Did you know?

Thomas Jefferson wrote his own epitaph: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and the Father of the University of Virginia.” Evidently, he didn’t feel being President was all that important.

President Zackary Taylor voted for the first time at the age of 62. Why? Because he was a soldier and moved around a great deal before he became president.  He was also a spendthrift and refused to pay postage due on the letter informing him he had been nominated to the presidency. His wife Margaret was also an independent soul.  When she lived in the White House, she refused to serve as her husband’s hostess.  The job of White House hostess went to their daughter Betty Taylor Bliss.

Ulysses S. Grant was the first president to run against a woman candidate, Virginia Woodhull. She was nominated by the “Equal Rights Party” in 1872.  Grant was the first president to receive an Indian Chief in the White House and to establish our nation’s first National Park (Yellowstone) in 1872.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was man of many talents. He was a skilled chef famous for his vegetable soup, steaks, and cornmeal pancakes.  He was also licensed to fly an airplane and loved golf so much he had a putting green set up on the White House lawn.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson used to go through the White House at night turning off lights to save taxpayers money. He was the only president to take the oath of office from a female, Judge Sarah T. Hughes, and the first president to name an African American to his cabinet.

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.

Did you know three famous children’s writers were born in April?

Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey, an American-born Irish writer, is best known for the Dragonriders of Pern fantasy series. Early in her career she was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New Times Best Seller list.

McCaffrey’s son Todd wrote a compelling biography of his mother entitled Dragon Holder. Todd often collaborator with his mother and was her most devoted fan

Gertrude Chandler Warner

Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut. As a little girl she dreamed of becoming an author. Her first attempts at writing were for her Grandfather.  Every Christmas she gave him one of her stories as a gift.  When she grew up, she wrote The Boxcar Children Mysteries.

Warner’s life is chronicled by Mary Ellen Ellsworth’s book Gertrude Chandler Warner and The Boxcar Children

Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon. When she was old enough to go to school her family moved to a farm in Yamhill. The town was so small it didn’t have a library. Her mother arranged to have books sent to Yamhill from the State Library System and set up a makeshift library in a room above the town bank. That is when Cleary learned to love books.

Cleary will be 100 years old on the 12th of this month and she has sold 91 million books worldwide.  Her books have won many awards. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the John Newbery Medal in 1984 and her books Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (my daughter’s favorite books when she was eight years old) were both Newbery Honor Books. Cleary has written two memoirs about her life entitled A Girl from Yamhill followed by My Own Two Feet.

Many times, I am asked about my writing process. I usually skirt around the question, because my process changes almost weekly.  I just keep trying new things. Today, I discovered something.  I do have a writing process and it is working!  So here it is:

Music

I listen to piano music on the Kindle Fire. My favorite is a CD entitled “A Thousand Years” by the Piano Guys.  I downloaded the music for free from Amazon.  When the music stops, I take five minutes for a restroom/coffee-tea break.  Unless, my dog has decided to it is time for me to take him for a walk.  And yes, he is listening for the music to stop.

A Plan

Roses by Lynda Pflueger

This is probably the most effective thing I do. Before I stop writing, I decide what I am going to next.  I admit it, I don’t write every day – just most days.  I try to have at least a three hour stretch dedicated to my writing and my writing sessions are actually sitting down and writing not researching, reading, using social media, etc.  That means I have everything organized for the next session.  This usually takes about ten minutes.

My Writer’s Cove

I am also an artist, which means there is a constant war going on in my office between my writing and my art projects. (I have accepted the fact it will never end).  So, I developed my writer’s cove.  In a corner of my office, I have my computer, printer, and a place where I can turn my chair and access a flat writing surface.  I have good light and one of my file cabinets is right beside my writing surface.   I cannot see my art stuff from my writer’s cove.  This keeps me from being frustrated.

Now, tell me about our writing process, please!

