Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

Classroom Connections: Unscripted by Nicole Kronzer

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age range: 14 and up
genre: contemporary fiction
themes / topics: theater, improv, gender equality
Nicole Kronzer’s website

A truly special book, written at exactly the right time.
— Printz Award winner Nina LaCour

Strong character development and exploration of timely topics make this novel shine…
— Kirkus

Kronzer deftly combines what it means to be a female in comedy with a story of contemporary resonance that evokes the #MeToo movement.
— Booklist

This is a well written story that provides insight into the development of an abusive, narcissistic relationship and the power of standing up for yourself.
–– School Library Connection

Please tell us about your book.

Unscripted is about seventeen-year-old Zelda Bailey-Cho, a girl with her future all planned out: improv camp, then Second City, and finally Saturday Night Live. She’s thrilled when she lands a spot on the coveted varsity team at a prestigious improv camp, which means she’ll get to perform for professional scouts—including her hero, Nina Knightley. But even though she’s hardworking and talented, Zelda’s also the only girl on Varsity, so she’s the target for humiliation from her teammates. And her 20-year-old coach, Ben, is cruel to her at practice and way too nice to her when they’re alone. Zelda wants to fight back, but is sacrificing her best shot at her dream too heavy a price to pay? 

What inspired you to write this story? 

I have been performing and/or teaching improv for more than twenty years. I have also been teaching high school English for fourteen. This story is a combination of my love for improv and my love for teenagers, and for wanting both to be great. 

Could you share a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching? 

Pretty late in the writing process, my editor and I decided it would be fun if Zelda referred to a specific set of improv rules throughout the book. I learned that modern improv popped up in several places in England and the U.S. kind of at the same time, so there’s no one set of rules. (Calculus did this too—in separate locations on opposite sides of the globe! But that’s just a fun fact—there’s no calculus in my book. 😉 ) Each improv company has their own rules, though there are some that are very similar. So I invented a fictional improv book called The Scene Must Win and culled all my favorite improv guidelines into one place. 

Also, I have a character, Hanna, who has Oculocutaneous Albinism, Type 1. A former student of mine also has this condition, so I asked him to read the book and give me his opinion of her portrayal in particular. He said, “Hanna’s great, Kronzer, but you’re always having her make eye contact with people across stage. People with albinism have crap eye sight. I can’t ever make eye contact from far away.” It taught me that research is great, but it can’t replace experience. I’m really thankful to this student (and all my beta readers) for helping me paint a more accurate picture of people whose lives are different than mine. 

What are some special challenges associated with writing improv scenes? 

This was weirdly hard. The whole point of improv is that it’s off the top of performers’ heads—no planning involved. At first, I thought I wouldn’t write any improv scenes. Improv is never as funny when it’s filmed, for instance, when compared to the magic of actually being there in the room. I figured written improv scenes were just a giant headache waiting to happen. 

Swiftly, however, I realized if I was going to write a book about improv, I had to show improv scenes. When I started writing them, it was a challenge to make something sound smart and funny, but not too smart and funny. We have to believe Zelda and her teammates and friends are capable of coming up with these characters and lines off the top of their heads, but they also have to be funny enough to survive being read. I hope I managed the right balance!

What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?

As a teacher myself, my own students were never far from my mind. There’s definitely plenty of fun English teacher fodder like multiple characters who grow and change, symbolism, figurative language, and an exciting plot. 

But there’s also important interpersonal lessons about what an emotionally abusive relationship looks like and what good relationships look like. There’s a diverse cast of characters. We see what it looks like to be an ally. I heard Ally Condie speak once, and she said when she wrote her first book, she wrote a book she thought her students would like. I tried to do that, too. But I also kept thinking about writing the kind of book my students needed. 

My edits have arrived!

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Ms. Barney never disappoints with comments that crack me up or show what I thought I’ve been saying is entirely unclear to the reader. I’m not yet sure how to make the changes this book needs, but years into this project, I’m still excited to explore. 

Carter Higgins sums up the mystery and discovery of the writing life in one perfect sentence: “The slow burn of bookmaking is such a creative joy.”

