Jan. 3

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Jan. 3, 1892: Writer J.R.R. Tolkien born.

Q&A with children's author and illustrator Susan Stockdale

Susan Stockdale is the author and illustrator of nature-focused picture books for children, including Stripes of All Types, Bring on the Birds, and Fabulous Fishes. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your most recent book, Stripes of All Types?

A: I’ve always been very fascinated by patterns. I’ve worked as a freelance textile designer. The idea for Stripes of All Types was born at an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It was an exhibit of frogs. [The striped frogs’] stripes had a purpose: to warn other creatures. A poison frog’s poison benefits humans—it’s extracted to make a painkiller. There are probably myriad ways animals benefit from stripes. I came back from the exhibit inspired.

Q: How did you end up as a writer and illustrator of picture books relating to nature and animals?

A: There were two things. Growing up in Coral Gables, Miami, and spending a couple of years when I was young in Dublin, Ireland. Florida is so sunny and bright, and I spent my entire childhood outside. There were skittery lizards, beautiful birds, subtropical vegetation. The colors of Miami really influenced me. I really love vivid, bright, saturated color.

In Ireland, I was around really different animals—horses, cows, sheep. The coloration of Ireland is so incredible—verdant green. Some of my illustrations include six different kinds of green. Those two environments got me interested in nature. We had a couple of cats, and we would go to the Parrot Jungle [in Florida]. It really blew my mind. I was very grateful for that.

Q: How does your previous work affect your work as an author and illustrator?

A: I had two lives—I had day jobs as a PR director for a number of years. As an author, I do some of my own marketing. I enjoy creating opportunities. I majored in art in college. I spent many years creating fantasy landscapes; it’s interesting that now I’m doing nonfiction. They often involved animals. I segued into doing textile designs, with detailed patterning.

I had married and had children of my own, and we would go to the library, and were picking picture books. [I decided] I would love to create picture books. My mother, a poet, was a wonderful role model. She was always typing away, and had projects. She instilled in me a love of words, and an appreciation for disciplined work. I had a lot of painting experience but not a lot of writing experience—I went on blind faith that I could figure it out!

Q: Do you think of your text first or your illustrations, or do they evolve together?

A: I always think of the words first, but as images in words. The imagery is floating around in my head. I always have a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary next to me. I went to Belize, and when I came back, I was inspired to create a book about fish. I knew I wanted to write in rhymes. I had a rhythm right from the get-go; it was an anchor for me. I had some sort of musical rhythm, and I started putting down adjectives in a page.

I put all my words down, and then I do research. Is there a striped fish? A spiked fish? Then I start looking for candidates for each line. “A fish that leaps and glides”—there’s a flying fish. I actually saw them in Costa Rica. One of the things I love about the nonfiction picture book world for kids is that I get everything down, see if the things exist, and they usually do because nature is spectacular. If it doesn’t, I refine my manuscript.

I have a cadre of scientists—I have worked with bird experts, [experts in] ichthyology, at an aquarium. If possible, I work with a couple of scientists from different institutions. A third person might find a little correction.

In Fabulous Fishes, I had a lionfish. I always have an addendum where I identify the animals and explain the rhyme scheme. I said about the lionfish that it turns its poisonous spines toward its enemies. The third scientist [who checked the manuscript] said it should be “venomous” spines. I’m really glad we caught that! I really enjoy teaching kids.

Q: What do you discuss with students when you visit schools and libraries?

A: When I go in, I do an overview of what goes into writing, researching, and illustrating a nonfiction picture book. Kids are confused by the difference between fiction and nonfiction, even up to third or fourth grade. I [explain that I] might have misinformation corrected by scientists.

The dummy is a 32-page facsimile of what the book will look like, to submit to the publisher, the art director. I show kids via power point what the original sketches look like—they’re often uninspired. I might do 20 different sketches before I find one compelling, and then I make sure it’s accurate. I send a sketch of a jaguar to an expert, who will say the jaguar’s head needs to be larger.

My animals are anatomically correct, but there’s a lot of whimsy. I check with scientists to see that the environment is correct, that the berries behind a toucan are the kind a toucan would eat. But I do use my own style. What am I going to dramatize? The pink stripe on a rainbow trout that I’m really going to punch up.

I give an overview of how I create books, and all the manuscript revisions. It’s a spare text, but it takes me weeks. I take them through. I went them to feel they can write and illustrate, and making mistakes is part of the creative process.

