 This release is the final installment of your CAT’S CRADLE trilogy. How do you feel about coming to the end of this journey? I've always found the ending of stories bittersweet, and that certainly includes my own. I grew attached to these characters and I'm a little sad to close the cover on them. But I'm happy I was able to give them life for three books— and my drawing hand is happy to get a break! How much of the trilogy did you know when you began writing the first CAT’S CRADLE novel? Did you have the complete story arc for all three books in mind, or did you have only a loose idea of how the story would continue in books 2 and 3? How much of your original idea changed in the process? I only had a loose idea, and with hindsight I realize I should have given myself more structure. I had enough story ideas for probably eight or nine books, and condensing it to three left me with some loose ends that I wished to tie up better. The feel of the story remained very much the same though— a spooky, fun and light-hearted but with a few serious threads weaved throughout. This trilogy is your first time both illustrating and writing. What are some unique challenges you discovered in doing so? Any big lessons? You never really know if a story will work until you get it out of your head and onto paper. That can be scary, because sometimes you've thought about a particular story for years, and making major changes to it can feel like a betrayal. But I can attest that the changes were worth it every time I've made them! What is your process as both the author and illustrator like? Do you come up with the prose before illustrating, or do the text and art usually progress in tandem? I like to have a solid script before I move to illustrating. The drawing is the most labor intensive part of the comic, and I would hate to spend time on sketches that I would toss out later. My drawing hand would complain! Writing a series allows more time for your readers to develop relationships with the characters and a connection to your world. Have you had any particularly memorable interactions with readers over the years? I particularly love getting pictures of readers dressed up as my characters for Halloween! There's something so heartwarming about seeing them come to life like that! As the illustrator, you have the power to create a distinct visual world for the series. What were some of your inspirations for Suri’s world? Was there any particular aesthetic or mood you wanted to evoke? I was going for "spooky fairy tale with a hint of slavic folklore," if that's not too specific! Was there any specific person or pet that inspired you to create Suri? How did you come up with her? The first character that I came up with was actually Byron, and that's because he was based on a real life dog of the same name! I created Suri to be Byron's companion, and she went through quite an evolution. At first I had her as a shy, reluctant heroine, but I found I wasn’t having much fun writing her story. When I changed her into a plucky, intrepid monster tamer, I began having so much fun writing her scenes that she became the main character. That taught me early on to listen to my characters— they can guide you in surprising, wonderful directions! What element of the Cat’s Cradle world do you most wish were a part of our own world? I'd love some golden twine to grant me magical powers! Ever since I was little I wanted to be a witch. I'm still holding out hope, but creating comics is probably the closest thing to magic in this universe. While this is the end of the trilogy, do you ever see yourself returning to the CAT’S CRADLE universe in the future? I hope so! There's a great chemistry between Suri, Byron, Caglio and Kolya— I can put them in a scene together and just have fun seeing how they react. I'd like to come back to them in a few years and see what they would do next! CAT'S CRADLE: SURI'S DRAGON is available for purchase now through First Second Books. Interview with Phillip Hoose Celebrating the Release of CLAUDETTE COLVIN: I WANT FREEDOM NOW!11/14/2024
 This is your first picture book in some time. How did you feel about jumping back into
the genre? I’m thrilled to make Claudette’s heroic story available to a new generation of readers. And I’m amazed by Beatrice Jackson’s illustrations. I can’t wait for readers to see them. What are the differences between writing a YA book and a picture book about the same topic? I had only 40 pages to work with in I Want Freedom now! compared to 150 pages in Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. So I had to leave some some episodes out, or compress them. Claudette helped me decide what to leave in and what to take out. Have you learned anything new about Claudette Colvin between 2009 and now that affected your writing/research? I learned more about Montgomery. It was really a tough town for Black people. It was tightly controlled. The Klan was quite active there. It made me appreciate all the more how courageous Claudette was to stand tall. What effect did the first book have on Claudette Colvin’s life? What has changed for her since the first book was published The success of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice put Claudette in the public eye as a Civil Rights heroine. Before that book, there had been very little written about her, and next to nothing in her voice. She allowed me to interview her many times, and at length. The book introduced the world to a teen who challenged the humiliating Jim Crow laws that were meant to discourage Black people. What particular elements of Claudette Colvin’s life and story do you find the most inspiring? That’s a tough question. So much of what she did inspires me. I was particularly impressed by her willingness to become a plaintiff in the Brower v. Gayle lawsuit challenging the Constitutionality of the bus segregation policies. She stood up, raised her right hand, and delivered blistering testimony against racial segregation on the busses. You and Claudette Colvin have become good friends. Do you have any stories or anecdotes about her that you’d like to share? I was surprised to learn that she knew so many songs by white singers such as Hank Williams. She explained that there were no Black radio stations in Montgomery when she was growing up. She loved music, and learned the songs that were available to her. We still sing “Jambalaya” over the phone. I WANT FREEDOM NOW is illustrated by Bea Jackson. How do her illustrations bring a new perspective to Claudette Colvin’s story? I am amazed by Beatrice’s work. Claudette is too. What Bea did with light and color, with facial expressions and body language, is just brilliant. She delivered a beautiful portrait of the life and times of the Civil Rights icon Claudette Colvin.  Congratulations on the release of GOOD DOGS, available now!
