Q&A with Zoje Stage

 

Photo by Gabrianna Dacko

 

 

Zoje Stage is the author of the new children's book My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast. Her other books include the novel Baby Teeth. She lives in Pittsburgh.

 

Q: What inspired you to write My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast, and how did you create your character Pru?

 

A: My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast actually predates my debut novel, Baby Teeth! I'd wanted to give the child character of that novel, Hanna, a favorite book—something her dad would read with her—but after considering copyright issues it became obvious that I needed to use something of my own.

 

I had an unpublished short story that seemed perfect, about a girl trying to make sense of the sounds she hears at night coming from beneath her bed. The creatures themselves are so odd and whimsical, so I knew I needed my main character, Pru, to be just as creative.

 

Pru is part scientist who wants to think rationally about the irrational, and part artist, able to envision things that other people can't see.

 

Q: What do you think J.E. Larson's illustrations add to the story?

 

A: They add everything! This was always meant to be an illustrated book, and J.E. took the assignment and ran with it. He was so thorough in his worldbuilding for these creatures, and his designs are the perfect combination of adorable and ghoulish.

 

I think they add a lot of enjoyment, while also providing readers of all ages with a clear vision of the story.

Q: You've written for adults and for kids--do you have a preference?

 

A: In general I'd say probably adults, as I can really flesh out complex character studies. But it's fun to step away sometimes from my darker stories and let my imagination run wild.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

 

A: I hope kids see a bit of themselves in Pru—whether it's her creativity, inventiveness, compassion, adventurousness, or love of finding new hobbies. And I hope for those who may be afraid of the dark, or of odd sounds coming from within their own home, that they find a friendlier possibility for what may be lurking out there.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm in the early stages of writing a new novel. It's too soon to talk about it… I'm a bit superstitious until I'm positive a novel is really going to work!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Though the back cover says it's for children 7-10, adult readers have been very enthusiastic about this book! It's part the connection between this and Baby Teeth and Dear Hanna, and part a sort of ageless, creepy fun that My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast taps into.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Zoje Stage.

Q&A with Stephen Dando-Collins

 

 

Stephen Dando-Collins is the author of the new book The Buna Shots: The Amazing Story Behind Two Photographs That Changed the Course of World War Two. His many other books include Caligula: The Mad Emperor of Rome. He lives in Tasmania, Australia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Buna Shots?

 

A: I first became interested in the war in New Guinea in the late 1990s, when the daughter of a war correspondent who’d served there gave me a book he’d written about the campaign.

 

I didn’t begin to think about writing this book until 2011, when I was visiting the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. I was there to locate the name, on the wall of honor, of a great-uncle of mine who had died fighting in World War One.

 

Standing in front of the section containing my great-uncle’s name were four men from Papua New Guinea, descendants of the so-called “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels,” thousands of young Papuan men who had voluntarily worked as carriers, helping the American and Australian service personnel who fought the invading Imperial Japanese Army. These Papuans kindly allowed my wife to take a photo of them – it’s in the book.

 

Remarking on the coincidence, I set my thoughts to researching a book about the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and the 1942-43 Battle of Buna-Gona – said to be the battle with the highest casualty rate of any World War II conflict.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: The Buna Shots involved 11 years of research. Ten years in, I began three years of writing the manuscript, all the while working on my latest books on ancient Roman, Greek and Persian history, having just received a three-book contract for them from my American publishers.

 

My starting point was the photograph that appears on the front of The Buna Shots, George Silk’s shot of blinded Australian soldier George “Dick” Whittington being helped along a track near Buna in PNG by Papuan carrier Raphael Oimbari.

 

I subsequently looked into American Life magazine photographer George Strock’s Buna Beach shot of three dead American soldiers – called by Time magazine in 2014 “The photograph that won World War Two.”

 

Both photographers were on record speaking about the circumstances of the taking of their photos, and both wrote contextual notes about all their shots. After the war, George Silk in particular was interviewed several times about his by then famous photo.