 Q: Your work is also featured on calendars, puzzles, and cards. How did that come about?

A: It’s testament to a really good promotional piece. I had a full-color card made [describing my work] for when I go to conferences. In my spare time at conferences, I look at [publishers’] catalog of books, and I look at their sidelines—products other than books. If their work is in a similar spirit to mine, I give them my card.

Some years ago I went to the Pomegranate booth, and handed my card over, and sure enough I got an e-mail from the president a couple of months later saying we really like your work. They select the images they like. It’s been a lot of fun; it’s a nice way to extend my artwork.

Q: Are those images all from your books?

A: Everything is from my books.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Spectacular Spots, with 19 spotted animals. It’s a companion to Stripes of All Types. It will be published in the spring of 2015 by Peachtree. It’s been such a joy. I’m painting guinea hens right now. I have butterflies, jaguars, fabulous animals that have spots.

For this book I think I consulted with eight different scientists. With the flamingo tongue snail, I wasn’t sure where to place the tentacles. I went to a flamingo tongue snail expert at the Natural History Museum. I’m always tweaking things. So far, I’ve never had a mistake yet. 

On this book, and at the back of Stripes of All Types, [there’s a section that says,] Can you find the animal that belongs to those stripes? It’s an enlargement of a striped pattern. I’ve had so much fun going to schools. It’s tricky—they have to be really astute in recognizing the patterns. I’m doing that in Spectacular Spots as well.

For the addendum, I rely on scientists to make sure it’s correct. It’s very low-tech. I’m kind of into old-fashioned hardcover books—you don’t have to turn a screen on. You engage children to go back into the book.

People will say, what’s the hardest part? Coming up with the conceit [for the book]. With Stripes of All Types, I considered three or four different approaches, and settled on each animal in action in its habitat. The habitats rhyme and are alliterative. Rivers, reeds. I really backed myself into a corner—there aren’t that many habitats that rhyme, and is there a striped animal [there]? It has to be fun and engaging for me, too—I’m with the book for a year and a half! And will there be animals that are interesting to kids—not too many that are exotic, some that are in their back yards.

With the world of nonfiction, you can just find endless ideas. I want kids to pay attention to the world around them. I go on Audubon Naturalist Society walks, and it’s mostly grandparents there with kids, their grandchildren, and they said [the kids] are afraid of walking in the woods. I couldn’t believe it. I’m trying to turn the spotlight back outside.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Jan. 2

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Jan. 2, 1920: Writer Isaac Asimov born.

Q&A with author Frederic J. Frommer

Frederic J. Frommer, a reporter for the Associated Press, is the author of the new book You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions. His other books include The Washington Baseball Fan's Little Book of Wisdom, and Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry, written with his father, Harvey Frommer. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Q: Why did you decide on "You Gotta Have Heart" as the book's title, and is the story told in Damn Yankees still relevant to the current Washington Nationals and their fans?

A: My publisher actually came up with the title in a nod to Damn Yankees, a play and movie about a middle-aged fan who sells his soul to the devil so he can be turned into a 21-year-old slugger who leads the Washington Senators to the American League pennant. The manager breaks out in song, “You Gotta Have Heart,” about the need to play the game with passion.

And absolutely, the story is still relevant to Nats fans of today, who had to suffer through seven seasons before they finally got to see a winning team in 2012. Just last season, Nats star Bryce Harper channeled the story when he tried to rally the slumping team by saying, "You got to play with heart.”

Q: What particularly surprised or fascinated you as you researched Washington's baseball history?

A: A couple of things come to mind. One is the tradition of presidential first pitches, which dates back to 1910. Fans are accustomed to seeing presidents throwing out the first pitch from the mound, but in the 20th century, presidents would throw out the first pitch from the stands, over a scrum of photographers and into a crowd of players from both sides, who would battle for the ball like bridesmaids trying to catch a bouquet. The winner would get the ball autographed by the president. My book has details on presidents from Taft to Obama throwing out first pitches.

Another is how the city got so excited by Washington’s only World Series championship, in 1924. A newspaper story at the time said fans were so riled up that half the city’s population was in danger of dying of a heart failure.

Fans were especially excited to see Walter Johnson, the future Hall-of-Fame pitcher, finally get a chance to pitch in the World Series. Johnson actually lost his first two starts in the series, but came out of the bullpen to win the seventh and deciding game in extra innings against the New York Giants.