How did you come up with the idea for GOOD DOGS? I’ve always loved werewolves. Ditto slashers. But I’ve never seen them mashed up in quite this particular way. With GOOD DOGS, I think I hit on the title and concept pretty much simultaneously—what if a group of wolves went off to the woods to “wolf out” in peace, but a mysterious killer began picking them off one-by-one? I’m always trying to find unique spins on existing tropes. Love or hate my books, I really hope every reader does come away feeling like I’ve shown them something new! What was your creative process for writing the book? I’m a confirmed pantser, which can be a bit painful during the editing process. I wrote the first draft in 2019 or so, set it aside, rewrote it in 2020, and then went through another big rewrite in 2023 with my editor at Blackstone, Marco Palmieri. What do you think draws readers to your work? Fun ideas and high energy writing. I’m genuinely having the time of my life when I’m writing a book and I think that comes through for most readers. How did you initially get into writing? I’ve always made up my own stories. Always dreamed of being a writer, too. When I was younger, I pictured myself being a well-known writer by the age of 35 or so. Well, when that age arrived and I hadn’t done anything, I decided to buckle down. I set a resolution to write 1,000 words/a day 5-6 days a week. I also decided to finish everything I started. I was allowed to suck, but I had to finish. That first year I wrote 16 short stories and completed a novel. Could you tell us about authors who have inspired you? There are so many I’d be afraid of leaving someone out, so I’ll just pick one: Joe Lansdale. As someone who likes to play in different genres, the way that Lansdale’s can write horror, crime, weird westerns, old school pulp, and literally anything else under the sun gives me hope I’ll be able to do the same to some extent. What does your working space look like? What do you need in order to be productive? I like to write in public places a lot. Coffee shops, bars, hell one time I was working on this story that took place at an IKEA, so I actually went to one and sat at a Lagkapten. Wrote the whole story that way. The only drawback was the customers who kept coming up asking me how to get to housewares or whatever. What advice for do you have for aspiring authors? Read a lot, write a lot, and don’t be a jerk. What is your favorite scene in your book? Why? It’s hard to choose, but there are a few flashbacks scenes set in the ‘80s, ’50s, and ‘30s where I got to cut loose stylistically, aping the tone of each era. Those were a lot of fun. How will you celebrate your book release? I’m doing a signing event with Jonathan Maberry at a very cool bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy, in my hometown the night of launch. There may also be drinks after, we’ll see! Outside of writing, what do you like to do? I love taking my dog to the park/beach, cycling, hiking, and checking out new breweries.  A debut book’s publication is a time to celebrate just like Mid-Autumn Festival! In a sad turn of events, Sapphire Chow, who had been battling lung cancer, passed shortly after signing the contract for this book. This book launch, then, is also a time to remember and honor her. Sapphire Chow’s creative talent and love for books will forever be remembered with this book, and Dunham Literary is pleased to present this interview with Rosalind Chow, daughter of debut author Sapphire Chow.
Sapphire’s story MESSAGE IN THE MOONCAKE centers on Mid-Autumn Festival, which is coming upon us this season! Did you celebrate this holiday when you were young? What about now? Do you know what about it inspired your mother to write a story set during this holiday? As a family we did not celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with any formal traditions. Each year we celebrated by visiting family in Toronto and purchasing mooncakes to share, and the family-gathering aspect of it was wrapped up together with our Canadian thanksgiving celebrations. Sapphire was always looking to learn more about Chinese history and traditions, which was the inspiration for writing this story. She wanted to share stories and folklore around her heritage as she felt the material deserved to be shared, and she enjoyed learning more about it herself during the research process. What do you think will draw other readers to Sapphire’s work? Message in the Mooncake is such a unique retelling of an old folktale. The historical setting and possible plausibility of events helps the reader feel like they are with Su Ling on her journey – like they are part of the Chinese resistance with her. Can you share anything about your mother’s writing process? Did she discuss what she was working on or share pages with you? My children and I were the test subjects for Sapphire as she developed the early drafts of her ideas for new stories. She would have us read through the drafts and note what the kids did and did not like about the story, and we would discuss them together at length around the dinner table, looking for ways they could be fine-tuned. Sapphire has said that books were scarce during her childhood and that she really began appreciating children's literature when she became a mother. What can you tell us about your mother’s early life? Sapphire was born in Calcutta, India (now Kolkata) as the youngest of five siblings. There she grew up speaking both English and Hindi. The family later moved back to their ancestral home, China, where she learned Cantonese in Hong Kong and became fully immersed in Chinese culture. During her childhood in Calcutta she has said that households owning children’s books was not commonplace and that libraries were not established. My aunt recalls that on occasion there was a man who came around their neighborhood who would rent comic books to residents. She told us he would carry around a big bag of these old comic books on his bike, and serviced multiple local communities in the area. And these were the earliest types of books that were available to their family. Were there books that you remember reading together as a family that you loved? Back when my brother and I were growing up, when children’s audiobooks were not as popular and available as they are now, my mother would borrow a tape recorder and children’s books from the library to record herself reading aloud so that she could play them for us on long car trips. She was very animated in her readings with voices for each character and sound effects. She read a lot of books to us, and it is hard to pick favourites – although I can recall many of the Robert Munsch books were regular requests of ours, such as Thomas’ Snowsuit and Stephanie’s Ponytail. We know that Sapphire loved her grandchildren and dedicated this book to them. Can you share anything about their reaction to the book? Garrett and Heather are 7 and 6 now that the book is being released. The words had been read to them before during Sapphire’s first drafts of the book, and they enjoyed the story - but since they are older now, and of course seeing it all put together in that first physical copy with pictures, it seemed to take on a whole new spin for them. It sparked a lot more curiosity and questions, followed by imaginative comments about what it must have been like to live in ancient China. As you’ve stepped into the role of managing Sapphire’s literary estate, what have been some of the things about the publishing industry that surprised you? Luckily for me, before Sapphire passed away she had secured Anjanette as her agent, and had already established a relationship with Barefoot Books. Having the help of industry insiders removed all of the questions and guesswork for me - Anjanette has been so key in keeping me on track and the team of editors and marketers at Barefoot Books made it a very seamless transition for me. Thank you for taking the time to share with us! Is there anything that you would love for reader to know about your mom in closing? When Sapphire realized her dream of becoming a children’s book author she committed herself to it fully. She took courses, attended webinars, connected with other aspiring writers, and borrowed oh so many children’s books from the library to study herself. She was determined to achieve that dream, and didn’t let anything get in her way. But above all else, she was the best Pho Pho. She absolutely captivated Garrett and Heather with stories, dancing, cooking, outings, and endless crafts and games. She will always be remembered by her close family as caring and full of zeal for life.  The journey from an idea to a complete manuscript is often a long process, and having a critique group or partner can be helpful in many ways. It’s even longer if your goal is to have the manuscript published. If getting published is compared to climbing Mount Everest, then a critique group is base camp.