 

I consulted numerous books, war diaries, etc., about the war in New Guinea. In addition, I was able to comb countless newspaper and magazine reports about the campaign, written by war correspondents on the spot, often the same day that action took place.

While the war correspondents’ reports were not always 100 percent accurate, they were always revealing, often about the correspondents and photographers, and were always more accurate and factual than the official communiqués released by General Douglas MacArthur’s GHQ.

 

I came to realize these two pictures by Silk and Strock had been taken with a few miles of each other, within six days of each other. But, at first, I had no idea the fates of the two pictures, and their photographers, had been inextricably linked. When I discovered those links, I knew I had a heck of a story unfolding before me, about truth in war.

 

The deeper I delved, the more I discovered concerted efforts in both Australia and the US to hide the brutal truth about this war from the people at home, to hide the fact that the enemy was no pushover and was killing thousands of our boys in desperate fighting.

 

I also discovered that US President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed the American people had the right to know the truth, while Australia’s prime minister John Curtin set out to keep the Australian people in the dark, clamping down on wartime censorship of the Australian media just as Roosevelt was easing censorship in the United States.

 

Q: What do you think these particular photographs say about World War II photography?

 

A: For all the wartime photos of things being blown up, the physical carnage of war, the mass death and destruction, it is the human element that makes great war pictures stand out. Both Silk’s photo and Strock’s photo tug at the heartstrings, making us pause, drawing us in.

 

Silk took his shot quickly, without even looking into his viewfinder. Strock took his time with his photo, composing it for best visual effect. The end results were the same. Both pictures freeze a moment in time, and are, to this day, absolutely arresting.

 

Q: What do you see as the legacy of George Silk and George Strock today?

 

A: Silk was insanely brave, walking into battle alongside troops armed only with a camera. There would be few if any photographers today who took the risks he took.

 

While Silk was a driven personality and certainly didn’t let anyone else horn in on his territory, Strock was hugely generous, pushing for Silk’s photo to be published by Life, recommending numerous talented school friends to work at Life as combat photographers.

 

In a cut-throat world where it was and is dog eat photographic dog, Strock was pretty unique and an example to us all of helping our colleagues.

 

The one thing the two men both had in common was their determination to do everything they could to get their important banned photos published. They never gave up.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have three different new historical books at different stages, which is pretty normal for me. They range across ancient and 19th century history.

 

There is one particular book on a surprising aspect of Roman history – about eight of Rome’s most famous writers who all lived in the same era, and who chose to remain silent when they could have spoken out against tyranny –a book that I have researched and am keen to write.

 

Alas, my New York literary agents can’t find an interested publisher at present. That will no doubt change, one day.

 

In the end, time, and publishers, will determine what is published next. With The Buna Shots being my 48th book, my wife, Louise, and I have agreed that we should have some sort of celebration for book number 50. But which book that ends up being, I have no idea.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: We are currently talking to filmmakers about a potential TV documentary based around the book, and possibly also a movie. It’s certainly a very visual story, and, as one reviewer has said, it reads like a high octane thriller. So, you never know, it may just end up on the screen one day.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Stephen Dando-Collins. 

Nov. 30

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Nov. 30, 1835: Mark Twain born.

Q&A with Stephanie Gorton

 

Photo by Sasha Israel

 

Stephanie Gorton is the author of the new book The Icon and the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought Birth Control to America. She also has written the book Citizen Reporters. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Icon and the Idealist, and how was the book’s title chosen?

 

A: Two forces pulled me into the story: the fascinating central relationship between Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett, and my consuming interest in reproductive rights activism.

 

Sanger and Dennett essentially launched the very first movement for reproductive rights in America. Questions of faith, the law, ethics, medical protocols, and beliefs about gender roles flared up in the battle for birth control, just as they now do in arguments over abortion.

