I’ve been writing for some time now. I’ve been around. I went to Hamline University and completed my M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I contemplated character, wrote essays on character, read a zillion and one character-driven books and asked myself endlessly – what makes a good character? Is it all in the name? The voice? In some dark secret that he/she is carrying from page one to the bitter end? Is the extreme characteristic – the BEST, the WORST, the MOST POWERFUL, the WEAKEST… Maybe it’s a talent that only he/she possesses. Maybe he/she is an outsider – thinks differently than everyone else in the book. Is he/she the hero? The only hope? The last of a line? The first?

Characters are important. No doubt about that. Especially if you want to sell a book.

Believe me – I write a ton of books that do not have character driven plots (much to my agent’s chagrin – Sorry, Sean) — BUT I have been thinking about writing a book with a real, honest-to-goodness character-driven plot. The NAME of said character will be prominently displayed in the TITLE. It will happen.

So, with character in mind – it’s not surprising that when I heard Jill Davis of HarperCollins speak at a recent event – and she said that a strong character will be able to be printed on pajamas – or bed sheets – I took note. That makes sense – right?

When I think about my books to date – I would say Frankie the truck from my book BIG RIG could be awesome pajamas. Also, I would vote for Fred (the bear from my book BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!) as a charming sheet set.

So if I have done this – why is it so hard to do this when I sit down to write? The main thing I am going to focus on is giving a character in the book an actual NAME. You roll the eyes (I see you) – but seriously – I write a lot of sense of place poetry. There might be dogs, cats, fish, children – but they do not always have NAMES. Plus, when I read to the young folks, I tend to pick books that give kids an overall feeling – such as I LOVE SPIDERS by John Parker or ALL THE WORLD by Liz Garton. These are fantastic, poetic, lovely books for twos and threes — and they do not have named CHARACTERS. Still, they would make nice pajamas – or maybe wallpaper.

What have we learned here? That editors would very much like a character to sell, and we, the authors would also like a character to sell. We also know that kids like characters (because they like pajamas with Curious George or Spiderman on them). So, with you as my witness – I am going to TRY to write some seriously character driven books – but I will very likely keep writing those other books too. Because they are important and all fun to read too. Even if they don’t translate EXACTLY to a twin comforter set. hee hee hee …

I’ve been told I tend to use a lot of sound words in my writing – you know – the whole onomatopoeia thing. It’s true. I LOVE sound words. And I DO use them often when I write. Especially in my picture books, but I use sound words in my middle grade books as well. Why?

Because sound words are FUN! They break up text and provide white space/pacing/rhythm. Plus, they not only invite the reader into the text — they grab the reader by the ear and pull them along! Ouch! BANG! SNAP! Arrrrooooooo! How could a read resist such lovely words? And better yet — how could a CHILD not turn around and LOOK at an adult reading such silly, fun words?

I suppose that’s where it all started. In my ‘other life’ I’m an early literacy storyteller. I started out when I was a teen – going to summer park programs and reading stories to hot, sweaty, tired, often sugared-up kids. When you’re not much older than your audience, I think you tend to ham it up a bit (at least, I did) in order to keep their attention on the story and not on a passing butterfly. The Big Bad Wolf HUFFED and PUFFED and BAM-CRASH! knocked those little houses down. Those pigs cried WEEEE WEEE WEEE! And don’t even get me started on Little Red Riding Hood. Sound words did the trick – I would add them in if the author had somehow missed an opportunity CREAK! SQUEAK! Swish swish. So, when I started writing my own picture books – of course I added the sound words into the text. (Why should the poor reader have to work so hard to come up w/ the appropriate sounds at the appropriate time?). Plus, as the writer – if you add in sound words – you are giving your illustrator room to play. In my first book, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!, David Walker used my sound words to enhance the illustration. Someone recently asked if I had written those words too – or if the illustrator had just done that … OF COURSE I WROTE THE WORDS! GAK! (but I answered politely – honestly, people – I’m the author – if I let the illustrator do everything, what would be left? GRIN).

I also used a lot animal sounds in BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! (there are even more in my book IF YOU WERE A DOG due out in fall 2014). Again, not only does the sound break up the text and invite the reader in — but it is an early literacy tool as well (we library types like to call this phonological awareness). Kids learn language by playing with it – manipulating it – splicing and dicing it into individual sounds – and by hearing the sounds slowed down a bit. What’s better than Arrrrooooo! or Hisssss! or YEOWL! or Squawk! or Ribbet ribbet! Kids love to make animal sounds – and they are easy to break up into syllables – if you’re so inclined. And kids are. So are teachers. So, I ask you, brave writers, why not add a few sounds in? You’ll love it. I promise. Even a ‘quiet’ picture book can benefit from a few soft sounds…. shhhhhh…. pat pat pat…. drip drip drip …. whoosh … hush hush …

My next book BIG RIG is packed with sound words too … what can I tell you — I just love me the onomatopoeia (and I think Frankie’s illustrator, Ned Young, does too!)Urrrrnnntt! Urrrrnnntt! Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down!