The standard advice is: don’t submit until your manuscript is polished because it requires less editorial work by a publishing professional. Agents and editors are extremely busy, and it’s the writer’s job to get the manuscript in good shape. This is more challenging than it might seem because every writer has blind spots. Since you wrote it, you know what you’re trying to say. When someone else reads it, they bring fresh eyes to point out inconsistent or confusing parts. Here are some common pitfalls that can arise with critique groups. If any of these happens in your group, try to address the issue so you can get back on track. If that doesn’t work, it may be time to move on and find a new critique group. #1 The feedback you get is too vague. Saying “I don’t like it,” or, conversely, “I love it,” may give a candid opinion, but without specific details, this is only an opinion, not feedback. While frank, direct opinions are vital, even well-established writers need feedback. A writer has no idea what changes would make the story better from a general response which is emotional. A critique should give at least a starting place for a writer to improve the story, or else it’s not helpful. Draw members out by asking what and when triggered their response. #2 Members’ category and genre preferences don’t match. When writers join groups to hone their craft with the goal of becoming published authors, the guidance they get from the group should be targeted to the genre or type of book they’re working on. Not everyone in the group needs to be writing the same type of project, but all members should have read widely in that area outside the group and understand publishing norms for the specific genre or category of book a member writes or else their feedback may not be applicable. To find out, start by asking members to share what books they’re reading and what types of stories they love. #3 Nothing seems to be going right in your work. Every writer has strengths, and members of a group should like your writing and be able to give feedback about what is good about your story so you can keep doing it and add more. Some critique partners tear down a colleague’s work in a way that feels unproductive or even insulting. The feedback should be constructive and conveyed in a supportive way. If all you ever hear is that they don’t like your story and what’s wrong with it, it can feel like they’re tearing you down rather than supporting you as you improve your craft. Consider asking for a final round during which each member shares something positive about your work. #4 Your group gives only positive feedback. Everyone needs a cheer squad. But, while encouragement is important, when you hear “it’s good” or “you’re ready to share this manuscript” almost exclusively, you may be getting the ready to hit the query trenches too early. Soak in the positive vibes from this group that appreciates you, but see if you can draw them out by asking them to ask you questions about your story. #5 Your group has lost focus. Most groups involve a social component. After all, you’re friends or colleagues with common goals, and some personal sharing strengthens bonds in preparation for feedback. But, if you’re talking more about your kids, family, or health, the critique group may have crossed the line from being about writing to being a mostly social event. Try to reset with reminders and goals to get back on track. #6 You’re giving more than you’re receiving. If the work that you’re doing takes up so much time that you don’t have enough time to write, your critique group might be too big. Or, if you’re concentrating so much on your response to other writers that it’s cutting too significantly into your writing time, the balance gets tilted so that you’re giving more than you’re receiving. It’s important to be generous with critique partners, but it shouldn’t be another excuse for not getting your own work done. Get your work on the schedule to be reviewed by the group, and keep your own deadline even if it means slowing down a bit for others. #7 One member overwhelms others. Every group has its own dynamics. Sometimes, one member seems to steer the group more than others. This can be someone who has already been successful as a writer, someone with an overly outgoing personality, or sometimes just someone with strong opinions or who interrupts continually. For whatever reason, there needs to be space for each member to contribute and feel valued. Try thanking the one member for their opinion and asking others to chime in. #8 Your critique group contradicts professional advice. Joining a critique group is an early step in adding to a writer’s team. This team expands when a writer starts working with an agent, editor, and publisher. While the critique group may have given advice on querying, the critique group transitions back to just editorial advice and cheerleading. The advice from agents and editors takes into account both the specific writer’s career and the publishing industry in a way that a critique group can’t. They know the market in a way that critique groups don’t so it’s not productive for your critique group to contradict the guidance you’re getting from your professional team. If this starts happening, thank them for their support and reiterate that you need to follow the advice you’ve gotten from your professional team. Critique groups provide invaluable insight for writers working on their manuscripts and emotional support when navigating the publishing world. From brainstorming ideas to find a fresh story idea to reviewing a manuscript one last time before submitting, critique group members are the support that surrounds a writer through challenges and successes. You hold each other accountable, and you encourage the artistic vision each member has for their own work. For a group to work well, it should be greater than the sum of its parts. The different perspectives and experiences that each member brings with them to share with the group makes everyone’s writing better. by Jennie Dunham  Welcome to the Dunham Literary Book Chat where we read and discuss books that we did NOT represent. One of the benefits of working in publishing is getting to read great books and share and discuss them. HER RADIANT CURSE by Elizabeth Lim is represented by Gina Maccoby of Gina Maccoby Literary Agency and was published by Knopf Books For Young Readers in 2023.