Fans celebrated downtown that evening by blowing whistles, shaking rattles and honking horns. Cars were forced to drive on streetcar tracks as thousands of people jammed Pennsylvania Avenue.

Q: What would you say are the high and low points for the Nationals since they arrived in Washington in 2005?

A: The low points were the 2008 and 2009 seasons, when the Nats finished with the worst records in baseball. But those seasons also had payoffs for the Nats: the top draft choices, which yielded Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.

Strasburg’s first start was definitely a high point, when he struck out 14 hitters in 2010 in a playoff-like atmosphere, even though the team was not a contender that year. And of course, the 2012 division title represents a high mark.

Q: How do you think the Nats will do this year? 

A: The Nats are poised to contend for the division title again this season, and have a decent chance of getting to the World Series (which would mark the first World Series appearance for a Washington team since 1933). I think that last season was just a down year. With a solid nucleus and an improved rotation, the Nats can repeat, and possibly exceed, their 2012 success.

Q: Are you working on another book? Anything else we should know?

A: My father and I have a new edition of our book, Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry, coming out this year. Also, I plan to do some Washington book events in the spring. Your readers can watch for updates by following me on Twitter, @ffrommer, or liking my book’s Facebook page.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with children's author Madelyn Rosenberg

Madelyn Rosenberg is the author of Canary in the Coal Mine, The Schmutzy Family, and Happy Birthday, Tree! A former newspaper reporter, she worked for The Roanoke Times. She is based in Northern Virginia.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your most recent book, Canary in the Coal Mine?

A: I was at a concert in Charleston, W.Va. (many) years ago when I saw a cage on display in the lobby. It was about the size of a CD case cubed, and it was one that coal miners had used to bring canaries underground with them.

I imagined how it would feel to be schlepped around in something that small and figured that whatever was in there would want to bust the heck out as soon as possible. The rest of the story came to me in a flash. It took a long time before I could get it right, though.

Q: You've written for various age groups. Do you have a
preference?

A: This is going to sound like a copout, but my preference is to shift among the different age groups. I love picture books because they are puzzles and I want to solve them. With middle-grades, I liked the challenge of sustaining a voice over many pages. And I just finished a young adult novel with my friend Mary Crockett, which was a blast, and freeing in a lot of ways.

That said, when I speak to kids, I prefer ages 9 to 11. And fifth grade is my favorite, maybe because I was in fifth grade when I figured out that I wanted to write.

Q: How are the illustrators selected for your books?

A: It's all about the publisher, and I'm afraid to say how lucky I've been out loud for fear that I'll totally jinx myself. People unfamiliar with the picture books think the author has something to do with it. And maybe an author with a little bit of pull actually does. But for the most part, the editors and designers play matchmakers between the authors and illustrators.

With Canary in the Coal Mine, I know my editor, Mary Cash, was looking specifically for an illustrator who could do cute but not precious and who was very good with light. She found that in Chris Sheban and I couldn't agree with her choice more.

I haven't met any of the illustrators for my books (OUR books, once they've entered the mix) and I've only talked to one of them by phone. But so far, each has been perfect for the manuscript in question. And each has brought things to the manuscript
that I couldn't have managed in only words.

Q: You've also worked as a journalist. What similarities
and differences do you see between journalism and writing
children's books? 

A: In both fields you spend a lot of time trying to choose the perfect words and details to tell a story, it's just in journalism the people are real and in fiction, they're made up. But there are characters in both places.

Another similarity is that both fields have copyeditors. Yay, copyeditors! They saved me in the journalism world and they've done the same thing in book world.

And in both fields, what you write is important to somebody, even if for one person it's a hardback book and for another it's a yellowed newspaper clipping.

One big difference: the immediacy. When I was in newspapers, I would write, do the edits, let it go, and see my story in the paper the next day. Now I'll stew over edits and revisions for months or even years before my stories appear in print. Fortunately I'm still doing a little magazine work, so there's some (almost) immediate gratification.

Another difference: in books, mistakes are harder to fix, so I worry
about making them even more.

I like to pay tribute to journalism where I can, so you'll see references to newspapers in most of my books, especially Canary in the Coal Mine. And when I talk to classes about historical fiction, I tell them a great way to get a good snapshot of another time is to go to the library and find the newspaper for that period.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Right now I'm working on two middle grade novels, one by myself and one with a writing partner.