 

We tend to think of the reproductive rights movement as starting in the ‘60s or with Roe v. Wade in 1973. It actually goes back a full century earlier, from when Sanger and Dennett formed the birth control movement in the mid-1910s and carried it to its first legal victory in 1936.

 

I’ve long supported reproductive justice, and becoming a parent only solidified that. Around five years ago, early in my second pregnancy, I was reading a lot about early 20th century feminists and I landed on the story of Mary Ware Dennett. She quickly became the emotional center of my narrative.

 

Sanger enjoyed fame, she was good at self-mythologizing, and her skills and passion both served the movement well. However, she pursued a narrower goal than Dennett: Sanger’s campaign would ultimately put birth control access in the hands of doctors, who would dispense contraceptives according to their own judgment and preferences, while Dennett wanted birth control access to be free of any gatekeeping, even by the medical establishment.

 

It was remarkable to go through Dennett’s archives and realize how fiercely private she was in contrast to Sanger, how she shunned publicity when she was working on this very bold campaign for birth control and revolutionizing sex education on the side.

 

Dennett had a powerful and deeply American vision for taking birth control from a place of silence, of taboo and restriction, to a place of open, affordable access. She was driven by events in her own life, and by an abiding belief in the full citizenship of women.

 

Learning about her, and how influential she was on Sanger, made me want to push back against the Famous Person format of retelling history. Too often, conspicuous leadership and well-resourced charisma are valued at the expense of more impactful forces, of relationships and rivalries and efforts that failed, but were nevertheless, visionary.

 

The title was surprisingly easy! For my first book, Citizen Reporters, there was much more back and forth with the publishing team. For The Icon and the Idealist, my publisher suggested I come up with something along the lines of “The X and the Y,” and very quickly it fell into place.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: The guiding hand for my research was my curiosity about what cultural factors affected the rise of the birth control movement, and a basic human nosiness about what Sanger and Dennett may have been like as people.

 

Early on, I spent a great deal of time in institutional archives like the Schlesinger Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Sophia Smith Library at Smith College, trawling through papers and artifacts left by my two main characters. 

 

In 2020, that pleasant routine was disrupted by the pandemic. Institutional archives shut down to non-affiliates. That prompted me to reach out to Dennett’s descendants, and I began a series of visits to Dennett family archives in New Hampshire and Utah.

 

Making contact with the curator of the Dennett Family Archives, Sharon Spaulding, was a spectacular stroke of luck. Through her, I was even able to interview one of Dennett’s grandchildren, Nancy Dennett. Sharon’s generosity and wisdom truly made the book possible. 

 

Another heroic resource was a research librarian at the Providence Public Library. She waived the typical limits on interlibrary loans and helped me get hold of boxes of microfilm and hundreds of secondary sources, from articles to dissertations to books of all stripes.

 

We tend to think of research as a solitary undertaking, and I do enjoy being alone with a box of old letters, but researching this book was a real joy because of the collaborations with experts, descendants, and librarians along the way.

 

Q: The writer Megan Marshall said of the book, “There is no time like the present for Stephanie Gorton’s brilliantly conceived dual biography of the fiercely formidable women, Mary Ware Dennett and Margaret Sanger, who brought the fight for reproductive rights to the American public in the early twentieth century.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: That description means a lot to me because of the person who wrote it. Megan Marshall’s books have not only taught me so much, but kept me spellbound at the same time.

 

Recently I found a fan email I sent her after reading The Peabody Sisters 10 years ago. I wrote something along the lines of How did you do that? And she wrote, “Find out what happened when, in a very precise way, and then set the story going!” I still tell myself that all the time. 

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Sanger and Dennett, and what do you see as their legacies today?

 

A: The best single-word descriptor for their dynamic is probably “fraught.” But to expand on that, it’s important to note that early on, they had a warm and sympathetic relationship.

 

They most likely first met in 1914 when Sanger gave a lecture to members of the Heterodoxy club, a secretive feminist collective in Greenwich Village; Dennett was part of the crowd.