Why did we pick this book? JD: I knew I wanted our next Book Chat pick to be either young adult or middle grade, and I’d been keeping my eyes and ears open for good suggestions. My agent friend Gina Maccoby talked about this book, and I knew it was just what I wanted so I mentioned it to Anjanette. Selfishly, I also wanted the book to be an enjoyable read. I found several aspects of HER RADIANT CURSE enticing. The first factor is a strong female protagonist, and she has been physically changed by a curse which impacts how others see her and how she sees herself. I was also excited to read a story with Asian elements in the world, culture, and mythos. What clinched it for me was Gina Maccoby’s description that SIX CRIMSON CRANES “turns the evil stepmother trope on its head,” and this book is the backstory to set that up. The setting in the story is inspired by Asian folklore. What elements of the world did you find the most compelling? Were there any folklore elements you were already familiar with? AB: This story contained a bit of an amalgamation of folkloric elements from Asia and I loved that it gave the world a familiar but still unique feel. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Elizabeth Lim had lived in Tokyo for a time because several things (like the demon characters) stood out to me as feeling very Japanese. At the same time, the jungle setting is more reminiscent of Southeast Asia, and the Chinese elements are prominent. There were some aspects of the folklore and overall plot that I think I would have understood better (specifically the dragon pearl) if I’d read the other books Lim has set in this universe, but I was still left with the feeling that if I spent more time with these characters I could easily internalize even the mythical concepts that were less familiar to me. The author captured the kinds of world-building elements that make stories feel universal. As a prequel novel to a series you’re unfamiliar with, did you find the story easy-to-follow? Were there any points where you felt like you were “missing” something that might have been clear to readers of the main series? JD: HER RADIANT CURSE is the first novel by Elizabeth Lim that I’ve read, and I had no trouble immersing myself in this story. The story doesn’t depend on information in her other books, and if it had, I’d feel pulled out of the story each time I tried to figure out what was going on. Once or twice I wondered if I missed an inside joke or connection to the other books the way an accomplished writer does as a reward for fans who’ve read the previous books in the series, but I think it’s harder for an author to put these in a prequel than a sequel since any connections to the series would have to refer to the future rather than the past. Even when I read a whole series, I sometimes find these references clunky in a sequel unless they are subtle; when I’m reading I don’t mind already knowing information, but I don’t want to be disrupted by a wink, wink, nod, nod moment meant to stick a point. Although most people read a series in order, in my opinion it’s important for each book to be readable as a stand alone title. A novel is a whole story and needs to feel complete. It’s possible that the best choice on a rack in an airport is book #4 in a series of 10, and if that’s the case, then book #4 needs to be as good a starting point as any to hook a reader on the whole series. This is also true if a reader picks up a series again after a long time because the reader may not remember all of the details in the previous books. There are multiple action/fight sequences in the novel—did you have a favorite? Did you find the author succeeded in describing the action elements in her fights? AB: The fight/actions scenes were a major strength of this story! I was swept up in the action every time Channi went to battle. My favorite was maybe an early scene where she is forced to fight a demon that she really has no issue with and manages to turn the situation to their advantage. It was all very easy to visualize, and set expectations for the kind of person Channi was and could become. Would you say the story was more “character-driven” or “plot-driven?” JD: As is generally true of fantasy, plot is very important in this story. This is amplified by the fact that it’s a prequel; the point of the story is to lay the groundwork of events that led characters to the point in their lives where the next story starts. That said, the characters in this story are strong and realistic, and the plot wouldn’t matter without them. The story includes lots of twists and turns, and in each case something specific to the characters makes the event feel believable because it is consistent with the characters involved. The story features multiple betrayals—did you find these twists surprising and engaging? Or were they more predictable? AB: We went into this book with the understanding that it was at least on some level a villain origin story. I am often wary of those because I feel some suspense is lost when we know the long term outcome. However, I think the author paced the relationship development in such a way that we hoped against hope that everything would somehow turn out for the best. While some of the twists were predictable, the betrayals still stung. They also set the stage for what comes in the rest of the series, which I am now eager to read. Much of the story centers around relationships both new and established. Which relationships did you find the most compelling? JD: The primary bond between the protagonist, Channi, and her sister, Vanna, fuels the entire narrative, and oddly enough I felt that this relationship could have been developed more. Because the sisters have opposite circumstances and expectations set upon them, their lives differ significantly, but this is Channi’s story, so Vanna is always in mind but not frequently nearby. Each one wants the other to be part of her world without taking into thoughtful consideration who the other is, and ultimately that is part of what leads to an unfortunate event in the ending. The relationship between Channi and her best friend Ukar, who happens to be a snake, is endearing and memorable. They have spats and call each other out, but they also support each other with unconditional love. Along the way Channi also meets Hokzuh, a dragon who is an enemy, then an ally, a friend, and possible love. One driving factor of the story is trying to guess what Channi and Hokzuh’s relationship will become by the end of the story, especially since the seed of betrayal has been planted. The ending makes a big impact because of the careful development of this relationship. Did reading this book inspire you to pick up the rest of the series? AB: Yes! I want to know more about this world and these people. I’ll be diving in asap! JD: Yes! I enjoyed the book enough to want to know more about these characters and their lives. I have some guesses about what will happen, and I want to know if I’m right. But, it’s equally fun to be surprised when I’m wrong.   This spring my first young adult novel How I Found the Strong turns 20 years old.