BIG RIG will hit the road on Feb. 4, 2014.

Here’s a few photos from Saturday’s event (photos by David Wm. Loveland Jr.)

Don’t worry if you missed the storm — I’ll be at many WI (and OH) libraries in the next few months.

Menasha Public, Menasha, WI – June 18

Clinton Public, Clinton, WI – June 19

Wright Public Library,  and 3 other OH Public Libraries – July 8 – 9

St. Francis Public, St. Francis, WI – July 16 – a.m.

Wauwatosa Public, Wauwatosa, WI – July 16 p.m.

Cudahy Public, Cudahy, WI – July 18

Oak Creek Public, Oak Creek, WI – July 24

Beloit Public, Beloit, WI – Aug. 7

Eager Free, Evansville, WI – Aug. 21

So, you’re sitting there knocking your head against the table. You’ve been there for two hours and all you’ve managed to get on the page is ADD SOMETHING GOOD RIGHT HERE AT THE END OF CHAPTER 2 – or –  FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS THAT THIS CHARACTER WANTS …

You’re frustrated. Your laundry is a mile high and you really should be at the grocery store right now or your family will end up with breakfast for dinner (again). But still, you sit there. And after some time … the words flow. Maybe not perfectly. But at least it’s something. Later you ask yourself WHY. Why do you spend so much time with what feels like so little to show for it (some days). This is why:

So, back to work. Families are waiting for your book.

Today’s my day to shout it out. My day to make some noise. My day to welcome my very first book, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! into the world. So, you ask, how did I spend this, this frabjous day? I woke to rain pounding on the windows and thunder rolling overhead (a good start, I would say!). Then, I went to work, just like any other day. I created a backdrop that little kids will stick their incentive ant stickers to this summer when they come in with a completed reading card. Oh, and I went to my local bookstore and SIGNED COPIES OF MY BOOK!!!!! And I bought some yummy bakery items to help celebrate the day.

I also saw that some of my wonderful writer friends posted interviews and quick “Congrats!” on Twitter and Facebook and on various blogs (Tamera Will Wissinger’s Blog). Cool. What is the etiquette for thanking folks on Twitter? I re-tweeted, but that seemed so self-promotional … hmmm… if you know the correct response, please, please let me know. I would like to Tweet correctly.

After work, I ran my daughter out to a magic shop to buy fairy/elf ears. This is really just a daily occurrence in my household.

Tonight I will go to bed happiliy thinking that maybe, just maybe, on this stormy WI night a little child somewhere is reading BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! with his/her grown-up and smiling and is maybe a bit less frightened of the storm as it “bellows and bams” outside her window. And that is why I must shout, “Oh, frabjous day!”

To get your very own copy of BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! visit your local bookseller, or various online merchants.

It’s been a strange-wonderful-painful-joyous-underwhelming-overwhelming journey so far. And the book isn’t out for four (or three) more days.

Yesterday, I sat down with one of my favorite local newspaper reporters (Anna Marie Lux of the Janesville Gazette) to talk about what it’s like to finally have a book about to launch. We talked about so much – but mainly – it turns out – about my rabid love of books and reading. She asked me about my mom – the person who read to me every single day – and about growing up – and how I read to my brothers – and how I was so lucky to live in a community with an amazing library (and even luckier to have a mom who took me there every week).

We talked about the people who helped set me on the path – Cathy Norris, Children’s Librarian Extraordinaire, Beth Murray, one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met, Kathy Kennedy-Tapp, writer, mentor, friend — too many people to even list. I was overwhelmed with the memories.

We talked about what’s next: BIG RIG (Feb. 4, 2014) and If You Were a Dog (fall 2014). Which, when I said it aloud, was also a bit overwhelming to think about … (look – there’s the cover for BIG RIG – doesn’t Frankie look excited to start the journey with me?)

MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS: As we live our lives so many people direct us in small and big ways. Sometimes we notice – like being invited to become a storyteller at the library – and sometimes we don’t notice – like being read to every single day, seeing my family read, and visiting the library weekly – but it all adds up, doesn’t it? Makes us who we are – the good and the bad.

Having a book published – a real live book – has been a goal of mine for so many years. And now look. In four (three?) days I will see that dream become a reality. Does this mean I need a new dream? Do I dare start to think of what’s next? Or will I be/should I be satisfied with this accomplishment? I am making myself STOP and recognize this moment. For me, it’s a big one. I don’t want to miss it.

What’s next? I haven’t a clue. I can tell you that I can’t stop writing picture books in my head. I have no idea if these words will eventually make it into real, live books. But, I hope that they do.  I can tell you that I’m filled with pride when I open Boom! Boom! Boom! – I see who I was when I wrote it, I feel the same emotions I felt when I had the words just the way I wanted them and thought, “this one gets to go in search of an audience.” I will tell you it’s crazy-weird to see those words in book form. And even crazier that Anna Maria wondered, “Will you be a rich woman now?” Ha. Clearly, she hasn’t talked to too many picture book writers! Grin. I am not in this for the riches – and I don’t know any writer who is … it’s just who we are – right?