 

Sanger was frustrated and disappointed with most of the women she met that day–she criticized them as being obliviously privileged, and not engaging with issues that affected the working class–but Dennett was an exception. She and Sanger had lunch together and discovered there was much common ground between their values and ambitions. 

 

Later on, the differences between their personalities and their methods made it impossible for them to keep working together.

 

Dennett had a somewhat rigid idea of how activism ought to be done: she opposed breaking law to drum up publicity and test cases in the courts, for example.

 

Sanger, meanwhile, thought Dennett was a bourgeois rule-follower. It stung her that Dennett made headway in trying to change the federal law in the years she lobbied in Washington, though otherwise Sanger, who was much better funded and had great natural charisma, occupied the predominant position in the birth control movement.

 

Both Dennett and Sanger launched very ambitious, very flawed campaigns. They took detours into the eugenics movement, presented birth control as a remedy for Depression-era poverty, and tried to bend pop-culture trends to muster momentum for the cause.   

 

Today their legacies can be felt not only in current efforts to legislate reproductive rights, both in the courts and in Congress, but also in how we talk about fertility control. Particularly with Dennett, I see her legacy in current arguments for reproductive freedom as a prerequisite for women to have full and equal citizenship. 

 

Q: What are you working on now? 

 

A: My next project is still very much in the playing-with-ideas phase. As it develops, I’m doing some freelance editorial work. I used to be a full-time editor, and I loved it; it’s the kind of job that sparks ideas all the time, while also being rigorous and taking you into subject areas you might never have explored unbidden. 

 

Being an editor is what first made me curious about whether I could write, and now, as an author, having gone through the editorial process has given me a new respect for the craft that goes into editing. It’s such a privilege to be trusted with someone’s manuscript.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: I love hearing from readers, and I hope anyone with interest in the book will come say hi at an event! My website is stephaniegorton.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Mariana Chilton

 

 

 

Mariana Chilton is the author of the new book The Painful Truth about Hunger in America: Why We Must Unlearn Everything We Think We Know--and Start Again. She is Professor of Health Management and Policy at Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Painful Truth about Hunger in America, and what is that “painful truth”?

 

A: For two decades I thought that I would help people who experienced hunger to write their own books. Throughout, I ensured that a lot of people had a platform to speak out about their experiences – mainly through photo exhibits with their testimonies, panel discussions, articles, and op-eds.

 

But I learned that writing their own book was not a meaningful option for them because they were constantly struggling to simply survive and stay healthy.

 

I worked with so many people who experienced hunger that I was able to see patterns that a lot of other people could not see. It was an undeniable pattern of violence passing through the generations that many researchers, policy makers, and food justice advocates ignore. 

 

I wanted to write the book so that no one could continue to ignore the violence underneath hunger. That’s the painful truth: that violence—the disrespect built into government programs and the loveless ways we treat each other and the natural world—creates hunger.

 

Q: What would you say are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about hunger in the United States?

 

A: Many people refuse to believe there is hunger in the United States. They think it happens in other countries but not the US. This misconception is because the dominant narratives in the US insist the US is the richest country in the world, and that there is minimal poverty in the US. This lie must be exposed.

 

Here is another misconception: people believe that hunger can be solved with food. This clouds people’s vision so much that people are convinced that if they donate to a food bank that they are helping people. 

 

I show how food banks and big food companies advertise that they are “combating hunger.” Their marketing seeps into the minds of our kids—even my own child and her third-grade teacher.

 

Their school was encouraged by the local food bank to create a competition to see who could bring in the most “pounds” of food. The food bank insisted that  the kids could “help the poor” and have fun doing it. They said winners could have a pizza party or throw a pie in their principal’s face. See the confusion and disrespect?

 

I show how big food companies and fossil fuel industries create so much excess that they want to cleanse their corporate reputations by appearing charitable.