When my agent, Jennie Dunham, sold How I Found the Strong to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, she had to explain to me what exactly a young adult novel was: a story with a young protagonist who is at the center of the plot. Then, she immediately told me to forget what she had said. “Don’t think about categories because what the editors liked about the book was that you didn’t condescend to the reader,” she said. It was great advice. Just tell the story in the best way you know. Take the reader through the experience. How I Found the Strong is about Frank "Shanks" Russell, a ten-year old boy who watches his father and older brother join the Confederate Army in the spring of 1861. Shanks becomes the man of the house in Smith County, Mississippi. He helps his mother and their slave, Buck work their family farm until his father returns, disabled. In the summer of 1863, when local lynching parties threaten Buck, who can now read, Frank and his father help him escape North. I am not so sure if How I Found the Strong would get published today, in a time when even Republican leaders won’t acknowledge that the Civil War was, in fact, about slavery. There are also violent passages about the war, a reference to a lynching, “language,” and the fact that I’m a white middle-aged woman writing from the point of view of a white boy from Mississippi. Marketed to Middle School students aged 9-10 year old, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published How I Found the Strong in spring 2004. Penguin Random House acquired and published “Strong” as a mass market paperback with a new cover in spring 2006. All 144 pages fits into a back pocket. For $5.99, it’s cheap, too. It has sold over 25,000 copies. Teachers buy classroom sets. It still gets reviewed on Amazon and Goodreads. I still get requests to visit classrooms in person or by Zoom. I still get emails with questions from students. “Aren’t you scared when you write?” “Why would you write about the losers and not the winners?” Young readers send me pictures of scenes they’ve drawn from the book. They suggest other story lines. They want to know what happened to Shanks, Irene, Buck and Little Bit, as though these fictional people had gone on to live real lives. They really want to know what happens next. These students and their curiosity led me to write two sequels, When I Crossed No-Bob and Sources of Light, which are also still in print. It’s significant to have a 20 year-old book still in print and circulating in book stores, libraries, and classrooms. My husband calls “Strong” a little miracle. Young boys have especially taken to the book, which is gratifying because boys are typically on the low end of the reading scale. I wrote the book right around the time my son was learning to read. But over and over, I get that question about fear. Aren’t you scared to see the things that Shanks saw? And I can’t help but ask myself: why put these students through war? I have always been interested in how extraordinary historical events affect ordinary people. History, and certainly a good deal of southern history, can be upsetting. But, still, it’s crucial for young readers to know the specifics of history and why politicians and others get worked up about the past because it shapes the present. How I Found the Strong is based on papers I found in a shoebox in my grandmother’s closet. Her great uncle, Frank Russell talked out his life to someone before he died, and that someone typed it into a manuscript, called “The Life and Times of Frank Russell,” a rough sketch of Frank's life in Smith County, Mississippi before, during, and after the Civil War. The part about Frank Russell's life that interested me the most, was what he did not talk about. When all the "menfolk" went off to war, he was left behind with all the women and children. The real Frank did not talk about that time, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how that might make a young boy feel -- to be left behind during a war of such high stakes -- and that is how I came to shape Shanks. I also wrote all the Civil War stories and myths I grew up hearing. I was born in Newton, Mississippi, north of Soso, west of Chunky. When I was growing up, my grandfather talked about "the war" as though it had happened yesterday. He often took me to the Mount Zion Cemetery where there’s a marker honoring two boys in our family. Legend has it that when their father went off to war and they were supposed to stay behind, these two brothers aged fifteen and sixteen, joined the calvary and left home. "Yankees killed them at the Battle of Murphree's Borough in Tennessee," my grandfather used to tell me. I thought about those two boys so often, I felt they were my brothers and that they had died in my lifetime. I read letters from Civil War soldiers, speeches, and newspaper articles from the 1800’s. I made hard tack. I listened to Civil War-era music. I went to Civil War reenactments and spent time wading through the Strong River in Mississippi, the river Buck must cross to escape. I found out just how rough Smith County was, and how, after the war, even though they were supposed to lay down their arms, Confederate soldiers brought home their guns, and for the first time most every family was armed. They also had access to new illegal distilleries. These same Confederate soldiers organized the Ku Klux Klan during this time. So, all over the South, shell-shocked soldiers, many of them missing limbs, returned home angry, broke, often drunk, and armed. Hardly fodder for a children’s story, right? The year I was researching and writing about the Civil War, the United States declared war on Afghanistan, responding to the 9/11 attacks. I was teaching at the University of Evansville in Indiana and my students began enlisting. Most of them were 18. I couldn’t help but think of my character, Shanks. Reading, writing, and educating yourself are not for the faint of heart. Still, I have yet to meet a reader who was damaged by a book. As most every English teacher and librarian knows, books open up the known and sometimes not-so-known world to students. If anything, students don’t read enough, sometimes because they are so busy watching Tik Tok or playing computer games filled with noise, sex, and violence. How I Found the Strong has never been banned, but some parents questioned the violence and the language in the book. One Black mother in Owensboro, Kentucky protested the selection of How I Found the Strong as their One School, One Book selection at Burns Middle School days before I was scheduled to appear. The Literacy Committee, the school board, and the school’s principal had already approved the book in the summer of 2008. All 850 students in grades 6-8 had a copy. What was the problem? Not the violence, but the use of the