Author/Illustrator Interview: Kevin O'Malley

Some people have all the talent, and Kevin O'Malley is one of them. He's an amazing illustrator. He can illustrate other people's stories or he can write his own. He's even written books that other people illustrated. On top of that, he's a fantastic presenter  and a hit with the kids at school visits. He's funny. He's nice (as far as I can tell). You can't hate him because he's too much fun to be around. The only thing to do with people like that is hang out with them any time you have a chance.

Luckily, he's coming to the James River Writers Annual Conference this year, which gives us all a chance to do exactly that. And, I had got the opportunity to interview him for the RCW blog, so we can do some virtual hanging out with Kevin O'Malley (KO, awesomest initals ever). Read on!

RCW: In your experience, how does writing compare to illustrating? Is one more challenging? Is the creative process very different for writing and illustrating? Or are they similar?

KO: When I illustrate, I have tried to satisfy the needs of a lot of writers. Writers always imagine. Their imagination is not not mine. When I get a manuscript I always try to imagine what the writer wants. But the text leads me to something different. Most of the time the author understands, but I have run into... problems.  When I make my books I write for me, I imagine spaces for pictures and I see spaces for text. I'm a poor writer. I write to fill holes that I can't express in in illustration.Writing is far, far harder.

RCW: I'm not buying that poor writer bit. Not for a minute. When you're illustrating a book authored by someone else, how much interaction do you have with the author?

KO: I have done a lot of books. Sometimes the authors like what I have done. Sometimes they want to poke my eyes out with hot pokers. The truth is, illustrator and authors don't talk. I am left to see what I see in the text.

This idea makes authors crazy. But I can say that I've never called an author and asked them to change a bit of text that I find lousy. You have to let the artist have their space. On the flip side, I always offer a piece of art to any author who is kind enough to work with me. Most of the time, truth be told, the writer wants a bit of art. Not sure how I feel about being hit by a dart in a club room basement.

RCW: Bonus safety tip: stay away from darts. So how do you get feedback on your work? 

  

KO: I have lovely friends and relations. They love me. I visit a ton of schools. Kids like my work. That is feedback enough. Praise is wonderful. But being comfortably middle class in a brilliant industry is a joy. My first book got me banned and more 'news' than I was comfortable with. I quickly realized that what I want in kids books and what the biz wants are different.

RCW: How do you decide which project to work on next?

KO: I have been married for twenty plus years to a wonderful women. We have delightful children. When I'm offered a job I consider the pass and fail of the text. Most of the time I want the coin. I will bend over backwards to make everybody happy.

On the flip side... Many years ago my wife fell in love with The Police and the musician Sting. She said, "I would wash his dirty hair." I told her if, on the off chance Sting should want me to do a book, she could have at him. Ten years later I was offered a book by Sting. I took the call while the wife was in the room. It was fish or cut bait. I told them I would call them back and explained the situation to my wife.... She said, "Oh my god, I'm going to wash his dirty hair!" I called the publisher and said no deal. To this day I lay in bed with one eye open.

RCW: So glad to hear your priorities are in order. So, tell us what your typical work day is like.

KO: I get up early and and finish the list of work I mapped out the day before. The muse is bull.

RCW: I'll won't tell the muse you said that. Your books cover a lot of different topics and genres. Is this true for you as a reader as well? What kinds of books do you like to read?

KO: I tend to read non fiction. I've tried so many other ways but true to the guy in me I want information not introspection.

RCW: What kinds of research do you do for your work?

KO: I write what amuses me. Research? Only when I need it. But if you don't love going to a library and hitting the stacks and finding interesting stuff, you don't know what good quality time is all about.

I have wanted to do kid's books since I was in the fourth grade. But the truth is, I got lucky. I dreamed of this and by happenstance, it happened. My friends think it's a hoot that it happened. And they are right.

RCW: One last question. What’s your favorite weapon for fighting off zombies? Just kidding, but we still want to know!

KO: Easy. "Shawn of the Dead." I'd throw my lesser ancient records at them. Heck, they're slower than me! 

But don't touch my first pressing 'Gentle Giant' albums man!

RCW: Wouldn't dream of it! Thanks so much, Kevin for the interview. 

If you'd like to join Kevin at the JRW conference, click over and register right now. Many of us at Richmond Children's Writers will be there too, and we'd love to meet up. Look for us there!

Author Interview: Amanda Cockrell

Richmond Children’s Writers: Amanda, thanks for sharing your insights with our blog readers. Thanks also for writing a YA novel that doesn’t feature vampires or zombies!
What was your inspiration for What You Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay?

Amanda Cockrell:
It started out because I thought that sainthood might take a person by surprise, so to speak. And all the various wars had been on my mind, and I thought the saint might have some battle scars of his own.

RCW: I couldn’t help but notice some similarities between the book’s main character and yourself. Both have writer parents, a California childhood, and similar physical traits. How much of you is in this book?

AC: Angie is a much more together teen than I ever was. But I did draw on my own adolescence for the setting, and for her parents to a limited extent. The book is kind of a love letter to Ojai, California, the town I grew up in. It was a wonderful place. I could ride my horse all over the valley and there was a hitching post outside the town library. Still is. I called it Ayala instead of Ojai so I could change things – like keeping the church in use. It’s actually a museum now.

RCW: You do a wonderful job bringing both your adult and teen characters to life in this book. How do you manage to create realistic teen dialogue?

AC: I think the key is to listen to people talk, and not to try to be too trendy. For one thing, you’ll get the slang wrong and look like a goon, and if you don’t get it wrong it will be dated in a few years anyway.

RCW: Your adult characters are supportive of your teen heroine, but they don’t solve problems for her. They are loving, but also flawed. What advice would you give aspiring novelists about the role of adult characters in YA novels?

AC: The adolescent has to solve her/his own problem, to the extent that she can. Otherwise it’s not her story. But adults are there – they are a part of any teen’s life, and the way that teen interacts with those adults is going to be important. I think it’s a mistake to just leave them out. Some things I read, I find myself thinking, where are this kid’s parents? And the adult characters need to be as well developed as the adolescent ones. Using Generic Mom and Generic Dad is wasting characters that could make your story richer.

RCW: Han Nolan praised What You Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay for its “deft use of magical realism.” I would say that your story is more “spiritual realism,” with references to Christianity, Judaism, Kabbalah, and reincarnation. Is there a spiritual lesson you wished to convey with this story? Or did you just want to introduce general concepts to teenage readers?


AC: I wasn’t really trying to introduce anyone to any particular concepts – they were just part of the story. But I do think any teen thinks about those things and wonders what in heaven or earth is going on. I do think it’s a good idea to see the connectedness between faiths and in that sense I like Angie’s family because they manage to do that successfully.
In any case, as Ursula K. LeGuin said so well, “I don’t speak message, I speak story.” What the reader takes from your story will differ with the reader and that’s as it should be. Tell your story and don’t try to teach anything. What we learn from story is subtle and can’t be forced.
Personally, I kind of subscribe to Helen’s idea that the theoretical ends of theology and physics get closer together all the time.


RCW: Did you gain any new insights in creating these diverse characters and watching their stories unfold on your pages?

AC: I learned, as I do with every story I write, that they will go their own way and be their own people, and you had better let them. I always like to get in the heads of my difficult characters. It gives me a sense that even unpleasant people may be doing the best they can. You don’t have to like your difficult characters but you do have to understand them.

RCW: In your story you talk about “shared dreams,” is there really such a thing? If so what research did you do in this area?

AC: I did some research on dreaming. There have been some experiments done on lucid dreaming (knowing you’re dreaming as you dream and being able to influence the dream) and people dreaming the same dream (at the same time, which apparently does occasionally happen) and this is what Helen is talking about. There is no record of anyone having someone else’s recurring dreams, the way Angie does though. Google “shared dreams” and you’ll find some interesting stuff.

RCW: A lot of times a story can take on a life of its own. Were there any moments when your characters surprised you as the story evolved?

AC: Well, Lily (Angie’s best friend) turned out to be gay. She just was. I didn’t change her character at all, but we took that revelation out because my editor thought there were too many subplots.

RCW: Many of our readers are aspiring writers. Could you share with them how you secured your contract with Flux? Was it a conference connection or through an agent?

AC: it was through an agent, but I also know another writer who got a contract with Flux just over the transom, so it can still happen that way too.

RCW: How long did the revision/editing process take once you’d completed the first draft?

AC: Arrgh. Forever.
A friend had me send it to her editor, who liked it sort of, but wanted revisions. I made them. She wanted more... I made those, some of them reluctantly as they took out some of the magical realist element. Then her publishing house was bought by another house and the whole project just fell out of her sights. Then I sent it to Sarah Davies at The Greenhouse Literary Agency.

Sarah asked for revisions, some of which added back the magical realist things that the editor had wanted changed, which pleased me. But the main thing was in strengthening Angie’s relationship with Jesse and I blew it. I think I just didn’t want to put her through all that. So I revised, and not very well, and she turned it down. Long thoughtful period of thinking about not having been willing to tackle the tough stuff. Contrite plea for one more chance. Gracious permission. Five months of taking the entire middle apart and rewriting it. Then my editor at Flux wanted some revisions as well, but they weren’t huge. Sarah had been right in making me get it in the best possible shape before it got sent out.
And if there is one thing I have learned from that experience, it is that if you get to a scene or scenes that you just don’t want to write because they make you uncomfortable, that is a sure sign that they touch on the heart of your story and you had better write them.

RCW: In addition to being a talented writer, you are also the director of a master’s program in Children’s’ Literature at Hollins University. With that double dose of insight, what advice would you give to someone starting their career writing for children? And how should someone contact Hollins to find out more about their master’s program in Children’s Literature?

AC: I would say to read in the genre you want to write – the more you read, the better.
Join SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, www.scbwi.org )
The more you write the better, but don’t write in a vacuum – find a creative writing class that will give you good feedback; or a writers critique group; go to SCBWI conferences and show your work to the editors and agents who do manuscript critique there; if you really want to study your craft in depth, take a look at an MA/MFA program like Hollins’.
You can find out a lot on our website: http://www.hollins.edu/grad/childlit/childlit.htm . Once you look at that, if you are interested and have specific questions about the program, please contact me: acockrell@hollins.edu or 540-362-6024.
And I have to put in a plug for our new graduate-level Certificate in Children’s Book Illustration, for any artists reading this! http://www.hollins.edu/grad/cbi/index.htm

Author Spotlight: Rhonda Lucas Donald

Today we are shining the local author spotlight on Rhonda Lucas Donald. Rhonda has written more than a dozen books for children and teachers including her most recent title: Deep in the Desert. Her articles and stories about science and animals have appeared in "Ranger Rick" and "Your Big Backyard" magazines. As a kid, Rhonda fell in love with science. Now she writes about science, weaving it into verses and songs as a way to make it fun. We'll be giving away a copy of Deep in the Desert this week to one lucky reader. All you have to do is leave a comment on any of the posts this week. On Monday, we'll choose a random winner.

Rhonda, tell us where the idea for Deep in the Desert came from. Was it something from your imagination or did it come from your life experience?

I always loved music as a child and sang along with nursery rhymes and all the familiar kiddy tunes. This paid off later when I wrote the parent pages for Your Big Backyard. Every month, I wrote new lyrics to familiar tunes about one of the animals in that issue. I really enjoyed it, and the songs were quite popular with the readers. When I was searching for a new book idea, I found that Sylvan Dell Publishing was looking for books about deserts. I thought it would be fun to write about different desert plants and animals in song. Luckily, they agreed!


What about the illustrations? Did you have any input there?


I had no direct contact with the illustrator, Sherry Neidigh, but did see several iterations of the spreads. I saw sketches first, then full-color paintings. Sherry did a tremendous amount of research to make sure every plant, bug, and bird was native to the desert environment she was illustrating. I had a chance to make suggestions or corrections, but I found absolutely nothing to change! She did a fantastic job, and I was truly fortunate to have her illustrate the book. I was terrific to work with the editor at Sylvan Dell, Donna German. She always kept me in the loop. 


What was your biggest challenge with writing this book?


The hardest part was organizing the sheet music to go with the songs. Donna (the Sylvan Dell editor) felt that it was important to have the sheet music available online for each song. So I became a composer for a couple of weeks! I know how to read music, but I was rusty and had never really done anything like this before. Thankfully, I have a friend, Laura Scoble, who is a musical genius. She went over all of it with me to make sure it was pitch perfect!


Tell us a little about your next writing project.


I have several books in various stages of completion. A few are circulating, which can take many months. A few are percolating, which can also take many months. One is a picture book, Lop-Eared Lily, about a funny, lovable dog with a penchant for licking. I also have a couple of dinosaur books, which will be nonfiction. I'm always up for writing more songs!


What do you like to read for fun?


I like to read novels, particularly by English authors. Right now, I'm reading The Red House Mystery by Winnie-the-Pooh author A.A. Milne. It's a great period piece. One of my favorite books of all time is The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Of course, I'm also a huge Harry Potter fan, and am mourning the end of the series. Can't wait for the final movie!


Thanks so much, Rhonda! Later this week, we'll have a review of Rhonda's book. Please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy for your bookshelf. 

Author Spotlight: Meg Medina

This week we're celebrating the release of Meg Medina's new book, Tia Isa Wants a Car. Today we have an interview with Meg, Wednesday we'll have a review of her book, and Friday's post will include fun activities to go along with the book. And . . .

We're giving away a signed copy 

of Meg's book!

More details about the giveaway at the end of this post. Without further delay, we welcome the fabulous Meg Medina to the Richmond Children's Writers blog!

Congratulations, Meg, on your latest book! In your blog, you mention that your writing is a celebration of your Cuban-American roots and that you draw heavily from the culture you know so well. Is this story based on an event from your life? 

The story is loosely based on real events. I have a real tía Isa, who was the first person to drive in our family. She arrived from Cuba with my grandparents in the late 1960s. Eventually, she learned to drive and bought the first family car, an ancient Buick Wildcat. The purchase of that car was so important to our family. It was a step into American culture and our first feeling of independence from bus routes and limitations.

One thing that is definitely different from real life is that tía Isa was a truly terrible driver. ¡Ave Maria purísima! She was possibly the worst I’ve ever seen.

Yikes! Good thing you left that part out of the book. Please share with us a little about the process of the book, from idea to first pages to the finished product. What was the biggest challenge in the process of writing this book?

I wrote this book by accident while I was between novels. It was actually a very restful process for me to play with phrases and just follow a simple story. That said, picture books are never truly easy. There are confines of the form: Thirty-two pages. The main character and her problem should be introduced inside the first page-and-a-half. There must be room for the illustrator to contribute visual story. It may seem easy to write a short picture book, but in fact, it’s harder than novels. It requires being very choosy about what gets in and what gets left out.   

How was writing Tia Isa Wants a Car, which is a picture book, different from writing your first book, Milagros, Girl from Away, a middle-grade novel?  Are there differences in research, in preparation, in storytelling?

Oh – they are completely different beasts. In picture books, I’m telling a big idea with very few words and events. It works almost like a poem in that it is exposes a larger truth by examining a small moment. Picture book writing also requires me to think of two readers:  the child reader and the adult who is reading the story, too.

For novels, on the other hand, I typically work with a big cast of characters as well as a main plot and sub-plots. At times, it’s unwieldy, but I have many more ways to move the storyline forward. I also assume only one reader, which is helpful. What is hard about a novel, though, is having the stamina to sustain the world you’ve created over 300 pages. Since I don’t work from outline, I always risk getting lost or writing my way into a scenario that doesn’t work.

Let's talk a little more about Milagros: Girl from Away.  Strong, competent girls and women, such as Tia Isa and Milagros and her mother, take the leading roles in this book. Is this a conscious decision, or do they simply grow out of your own early experiences?  How did these girls begin to speak to you as you wrote about them?

Oh, I love writing about strong girls. I’m intrigued in real life and in fiction by girls who refuse to be crushed by images of what they’re supposed to be or by any difficult circumstances. That was certainly true in the lives of the girls and women I knew growing up, and we still see them in every classroom, in every family. Girls facing down troubled parents or poverty, social horrors at school, bullying boyfriends, self-destructive habits. They’re everywhere and they survive. I could write about them forever.

Tell us about magical realism. Is it part of your style as a writer, or was it simply the best fit this story? Did you know from the beginning of writing this novel that it would include magical elements?

I can’t say what my style is as a writer, except that I write literary pieces. I like to experiment with all kinds of things, and for Milagros, I dabbled in magical realism. Using magical elements in everyday life has long been associated with Latin American literature, so I especially enjoy experimenting with it for a bicultural audience. It gives me a chance to introduce young readers to the traditions of our literature in an English format that is just as familiar to them. It definitely fit Milagros, and it will appear again in my new YA novel (due out next March) called The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind. But I also enjoy working in a contemporary voice. Tia Isa is contemporary, and I just sold a manuscript for another YA novel called Finding Yaqui Delgado. That one is contemporary, too.

We’d love to hear about your next writing project.  What’s on the burner for now?

In the very immediate future, I’m very excited to be working on a curated reading list called Girls of Summer with my friend and fellow Candlewick author, Gigi Amateau. (Here’s the link to my website where I’ve posted the trailer: http://www.megmedina.com). It’s our answer to dreary summer reading lists. You know the ones I mean. All the titles we have selected feature strong girls as protagonists. GOS will roll out in early July 2011. It will be in a blog format, and we’ll have author interviews, giveaways, reviews, etc. Several amazing writers are going to lend their thoughts and talents. We’re also going to do a live launch of the list at the JRW Writing Show on July 28, 2011. Authors Steve Watkins and Valerie Patterson, whose beautiful works are part of the list, will be joining us for a panel discussion. We’ll also be giving away one entire set of the Girls of Summer list. So, mark your calendars!

Tía Isa Wants a Car will come out en español next year, and so will The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind (Candlewick Press). In the meantime, I’m happily at work on Finding Yaqui Delgado.

Terrific! We'll look forward to more books from Meg. This week, we're giving away a free copy, signed by the author, of Tia Isa Wants a Car. Just leave a comment any time this week, include your email address in the comment (you must be an adult to enter) and we'll draw a name on Saturday. ¡Vamos!