The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game

By Nancy Churnin and Illustrate by Jez Tuya

Published by Albert Whitman & Company

William Ellsworth Hoy was deaf.  Despite his disability, he wanted to play professional baseball.  He practiced and practiced and was finally picked up on a team.  But couldn’t hear the empires’ calls.  So one day, he asked the umpire to use hand signals.  His suggestion changed the game of baseball forever.

The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton

By Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Steven Salerno

Published by Clarion Books

Edith Houghton was born in 1912 in Philadelphia. At the age of ten, she became a female baseball player. She played ball with women who were older than she was and even traveled with her team to Japan. Later in life, she became the first woman to scout for a professional baseball team.

Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII

By Marissa Moss

Published by Harry N. Abrams

Kenichi Zenimura (Zeni) stood only five feet tall and wanted to be a baseball player. People told him he was too short.  But he didn’t care.  He was a natural athlete and when he grew up he played ball with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  When WWII broke out, Zeni and his family were sent to Gila River internment camp in Arizona. In the barren desert environment, Zeni brought the game of baseball to the camp and later became known as the “Father of Japanese-American Baseball.”

Legends:  The Best Players, Games and Teams in Baseball

By Howard Bryant

Published by Puffin Books

The title “Legends” tells it all. Author Howard Bryant has compiled the best the sport has to offer by telling the story of the players, teams, and important moments in baseball history.

HAPPY READING!

A great way to stay focused on a writing idea is to condense it into a story in a sentence.  Plus, creating a story in a sentence helps prepare you to tell people about your work.

Here are some ideas:

Let’s say, you are at a luncheon and someone at your table asks what are you working on? Which one of these answers might grab their attention?

1) I am writing about a concert pianist whose music impressed me when I was learning to play to piano.

2) I am writing a biography of Van Cliburn, a concert pianist, who helped end the cold war with Russia.

Now, let’s say you are at a conference and the person next to you asks what you are working on (later you find out he’s an editor). Which one of these answers might grab his attention?

1) I am writing about a Civil War photographer.

2) I am writing about Alexander Gardner the Civil War photographer who took more photographs of Abraham Lincoln than any other photographer.

Getting Started

Before writing your story in a sentence determine what genre (fiction, nonfiction, picture book etc.) suits your idea, what age group you are writing for, and give your idea a working title. The most important decision you have to make is the genre. Your story structure depends on it.  Then while writing your story in a sentence think about who, what, when, where, and how? Start with who and what.

Happy Writing!

What are your stories in a sentence? Please share!

I didn’t know that a group of men wanted to steal President Lincoln’s body until I read Steve Sheinkin’s book Lincoln’s Grave Robbers. This compelling tale is based on numerous primary sources. My hat is off the Sheinkin for his arduous research.

One of the most surprising aspects of the story is the grave robbers wanted to be paid a ransom of $200,000 and one of their friends, Benjamin Boyd, released from jail.  Why?  Boyd was a master engraver of  plates that were used to print counterfeit money.  At the time, his plates produced the most realistic looking counterfeit bills.

James Kennally, the mastermind behind a huge counterfeit operation, cooked up the idea to steal Lincoln’s body and recruited men to help him.  His business was in jeopardy with Boyd in jail. He needed his engraver freed so he could make more plates.

Sheinkin’s story alternates between the grave robbers and the Secret Service Agents who were trying to catch them. Adding to the drama of the story are two double agents spying on the grave robbers and reporting back to the Secret Service.

An interesting bit of trivia that Sheinkin shares is that by 1864, fifty percent of all paper money in the US was counterfeit and the Secret Service’s sole purpose of was to stop counterfeiters.

Counterfeit bills were called “coney” and the men who passed them in a community were called “shovers.” This is how it worked.  A “shover” would go into a store with a fake $20 bill and buy $5 word of merchandise. He would get $15 back in real money. When the owner of the business went to the bank, he would find out he had a $20 counterfeit bill. So he lost his $5 in merchandise and his $15 in change.

Did the grave robbers actually get their hands on Lincoln’s body? Was the Secret Service able to catch them?  What happened to Benjamin Boyd?  No spoilers here.  You will have to read the book and find out.

Happy Reading!