n-word. I recall hesitating when I first typed the “n word” in How I Found the Strong, mainly because I was raised never to say or write the word. But the book is not about me, it’s about Shanks, and I needed him to hear that word so that he could respond and act. I also could not see writing a book about race and slavery in Mississippi without using the word. In my research, I read that by the 1800s, the n-word was pejorative. Burns Middle School presented a series of options for students, having guidance counselors available to assist students with their feelings. Students could read the book in the classroom with preferential seating. They could read the book in an alternative setting with adults present. They could read an approved alternate book. Or students could come together with their copies of How I Found the Strong, and together, black out the n-word with Sharpies. When I visited, the students were smart and engaged. At the end of my talk, one girl asked about how I researched the language of the times and I told her that I read diaries of soldiers and other primary sources. Later, I discovered that this girl’s mother was the mother who had protested the book. The debate was valuable for us all. In many ways, I feel I’ve grown up alongside Shanks. My job as a writer is to take the reader through the experience, to make the reader see, hear, feel, smell, taste and experience moments from the past. In How I Found the Strong, Shanks sees the awful violence and murder of a young Black boy which later gives him courage and strength to help others. Cause and effect is the basis of plot. “History is the witness of the times, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity,” Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote. And memory, like history, is not all good. So it is important that we be precise in our memory and that we not erase the bad parts. I don’t recall everything about writing the book, but I do remember writing Shank’s observation after the war ends, which still feels relevant today. “Our country fell apart, and for a time, so did we. But some of us are still left, and we are strong enough to put ourselves and our world back together.” Happy birthday, Shanks.  Congratulations on the paperback release of LIFE B: OVERCOMING DOUBLE DEPRESSION, available now!
It’s been a year since LIFE B was published. What were your expectations ahead of its release, and how accurate have you found them to be? It took me much longer to write LIFE B than I’d thought it would, largely for two reasons: First, I hadn’t figured out the right structure for the memoir when I sold on proposal, and second, I had a lot to learn about writing a memoir! I was humbled by this entire process, and when I say humbled, I don’t mean I had huge expectations to begin with, rather that I had to humble myself before my own story, to acknowledge my flaws and errors, in order to finish the manuscript. So, as to how accurate my pre-release expectations were: Not very accurate at all! That has turned out to be a great gift. The vulnerability of sharing your story is a big risk, but it can also be a gift to others. How do you feel that sharing your story has had an impact on readers? I know that sharing my story has been a gift to myself and to some family members, while painful for other family members. I believe that the process of understanding my own narrative has been crucial to my healing. However, the reactions and compassion I’ve received from readers help me understand how crucial our own stories are for others. I’ve heard from people who were my nursery-school classmates on to high-school and college classmates, military-spouse friends, graduate-school friends, writer friends from unpublished to world famous–and I only include the last category so everyone will know that mental illness affects people at all levels. How do you feel society has progressed in de-stigmatizing our understanding of mental illness? What have we done right, and what still needs improvement? Many times over the years I’ve had people in my life say some version of “You have a perfect life! How can you be depressed?” One of the things I share is that depression (and other mental illnesses) doesn’t care whether you’re rich or poor, young or old, physically fit or not. Depression has different aspects: Genealogical, hereditary, and contextual (stressors). Everyone’s experience has a different mix of those things, and we have a long way to go until we take that in as a society. Do you think publishers would have published your memoir 20 years ago? 50 years ago? What has changed in society to make publishers open to the topic when they weren't before? How has psychology become more mainstream? Fifty years ago, no one would have touched this memoir; 20 years ago, someone might have, but I believe I would have been asked to make it more upbeat, maybe even with a women's-magazine "service-y" angle. What has changed in society is that so many more people have had to become open about discussing mental illness because it's affecting people of all ages, just as we've become so much more open to discussing other types of illness and diseases. I'm a strong feminist, and I firmly believe that all the "waves" feminism we've seen have made people realize that hiding challenges and/or pretending they don't exist cannot work. Part of that, of course, has to do with becoming more open about psychology and psychiatry, sciences that unnerve people because we can't "see" the mind. What would it look like for us as society to take the next step? Can you suggest specific improvements? The first specific improvement I would love to see in our society would be for children to learn more about their emotions and feelings (the two things are not congruent) at early ages, in many different ways. Books, television shows, games, curricula, you name it. Emotional intelligence is real and should be fostered like intellect. Second, we need better understanding of mental-health difficulties in the workplace. Someone who has a bad day is not in the same position as someone who has a panic attack. A person with bipolar syndrome might need specific dates and times off for therapeutic and medical appointments, yet also be one of the best employees on a team. We have to become more flexible about where and how and when and to whom people are allowed to disclose their status, and we also need to protect their privacy as they wish. As for health insurance, I wouldn't even know where to begin. So many people I know, at very different socioeconomic levels, struggle with finding proper care for the mental illnesses, with filling prescriptions for lifesaving medications, and with paying for life-changing in-patient programs. We have to find new ways to help. What aspects of mental illness that LIFE B discusses