Q&A with Barbara Carroll Roberts

  

 

 

Barbara Carroll Roberts is the author of the new children's picture book When George Washington Bowed to the New Nation. Her other books include Nikki on the Line. She lives in Virginia. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write When George Washington Bowed to the New Nation?

 

A: A few years ago while having lunch with friends in Annapolis, one of my friends pointed at the Statehouse and said, “That’s where George Washington turned in his commission at the end of the Revolution.”

 

We went on talking about other things, but my friend’s statement stayed in the back of my mind, and eventually I decided to find out more about the significance of that action by Washington.

 

And what I learned was that many historians consider this to be one of the most important events in U.S. history—Washington wasn’t just handing a piece of paper back to the Continental Congress, he was giving up his power and returning to civilian life.

 

Today, when there are so many countries with democratic forms of government, this might not seem unusual. But in 1783, when other countries were ruled by emperors and kings, this was a radical act. And it was the first step in establishing our new country as a democracy. It seemed to me that an event this big deserved a picture book.

 

Q: What do you think Anne Yvonne Gilbert’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Apart from their beauty, Anne Yvonne Gilbert’s illustrations add so much depth to the book. When I first saw her thumbnail sketches, I gasped. The level of detail in her depiction of Washington and all the citizens in each spread provides so much information about the time and places these people lived in.

 

But I think what I love most about Yvonne’s illustrations is her ability to express the emotion and drama of these events. And of course, her horses. Yvonne draws beautiful horses.

 

Q: The writer Kathryn Erskine said of the book, “This beautifully presented seminal event will show children the essence of America — that a leader’s role is to serve its citizens.” What do you think of her comments, and why did you choose to highlight the word “king” in the book?

 

A: I’ll answer the second part first. Highlighting the word “king” in the text was the editor’s and art director’s decision. I didn’t know they’d planned to do that. But I think it was a great decision, because it emphasizes the central question of the book: Will Washington declare himself the new king?

 

I was so grateful to Kathryn Erskine for agreeing to write a blurb for this book. I think her words perfectly capture what this book is about: Washington’s action of giving up his power demonstrated what the relationship between leaders and citizens would be and should be in our new nation.

 

Q: What do you think George Washington would make of today’s politics?

 

A: Rather than supposing what Washington may have thought, I’ll answer this question with his own words. This quotation from his farewell address at the end of his presidency is prominent on Mount Vernon’s website:

 

“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have another nonfiction picture book coming out in 2028. It doesn’t have anything to do with American history. It’s about where insects spend the winter.

 

I haven’t been actively working on writing something new recently, because I’ve been focusing a lot of energy into trying to get the word out on this book. (Also, my daughter just got married.) But I’ve been collecting research for another picture book about an aspect of the natural world.

 

Q: Congratulations!

 

Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’d just like to mention that I hope families and educators will realize that picture books like this one aren’t “just for little kids.”

 

I recently corresponded with an AP American History teacher who said she often reads picture books to her classes, using them as jumping-off points for her students to dig deeper into primary sources. I love the idea of this book being a catalyst for high school kids to find out more about George Washington and the founding of our country.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Kimberly Nixon

  

 

 

Kimberly Nixon is the author of the new novel Cutie Pies by the Slice. Her other books include Rock Bottom, Tennessee. She lives in Austin, Texas. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Cutie Pies by the Slice, and how did you create your character Lila?

 

A: My mother moved from Tennessee to Ohio in 1945 to work as a Rosie the Riveter at Westinghouse, where she “wound motors” to be used in military aircraft.

 

She didn’t have family close by, but she lived within a close network of other single women, perhaps in a boardinghouse. Those women became her chosen family and remained part of our family throughout my childhood.

 

One of those women, Lila, was like a surrogate grandmother to me. She loved to bake pies, and whenever she came to our house, my mother would light up. Her presence made our home feel more festive. When Lila died, my mother told me that she had once laundered money for the mob during Prohibition.

 

In Cutie Pies by the Slice, I wanted to write about chosen family and capture the cozy feeling I experienced with my surrogate grandmother. I re-used my mother’s storytelling of her experience moving to a new town to illustrate the struggles of a young woman starting out on her own, especially during the depressed economic times.

 

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

 

A: First of all, I was floored to think that my 4’10” surrogate grandmother had been involved with the mob during Prohibition. I discovered that she had married the doorman of the local speakeasy, which explained some things.

 

In my hometown, it was well known who the mob families were, and many legendary stories from Prohibition were passed around, including tales of tunnels beneath the city.

 

About 10 years ago, I read a series of articles in my hometown newspaper, The Lima News, by Adrienne McGee called “Reminisce.” One three-part column told the story of the rivalry and eventual shootout between two opposing mobs—one from Chicago and the other from northern Ohio.

