Q and A

What did you like doing when you were a kid?

Going barefoot all summer...catching fireflies at dusk...riding my bike, even though I fell off and hurt myself a lot. When I wasn't doing these things, I was probably curled up on the sofa with a book plus an apple, or else a big slice of white bread slathered with butter and sugar.  (Don't try this at home!!)

That's me in my cowgirl outfit with my annoying baby brother.  We get along really well now, though!

What used to embarrass you?

My feet!  They were HUGE. I would tuck them under my desk at school because I was sure everyone was staring at them - especially the dainty little girls who wore delicate feminine shoes.  My parents made me wear big clunky ones sort of like nurses wear.  Now I have really strong, healthy feet, so maybe they were right!

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer.  That was my dream, but I didn't know if it would ever happen.  If I couldn't be a writer, I wanted to be a ballerina - in spite of the fact that I was so plump, I couldn't even touch my toes!

When did you start writing?

When I was eight I wrote, directed and starred in a short puppet show for my class at school.  I wrote my first 'novel' when I was 12.  It was called The Clue of the Magician's Scarf.  I ran across it not long ago.  It's pretty bad!

Where do you get your ideas?

Ideas are everywhere, just lying around ready for you to pick up!  I am a dreamy kind of person - I often get ideas while doing something routine like walking the dog or even cleaning the toilet.

I tend to be inspired by places.  My first published book was set in Barcelona, where I saw an amazing fountain.  There is a street name in Barcelona that sounds a bit like 'Roberto of the Flowers'. That gave me  the idea of a boy named Roberto with a rose-like birthmark on his cheek.

The next thing I do when starting a story is ask 'what if?' I combined the fountain with the boy and asked, 'What if the boy were so entranced by the beautiful fountain that he thought it might have the power to heal his birthmark?  What might he do?  What would happen next?'

How long does it take you to write a book?

The longest was several years.  That was my first novel, Corin's Quest.  Getting ideas is easy but turning them into books is hard work!  I wasn't sure how to write a novel, so I just kept writing through lots of bad drafts until it got better and all came together.  The shortest was about two months for my first picture book, Roberto and the Magical Fountain. 

How do you write a story?  (This is something you could try at home!)

I get an initial idea.  It has to be something I feel strongly about, because I may be spending a year or two with it.

I spend quite a while jotting down notes on random bits of paper.  Who are the characters?  What are their names?  A name can tell you a lot about a person.  What is the initial 'hook' that will draw the reader in?  What important thing does the main character want?

My next step is to map out the story a bit, using index cards.  I note down chapter ideas and also events within chapters.  Using cards means they can be shuffled around, good for someone as scatterbrained as myself!  However, I don't know everything about the story before I start.  I like the characters to surprise me!

Then I do some initial research - just enough to get me into the mood of the book and set the stage.  I can do more detailed fact-finding as I go along.  Here's a picture of me trying out a Kentucky rifle for Wild West Adventures. 

  Finally I start writing.  There is often one scene near the end of the book which is crystal clear in my mind, so I will write that down while it's fresh.  By the middle of a novel I am usually wondering why I agreed to do this.  Fortunately, if the publisher has set a deadline, it's too late to back out!

I try to let the manuscript rest for several weeks, if time allows, then take a fresh look at it.  I will do a lot of re-writing at that point.

Before sending it off to the publisher, I show it to a few friends who are good writers and whom I can trust to tell me the truth.  Also by this time the editor has seen it and made comments.

I send it off, vowing this will be my last book!  But sure enough, before too long another idea pops up that I simply can't resist.

What's the most fun thing about writing, for you?

Taking my readers out of their own lives and into another world - whether that is back in time, to another planet, or just into the mind and life of another kid.  We all need a break sometimes from our own lives!   And  I enjoy sitting at the computer and making stuff up.

Being a writer means I also get to go into schools and meet kids, which is lots of fun.

Can you use bits of other writers' books in your books? Can you use people you know?

You can get inspiration from other books, but you need to make sure you are not just copying other writers' ideas.  You can combine things in a new way.  For example, I wrote a book called Which Way You Gonna Jump? in which a girl who is an outsider risks her life to help a friend.  That is the same basic plot as E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, which is about a pig and a spider.  I never use a real person I know in my books, but I often use one or two characteristics from a real person to help make up one of my characters.

Do you ever put yourself into your books?

Yes - but instead of writing about a person just like myself or about things that happened to me, I use feelings that are very real to me - love, anger, fear, loneliness, delight and so on.  I think most of my characters have a little bit of me in them.

Have you ever put your dog into your books?

I certainly have, although my dog has not gone into outer space like the dog in the story!

How does being a Christian influence your writing?

I want my faith to make a difference in everything I do, including my writing.  But I don't think every book I write has to have some kind of outspoken Christian message. My readers will be encouraged and learn important things about life through the story itself.

What advice would you give to kids?

Remember GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out.  That's a computer term which means if you program junk into your machine - or yourself - that's what you'll get back.  Think about what you watch on the television, your music, the kinds of games you're playing - are they putting good stuff into your mind and heart, or just junk?  Read lots of top-notch books, and you'll be putting the right stuff in. This is especially important if you want to be a writer!

Now, I have a question for you!

Can you guess the place where this picture was taken?  I'll give you a hint - some scenes from a hugely popular series of seven books were filmed there.  If I had waited long enough, a steam train would have roared by.