Caroline Starr Rose

award-winning picture book and middle-grade author

Straight from the Source: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson on Writing Historical and Non-Fiction

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Vaunda Micheaux Nelson’s love of history and family is reflected in many of her award-winning books. She received the 2010 Coretta Scott King Author Award for Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal. No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller won the 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and a 2013 Coretta Scott King Author Honor. The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore won a 2016 Jane Addams Children’s Book Honor and a 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor for R. Gregory Christie’s illustrations. Her latest book, Let ‘Er Buck: George Fletcher, the People’s Champion, is the true story of an African American rodeo legend.

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

Most of my work is character driven. When I discover someone who has done something so remarkable that I want to know more, I start digging. If my research proves my instincts correct — that this individual’s story is one that everyone should know — I set out to tell it. I tend to gravitate toward unsung achievers, like Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, my great uncle, Lewis Michaux, and the subject of my new book, Let ‘Er Buck! George Fletcher, the People’s Champion.

It’s looking at the whole person, or attempting to. The process makes me dig deep and see more. It’s one of the things I admire about Marilyn Nelson’s Carver: A Life in Poems. She not only informs readers about Carver’s brilliance and accomplishments, she leaves us with the essence of the man, the nature of his spirit. That’s what I attempt to do.

How do you conduct your research? Do you have a specific system for collecting data? What kinds of sources do you use? The more specifics here, the better!

I collect as much information as I can through books, articles, census reports, birth and death records, interviews and whatever else I can uncover. I obtain many materials through interlibrary loan, an invaluable library service. I also seek out legitimate internet sources. (Internet articles often contain useful bibliographies that lead me to additional sources.) If possible, I travel to the location of my subject to access archival materials and conduct in-person interviews. For my new book, I went to Pendleton, Oregon, in search of more information about George Fletcher and his compelling performance at the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up. I usually end up with much more information than I will ever need, but it helps to know the backstory to feel confident with what you ultimately share with readers. 

How long do you typically research before beginning to draft?

I try to saturate myself with the material, reading through as much as my brain will hold. Then I start trying to put something on the page. 

Often, at the outset, I’m not sure of the shape a piece will take. I begin with a format that I think might work, but sometimes it changes. My middle-grade novel, Mayfield Crossing, for example, began as a picture book. No Crystal Stair started as straight biography and evolved into a “documentary novel.”   

My first attempts at writing reveal more of what I don’t know. I inevitably uncover new questions, so I put my research hat back on. I alternate between composing and research with the research tapering off as the work progresses. 

What is your favorite thing about research?

This is easy — the discovery —when I stumble on to some exciting bit of information. I write for my readers, of course, but I write for myself first.  My journey through a book is a growth process that can’t be compared to any other experience. It is exciting, awe inspiring, wonderful.

What’s your least favorite thing about research?

It’s beyond frustrating when I have questions I can’t resolve. Either the sources aren’t available, don’t exist, or are so conflicting that it’s difficult to determine what the facts truly are. 

Why is historical fiction important?

There are still so many amazing untold stories from our past. Fiction can offer wonderful ways to take readers there. Also, by placing relatable characters in an historical context, readers can gain an understanding that history is not only about battles, significant dates, and big events. That it doesn’t just involve famous people but is also based in the lives and activities of everyday people — people like them. Readers might perhaps make the connection that they themselves are living through current events that become history.

Straight from the Source: Mike Winchell on Writing Historical Non-Fiction

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Mike Winchell is a veteran English teacher with a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. The creator & editor of the BEEN THERE, DONE THAT anthology series, he lives in upstate New York with his wife and two children. You can find out more at www.mikewinchellbooks.com.

THE ELECTRIC WAR: EDISON, TESLA, WESTINGHOUSE, AND THE RACE TO LIGHT THE WORLD —In the mid-to-late-nineteenth century, a burgeoning science called electricity promised to shine new light on a rousing nation. Inventive and ambitious minds were hard at work. Soon that spark was fanned and given life, and a fiery war was under way to be the first to light—and run—the world with electricity. Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of direct current (DC), engaged in a brutal battle with Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, the inventors of alternating current (AC). There would be no ties in this bout—only a winner and a loser. The prize: a nationwide monopoly in electric current. Brimming with action, suspense, and rich historical and biographical information about these inventors, here is the rousing account of one of the world’s defining scientific competitions.

How do you conduct your research? Do you have a specific system for collecting data?

I have a few stages when it comes to research. Initially, I read source material that’s readily available (that the average person can find), and I take notes on index cards (at this stage, I’m looking to see what the big picture ideas are related to my topics). I’ll jot details on one side of the index card with a citation included so I can find it again later on. As I do those first reads, I’ll look for things that keep coming up, like maybe one of the historical figures continually exhibits a character trait. In this way, development is coming through by way of my research. But I’m looking for a reason to write, or as Candace Fleming recently described it, I’m looking for the “vital idea” to my book.