 

If we we’re honest, we’d recognize the emergency food system for what it is: a candy house hiding cruelty inside of it. It’s a mirror reflection of the well-known folktale of Hansel and Gretel. They were starving and desperate, and when they were lost in the woods, a witch wanted to lure them in to eat them, and she did it through the lie of sweetness glued to the outside of her house.

 

In the eyes of Grace, a woman I interviewed who had Type 1 diabetes, it was the bad food she got at food banks that caused her to be hospitalized.  And when she came out of the hospital, she had no money. So, she went right back to the food bank trying to figure out how to feed herself. 

 

The volunteers gave her their corporate excesses, but it was all the kinds of things she couldn’t eat, like canned beef and SpaghettiOs, which were ultra processed, had high sodium and low nutrient content.

 

So, she simply lugged the food home, looked at what she couldn’t eat, and then threw it away. There is no justice in that. There is only humiliation and poor health.

 

In similar fashion, the food and beverage industry profits off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Though SNAP helps families stay healthier than they would be without SNAP, I argue that a universal basic income paid in cash would be far more helpful and ensure that people who have low incomes could have the power to spend money in ways most meaningful to them.

Q: The author Andy Fisher said of the book, “Equal parts memoir and academic analysis, this book exposes the violence underlying hunger in America while demonstrating the courage and love needed to end it once and for all.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: This is spot on. Because it’s so hard to be open to the truth, I make it a slow unveiling to help readers learn along with me in a way that is non-threatening.

 

I’m trying to show people how I got to the painful truth. That required me to show my own emotions, my own questions and insecurities, especially when the scientific and advocacy communities were hesitant to accept my findings on the violence underneath hunger.

 

Also, I explain that that we must dig deep. I expose how hunger is caused by racism, sexism, capitalism, and imperialism that people harness in their everyday lives to harm each other.  

 

Many women I spoke with had been raped—and this trauma held them back physically, emotionally and economically. They explained that the police did nothing to help them and, often, their own families refused to believe them, or they were punished for bringing it out into the open.

 

When so many women explain their suffering and no one does anything about it, when one in five children live in poverty, when one out of two newborns in this country are born into poverty with little hope of escape, and when this suffering seems accepted by our politicians, community leaders, and the public, it demands we start asking tough questions about ourselves and our society. 

 

How do we let this happen? How do I contribute to this society that celebrates domination and disrespect? How does white supremacy culture and internalized sexism land in me?

 

In asking these questions of myself, not only am I doing my own work to become a more kind, thoughtful and loving person in the world, but I’m also trying to model the behavior that I hope to see in others – readers, students, colleagues, friends, and family.

 

Q: What do you see looking ahead when it comes to the issue of hunger in this country?

 

A: People are waking up to our reality – that our society and the way we live is out of control; often we are without thought for others. With the incoming Trump administration, there will be many thoughtless policies and disrespectful actions that will bring great harm to people who are poor. But I have faith in people; I know we will resist such cruelty.

 

Specifically, we must be vigilant and outspoken about the extremely harmful policies in Project 2025. The Project 2025 playbook seeks to drastically reduce SNAP benefits.

 

Though SNAP has its problems by being married to the food industry, we also know that SNAP can help people like Grace stay healthy and out of the hospital. We also know that when SNAP benefits are inadequate, this affects blood sugar and causes more problems with diabetes.  

 

Additionally, there are proposals to slash school nutrition programs. But these nutrition programs support children’s learning, health and wellbeing.

 

So not only is there a possibility that families with children, Black and Indigenous people, and people with disabilities will experience more hunger and poor nutrition, but our society could become more ignorant by the day. 

 

But we can fight against this if we take courage, speak up, and build community that focuses on ensuring everyone gets the food, housing, and other supports that they need.

 

This is a time to get creative with how we share money, food, and support. We ought to look to mutual aid, cooperative businesses, and other ventures rooted in solidarity.  This is the key to our survival – staying connected and being in the world with equanimity (without discrimination).