 

Witnesses disappeared, no one was charged, and even John Dillinger played a small part in the story. He had shot someone at a nearby bank and was arrested and being held in the Allen County Jail, where the mobsters were also held for questioning.

 

To apply this history to Cutie Pies by the Slice, I wove together themes of biological family, chosen family, and family with a capital “F” as a way to explore our obligations, our support systems, and even the transactional situations that can arise within a family.

 

Q: The novel is set in a small town in the Midwest--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: I try to make the setting another character in my novels. When I wrote Rock Bottom, Tennessee and Rock Bottom Rising, the two novels based on my grandmother’s 1925 felony conviction in Tennessee, I visited the Appalachian area where my mother grew up.

 

The difficult terrain and the economic conditions of the area reinforced the tumultuous situations my characters encountered.

 

In Cutie Pies by the Slice, my hometown of Lima, Ohio, is where the novel takes place. The resiliency, work ethic, and sense of community that I experienced in my childhood helped me create characters with depth.

 

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

 

A: Oh, goodness. I changed the ending three times to make sure the novel fit the genre I wanted. Similarly, I changed the cover three times.

 

The first draft was crime-heavy, with Lila becoming a central part of the mob, but for me, it lacked the coziness I wanted as a theme. The first cover even had a bullet hole in the pie shop window.

 

Then I wrote a very strong love interest for Lila, but it changed the story and took away from her ability to make it on her own. That cover had a couple front and center.

 

I ended up with a hint of a love interest, with Lila making it on her own—not as a victim of the mob, but as a resilient woman who insists on getting what she wants. The final cover reflects that version of the story, showing the window of the Cutie Pies shop with empty stools and cases of pies in view.

 

I usually outline my novels, so I know where they are going from the beginning, but with Cutie Pies by the Slice, I meandered a bit.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m not ruling out a sequel to Cutie Pies, but I’ve started writing vignettes for a memoir about getting to know my father by retracing his World War II steps. He died when I was 25, without ever talking about his war years.

 

I have spent 25 years researching and piecing together his military history, since his records were destroyed in a fire at the St. Louis archives. I also traveled with my sister to walk where my father fought.

 

My memoir will weave together childhood stories, details of the battles my father fought in, and the experience of standing on the holy ground where he fought as a way to better understand and honor him.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: If you haven’t gathered, I love the family story. We find so much about ourselves by exploring not only the facts, but the stories that make us.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Bruce McCandless III

  

 

 

 

Bruce McCandless III is the editor of the new book Iron and Fire: The Pacific War Story of Destroyer Captain Bruce McCandless, his grandfather's World War II memoir. His other books include Wonders All Around.  

 

Q: What role did you play in bringing your grandfather’s World War II memoir to publication?

 

A: My grandfather dictated the memoir to his daughter Sue in the mid-1960s, at a time in his life when he was quite ill.

 

Despite his illness, he was still able to recall with remarkable clarity his part in some of the seminal events of the war: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the naval battles of Guadalcanal, kamikazes descending on his ship off the coast of Okinawa. The manuscript was then set aside and apparently forgotten for several decades.

 

After my parents passed on, my wife found the memoir buried under bales of hay in their barn. We opened the stationery box that held it and started reading—and realized immediately that this was a story that people would want to hear. I acted as editor, ghost writer, and to, some extent, agent.

 

And since the memoir didn’t have a title, I gave it one: Iron and Fire: The Pacific War Story of Destroyer Captain Bruce McCandless.

 

Q: You’ve also written about your father’s experiences in space--how did this compare to writing that book?

 

A: They were very different experiences. My book about growing up with my dad, Bruce McCandless II, is called Wonders All Around: The Incredible True Story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and The First Untethered Flight in Space. It was a work of personal experience and recollection.

 

But I never knew my grandfather, and I didn’t write Iron and Fire—I just edited it and helped to bring it to publication. Iron and Fire thus feels less personal to me. I’m more a spectator than a parent this go-round, if that makes sense.

 

Q: How would you describe your grandfather’s legacy?

 

A: His primary legacy is devotion to duty—despite long odds and desperate circumstances. The second, I think, is his devotion to his wife and four kids.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

A: I hope and believe readers will take away the sense that even normal people like my grandfather can do extraordinary things in defense of their country and out of love for their comrades and friends.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m writing fiction again, which is where I started. I’m the author of a series of novels set in the American West and featuring a Texas ranger named Jewel T. Lightfoot, who gets involved in desperate predicaments featuring supernatural perils. It’s like Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove meets the old Darren McGavin TV series The Night Stalker.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Iron and Fire will appeal to anyone who is interested in American history and in the Pacific Theatre of World War II in particular. But it’s not just battles and bullets. It’s also a personal and a family saga that I think will appeal to general readers—male and female, young and old.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Bruce McCandless III.

