to do what he believed in. Audiences thought his work was boring and mundane, yet he continued. There was something about these still lives that fascinated him. Maybe to him, to feel that he had mastered this subject matter was hubristic. Maybe to him, there was always so much more to discover.

So, even though sometimes I worry that people think I stick to the “same old thing” (as all my books seem similar), I’m reluctant to change just for change’s sake. Right now, I enjoy finding out how much there is to discover in what others might think is a narrow field. I’m not saying that I will do sixty years worth of books on Asian culture; but when my friend asked me, “Don’t you ever want to break out?” I did say, “No.”

Originally published February 21, 2007

HAVING THE FIRST WORDS

Guess what FedEx left at my house yesterday? Need a clue? Just want me to tell you the answer? Okay…TEAM MOON: HOW 400,000 PEOPLE LANDED APOLLO 11 ON THE MOON—and it was inscribed by the author, Catherine Thimmesh. It was my prize for submitting the funniest entry in Book Buds “Famous First Words” contest. Anne Boles Levy asked contestants to come up with the words we thought an astronaut would exclaim when stepping foot on Mars for the very first time.


I suppose you’d like to read my snarky entry:

The sky is pink.
The rocks are red.
There ain’t no birdies
Overhead.

It’s bare. It’s bleak.
Don’t see no plants…
Or other green
Inhabitants.

It’s desolate.
The air is scant.
Except for me—
No life’s extant.

It’s dusty, dry.
I need a beer.
Houston,
Get me outta here!

I actually entered two poems—but Anne liked this one better than my parody of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

A LOQUACIOUS ASTRONAUT WAXES POETIC AFTER STEPPING FOOT ON MARS

Whose planet’s this? I know I know.
His home’s on Mount Olympus so
He will not see me stopping here
To go exploring to and fro.

The polar ice cap’s very near.
I spy three skaters. Drat! I fear
Some other life forms came before.
I’m NOT the first Mars pioneer.

I see a Super Star Trek Store…
And garish neon signs galore!
There’s garbage everywhere I tread.
Don’t want to be here anymore.

This trip’s a bust to “Planet Red.”
Yo, Earth, give me the go-ahead
To visit Jupiter instead,
To visit Jupiter instead.


Now…back to the MOON! Figuratively, that is, not literally. In addition to being a poetry geek, I am also an astronomy buff. TEAM MOON is my kind of book. Even a young child who can’t yet read could get lost in this book just looking at the amazing photographs. (I know a young grandnephew who is going to get a copy of TEAM MOON for his birthday in two weeks. He’s an astronomy buff like me.)

I wrote Anne yesterday to tell her I had received my prize. I also said I just might have to write another poem for the occasion. But…I have sooooo many old moldering poems in my files that I was able to pull this one out to post today. The following poem is now dedicated to Anne and Catherine Thimmesh.


MARY HAD A LITTLE MOON
(Another old moldering poem by Elaine Magliaro)

Mary had a little moon.
It shone just like a star.
And everywhere that Mary went
She brought it in a jar.

She sneaked it into class one day,
Which was against the rule—
But teacher smiled because it was
The brightest thing in school.