1. When and why did you start writing? As a child my mother would retell old Appalachian folktales to her six children with such rhythm and cadence the characters came to life. The tradition carried on to my children and now my grandchildren. I realized it was time to write them down so they could be enjoyed by future generations.
2. Where do your ideas come from? When my children were young I kept a journal of funny questions they would ask or funny things that would happen to them; or even serious situations that would arise. Telling bedtime stories when my children were young was a time to reconnect, laugh and be silly. Some really good ideas come when I'm riding in the car, watching the news or hiking. In other words when I'm not thinking hard about trying to find ideas.
3. What was your favorite book growing up? We didn’t have many books growing up. We used the bookmobile mostly. We did have a copy of a collection of Grimm’s fairytales that I really loved. Other than the folktales that my mother would recite from memory, Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little were some of my favorites.
4. Do you have a favorite author? Patricia Polacco, Bill Peet and William Steig. These authors were my children's favorite storytellers. Now a days I'm reading all the new authors and the stories are much shorter, but I gravitate to funny and entertaining books for children, like David Ezra Stein's - "Interrupting Chicken."
5. What was your childhood like? I grew up in a small three bedroom house in Falls Church, VA. I am the youngest of six children; four girls and two boys. Needless to say my mother was always busy, but she made time at night to read us bedtime stories. Being the youngest of six had many ups and downs. My youngest brother was a prankster so I was usually his “Crash Test Dummy”. This will probably be the subject of a book in the near future.
6. What projects are you working on now? I'm currently working on a picture book biography and writing humorous stories for children. Secondly, I'm shopping publishers for two of my mother's Appalachian Folktales (with a few new twists). I love learning about the children's publishing world and have received my certification in writing children's books from The Institute of Children's Literature, taken an online picture book biography course with Donna Janell Bowman, illustration webinars with Matt Faulkner and a book dummy course at the Workhouse Arts Center. There are so many opportunities to educate yourself in the Kidlit world and everyone is helpful. The SCBWI conferences are always a way to connect with other writers and meet authors. The takeaways are invaluable as well.
2. Where do your ideas come from? When my children were young I kept a journal of funny questions they would ask or funny things that would happen to them; or even serious situations that would arise. Telling bedtime stories when my children were young was a time to reconnect, laugh and be silly. Some really good ideas come when I'm riding in the car, watching the news or hiking. In other words when I'm not thinking hard about trying to find ideas.
3. What was your favorite book growing up? We didn’t have many books growing up. We used the bookmobile mostly. We did have a copy of a collection of Grimm’s fairytales that I really loved. Other than the folktales that my mother would recite from memory, Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little were some of my favorites.
4. Do you have a favorite author? Patricia Polacco, Bill Peet and William Steig. These authors were my children's favorite storytellers. Now a days I'm reading all the new authors and the stories are much shorter, but I gravitate to funny and entertaining books for children, like David Ezra Stein's - "Interrupting Chicken."
5. What was your childhood like? I grew up in a small three bedroom house in Falls Church, VA. I am the youngest of six children; four girls and two boys. Needless to say my mother was always busy, but she made time at night to read us bedtime stories. Being the youngest of six had many ups and downs. My youngest brother was a prankster so I was usually his “Crash Test Dummy”. This will probably be the subject of a book in the near future.
6. What projects are you working on now? I'm currently working on a picture book biography and writing humorous stories for children. Secondly, I'm shopping publishers for two of my mother's Appalachian Folktales (with a few new twists). I love learning about the children's publishing world and have received my certification in writing children's books from The Institute of Children's Literature, taken an online picture book biography course with Donna Janell Bowman, illustration webinars with Matt Faulkner and a book dummy course at the Workhouse Arts Center. There are so many opportunities to educate yourself in the Kidlit world and everyone is helpful. The SCBWI conferences are always a way to connect with other writers and meet authors. The takeaways are invaluable as well.