Nov. 5

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Nov. 5, 1943: Sam Shepard born.

Q&A with Carin Berger

  

 

 

 

 

Carin Berger is the author and illustrator of the new children's picture book Sofia's Journey: A Migration Story. Her many other books include In the Night Garden. She lives in New York City and the Hudson Valley.  

 

Q: What inspired you to create Sofia’s Journey, and how did you create your character Sofia?

 

A: I have a deep connection to the immigrant experience, as both of my maternal grandparents, to whom I was especially close, separately fled Nazi Germany. Their stories of uprooting and immigration, of fear, bravery, hope, and renewal were a vivid thread in my childhood and were foundational to my sense of self.

 

Also, as immigration has become such a charged issue, I feel it is important to remember that each and every family here in the United States have their own story of immigrating and having to start again. Right now, within our country, there is a lot of upheaval, where children experience being uprooted and the uncertainty that that brings.

 

This book is purposely not located and is open-ended, leaving room for anyone with a connection to change or dislocation to relate to it.

 

After much research, I chose Sofia’s name, which comes from the ancient Greek word for wisdom. The spelling that I chose seemed fitting, as it appears in many European, Romance, Scandinavian, and Slavic cultures. It is also fairly common in Mexico, and Central and South America. There is even a version in the Middle East.

 

Q: How did you create the illustrations for this book?

 

A: The illustrations in Sofia’s Journey are a combination of collage, drawing and pochoir, which is a form of stenciling. I use a lot of ephemera in my work, and I am drawn to it because each piece carries a history and story. I love that.

 

Q: The Horn Book review of the book says, “Berger adeptly uses cloud formations to convey Sofia’s experience of displacement, crafting a sky that indicates fear, hope, patience, and, at last, safety.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I deeply appreciated the Horn Book’s description. Creating the clouds was surprisingly challenging, and I did many many many iterations before finally solving how to illustrate them.

 

The primary difficulty came from trying to convey various moods and to allow for pareidolia, while simultaneously keeping the dove and other images within the clouds both present yet not obvious.

 

I also worked carefully to create a color palette that helped to convey the arc of Sofia’s Journey and the mood of the story, from ominous to hopeful.

 

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

 

A: I hope that readers can relate to the longing for home and belonging that many of us experience. I would love it if Sofia’s Journey helps to create space for conversations about upheaval and courage, and about how the core of who we are remains with us despite change. If it fosters empathy and kindness and openness to others, that would make me very happy.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on a book, Stop Spot, that was inspired by a David Hockney painting. It is the painting of a swimming pool where you see a giant splash, but not what has caused it. There was so much story packed into that one image, and it was a leaping off point.

 

The book follows a puppy’s rambunctious romp through a garden and house with a child chasing behind. But mostly what the reader sees is the wreckage left with a peak at a tail or a trailing leash or the child’s hand reaching to catch the runaway pup. There is very little text but a lot of visual storytelling.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I am so excited about Sofia’s Journey, and I hope that it eases transitions for children everywhere.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Carin Berger. 

Q&A with Radiya Hafiza

  

Photo by Naomisha Phillips

 

 

 

Radiya Hafiza is the author of the new young adult novel The Silver Kingdom. Her other books include the middle grade novel Aya and the Star Chaser. She lives near London. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Silver Kingdom, and how did you create your characters Zayd and Layla?

 

A: I have always wanted to write an epic love story but I hadn’t found the right framing for the story until a few years ago. I was talking to my parents one day about their experience of surviving the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and found myself wanting to commemorate this part of my family history somehow.

 

The idea of The Silver Kingdom and its countries emerging after colonisation, grappling with the damage that had been wrought upon them, began to form soon after this conversation and I found myself mapping out the world from there. I wanted to explore the lasting effects of colonialism on the region while creating a powerful love story.

 

Zayd and Layla had always lived in my head for a long time so it wasn’t too hard to flesh them out. I knew they were both loyal and fierce in their own ways, and would go to the ends of the earth for the one they loved – but that it would come with a cost.

 

Layla is almost a reluctant hero at first, full of self-doubt that her mother has inflicted on her. When she meets Zayd, who is more self-assured and knows his role in his family, in his kingdom, she finally finds someone who she can be herself around again and ignites that fire in her that has been missing for some time.

 

As much as this is a postcolonial fantasy book, this is ultimately a love story between two young people who could destroy their kingdoms with their choices.

 

Q: How did you create the world in which the story is set?

 

A: I drew on maps from the region of South Asia, and loosely based my world on the borders of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

 

It’s not an accurate recreation due to the plot of the story and the movement I needed to create, but I drew on the history of a country that used to be one until it was cut up by the colonisers and what life, the economy, the society looked like after independence had been gained.