After I have read a decent amount and know there’s something there (once I know there’s a compelling narrative to tell), I’ll begin to categorize the notes by writing the main ideas (categories) on the other side of the cards (this is where a character trait might be listed for those life experiences I’ve jotted down on the other side of the cards). I then turn to my giant bulletin boards that I hang on my office walls, and I start outlining in a big-picture manner so I can see the structure all around me. These bulletin boards will remain up until I am done with the book, so they’ll be up for a while. I’ll put big question marks on cards and tack them up (this tells me what I need to find out as I continue researching). Then I start looking for the information I lack—those question marks—in order to fill in the missing pieces and bring everything together. Cards will be moved, categories will be changed, and more question marks will be hung. When that bulletin board is complete, I start to look at the structure: Should I tell this in complete chronological order (which is rare)? Or should I play with the time structure, and if so, how am I doing this? The bulletin board will be shuffled around to put everything in order. This all makes the actual writing so much easier. The work I put in with the notes and the outlining really allows the writing itself to be a smooth process.

How did you come up with your system for researching and writing?

I have to give a lot of credit to Steve Sheinkin. You see, before I even started researching for my first book, I had read an interview where Steve mentioned that he used a big bulletin board and index cards. He didn’t detail the process, so I can’t tell you how close to his process mine is, but Sheinkin is definitely the inspiration for the process I came up with and have used effectively. So thanks, Steve!

How long do you typically research before beginning to draft?

I’ll usually spend a few months to a half year researching and plotting everything out before I start drafting.

What is your favorite thing about research?

I have a thirst for knowledge, so I soak up every drop of information like a sponge. With each detail I uncover, that thirst is satisfied more and more.

What’s your least favorite thing about research?

Since I write both fiction and nonfiction, when I’m at the research stage there are times when I just want to WRITE. I’ll catch myself envying the fiction author in me, and I’ll ask myself why I’m not writing a novel instead.

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

Nikola Tesla ripped up his AC royalty contracts so that George Westinghouse could maintain control of the company and continue the vision they had of sharing AC with the world. As a result, Tesla died penniless, and essentially gave up millions of dollars.

Straight from the Source: Norman H. Finkelstein on Writing Historical Non-Fiction

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Norman H. Finkelstein is the author of twenty nonfiction/biography books for YA and adult readers. Two of his books, Heeding the Call and Forged in Freedom received National Jewish Book Awards. His biography of Edward R. Murrow, With Heroic Truth, received the Golden Kite Honor Book Award for Nonfiction. He is a retired public school librarian and lives in Framingham, Massachusetts.

How did you first discover Black Bart?

I discovered the story of Black Bart on a trip to California years ago and could not get it out of my mind. Here was a story that you couldn’t make up, and more importantly for a writer of nonfiction, was true. I began searching the available adult books and magazine articles about Bart and realized there was no children’s book about him. That’s when this book began to take shape in my mind.

How did you conduct your research?

I began by reading everything I could get my hands on about Bart. This led to research detours about stagecoaches, Wells Fargo and the California gold rush. I contacted the History Department at Wells Fargo as well as California historical groups. Throughout my career, I have found that archivists and librarians are the most knowledgeable, forthcoming, generous, friendly and supportive friends a writer can have. Perhaps the best sources for me in writing about Bart were contemporary newspaper articles of the era. They provided a good sense of what readers at the time were learning about Bart and his exploits.

What is your favorite thing about research?

I learn stuff not only about the major subject of my research but about related and unrelated interesting things. Some of which is relevant to the book and some just get added to my eclectic brain for future reference.  I actually love the research phase, particularly the photo research since I generally prefer to search out the photographs for my books.

What is your least favorite thing about research?

I’m always afraid that by not digging deeper I may be missing something important from an undiscovered source.  When I first began writing decades ago, research meant trips to sometimes far away archives and libraries. I miss that. On the other hand, sitting in front of my computer researching in my bunny slippers does have its benefits. 

What are some obstacles writing historical nonfiction?

A major one is needing to double-check facts and quotes. Although Bart was a fun subject, he was not a well-known and documented historical personality. So I needed to do a lot of digging to get a full picture of he was and the times in which he lived.

What was the most interesting thing you’ve learned while researching?

It actually wasn’t about Bart but about James B. Hume, the Wells Fargo chief detective who tracked Bart down. It seems Hume was ahead of his time in employing scientific methods to solve crimes. His attention to detail ultimately led to Bart’s arrest.

When I write I like to consider each chapter as a stand-alone. Although I have lots of data collected for the book before I begin, it is only when I begin writing the specific chapter that I enter phase two of my research as questions arise requiring more specific information. Then, its back to sources such as newspapers and documents to wring out quotes and facts I may have originally overlooked.  Getting to my first draft is probably 70 percent research.