have you found readers are the least familiar with? The importance of knowing your family mental-health history. Authors like Robert Kolker (Hidden Valley Road) and Roxanna Asgarian (We Were Once a Family) have shown us families with mental-health challenges running through them; I tried, in my own way, to show that with my writing about my grandmothers in particular. I wish I had more information going further back, because from a few remarks and bits of information I have, I know that there were likely other family members, with other forms of mental illness, in the past, too. In addition to being an author, you also maintain an active and massive social media presence. How do you feel social media is tied to your identity as a writer? Anyone who follows or has met me online knows that WYSIWYG! One of the reasons I have a large following is because I keep it very real, but also very civilized. I know younger/newer influencers on various platforms care much less about decorum than I do. Times have changed. I don’t think my manners age me, though. They’re just part of who I’ve always been. I think of places like Twitter and Instagram as big cocktail parties, and at cocktail parties, we all want to feel a little bit fabulous for a little slice of time. Why not keep some of your life behind a veil? May is Mental Health Awareness month. In honor of that, do you have any mental health organizations or resources you’d like to spotlight? The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) works directly with policy makers to improve policies and awareness, as well as providing regional and local support to families and caregivers. Arlington, Virginia-based Crisis Link is part of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and has been helping those in despair since 1969. The Wounded Warrior Project has a hashtag that says it all: #CombatStigma. We send our young people out to defend our country and sometimes forget that on return they aren’t okay. That must change.  Congrats on the release of A TRICK OF SPADES from Owl's Nest Publishers, which is available for purchase now!
What did your creative process for this book look like? A little unusual, honestly. In college, one of my professors encouraged me to apply for a research grant; basically, my university paid me to write the first draft. I spent three months working on the book like it was my job, forty hours a week of writing, editing, and reading comp titles and historical nonfiction. It was an incredible and probably unrepeatable experience. Of course, it still took another four years of work before Spades found a home at Owl’s Nest Publishers. What does your working space look like? What do you need in order to be productive? I have a lovely desk which I almost never use for writing! Instead, I tend to work curled up on the couch. The main thing I need in order to be productive is solitude–I don’t write well in public spaces or with other people around. I like some background noise, usually my writing playlist, and I do my best work in the evening. Talk to us about music. What are your favorite songs for writing? How do you switch it up? Do you have a theme song for yourself as a writing professional? I love listening to instrumental music when I write. Lots of Joe Hisaishi, Hans Zimmer, and John Powell. There’s some classical on there, too–I love Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. I don’t know if I have a theme song for myself as a writer, but I do typically have a theme song for each of my books. For Trick of Spades, it’s “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. How did you initially get into writing? I started writing plays at the age of ten–they were blatant knockoffs of my favorite movies, books, and shows, of course. My friends and I would put them on for our families. What do you hope will draw readers to your work? If readers enjoy suspense, complex worldbuilding, and family dynamics, they might like Spades. Most of all, I hope readers are drawn to the characters. Colm and Clíana are so fun to write, and while there are plenty of magical hijinks, the heart of the story is that sibling relationship. Outside of writing, what do you like to do? (personal life outside of writing) Of course, like all writers, I love reading. I also love cooking, baking, experimenting with new cocktails, and pretty much anything that involves food. As you might guess from what I write about, I really enjoy studying history–and on any given weekend, you can find me shopping at estate sales and vintage boutiques. What are your favorite moments of both suspense, happiness, or other in your upcoming book? There’s a moment early on in the book, right as the plot begins to thicken, where the main character, Colm, has a conversation with one of the antagonists. It’s not exactly an action-packed scene, but it was incredibly fun to write in terms of the character dynamics. Colm has to be careful about what he reveals, while also persuading the antagonist to reveal something. It shows a lot about both characters. What are your favorite jokes and quotes in your upcoming book? I think I actually didn’t realize what was funny in Spades until I read it aloud to my nieces–for example, there’s a moment in which one of the characters, when cornered, throws a lamp at the villain. In my mind, she threw the lamp simply because it was in arm’s reach, but my nieces found it hilarious. How will you celebrate the book release? Probably with cocktails! My mum and I love inventing new ones, and every time I have a release, we mix up a drink inspired by the story. Could you tell us about authors who have inspired you? Oh, there have been so many! J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin, Rumer Godden and John Steinbeck, Jane Austen and George Eliot–pretty much any author I read and love inspires me. What advice do you have for aspiring authors? Just keep at it. And read a lot. Read a lot of different things. You can learn from any book you pick up, even if it isn’t in your genre, even if you don’t love it. Find other writers, and learn how to accept critique–I know it’s painful, but it’s the best way to improve.  Welcome to a new Book Chat on the Dunham Literary Blog! Jennie and Anjanette use these posts to share our thoughts from the industry insider perspective on books we read. Our most recent read is FINDING YOUR WRITER'S VOICE: A GUIDE TO CREATIVE FICTION by Thaisa Frank and Dororthy Wall. Summary from the publisher:
Our Thoughts:According to Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall in FINDING YOUR WRITER’S VOICE: A Guide to Creative Fiction, voice “has to do with sound, quite apart from meaning.” And like a musician learning a new instrument, a writer must focus on hearing and identifying their unique voice, and then exploring what it can do.
Throughout the text, the authors encourage readers to try exercises that are designed to unlock the elements of their writing voice that contribute to accessible, engaging, and original prose in fiction. This is something that is difficult to quantify and takes years of practice, but is often cited by agents and editors as what makes or breaks a manuscript. The book is broken into four sections:
VOICE
Jennie: Yes. To me voice is the part of communicating that comes from the unconscious. It's hard for a writer to describe or even to identify their own voice. It becomes noticeable when compared to someone else's voice. People from an area sound similar, but each person is unique, so voice is a sort of fingerprint of communication. When someone's voice is affected, they're taking on qualities of someone else's voice. They're purposefully trying to sound like someone with a different identity.
Anjanette: We all have authors that we love and will read no matter what subject matter they are tackling. There's "something about their writing" that we gravitate to. While it's certainly true that we may be drawn to skill, we're also resonating with the author themselves - their "voice." That voice shines through whether they are writing fiction or non-fiction, and no matter which character's head they are in. They are throwing themselves like a ventriloquist, but it's still them. I think it's important that authors lean into that part of their writing voice that is organic and unique to them, and even though it may mature over time, I think readers will be able to recognize a consistent voice versus the voice of an author who it still trying on the voices of other writers. Jennie: It’s important for voice to be consistent in a single book. The exception to this is that voice can change over the course of the story if that is part of the artistry, but that’s an ambitious undertaking. Voice doesn’t have to be the same from book to book unless the books belong to a series. There are advantages to a consistent voice – having a distinct and recognizable voice across books helps build an author’s brand. STORY
Anjanette: I love that the authors of this book point out that stories came long before “craft.” We can analyze stories after the fact of writing them and identify elements like character and plot, but the writing comes first. And writing (a lot) is also the prerequisite task we have to commit to before we can manipulate individual elements of story like pacing. Think about storytellers in real life – an elder in a rocking chair or campfire story-sharer vs. an excited middle schooler or fired-up activist - some people have a natural pace. And sometimes pace can be paired with voice to create urgency or an atmosphere of contemplation. A character's "voice" can tell us about their personality and motives just like it tells us about the author in real life.
Jennie: I enjoy stories which balance character and plot. While meeting a new character on the page is interesting, the character is most engaging and memorable when facing challenges and conflicts. What a character says with a gut reaction at the height of conflict reveals voice just as internal thoughts in reflective moments reveal voice in another way. REVISION
Anjanette: Read out loud. We sometimes put on slightly different voices when we are, say, on the phone with the bank, or diffusing a tense situation. The book uses the example of a psychotherapist or parent of a teenager using the “What I hear you saying is…” line. Those voices can feel out of place in fiction and can leave readers feeling like the story is didactic or stilted. Reading aloud can help you spot them. If the places that just aren’t meshing are in the narration, can you modify them into into dialogue? Is it really a character trying to speak, and it feels like an imposter voice coming from you (the narrator)?
Jennie: There’s no single right answer to this question, and the number of revisions an author needs to make varies by project and author. An author may need to revise multiple times, but it’s important to strike a good balance so that the scenes aren’t overworked which can flatten voice. Perhaps a more important issue is who will read and provide feedback because it’s wise to wait until after receiving feedback from multiple sources before beginning to revise. Another question is how many rounds of readers giving feedback which lead to revisions are helpful. It’s wise to get a sensitivity reader regarding characters whose identity don’t match the author’s identity.
Jennie: Art is subjective. What is important or meaningful to one person might not resonate with someone else. When I disagree with an author about something in a manuscript, I evaluate the issue with regard to the artistic integrity of the whole story. Is my suggestion truly crucial to the success of the story, or is it just an opinion? Would 99% of acquiring editors agree with me? If the story holds its artistic integrity without my suggested change, then it’s just opinion which means an editor might agree with the author. Anjanette: Agents can be wrong! And much of high-level editing is subjective. But we read a LOT, so please take our thoughts into consideration when we share them. We want your book to find a home with a publisher so that it can go out into the world and everyone can get paid! We also want you to be happy with the final product, so don't hesitate to speak up and disagree after you've mulled it over! Again, we can be wrong! KEEPING VOICE ALIVE
Jennie: The first question to ask is: is one agent or editor having this reaction, or, is there a trend to the responses I’m getting from agents and editors? One response is an opinion, but several responses that say the same thing indicate a wider opinion in the market. Beyond that, it’s worth noting that voice shifts over time as an author adds life experiences and grows, and it would be surprising if this didn’t show up on the page. Take a step back and assess if the tone has shifted. If it has, the tone may not align with voice in the story well.
Anjanette: Because your voice is an extension of who you are as a person, it can pay to be a little bit vulnerable and let your readers see the real you in a public way. Social media, interviews, essays, and public speaking engagements can foster a connection with your audience that actually enhances their reading experience. They are smart enough to synthesize what they've learned about you and what they are reading from you on the page in a way that won't distract them but will give them deeper context for what you are saying between the lines. This is where an author's VOICE and BRAND intersect, and embracing the connection can be very fulfilling for an author. |
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