And now Boom! Boom! Boom! is ready to find homes with kids and parents who I hope will read it, enjoy it, and not ‘accidentally’ drop it behind the bookcase (not that I ever did that with any book that my kids loved…).

So, while I obsess with what this means in my life – you go and work on your own dreams. It’s a beautiful day here in Wisconsin and I have storytime in a little while at the library. Storytime day is my favorite day.

I’ll check back in with you next week and let you know how it’s going. I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and into something different in three (or maybe four) days.

Ah, glad you asked.

You see — it’s not the story that makes the difference — there are many, many rainy night stories. And there are stories of animals crowding into too small places. And there are even stories of brave young boys with bossy sisters. Yes, yes. These are great stories … but what makes one story stand apart from the others is the method by which the storyteller/writer (me, you, your neighbor Shirley) relates the story.

It’s voice. It’s P.O.V. (point of view). It’s word choice – it’s the rhythm of the language. All of these choices add up to a story that is different from the last story you read/heard. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! opens with the lines:

“One stormy night, I jumped into bed.

Safe with a book and my bear named Fred.”

I might have said:

“At bedtime, I jumped into my cozy little bed – with my best friend – a teddy bear named Fred. And of course, I picked out a good book — tonight I wanted to read about thunderstorms — because it was a thunderstormy night.”

So, I have given the same facts – but right away it seems like a different story. In fact, knowing that our main character is jumping into bed with his/her best friend might make us worry that we’re heading into YA territory … until we find out it’s a teddy bear! (hahaha… sorry… but I was worried for about thirty seconds while reading that line back to myself…).

I guess that illustrates the point that HOW we tell the story – word choice, sentence length – how and when the information is doled out to the reader … all of these choices we make affect how the text is read.

Later in the book I used the text:

“We four nestled and listened to rain. Split, splat, splat, splop, a stormy refrain.”

I might have said:

“The rain pounded on the roof and against the windows. Thunder bounced around, rattling the books on the shelves. Cat, Dog, Guinea Pig, and I snuggled into my little bed and listened as the storm continued to storm.”

Again – the same information is stated in the text — but I used twice as many (or more) words to get there. I didn’t have to list all the characters in my text “we four” told the illustrator everything he needed to know – and I must say — the art on this spread melts my heart every time I see it. David Walker understood completely what “We four nestled” should look like on the page.

Now – if you look at the illustration you’ll see 6 things in the bed – but Fred (being a teddy bear and not alive) and Blankie (being a blankie and also not alive) are not counted in the running text. Kids don’t seem to mind this — and actually enjoy going back and saying, “There are four friends, plus FRED! That’s five – oh, and blankie — that’s six!”

Again – how to count characters was a conscious thought for me — in fact — it’s something I went around and around with as I crafted the text. How many are in the bed? And what counts and what doesn’t? Ultimately, I counted only the little boy and the “real” animals/people. It was a style choice. It was a storytelling choice. It’s a discussion point for kids and readers. And it all boils down to — How are you telling your story? What word choices will you make? Whose P.O.V. is this? And how many words will you use?

Personally, I enjoy reading books with rhythm and rhyme – I like reading sentences such as:

“Boing in,” I said. “But then, no hopping. With five this bed is tip-flip-flopping!”

But, that’s me. That’s my voice. That’s what I love to read aloud. What do you like to read? What’s your voice? Who is telling your story? And what words do you want to use to tell it? I can’t answer those questions — only you can.

Now, scoot. Off you go. Don’t you have a book to write?

1)What is the title of your next book?

Boom! Boom! Boom! to be released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux on May 28, 2013. Illustrated by David Walker.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

It was a dark and stormy night … when BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! my dog, my children, and every other pet and person in the house ended up in my bed. As soon as things calmed down I ran to my computer and started to write my silly, rhyming book about a stormy night, a brave little boy, a lot of frightened friends – and a bed a bit too cozy!

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Picture book/rhyming/cumulative – fun!  It’s a storytime read aloud for preschool to 2^nd grade.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a
movie rendition?

Let’s see – how about Johnny Depp as the heroic young boy and Lady Gaga as his impulsive sister? The animals can be cast as themselves … including my teddy bear, Fred.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A stormy night, a brave young boy, too many frightened friends – and a too cozy bed!

6) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The first draft flew from my fingers in hours – the subsequent drafts took years.

7)What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

My book would go well with any other rhyming, bedtime, counting, noisy, sibling, animal book!

Now – who to tag next – I’m tagging a few of my favorite authors – check out their webpgs. for more EXCELLENT books!

Ann Bausum– award-winning non-fiction

Elizabeth Fixmer – fabulous historical fiction – 1960s civil rights!