 

I encourage people not to give in to fear. Rather, we need to grow our courage to resist the energy of hatred and indifference.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I wrote about the importance of healing the harms of violence in order to end hunger. I insisted, for starters, that the US government ought to return the land to Indigenous peoples, and that there ought to be reparations for intergenerational harms of enslavement. This creates expansive opportunities for healing and repair, and for cherishing each other. I’m continuing that work and going deeper.

 

I’m writing a new book about how public health practice must lead with an ethic of love and solidarity that is opposed to racism, discrimination, and genocide. In my personal life, I’m working on the flip side of the same issue.

 

As always, I am investigating how such pain and violence lands in the way I feel, think and act. I am a descendent of enslavers and people who participated in genocide against Indigenous peoples. So, I am working on showing how that tendency for domination gets handed down, and how to transform that violence so I can spread peace and kindness. I’m curious about how proximate this violence is.

 

One of my grandfathers, who was remembered as a kind person, helped to create the atomic bomb. Clearly, the energy of violence is very strong in our society and also in me. I’m learning how to diffuse the bomb inside of me so that I can help us stop bombing and killing each other.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Working on hunger and poverty takes self-awareness and a deep and abiding commitment to cherish all life. We can start with our food. I remind people that our food is our kin and ought to be regarded with reverence.

 

If we could slow down enough to give thanks to the natural world, to the plants, animals, and minerals that help to nourish us, we can be healthy and live a more meaningful life. In Painful Truth, I show how Indigenous people consider corn or rice as their mother, as their kin. Our plants and our food take care of us.

 

So, while I say that in addressing hunger we must go beyond food, I also am trying to help people understand that the food we eat every day  comes from sacred lands and waters and helps support our lives.

 

This is a gift.  Every life is precious. If we can start to have more reverence for the “more than human world” then maybe this attitude can teach us how to have reverence for each other, to be less racist, to resist any attempts to disrespect and mistreat women and children, to not humiliate people who are poor, and to even treat ourselves better. 

 

We have been gifted with the beautiful opportunity to be human and alive at this time. Let us not waste these moments, and may we share not only our food with people around us, but may we also share the best of ourselves through kindness to all beings.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Sarah Aronson

 

 

 

Sarah Aronson is the author of the new children's picture book biography Abzuglutely!: Battling, Bellowing Bella Abzug. It focuses on the life of Congresswoman Bella Abzug (1920-1998). Aronson's other books include Brand-New Bubbe. She lives in Chicago.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write a picture book biography of Bella Abzug?

 

A: Because she was my hero.

 

When I was young, growing up in a mostly Christian environment, where girls were shushed and rewarded for being demure, I was none of those things.

 

Lucky for me, an older cousin recognized that sparkle and introduced me to Ms. magazine, the feminist movement, and Bella Abzug. From the start, she motivated me to do more. Everything about her appealed to me: her low, gravelly voice, her insights, and of course, her hats.

 

Best of all, here was this loud, opinionated, Jewish congresswoman saying things that I agreed with. She was dynamic. Brave. Exciting to listen to. It seemed to me that she said whatever was on her mind.

 

I, on the other hand, felt overlooked. I didn’t really fit in. At a time when I was first starting to understand government and politics, Bella Abzug represented my vision of a just world. She showed me who I could be.

 

After I gained confidence in my ability to write a picture book biography, I knew I had to write about her. Writing this book was an honor. I really can’t believe I got to do this.

 

Q: How did you research her life, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: Deb, before I answer, I have to say something about research and how we can help new writers and readers be better consumers of information—since misinformation is everywhere.

 

It is going to be essential for nonfiction writers to talk to kids about research and how to find reliable sources and objective facts. I know, when I was a kid, there was a lot of effort placed on inference. I was encouraged to read into things. But now I think we may do a little too much of that—and many people have been taken in by false messaging.

 

Whenever I start a new book, I begin with primary resources. In this case, I listened to recordings of Bella speaking. I read speeches and books that she wrote. That helped me get a sense of her syntax and vocabulary and her amazing ideas about the world and her career.