 

I also looked to the Mughal period for inspiration around the court, as well as my own love of reading fantasy and romantasy novels to create a world that speaks of a certain period in South Asian history, while also bearing the familiar hallmarks of a modern fantasy romance novel.

 

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

 

A: I always set out with a plan and an idea of how I imagine my stories to unfold but once I start writing the characters take me on their own journey and my plans go out of the window. I follow their lead a lot of the time.

 

I usually have a rough idea of how the story may end but it’s through the drafting process that everything changes but ultimately gets solidified. If you saw the first iteration of the book to the final published one, they are two completely different novels!

 

Q: You’ve written for different age groups--do you have a preference?

 

A: I have really enjoyed writing middle grade and I am so proud of my first books, but my heart has always been in YA. This genre has always been one of my absolute favourites to read and write in.

 

It has been so much fun making the switch to YA and getting to work with a larger word count, tackle more mature themes, and explore characters and their relationships in a different way to middle grade.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently working on the sequel to The Silver Kingdom, which is almost done! It has been a much larger and more complex book to the first one, but it’s also been so much fun to work on. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Mara Williams

  

Photo by Kevin Neilson

 

 

Mara Williams is the author of the new novel The Other Side of Starting Over. Her other books include The Truth Is in the Detours. She lives in California. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Other Side of Starting Over, and how did you create your character Bea?

 

A: The first line of the book came to me fully formed: “He was all my love stories.” It haunted me for a while as the characters, plot, and themes began to crystallize.

 

From that line emerged the story of a woman whose entire world has been turned upside down. She’s lost her husband, her livelihood, and her home and must start over—but not from scratch. She has baggage, responsibilities, and—most importantly—her dear children who need her to carry on into an uncharted future.

 

In many ways, this book is an exploration of motherhood during crisis, and Bea enabled me to explore how a mother pushed to the brink could pull her children—and herself—out of disaster.

 

While she is beat down by life, she’s not beaten. I wanted her to be resilient, smart, and capable, which helped create the tension between her current state and her character.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between your characters Bea and Simon?

 

A: Combative. In many ways, their dynamic is a battle between two Type As. They are both stubborn and particular—and because of their backgrounds and competing priorities, don’t give each other the benefit of the doubt.

 

However, while working together, they realize that they have different approaches, but similar goals. As their distrust turns into begrudging respect, they let their walls down enough to truly see each other.

 

Q: The novel is set in California’s Sierra Mountains—how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: Setting is critical, and often my favorite thing to brainstorm while planning a new project. I want my books to transport the reader and immerse them in the story. I want the setting to do a lot of work in reinforcing the theme, aesthetics, and plot.

 

Beatrice, the young widow, moves home after her husband passes away. The plot required that she feel isolated and alone, and that the move would be a source of resentment for her rebelling teens. So I chose a setting that would feel remote, stagnant, and act as a pressure cooker for the family.

 

I set the book in the Sierra foothills of California because it’s a region that I love; it’s beautiful, charming, but might feel stifling for a family accustomed to the bustle of a bigger city. I spent a lot of time there as a child, so it was a setting that invoked a tremendous amount of nostalgia for me, which was also a critical theme of the story.

 

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

 

A: I rarely know how a book will end before I begin writing because I don’t develop a full outline in advance. I will brainstorm the concept to have a sense of where the story is going, but as the characters develop, they often have different ideas that take the story down a surprising path. That intuitive voice is a trusted partner in my process.

 

However, early in drafting, I want to have a sense of the major conflict and implosion in the third act. Since the conflict drives the action, I want to ensure there’s enough of it to power a full book, so that’s the only plot point that is clear to me at the outset.

 

With The Other Side of Starting Over, the climax of the third act was so intense that I couldn’t stop writing until I resolved it. Leaving my characters in such a state caused me great angst, so I had to push through. I drafted the final act in an epic writing sprint and let momentum carry me toward a conclusion.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My fourth book comes out in summer 2027. All Roads Lead to Us is a second-chance, dual timeline romance about a passionate women’s rights activist who lands a dream job with a wealthy matriarch to give away her fortune, only to realize the woman’s grandson is the man she ghosted in Rome a decade ago. It’s messy, romantic, and dramatic and a perfect summer read.

 

Coming In from the Cold is scheduled for winter 2027 and is about a couple on the brink of divorce who must fake it for the holidays while stuck in a cabin with their entire extended family. It will be a cozy and chaotic holiday book.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: When I begin any book, I start with a question I want to answer. The question I was trying to answer in writing The Other Side of Starting Over was whether someone can move on—whole—after severe heartbreak and betrayal.

 

And I think the answer is “yes, but…” Starting over doesn’t erase our histories. We aren’t able to begin again with a blank slate. We bring our pain with us and build our new stories over our scars, and that actually makes the recovery even more meaningful and beautiful.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb