This month, I have the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Churnin the author of The William Hoy Story, How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game. Her book was published on March 1, and has already gone into a second printing.

How did you discover William Hoy’s Story?

Steve Sandy, who is a longtime fan of Hoy, emailed me after I wrote a short piece for The Dallas Morning News about a play about Hoy. The play entitled Signal Season of Dummy Hoy by playwrights Allen Meyer and Michael Nowak was performed at Garland High School, in Garland, Texas. We started corresponding and Steve told me what a hero Hoy is in the Deaf community and how it is his dream for Hoy to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

What about Hoy made you want to write his story?

At first, I was wowed by Hoy’s contribution to the game– teaching the umpires signals we still use today so he could play the game he loved. The more I learned about him, the more I was impressed by his character. He was honest, kind, smart, and determined. For every kid who has ever been told he or she can’t do something, for whatever reason, here is Hoy showing there is always a way if you can only think of it. Plus, your difference may be the very thing that makes the game better for everyone.

How long did it take you to research Hoy’s story?  Any interesting tidbits you would like to share?

I was so lucky to have fabulous resources from Steve Sandy. What took years for me was to fully absorb and process this information and to learn the craft of writing a compelling children’s story. I wrote many, many versions before coming up with this one.

 Describe your journey to publication with Hoy’s story?

When I realized I needed help with craft, I took classes with Susanna Hill, Kristen Fulton and Mira Reisberg. I participated in challenges, including Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo and Angie Karcher’s RhyPoIdMo (even though I never tried this in rhyme!). I sent it to Rate Your Story and received a lot of encouragement from RYS founder Miranda Paul. I got my agent, Karen Grencik, through 12X12. She believed in Hoy from day one. She sent it to Wendy McClure of Albert Whitman and Company and Wendy liked it right away.

Do you have any advice you would like to share with other writers?

Write what you are passionate about. I always felt that Hoy deserved to have his story told. I tried to learn from every rejection and criticism. I didn’t take it personally.  I took it gratefully because, I knew that everyone in this incredibly generous and gracious community wanted exactly what I did– the best book possible for kids.

 

Nancy hopes that her book about William Hoy will garner enough support for him to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and make her friend Steve Sandy’s dream come true.