I'm also working on the nerve to do actual publicity for the books I have coming out in 2014, which cover three different age groups: Dream Boy (Sourcebooks, with Mary Crockett) is YA, How to Behave at a Tea Party (Katherine Tegen Books and illustrated by the amazing Heather Ross) is a picture book, and Nanny X (Holiday House) is a middle-grade.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: You should know that I always ask that same question whenever I'm interviewing someone for a newspaper or magazine, which means it should be easier to answer than I'm finding it.

You should know that I adore talking animal books, even though the usual reaction to them in publishing these days seems to be: YIKES.

You should know that I have a hard time avoiding the distractions that are social media, so I'm writing my next book by hand.

And you should know that I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to me! Thank you so much, Deborah, and Happy New Year!

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with author Kayleigh Kulp

Kayleigh Kulp is the author of the new book Booze for Babes: The Smart Woman's Guide to Drinking Spirits Right. A freelance writer/editor and marketing copywriter, her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the Travel Channel and Travel + Leisure. She is based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Q: How did you end up writing this book?

A: I was already a journalist covering travel and food and wound up taking a whiskey tour in Kentucky and Tennessee. Before that, I never cared to learn much about spirits and drank what amounted to a bunch of low-quality, sugary liquors that masked the taste of the alcohol.

But once I met the distillers, learned how to taste and all the care and effort it took to produce the whiskey, I couldn't believe what I had been missing and began to explore why I, like so many other women, hadn't yet conquered the world of spirits like they have in other realms.  

I realized that liquor company marketing had a lot to do with it and also that gender roles had been playing out in our glasses throughout history. That's when I knew I needed to write a book that celebrates women in spirits and also educates them.

Q: How has the relationship between women and liquor changed over the years?

A: We have definitely had this on-again, off-again relationship. Women have played and still play crucial roles behind the bar as hostesses and businesspeople, even though female consumers still get funky looks when they order a scotch neat with a side of water at a bar.

There were some very interesting women at the forefront of Prohibition as well, as rumrunners, and enforcers. Women were arguably the driving force for enacting Prohibition and also to repeal it years later.

As late as the 1970s, a law still existed in California forbidding women from serving whiskey in a bar, but there are many more well-known women in the industry now.

Female consumers still, by and large, aren't as comfortable ordering traditionally "manly" or "strong" drinks, but hopefully the influx of women coming in as producers, bartenders and entrepreneurs will begin to change that as we all focus on educating them. And educating all people, for that matter.

Q: What more can you tell us about the history of women bartenders?

A: There have been some amazing female bartenders throughout history who have used their generally warm and hospitable personalities to make guests feel comfortable and welcome.

They are notable for their business savvy at a time when it was unusual for women to be entrepreneurs in the industry, like Alice Guest in the 18th century and even Helen David in this century.

Now there are several very well respected bartenders working to bring women into the spirits fold, like Lynnette Marrero, who wrote my foreword and who started a women-only bartending competition that raises money for breast cancer called Speed-Rack.

Q: Why are some drinks considered more popular among women, and do you think they should be?

A: I can't speak for all women, but I can tell you that what I've seen a lot of are things like vodka-sodas, and anything with fruit or bubbles in it.

I also can't say that I think women should be drinking a certain type of spirit or cocktail, because I don't think we should be pigeonholed to expectations of us, which has gotten us to this state in the first place.

But I would love to see more women ordering fine aged spirits neat (Think Don Julio 1942 or a Glenrothes Select Reserve, or maybe it's a Zacapa XO?) and boozy, stirred cocktails like Manhattans, gin martinis, Rob Roys and Negronis as their go-tos. Their classic, punchy flavors and romantic histories should appeal to women and men alike.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I am working on a few freelance travel and drinks articles, and I am also outlining a new book that will be written in the same vein as Booze for Babes but on a different subject.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I want to be clear that I'm not telling all women that what they like to drink now is inferior. But I do want them to step outside their comfort zones to try new spirits and learn to appreciate just about anything, even if it's not necessarily their thing. 

I also just want to arm women with the tools they need to make educated buying decisions. A great palate takes time to develop and it is such a joy to be able to grab some friends, and explore all of the affordable luxuries available out there now! But always drink moderately, too. 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Jan. 1

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Jan. 1, 1879: Writer E.M. Forster born.