 

When I was done doing that, I pivoted to secondary sources—books and articles about her. The best was Leandra Zarnow’s Battling Bella: The Protest Politics of Bella Abzug. After reading her book, I sent her a message. And she was gracious enough to write back and talk to me—which was amazingly helpful.

 

And of course, getting to talk to Bella’s daughter, Liz, was invaluable. I am so grateful that they were willing to talk to me. Please check out the work that Liz is doing at the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute. She continues her mother’s good work.

 

When I am in the fact-collecting phase, I look for corroboration. I want to find at least three sources for everything I include in the book. If I find conflicting information, I don’t accept anything. Instead, I dig deeper until I have some proof that what I am saying is correct.

 

For example, I found one source that called Bella the first Jewish congresswoman. (She was second.)

 

I also imagined that all these women who fought with Bella were really good friends and agreed on everything. Of course, that wasn’t true either. These trailblazers put aside their differences to work for a cause. (I think that’s amazing.)

Q: What do you think Andrea D’Aquino's illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Isn’t her art gorgeous???? Andrea’s illustrations strengthen the text. They give the book energy. I love how she drew Bella. The book is so joyful and exuberant. I love how she wove the text into the art. I also love how she depicted New York City.

 

Q: The Horn Book review of the book says, “The book ends with an inspirational call to action for readers in the twenty-first century to help fulfill Abzug’s vision.” What do you see as Abzug's legacy today?

 

A: Bella Abzug did what all trailblazers do: she paved the way for others to continue the hard work of justice. She also showed us how to use the energy of protest—for the greater good. And she modeled how to use our voices—to make change happen.

 

Sadly, she also showed us how to keep going after a tough loss. With determination. And humor. I love how much she loved her family, too.

 

Her campaign slogan will sound familiar: A woman’s place is in the house…the House of Representatives. I love that she predicted that young people and women would play a huge role in our nation’s leadership. That prediction sustains me—especially now. Long before we began to talk about the importance of diversity and inclusion, she fought for it.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I like to work on more than one thing at a time—and on books in different genres. I honor my creativity and curiosity by not worrying about what shelf the book will ultimately sit on.

 

I’m also an intuitive writer and I often need time to step away from the manuscript. I just finished a book about Marty Glickman, the voice of New York sports. I’m currently researching and drafting a book about the life of Christopher Reeve. (The new movie is tremendous.)

 

I’m also working on two middle grade novels—one about witches. The other is set in Chicago. And looking down the road, there is a YA novel idea I’d like to get to.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I don’t need to tell anyone that we are about to live through a very difficult four years. I am also sure that my heart isn’t the only one feeling defeated and broken. But as Bella would say: there is work to do.

 

A lot of teachers and educators are very nervous about the future. Our goals as creatives for children have never been more important.

 

I hope that soon, strong women and men will continue to fight the racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia that we are seeing all over our country and world.

 

I hope that instead of hunkering down, we start taking chances. On the page AND on the streets. That might feel rebellious, but creatively speaking, playing it safe will never be fulfilling. I am sure that Bella would urge us all to keep on battling and bellowing—the way she did. To keep fighting for what is right—the way she did. And to never give up.

 

So, over the next four years, I am going to get out there. And yes, of course, I hope to introduce Bella to many kids. (Stephanie Lucianovic and I even wrote a tool kit for young activists.) And I think we all need to talk about research and recognizing reliable sources.

 

I hope we will all vow to support others who are less fortunate. Bella’s family believed in tikkun olam, a term that means repairing the world. Bella and her family knew that charity was a great first step, but to get meaningful change, we must all be empowered.

 

For everyone reading this, I hope you find hope in my words and Bella’s vision of the country and world. Together, we can use this time to build a coalition of like-minded thinkers with big ideas. We can make a difference in kids’ lives. Because Bella was right: young people are our future.

 

Thanks for inviting me to answer your questions!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Sarah Aronson.