Classroom Connections: The Spirit of Cattail County by Victoria Piontek

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age range: 8-12
genre : magical realism
Victoria Piontek’s website
Spirit of Cattail County teacher’s discussion guide

With gorgeous prose, an eerie historical undercurrent, and a lush, larger-than-life Florida backdrop, Piontek not only delivers a taut exploration of fractured small-town dynamics, but an entrancing, compulsively readable mystery. Sensitive readers with a yen for all things supernatural will hungrily sleuth their way through this atmospheric debut.
–Booklist

A moving quest for comfort, understanding, and acceptance set in the marshes of Florida. Sparrow is not like other children, she has the gift, or curse, of seeing spirits. After her mother passes from illness, Sparrow asks her best friend—a ghost no one else can see—to send a message to her mom. Sparrow is in need of friends, family, and everything else she seems to lack. Her challenges throughout the book will resonate with pre-teens and those who have ever lost a loved one or felt they were completely alone. A melancholy, but ultimately uplifting, story about overcoming sorrow and finding one’s place in the world. Hand this to readers who crave sad stories.
–School Library Journal

Wrapped in prose as mysterious and lovely as a southern breeze lies a story about loss that haunts and the ghosts that help us heal. This story is a treasure.
— Natalie Lloyd, New York Times bestselling author of A Snicker of Magic

Please tell us about your book.

The Spirit of Cattail County is about a girl named Sparrow who doesn’t have many friends. Some kids believe her house near the swamp is haunted. Others think there’s something “unusual” about her.

But Sparrow’s not lonely — she has a best friend who’s always with her. He sits with Sparrow on her porch swing. He makes her smile by playing pranks in church. Yet Sparrow is the only one who can see him . . . because the Boy is a ghost.

So when her mama passes away, Sparrow doesn’t give up hope. After all, if the Boy can linger after death, then surely Mama can return as well.  

But the Boy has a secret of his own, one that Sparrow will need to uncover before the ghost will lead her to Mama. To solve the mystery, Sparrow joins forces with some unlikely allies — Maeve and Johnny, siblings from a family of town outcasts –and Elena, a visiting child fortune-teller.

What inspired you to write this story?

A brief moment with my daughter and a hearing a lot of ghost stories growing up inspired The Spirit of Cattail County. 

One day, when my daughter was about four, we were taking a walk through a field in rural Virginia. The grass was knee high, and we couldn’t see any other people. We were deep in the middle of the field when she tugged at my shirt and pointed into the distance. She said, “Mommy do you see that boy over there.” I looked in the direction she indicated, and I didn’t see what she saw. 

Because I was raised on superstition and ghost stories, the first fleeting thought that ran through my mind wasn’t she’s seen a rabbit or a deer. It was, she’s seen a ghost. 

It was from that briefest of thoughts that I started thinking what if a girl did see a ghost and what if that ghost was not scary, but her best friend? At that moment, Sparrow sprang to life in my mind. I could see her and hear her telling me her story. 

That night, I went home and started writing. 

Could you share a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching? 

Just a warning, this answer contains spoilers! 

While writing my book, I did research on the Orphan Train Movement, a program that sent orphaned and homeless children from crowded cities to rural parts of the Midwest. I was surprised to learn that this effort also sent children to other parts of the United States, including Florida. I also discovered that this controversial program is considered the beginning of America’s foster care system. 

What are some of the special challenges associated with writing a middle grade story about grief? 

In middle grade fiction, sad topics are explored with hope and empathy, and that’s one of my favorite things about middle grade books. However, getting the balance just right is really hard! I wanted readers to feel Sparrow’s grief, but also her strength. Often it took a lot of revision to get it just right.  

What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?

The town in The Spirit of Cattail County is steeped with history. Many of the characters are historians or budding historians, and even though it is a made-up town, Sparrow relies on historical research to solve the mystery of the Boy. To find answers to her questions, she consults primary resources in the town’s archives. This fictional research can be a launch pad for talking about primary versus secondary sources and how historical accounts, when viewed through only one lens, can be misleading.

One theme of the book is acceptance. At the beginning of the book, everyone has misconceptions about each other. By the end, there is more understanding, which can be a conversation starter for a discussion about empathy. This is also a book about the need to find one’s place in the world, something we all crave in varying degrees, and can be a touchstone for awareness and compassion. 

What are you working on next?

My upcoming novel, Better with Butter, (Scholastic Press, Summer 2021), is about a girl with anxiety disorder who finds an unlikely friend — an emotional support animal — in the form of an adorable fainting goat.

Twelve-year-old Marvel is afraid of absolutely everything — amusement park rides, food poisoning, earthquakes, and that big island of plastic floating through the ocean. She also obsesses about smaller worries like making friends, getting called on by the teacher, and walking home alone.

Her parents and the school therapist call her worries an anxiety disorder, but Marvel calls them armor. If something can happen, it will. She needs to be prepared.

But when Marvel stumbles on a group of older kids teasing a baby goat that has mysteriously shown up on the soccer field, she momentarily forgets to be afraid and rescues the frightened animal.

Only Butter isn’t any old goat. She’s a fainting goat. When Butter feels panic, she freezes up and falls over. Marvel knows exactly how Butter feels and precisely what Butter needs — her.

Soon, Butter and Marvel are going everywhere together, and Butter thrives under Marvel’s support. Butter also helps Marvel. Everything is easier for her with Butter by her side. But just when Marvel starts to imagine a life in which she can manage her anxiety, instead of letting it control her, Butter’s owner shows up to claim her. Will Marvel find a way to keep her friend? Or will she revert back to the anxious, lonely person she used to be? 

Quick Lit: What I’ve Been Reading Lately

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The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

I absolutely adored this glorious book. It’s the kind of writing that makes me feel ALIVE. Very reminiscent of another favorite — Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety. The premise doesn’t sound overly exciting: two couples who meet in the sixties through the pastorate and their evolving friendship over the years. But, oh, I loved it. I can’t recommend it enough.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

The Princess Bride came out when I was in eighth grade. I remember seeing it in the dollar theater and then going back the next day to see it again, it was so incredibly fun and wonderful and entirely unlike any movie I’d ever watched before. If you are a fan, this book is a delight! Cary Elwes (my sweet Wesley) walks us through the making of the movie. I was fascinated by the training that went into the fencing scene, the artistic competition and insecurities, the camaraderie on set, Rob Reiner’s deft hand at directing his actors (lots of parallels between acting / writing and directing / editing), and all the behind-the-scenes goodies that made me want to watch the movie again. Throughout there are insights by the rest of the cast and crew (minus Andre the Giant, who has sadly passed away), which I’ve heard are especially fun in the audio version.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This book came out a month after May B., and I’ve been meaning to read it ever since! Part fairy tale, part survival story, all lush and nature-y and beautiful.

“Jack wasn’t one to believe in fairy-tale maidens made of snow. Yet Faina was extraordinary. Vast mountain ranges and unending wilderness, sky and ice. You couldn’t hold her too close or know her mind. Perhaps it was so with all children. Certainly he and Mabel hadn’t formed into the molds their parents had set for them.”

The Mortification of Fovea Munson by Mary Winn Heider

I intended to read this last spring (but didn’t), and absolutely had to get to it before my writing retreat (so I could pass it on to the next reader). Perfect for witty middle graders. Fovea discovers she won’t, in fact, be going to summer camp but will be working in her parents’ cadaver lab. I’ll let her tell you a bit of her story (so you can experience the great voice and humor):

“I mean, sure, probably my parents weren’t going to make me dig up graves and drag body parts home for their creepy experiments. But these were the facts: my cadaver-appreciating parents were basically nerdy, married versions of Dr. Frankenstein. And now I was going to be helping them. For four months, everybody at school had been calling me Igor, and for four months I’d been counting on a clean-slate summer, a shake-it-off summer, a start-eighth-grade-with-no-obvious-baggage summer, and no way could I shake off the rumor that I was Dr. Frankenstein’s body-slinging assistant Igor if I WAS ACTIVELY BEING AN IGOR.”

Full of the weird and the gross and the ridiculously fun — including a couple of (bodiless) talking heads.

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Rudolfo Anaya was New Mexico’s patron saint of books and Albuquerque’s greatest literary treasure. He passed away earlier this year, making his books eligible for my classics book club (the only requirement being the authors can no longer be living. This might sound tasteless, but it isn’t meant to be!)

Somehow, I made it through college without reading his most famous book, Ultima, and I’m glad I’ve finally read it. (As a fun aside, his goddaughter graduated with me from UNM’s college of education.)

Bless Me, Ultima takes place in on the eastern New Mexico llano (high, grassy plains) during World War II. It centers on a young boy named Antonio who is finding his place in the world. Will he be a priest, as his mother hopes, or a man of the llano, like his father? Throughout, the mysterious curandera Ultima almost haunts the story (you hear more of her than you see her on the page). This read like a forerunner to the magical realism movement in Latinx literature.

Writing Links

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A comprehensive list to help you navigate a book deal.
Questions to Ask Your Publisher Before You Sign the Contract :: Jane Friedman

“[The climax is] when the most exciting moment happens, it’s the apex of tension. But there’s another key way I’d think about it that will help you unlock the best climax possible: It’s the moment your protagonist either does or doesn’t get what they want.”
The climax should resolve your character’s desires :: Nathan Bransford

“Dumping in swaths of a character’s backstory can stall momentum and yank readers out of the story. Instead, look for ways to weave this essential context in amid the forward motion of the scene.”
How to Weave in Backstory Without Stalling out Your Story :: Writer Unboxed

“If you are having trouble getting the words down, I encourage you to take a look at your schedule and routines. Are you simply lacking motivation? Will a deadline or bribe help you get your butt in the chair? Or is something deeper and more complex siphoning energy from your craft? Are your priorities in the right place? If not, what changes can you make that will bring you better balance?”
How Setting Deadlines and Constantly Reevaluating Priorities Can Keep You Motivated :: Erin Bowman

“But the thing is, good writing means not holding back. It means pushing your characters to the extreme — not just that one time for that one big moment, but at every chance you reasonably can.”
Never Save the Best for Last When it Comes to Writing by Beth Revis :: Medium

From an MFA syllabus at the University of Florida.
Brave wild failure is applauded :: Austin Kleon

 

The Sisters of Straygarden Place — an Interview with Author Hayley Chewins

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Hayley Chewins is an author and writing coach. 

She grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, in a house so full of books that she learnt to read by accident. She’s fond of telling people that she writes books about magical girls with secrets (even if that’s not an actual genre). Her books are literary fantasy, surreal fairy tales, or weird magic. (Or: all of the above.)

Her debut, The Turnaway Girls, was a Kirkus Best Book of 2018 and made the American Library Association’s Amelia Bloomer List of Best Feminist Books for Young Readers. Her second book, The Sisters of Straygarden Place, is forthcoming from Candlewick Press on September 15th, 2020, and has already been called “superb, spooky, and unforgettable” in a recent starred review.

Hayley lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her soulmate/husband/fellow coffee addict, Liale, and their toy poodle, Darfer.

She is represented by Patricia Nelson at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Please tell us about your book.

The Sisters of Straygarden Place is a dark middle grade fantasy about three sisters—Mayhap, Winnow, and Pavonine—who live alone, abandoned by their parents, in a magical mansion surrounded by silver grass. When the eldest sister, Winnow, falls ill and starts to turn silver, Mayhap and Pavonine must unravel the mystery of their parents’ disappearance before they lose her forever.

Your writing is incredibly atmospheric. I once read you pick three elements (I think that was the term you used!) for each of your books. Can you explain a bit about this part of your writing process? What were the elements you picked for Straygarden Place?

Thank you! The more I talk about my writing process, the more I realize how disorganized I am. I don’t really have a system for anything. Having said that, you’re right that I do like to have a sense of the texture of a book before I start writing, and recently I noticed that I’ll circle back to a handful of textures. The Turnaway Girls was stone, sea salt, and gold. The Sisters of Straygarden Place was velvet, marble, and poodle fluff (because the story features magical, poodle-like creatures called droomhunds). But it’s not that I consciously decide this beforehand. It’s more that I discover it as I go (draft after draft) and I aim for it, in a general sense, as I revise. Like I said, I’m not very organized!

Sisterhood is a key component of your book. Can you talk about its importance to the story — and in your own life? (Your dedication made me curious.)

Of course! I’m fascinated by sisterhood, and I’m definitely exploring the complexities of sister-relationships in this book. I have three sisters. I’m the second eldest, so, in many ways, my experience has been Mayhap’s experience—navigating the ground between the eldest sibling and the younger ones. And I did have—and continue to have—an extremely complicated relationship with my older sister. I think it’s really normal in sister-relationships to have a big mix of love and jealousy and hatred—deep admiration and closeness combined with profound frustration and isolation—and I wanted to write about that.

I think sometimes we idealize sisterhood, but, just like all relationships, sister-relationships can be messy! And, I guess, increasingly, I’m interested in writing about characters—in particular, young girls—who don’t always make the right choices, who aren’t always kind or helpful, and who sometimes hurt others as a result of their own pain. My hope is that each sister in Straygarden is complex—developed enough that you understand her, even if you might not agree with her actions. I don’t have answers about any of this—my goal is more to ask questions, to explore sisterhood and family.

Straygarden Place reminded me of Coraline with a dash of Diana Wynne Jones. What stories and authors would you say influence your work?

Oh, wow! That’s so lovely to hear. Probably the most direct influences for The Sisters of Straygarden Place were Claire Legrand, Laini Taylor, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Karen Foxlee. And then, in terms of films, Crimson Peak (2015) and Little Women (1994).

Your book deals with love and loneliness and loss. What do you hope young readers might take from Mayhap’s story?

I don’t have any particular lesson or idea that I hope readers will take from my book, but I hope it’s a story that inspires conversations around what it means to love and forgive others and ourselves. So much of how we treat others is wrapped up in how we treat ourselves. I hope young readers feel comforted and transported by the story, and I hope it makes them think about their own relationships with others. I’m much more interested in evocation than education. I prize questions over answers.

Anything you want to talk about that I missed? Please add it in!

You didn’t ask me about music, which is always a big part of my process when I’m writing. I often listen to the same song on repeat. While writing The Sisters of Straygarden Place, I listened to “Mother” by Tori Amos obsessively, as well as Rupert Gregson-Williams’s score for Season One of The Crown. My favorite track was “The Letter” and I listened to it over and over and over!

Begin exactly where you are: an editorial letter to myself

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Boudreaux feels a strong connection to Miraculous.

Today I’m pulling back the curtain on where I am at this stage with my novel, Miraculous. The book has been pushed back to spring 2022, which means I haven’t yet gotten my first editorial letter. In preparation for its arrival, I read through my manuscript one last time and wrote a letter to myself. This is a technique I learned from editor Cheryl Klein (whose book, The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults, I can’t recommend highly enough). She calls it a “letter to a sympathetic reader” and encourages her authors to write one to themselves. The primary function of the letter is to teach a writer about her own work.

This letter is my gentle reminder to be kind toward my writing and my efforts so far.

Dear Me:

Congratulations! You’ve really come a long way! That’s the first thing I want you to know. I want you to see that as the accomplishment it is. There is some solid stuff here. It’s the strongest first novel draft you’ve ever turned in (…even if you’ve sent updates to the originally turned in version twice!).

This letter doesn’t have any major editorial work (I’ll leave that to Stacey to figure out). But here are some thoughts as I read:

word choice and rhythm

I know you want the words to count and to have power and maybe even some rhythm like some other novelists you’ve read. But right now, in some sections the rhythm is relentless and distracting. (Perhaps this is the downside of writing poetry and picture books?) I’m not sure how to break it yet, but it does need to be shaken up and changed.

chapters and scenes

Some chapters aren’t yet pulling their weight. Make sure they are doing double duty. Even better — always aim for every scene, etc to do more than the obvious work it’s doing.

“Five Pennies”. “The Second Show”. You need to move closer into the moment and bolster it with secondary things. For example, in “Five Pennies”, what else can be going on beyond the scene in the grove? What might further deepen it, or parallel it, or contrast it to Jack’s world? “The Second Show” currently has given equal weight to Jack’s two interactions with the crowd, when the second interaction is the key one. The melodrama needs to be toned down (How? Who knows right now? Why is melodrama your natural go to??), and the second interaction could, perhaps, in real time, contrast what he’s realizing about the doctor. Of course, this can’t come across as herky-jerky but smooth and logical and natural. Easy, right?

Also, you’re not deep enough yet or as present as you need to be. Think of the books where you are THERE in the moment with the character. Find that place and stay there. Easier said than done, but for now be aware of when and where you can move closer in.

sentence length

I know your critique group has encouraged you to vary and shorten sentence lengths and to remember natural dialogue doesn’t always happen in full sentences. The problem is you’ve chopped up some sentences in ways that draw attention to themselves rather than effectively communicating what’s going on. Yes, you write for children, and always using overlong sentences isn’t best. But! Think of the great middle grades you’ve read with lavish sentences that trust the reader will follow along. Think of Ursula Le Guin’s advice that each sentence should lead to the next, that as a novelist and a lover of words you can delve in and command the flow. Aim to work as a master craftswoman! Let the cutting and tightening come later!

layer and layer

Small details that aren’t there at present. Miss Moore finishing Mrs. Wells’s hat, for instance, in a later chapter when we see her again. What else? Look for places to make connections.

memory, stories, belief

Ideas the manuscript plays with (to keep in mind when story weaving): our memories inform how we see the world and ourselves, as do the stories we tell ourselves and others. These things inform our beliefs, whether we realize it or not. And memories — if they’re spoken aloud — can shed light on what’s true and what’s not. (Nana’s story of the fire; Silas’s quest to right the past.) We’ve got the statue named Memory to anchor this physically for Jack and Cora (and, hopefully, for the reader). What else? Taking the words of a child seriously. The things we can change vs. the things we can’t (and learning how to live in the middle). Promises made / promises broken / the burden of making a promise. Secrets and the burden of keeping them.

Remember, once your real letter comes, that you’ll probably feel unsure about how to proceed. Keep in mind “The Singing Bowl” — “begin the song exactly where you are.” You don’t have to have it figured out. You just have to start.

Here’s to plowing to the end of the next row.

Sincerely,

Me

Straight from the Source: Ellen Klages on Writing Historical Fiction

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Ellen Klages  is the author of three acclaimed MG historical novels: The Green Glass Sea, which won the Scott O’Dell Award and the New Mexico Book Award;  White Sands, Red Menace, which won the California and New Mexico Book awards; and Out of Left Field, which won the 2019 Children’s History Book Prize and the 2019 Ohioana Book Award. Her adult novel, a historical fantasy, Passing Strange, won the World Fantasy and British Fantasy awards in 2018. Her short fiction has been translated into a dozen languages and been nominated for or won multiple Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic, and World Fantasy awards. Ellen lives in San Francisco, in a small house full of strange and wondrous things.

How do you conduct your research? 

I love research. It’s like a treasure hunt, looking for clues about what happened in the past, following leads and links, and never quite knowing what I’m going to find. I usually start online, with some simple Google and Wikipedia searches, to get a few facts — dates and names and places — settled firmly in place. Then I go looking for details to expand the story and make the characters and places and timelines as accurate and three-dimensional as possible.

I read a lot of books. I buy old magazines and other “period” pieces on eBay, to get a feeling of what that time in the past was like. What did people wear? What was in the news? What foods are advertised? I also travel to the places I’m writing about — if I can — and take lots of pictures with my phone, and lots (and lots and lots) of notes. Not just about what things look like, but using all five of my senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. When I’m back home again, those notes remind me of what it was like to be in that place and help me make it come alive for my readers.

That process is very similar for all of my historical novels. For each, I’ve ended up with several boxes of material and three or four notebooks crammed with information. Only about five percent of that makes it into the actual book, by the way.

How long do you typically research before beginning to draft?

I research for as long as I possibly can! I love research, and I hate drafts. Eventually, deadlines loom, and I need to start putting words onto paper. Then for the next six months, it’s two simultaneous streams, researching and drafting, as I discover where the holes are in my knowledge, and what other information I need to fill my characters lives and move the plot forward.

About my first drafts: I write longhand. Bold ink, wide-lined paper. I cannot create on a keyboard. I scribble images, crumple pages, toss them across the room. I make some pictograms, cross them out, draw big loopy lines that tether sentences to marginal notes as if they were zeppelins. Eventually, I get a keeper, a few words, a paragraph that is strong enough to anchor other prose. Another sentence crawls out of the ooze and onto dry land, grows legs, begins to explore new territory, and I follow.

I struggle until I watch my hand write that one sentence that makes the hair stand up on my arms, that makes my eyes sting, that lets me know that I’ve found a bit of truth that will be the story’s center. Then the words finally begin to come.

What typically comes first for you: a character? An era? A story idea? How do you proceed from there?

I have a confession:  I don’t like writing.

But I love having written.

At the beginning of a book, I have only the glimmer of an idea, and it’s different each time — a line of dialogue, a character, a setting, a time period. I think about it. It settles in my brain, nestles—or nettles—like a tickle or an itch. It often sits like that for a very long time.

My process is messy and non-linear, full of false starts, fidgets, and errands that I suddenly need to run now; it is a battle to get something—anything—down on paper. I doodle in sketchbooks: bits of ideas, fragments of sentences, character names, single lines of dialogue with no context. I play on the web as if Google was a pinball machine, caroming and bouncing from link to link to tangent, making notes about odd factoids that catch my eye.

Writers are magpies. Ooh! Shiny! Some of those shinies are distractions, but others are just the right size or shape for me to add to the jumble of flotsam and fragments that I am slowly building into a mental nest where I will—I hope—hatch a story. I gather scraps until that amazing moment when a few of them begin to coalesce into a pattern.

What’s your favorite thing about writing historical fiction?

So many people think that history is just a list of facts and dates to memorize; dry, irrelevant, and unconnected to their lives. But the past isn’t some far-off, mythical place. History is a long, winding river of people’s lives: what they ate, what they wore, how they talked, what they believed, what was happening around them and to them.

For me, writing historical fiction is like having a time machine. When I visit the past, I don’t want to go as a tourist, just getting the highlights. I want the backstage tour. I want to look around corners and peer into windows and get to know the people of the neighborhood. I want to be there as events unfold, seeing them through the eyes of a character for whom this time is not “history” — it’s just everyday life.

Historical fiction tells the stories of ordinary people living in extraordinary times, and extraordinary people living in ordinary times.

In skilled hands, the factual history makes the character’s story feel real, and being immersed in that story makes history come alive for the reader, sometimes in surprising ways. Human emotions are timeless; relationships, social status, age- and gender-appropriate roles and issues are fluid and ever-changing.

Why is historical fiction important?

Good historical fiction opens a dialogue between the past and the present. The attitudes of the past, from the more enlightened perspective of a present-day reader, may seem wrong-headed, even ugly; many social norms were not questioned, not then. There are no warning labels on history. People smoked and didn’t know it was bad for them. Women and minorities were treated like second-class citizens and denied fundamental rights. 

Unfortunately, that same racism, sexism, abuse of power are all part of today’s headlines. I think it’s important for us all to be aware that the past was often less than savory, that what we learned about in school was not necessarily what actually happened, although some would like to pretend it was. I find it fascinating to discover how things have changed in the last 30 or 40 or 50 years — and how much they haven’t.

What’s one of the most interesting things you’ve learned while researching?

One of the things I love about research is that in the course of looking for one bit of information, I frequently stumble onto another, even more interesting subject, one of those hidden parts of history that no one seems to know about. What’s more intriguing than a long-lost secret, right?

My second novel takes place in 1946 and 1947. When I started reading about the period, I knew almost nothing about it. The 1940s appears to be the only five-year decade in American history. The war ends, and boom — now it’s the Fifties. At least according to most history books.

As I started reading, I realized that it was not only brand-new territory for historical fiction, it was a really fascinating time. World War Two was over, and everything had changed. Everyone was still reeling and, although they weren’t aware of it, the world was about to change again, and people were choosing sides. The future was looming, just beyond the horizon, and no one knew if it’d be the end of the world or the beginning of a brave new one.

I once described that book as a history of the future, because that’s what struck me most as I did my research. The past was over, and magazines, books, ads were all looking ahead. Rockets to the moon! Ovens that would cook dinner in five minutes! Atomic fuel pellets that would cost pennies and run your car for a year!  

What had been science fiction was becoming reality. (At least some of it.) As an SF writer, as well as a historian (and a citizen of that far-off future, the 21st century)  that was very fertile ground to explore.