Racing Around the World: Two Lady Journalists, 75 Days

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For over a year I’ve been sitting on this news, and now I can come right out and tell you: I have a picture book coming out Fall 2019, my second with Albert Whitman. It’s called RACING AROUND THE WORLD: TWO LADY JOURNALISTS, 75 DAYS and is about Nellie Bly’s famous circumnavigational trip. 

I grew up with a book about the one-of-a-kind, trailblazing journalist, Nellie Bly. In January 2017, I thought I’d try my hand at writing my own book about her. There are a number of children’s books about Nellie — she’s just that compelling. But only a couple focused exclusively on her race, and none mentioned her competitor, Elizabeth Bisland. It was only in reading a fascinating book called Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman that I found out about Elizabeth and knew this was the story I wanted to tell. (Even Nellie spent most of her trip unaware of Elizabeth!) 

When I told my editor, Wendy, about the idea for the book, she told me she’d also grown up with a Nellie book, she’d also recently read Goodman’s book, and a great-great uncle of hers had taken a similar (though less famous) trip. She summed up her interest in one capitalized word: INTRIGUED.

Here’s the official deal from Publisher’s Weekly:

Wendy McClure at Albert Whitman & Company has acquired world rights to Caroline Starr Rose’s picture book RACING AROUND THE WORLD: TWO LADY JOURNALISTS, 75 DAYS, the true story of Nellie Bly, who in 1889 set out across the Atlantic on a journey around the world that she hoped to complete in less than 80 days, and her rival, Elizabeth Bisland, who embarked on a competing westward trip the very same day.  Alexandra Bye will illustrate; publication is planned for fall 2019. Tracey Adams at Adams Literary represented the author and Emily Coggins at Astound represented the illustrator.

This book has been an adventure and a joy to write. I’ve always adored Nellie, but it’s Elizabeth I relate to in her hunger for travel and the beauty she found in the world. These women were remarkable. I can’t wait to share their story with you!

Straight from the Source: Cynthia Grady on Writing Non-Fiction and Historical Fiction

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Cynthia Grady writes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for children, and is the author of I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery and Like a Bird: The Art of the American Slave Song. Her latest picture book, Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind, introduces young readers to the true story ofJapanese American children who corresponded with Clara Breed, their librarian, while they were imprisoned during World War II. Their letters detail the conditions of their imprisonment, their love for Miss Breed, and the important role books play in our lives. Cynthia lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Visit her at www.cynthiagrady.com.

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

For me, an emotion and a metaphor come before anything else. Something I see, or read, experience, or hear about, taps into a feeling begging to be expressed. I try to listen to what my surroundings are asking me to write and then plunge in.

How do you conduct your research?

Both painstakingly slowly and absolutely chaotically. With each project so far, I’ve tried a new strategy for conducting research. I wouldn’t recommend any of them to anybody. I am working on a couple of new projects though, and with one of them, I’m going back to 3 x 5 notecards—1-2 facts on each notecard, like I did in middle school. I’ll let you know in a year or two how it worked!

What kinds of sources do you use? The more specifics here, the better!

The short answer is every kind or source material.

The long answer is this. I begin with general, encyclopedic-like sources to get an overall view of the subject or era I am exploring. Next, I use the most recent secondary sources of the event/topic/era. Then I’ll read secondary sources written close to the time of the era I am researching– to see how time has affected how people think about and view the subject.

During the entire research phase, I am reading current fiction steeped in the subject, as well as fiction and poetry written during the time period I am exploring. Then finally, I explore whatever primary sources I can get my hands on: memoirs, letters, diaries, music, oral histories, and poetry.

How long do you typically research before beginning to draft?

With historical fiction, I tend to write quite a bit before I begin any research at all, because at first, I am writing about a feeling a particular character is experiencing. As the story grows, I begin my research—to ground my character and her/his feelings in a setting and in a story. I may leave the story for several months then, buried in research, before I return to it again.

My current book, WRITE TO ME, is nonfiction—an introduction to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and a brief biography of librarian Clara Breed. It took so long to sell (twelve years!), that my vision for it changed over time. And then, once I was in revision with my editor, the story arc changed somewhat again, so I was sent back into my research, after thinking I was all finished. Going back to a story’s notes after so long was really interesting. I couldn’t believe how bad my note-taking had been! A terribly inefficient, ineffective experience overall.

What is your favorite thing about research?

I love all of the little surprises that I encounter along the way. For example, while researching blacksmithing for my first book, I LAY MY STITCHES DOWN, I learned that most racehorses were groomed, trained, and raced by enslaved men. That information led to the poem “Rail Fence,” a poem I had not planned to write for the collection originally.

What’s your least favorite thing about research?

You may have guessed from my answer above, that what’s most challenging for me (and so my least favorite) is how to keep all of my notes organized in a way that makes the most sense. My notes and folders and boxes are such a messy mish-mash—It’s absolutely terrifying to me. I don’t want to make any mistakes or get anything wrong. So, I will persist!



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