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women 

By Catherine Thimmesh and Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

Did you know that a woman invented Liquid Paper commonly known as “white-out” and a woman invented the “space bumper” that was used to protect spacecraft and the astronauts? These are only a few of the woman profiled in this collective biography. Colorful and inventive collage artwork by Melissa Sweet illustrates this unique book.

 Headstrong

By Rachel Swaby

Published by Broadway Books

The title of this book intrigued me the beginning. Swaby has written a collective biography of fifty-two women who had an amazing impact on the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  Bravo Ladies!

Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines from Joan of Arc to Mother Teresa 

By Michelle Roehm McCann and Amelie Welden

Illustrated by David Hahn

Published by Aladdin/Beyond Words

This is an inspirational book profiles forty-six “movers and shakers” who  made their mark on the world before they were 20 years old. Go Girl Power!

Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists 

By Jeannie Atkins and Illustrated by Paula Conner

Published by Dawn Pubns

This collective biography profiles six women who were curious about nature and due to their passion for science overcame obstacles in male dominated arena.  This book was selected by the Children’s Book Council and National Science Teacher’s Association as one of the “Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children for 2001.”

Once again the editors of Writer’s Digest have published timely articles for children’s writers. In fact, in their March/April issue they have devoted a whole section to Writing for Kids + Teens.

In the first article, 10 Picture Book Pitfalls – and How to Fix Them, Marie Lamb points out the benefits of condensing your story into a sentence.  She notes that by forcing yourself to craft a one liner, you will prevent your story from going nowhere. Lamb also advises writers to imagine their story as told only in pictures and “if a more visually engaging story emerges, see how you might revise your manuscript accordingly.” Since I am also an artist, this comment gave me a lot to think about.

Regarding the middle-grade (MG) and young adult (YA) genre four agents answer four questions in the article 4 on 4.  This cleverly formatted article contains a lot of information.  The agents talk about the most important differences between MG and YA, what makes a standout writing for MG readers, and the common mistakes they see in the manuscripts submitted to them.

Ammi-Joan Paquette in her article A Whole New World talks about world building in MG and YA fantasy stories.  She advises writers on how to develop a “rich literary landscape for kids to get lost in.”  At the end of her article, she lists eleven books that in her opinion have excelled “in world building.”

In Get Schooled Teri Brown talks about author’s school visits.  In her article she advises authors on what makes a successful school visit and how to “get in the door.”  According to Brown, the first step is to find the appropriate contact at the school by calling the school office.  Then send the contact person an introductory email (sales pitch).  In the email Brown advises you to introduce yourself, tell them what you can offer, and direct them to your web site.

I was fortunate to hear Mary E. Pearson speak at the SCBWI/SD February chapter meeting about Juggling the Art and Business of Writing: Craft, Tips and Realities.  Mary told the group that she once sat in their seats at chapter meetings and absorbed everything she could about writing for children. Then she added it was “like coming home” to speak at them.

Mary writes for young adults and has published many award winning novels – including her latest trilogy “The Remnant Chronicles.” She talked about proposing the trilogy to her editor, wresting with unexpected writing challenges, and keeping the passion alive for 1700 pages.

One of Mary’s concerns when she received her contract was her deadlines. She confessed she was not a fast writer and started researching fast writing tips so she could write smarter. She recommended Rachel Aaron’s book 2,000 to 10,000 words per day.

During her talk, Mary gave her audience some well thought through advice. Below are a few of her nuggets:

* Your first draft is you telling yourself the story.

* There is magic in writing. Enjoy and trust the process.

* Be your own best critic.

* Understand your weaknesses.

* Make yourself grow. Dig deeper.  Challenge yourself.

* Adopt the mantra: YOU CAN DO THIS!

* Don’t let doubt get in your way.

* Writing leads to more writing. Keep going!

* Just get it down on paper. You can’t revise a blank page.

My favorite is Mary’s last nugget.  I have printed it out on a large post-it and stuck it to my monitor.  No more stalling when starting a new project.

Check out Mary’s website www.marypearson.com and visit her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.