Nov. 29

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Nov. 29, 1898: C.S. Lewis born.

Q&A with Shannon Richard

 

 

 

Shannon Richard is the author of the new novel Puppy Love at Mistletoe Junction. Her other novels include Dog Days Forever. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

 

Q: Puppy Love at Mistletoe Junction is a follow-up to your novel Dog Days Forever--why did you decide to focus on your characters Lucy and Theo in this book?

 

A: When it comes to my books, I always have a band of supporting side characters who I thoroughly enjoy developing on the page. Whether it’s the family my main characters are born into, or the family they have found, these relationships are pivotal in me discovering exactly who my hero and heroine really are.

 

The thing is, I always end up falling in love with these side characters and want all of them to have their story told.

 

When I start a new book, I don’t always know who my next story is going to be about. It’s usually about the characters who call to me the loudest.

 

That wasn’t necessarily the case with this series. During the plotting process of Dog Days Forever, Lucy and Theo were always my intention for book two. And as it turned out, the second I started writing them on the page, they were the two who called to me the loudest. I was so excited to discover what their story would be.

 

Q: Is the town of Cruickshank, North Carolina, where the story is set, based on a real community?

 

A: I love small towns with big personalities. My first series was the same way, except it was on the coast of Florida (just south of where I live). I wanted to change up the scenery and get mountains over sand with this series. 

 

Thomasville, Georgia, is about an hour north of me, and I’ve always loved going up there. The downtown area with its beautiful storefronts was a big inspiration for Cruickshank. Also, I’ve got Gilmore Girls ingrained in my soul, so Stars Hollow was a big influence as well.

 

Q: Did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: There were so so so many changes made during the editing process, and the ending to Puppy Love at Mistletoe Junction was pretty much an entire rewrite. Almost nothing that I had originally plotted ended up in the story. Bless my editor and her patience with me. 

 

I think I listened to “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone on repeat for an entire week while I was writing the ending. It turned into something so much more than I thought it could be and it’s one of my favorite endings that I’ve ever written. 

 

Q: What are some of your other favorite novels set at the holidays?

 

A: So I’d never read a romance novel until after I graduated college…way back in 2009. I was staying at my parents for the holidays and was craving a Christmas book.

 

I went in to Books-A-Million (where I’d worked in high school and college) and found a collection of short stories by Donna Kauffmann, Jill Shalvis, and HelenKayDimon called Kissing Santa Clause. That book quickly became my gateway drug and is what got me into writing romance novels.

 

I had the privilege of meeting Donna Kauffmann before she passed away, and I told her she was the very first romance novel I read. I was also lucky enough to meet Jill Shalvis and was so grateful to her for blurbing my very first book. Sometimes life just comes full circle in the most beautiful of ways.

 

Anyways, that wasn’t the question you asked, but I thought that story was appropriate. 

 

As to my list of Christmas books:

 

Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun

A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas (I just adored this series so much and this book is a little cherry on top)

A Bad Boy For Christmas by Jessica Lemmon

 

That’s a pretty short list…I think I watch more romantic Christmas movies than read Christmas books. I of course do the Hallmark movie marathons with my mother, but here are a few of my favorite movies:

The Holiday

Dash and Lily

The Family Stone (this one might be a hot take)

Elf

Love Actually

Bridget Jones (I know this isn’t technically a Christmas movie, but I always watch it during the holidays. The ending is one of my favorites of ever).

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I had not intended for book three to be about Gavin and Sasha. Well, actually, Gavin had always been my hero, but I had no idea he was going to end up with Sasha until I was writing this book.

 

It was a subtle development on the page, and the more I had them in scenes together, the more they were screaming at me that they were in fact supposed to be together (this isn’t a spoiler…it’s hinted at in chapter one). 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: This book is dedicated to my rescue dog Teddy. I adopted him almost eight years ago and he has stolen my heart and completely changed my life. There are so many animals out there desperate for a second chance, so if you can and are willing to adopt, your life might be changed for the better too.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb