The "Speaking My Voice" Part of the Writing Life

One of my personal commitments is that I take the time to bring my voice to issues that I care about (or at least some of them ... there are so many). I also like to help others in their efforts to amplify their support for or opposition to shared issues of concern.

Today, instead of working on my own writing endeavors, I've taken the time to get informed about some key educational issues being considered by our state lawmakers, and to bring my voice and my perspective into the conversation. Today I wrote to lawmakers to share my support for four Senate Bills that are currently before Oregon's Senate Committee on Education: SB 456 (that removes the current standardized testing requirement for high school graduation); SB 433 (that provides further support for those parents and adult students who want to opt their child out of standardized testing), SB 428 (that calls upon the Secretary of State to perform an audit of standardized testing methods in Oregon schools), and SB 664 (that adds a requirement to include education about the Holocaust and genocide in Oregon school curriculum).

Thanks to fellow community advocate, Lisa Shultz, I learned how to navigate through OLIS to read about these bills, and to review public testimony that's been delivered thus far, etc. If you click on this OLIS link, for example, you can see the different SBs that were before the Senate Education Committee at their February 27, 2019 meeting (which I was unable to attend). If you click on a SB link, for example SB 456, you will see where the bill is currently, and that there was a hearing on February 27, 2019. If you click on the 2-27 Public Hearing link, you will see a page full of links to the written testimony that was given on that date (on the left side of the page). If you click on the little arrow on the right side of the Senate Education Community summary page next to the 2/27/2019 date, you will be taken to a recording of the hearing on that date. Pretty cool.

As I said, I wasn't able to attend the hearing on February 27th, but I did want to weigh in on the issues. I wrote the following letters, and sent them to the Education Committee members. I've copied them below in case they are helpful to you as you formulate your own opinions and/or choose to follow/lend your voice to these issues as well.

Here goes:

Letter One: 

March 5, 2019

TO: Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee

RE: Support for SB 456

Dear Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee,

I am a parent, community volunteer, children’s author, and vocal library and literacy advocate in Portland, Oregon. I am writing to share my support for SB 456 and my strong opposition to standardized testing as a requirement for high school graduation.

My two children have attended all levels of public school in the state of Oregon (my oldest is currently a sophomore in college, and my youngest is a junior in high school). I have been a guest author and/or community volunteer in a variety of schools throughout the state. During the 15 years I’ve been involved with Oregon’s schools, I’ve witnessed a significant shift in our public education system, focusing more and more on standardized testing and less and less on meaningful areas sadly deemed “extras” in our budget-challenged environment (e.g., art, music, reading for pleasure, library services, and even information literacy skills).

Our state is routinely strapped for funds, limiting our ability to provide a robust and well-rounded public education for our children, but yet, we continue to find the funds to pay for aggressive standardized testing protocols that have not been shown to benefit our children, our teachers, our schools, or our communities. The only stakeholders that have arguably benefitted from aggressive standardized testing protocols are the organizations whose business models depend on the endless loop of testing/consulting/ training/ and re-testing we have allowed our education system to fall prey to. While these profiteers lobby for more and more testing (so they can sell more test guides and more consulting services to help teachers teach to the test and help schools improve their test scores), our students, teachers, and schools suffer.

Yes, students should be able to demonstrate a basic level of proficiency in the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics to earn a high school diploma. Students do this most effectively by receiving instruction and regular evaluation and grading reports from licensed teachers. Linking standardized tests to high school graduation requirements implies that these tests hold value for our students and their future. They do not.

Please support SB 456. It is time to put an end to Oregon’s unhealthy relationship with standardized testing and the special interest groups that profit from ongoing support for this testing.

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic

Washington County, Oregon

(I have also provided letters of support for related SB 433 and SB 428) 

Letter Two: 

March 5, 2019

TO: Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee

RE: Support for SB 433

Dear Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee,

I am a parent, community volunteer, children’s author, and vocal library and literacy advocate in Portland, Oregon. I am writing to share my support for SB 433.

As a parent who has long been opposed to standardized testing (see my letter in support of SB 456), and who has opted my own children out of “Smarter Balanced Testing,” both to exert my rights as a parent, and to shine a light on the controversial issues surrounding standardized testing (call it civil disobedience, if you will), I was pleased with the successful passage of the Student Assessment Bill of Rights (HB 2655). Unfortunately, HB 2655 is not being implemented in a way that adequately protects students or their parents who wish to opt their children out of standardized testing.

Prior to the passage of HB 2655, I opted my children out of “Smarter Balanced” testing based on the religious exemption that was available at the time. To quote in part from my opt out letter at that time:

“…According to the Oxford Dictionary, religion is ‘a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.’ We ascribe supreme importance to [Our Student’s] access to a comprehensive education.

Strict adherence to state and federal high-stakes standardized testing, including the extensive classroom preparation that occurs prior to test administration, prevents our child from receiving a comprehensive education. Until focus on testable skills diminishes to a reasonable extent, we will continue to withhold our child from participation in the testing program, and we ask that you honor that decision.”

Our local middle school honored my requests to opt out of Smarter Balanced testing without incident. The situation has been different at the high school level—likely because the stakes are now higher for our schools and our school’s administrators, (especially since standardized testing is the current go-to method for Oregon schools to ascertain that students are proficient in certain essential skills and thus eligible to graduate high school—again, see my letter in support of SB 456).

I am a capable, intelligent and engaged parent, yet every school year it takes me hours of phone calls, web searches, and networking with other likeminded parents to find out where our school district’s current opt out form is buried, when and where it needs to be turned in, and when the testing will take place at my child’s school. This is inappropriate, and it circumvents the intent of HB 2655, the current Student Assessment Bill of Rights. 

I’ve been vocal about my decision to opt my student out of Smarter Balanced testing, and I’ve been vocal about how others parents have the right to do the same (or at the very least, I’ve shared with other parents where the opt out forms are buried on our school district’s website, and where and when they need to be turned in by). I’ve been publically shamed at parent meetings at my child’s school for my decision to opt my student out, and I’ve been privately contacted by school administrators with requests to revisit my decision to opt my student out. I’ve also been asked by administrators to please consider how my decision negatively impacts our school, our teachers, and our students who are at risk of not graduating because they have not yet demonstrated their achievement of essential skills. 

I’m confident and courageous, as are my children, and yet I’ve found it to be uncomfortable and intimidating to assert for my child's rights on this topic. (It is not lost on me that writing this public letter in defense of opting out could arguably impair my relationship with the administrators at my child’s school. I hope not.). Furthermore, my child’s school is now referring to the upcoming standardized testing by a different name, (no longer the Smarter Balanced test), so I don’t even know if HB 2655 protects my student’s right to opt out at this time.

Please support SB 433. HB 2655 was a nice start, but it is inadequate.

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic

Washington County, Oregon

(I have also provided letters of support for related SB 456 and SB 428) 

--> Letter Three: 

March 5, 2019

TO: Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee

RE: Support for SB 428

Dear Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee,

I am a parent, community volunteer, children’s author, and vocal library and literacy advocate in Portland, Oregon. I am writing to share my support for SB 428.

It is time for our state to take pause and audit/evaluate how it is we evaluate our students. As our schools continue to place greater and greater emphasis on the preparation for and implementation of standardized tests, we rob our children of the robust and well-rounded education they deserve, an education that includes the richness of art, music, reading for pleasure, library services, and even information literacy skills.

But that’s not all. Our testing protocols aren’t even logical, practical, or efficient. 

Consider for example, the experience of my two children. Both of them passed their reading and math essential skills benchmarks via OAKS testing during middle school (the writing test was not offered in middle school). My oldest child, who is now in college, got strong A’s in the college level, AP/Advanced Placement English and writing classes she took in high school, and she tested in the top percentiles in her college entrance exam pre-tests. This would suggest to a reasonable person that she was on track to (easily) pass the “alternative” writing essential skill benchmark when she took her college entrance exams, (which she did). However, she was still expected to sit for the Smarter Balanced standardized tests during her junior year in high school. Why? What a waste of resources.

Even though our family took the time and energy to opt her out of the duplicative Smarter Balanced testing, (see my related letter in support of SB 433) she was robbed of valuable instructional time and learning opportunities while her teachers prepped her classmates for the standardized tests. Further, she was robbed of valuable instructional time leading up to national Advanced Placement (AP) test dates because of several days worth of “essential skills” standardized testing. To note, Smarter Balanced testing would have yielded her zero benefits. Successful AP testing resulted in several college credits being earned, and THOUSANDS of tuition dollars being saved.

Fast forward three years later, and my son finds himself in the same boat. He’s already passed one AP English test (with the highest score possible, which will earn him college credit at nearly any university in the United States), yet the protocol for his high school is that he is expected to take the standardized test later this school year to assess that he has met the essential skills benchmarks. We are opting him out, too, but I continue to be frustrated and disappointed at all of the learning he is missing out on because of this duplicative standardized testing.

Please support SB 428. It’s time to re-evaluate our evaluation methods in our schools.

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic

Washington County, Oregon

(I have also provided letters of support for related SB 433 and SB 456) 

 Letter Four: 

March 5, 2019

TO: Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee:

RE: Support for SB 664

Dear Chair Wagner and Members of the Senate Education Committee,

I am writing to share my strong support for SB 664.

Our family descends from Henry Prochovnic, a Holocaust survivor. Henry’s name and the name of his parents and siblings who did not survive are written on the Holocaust Memorial in Portland’s Washington Park. My children have learned about the Holocaust because we have talked about it as a family, but I’ve been genuinely surprised by the number of students that do not know very much at all about this period of history. Case in point, just recently our local high school presented a student production of the Diary of Anne Frank. I was taken aback by how little the high school students knew about this time in world history prior to seeing this production.

The Holocaust is a bleak and dark stain on humanity, and it is a time in history that we as a society cannot afford to forget or repeat. It is mind boggling to me that this subject is not already a required topic for Oregon’s schools. Please work to change this. Please support SB 664.

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic

Washington County, Oregon

Please feel welcome to use these letters as a resource and guideline or inspiration in your own advocacy work.

Birth Stories for Books: QUEENIE QUAIL CAN'T KEEP UP, by Jane Whittingham

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing author (and librarian) Jane Whittingham about the birth story for her upcoming picture book QUEENIE QUAIL CAN'T KEEP UP, illustrated by Emma Pedersen (Pajama Press, Mar 2019).

Dawn Prochovnic: Thank you for stopping by to talk with us, Jane. It’s my understanding that your path to publication has been a bit winding. Can you tell us a little bit more about this?

Jane Whittingham: Hi Dawn! Thanks so much for having me here! I've been telling stories since I was just a wee little thing, and was an avid writer during my elementary and high school years, but as I grew older I started to lose confidence in my abilities and in my self. I started to feel like everyone was so much more talented than me, and I could never imagine someone actually wanting to read my writing, let alone pay me for it! So, for many years I simply stopped writing - I was busy with work and life, and writing just felt like something I'd grown out of. When I'd finally had enough of my corporate life and went back to school to study library science, I happened upon a summer class called “Writing, Publishing and the Book Trade for Children.” I needed some credits, and it sounded like it would be fun, so I signed up. I’m so glad I did! The course walked us through the entire publishing process, from outlining a book, to workshopping, to editing and submitting. It was so eye-opening, and it really helped remind me why I used to love writing so much all those years ago. It was never about being published back then, it was about the joy of being creative! Inspired by the class, I decided to try my hand and writing my own picture books, and though I was still very nervous about the prospect of submitting, with the encouragement of my very enthusiastic partner I decided to start researching publishing houses that were accepting manuscripts. Pajama Press was actually the first publisher I contacted, and they came back with a resounding YES to my submission! Without that class, which I really just signed up for as an easy way to earn some credits, I don’t know when, if ever, I would have rediscovered that passion for creating that I’d lost so many years before.

DP: That's really remarkable, Jane. It's not often that an author's work is accepted for publication on first submission! Can you talk a little bit more about the process and timeframe between your initial idea for your story and the story that was formulated fully enough to submit to your editor?

JW: I am a very speedy writer, and I tend to write from the heart rather than the head, so I can churn out an entire picture book manuscript in a matter of minutes. The editing and refining process….can take a little bit longer! My first two picture books, Wild One and A Good Day for Ducks, were written and edited and ready for submission in a matter of days. Queenie Quail Can’t Keep Up, however, went through numerous rewrites over many, many months before I was ready to submit it - it took me a lot longer to figure out what exactly I was trying to say through the story, and how I wanted events to play out. So, it can really vary depending on the complexity of the story and the length of the text.

DP: I can barely READ a picture book in a matter of minutes, let alone write one! Let's shift to a topic I'm more familiar with: revision! When you compare one of your earliest drafts of this story to the version in the soon-to-be published book, what stands out for you in terms of what is most different? Likewise, is there anything in particular that stands out that was included in your earliest drafts and survived the revision process?

JW: Queenie Quail is my first prose picture book, which has been a very different experience for me, as I typically write in rhyme. When I first submitted the text to my editor, she responded with something along the lines of “we love it - now cut it in half!” The text I’d submitted was much too long for a picture book, and I was tasked with keeping all the characters and the basic story, without about half the words. I felt pretty daunted!! One of the first things I had to do was cut out a lot of the descriptions - a picture book is illustrated, after all, so I didn’t need to be describing scenes and characters that would be illustrated in the final book. I’d also forgotten that quail families typically include a mama and a papa - I had a mama quail in my story, but not papa! So I had to find a way to add him in. It was definitely a challenge to cut and hack apart a story I loved, but the result was so much cleaner, tighter, and better for having been so ruthlessly edited.

DP: I'm always amazed at how much a "good story" can improve with editing! As you reflect on the journey from idea to published book, is there any one moment along the way that you credit with opening the door for QUEENIE QUAIL to find its way to publication?

JW: I think the success of my first book, Wild One, really helped open the door for future books with Pajama Press. They were willing to take a chance on an unknown, unpublished writer, and the fact that the book turned out to be quite popular I think helped reassure them that I wasn’t a terrible investment. :)

DP: Yes, it's great that Pajama Press was willing to take a chance on you and that WILD ONE was such a wild success. Seeing that all three of your books were published by Pajama Press (or soon will be), how is it that you connected with them and/or your editor there? 

JW: I first chose to submit to Pajama Press because I’d enjoyed some of their previous books, and they were open to submissions from writers without agents, which many publishers aren’t. I really enjoyed working with my editor - she pushed me as a writer, but also respected and fought for my vision, so I was thrilled to work with her again and again.

DP: Were there notable differences in the path to publication for your earlier books as compared to your latest book?

JW: The biggest difference has been the speed of the publication process - my first book took two years to publish, as we spent a lot of time editing the text and seeking the right illustrator for the project. The second two books were published much more quickly, much to my delight, since I’m a terribly impatient person!

DP: I’ve read in earlier interviews that you like to travel (me too!) and you take photos of cats wherever you go (Note: If you haven’t been to Greece, it's a cat-photo-op paradise!). How do your travel experiences and your eye for photography weave their way into your picture books?

JW: I was bitten with the travel bug as a child, and I think that my adventurous spirit has infused itself into all of my characters. The children in Wild One and A Good Day for Ducks love to be outside exploring, and Queenie Quail is always stopping to look and see and hear everything around her, much like me! As much as I love to see the big tourist sites in any place I visit, it’s the quiet back streets that really fascinate me, the everyday moments, the hidden gems and treasures. So, although I hadn’t really thought about it before, my love for exploring and my passion for seeking out new things to see and experience really has been woven into my writing!

DP: That's exactly the way my family and I like to travel, too, Jane! 

Now let's talk about the artwork in your books. Since you obviously have an eye for visual art, what was it like to hand over the reins of the visual story to the illustrators you’ve been paired with?

JW: Having taken that writing course in university, I knew that picture book writers rarely have much say in how their books are illustrated, but it was still a bit of a surreal feeling to know that someone else was taking my words and turning them into art! I’ve heard stories of writers who were deeply disappointed in their art, but fortunately I’ve been very happy with my illustrators and their work. In Queenie Quail in particular I was able to weigh in on a few artistic decisions that could have impacted the story, and I’m thrilled with how the final illustrations turned out!

Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up
by Jane Whittingham and Emma Pedersen

DP: They are lovely, indeed! 

I understand that you are a librarian and you regularly deliver story time programs. Although I’m not a librarian, I, too, regularly deliver story time programs, and I’m always looking for new pro tips! What advice would you give to picture book authors from your perspective as a regular story time presenter?

JW: The number one tip would be to avoid rhyme unless you are a seasoned professional - poorly paced rhyme can really destroy any book, and make for a terrible read aloud experience. Honestly, nothing makes me chuck a book faster than poorly written rhyme. Another piece of advice would be to keep it short and snappy. Children are made to move, not sit still for long periods of time, so keep your story short and sweet, and both kids and their grownups will thank you. Read a lot of picture books, as many and as often as you can, so you can get inspiration, find out what the industry trends and standards are, and discover what books do and don’t appeal to you as a reader and a writer. Finally, read your manuscript aloud so you can get an idea of what it will actually sound like when read by parents to their children. Flow and pacing really matter, so make sure you read your story aloud, and do so after every revision, so you know just how smooth and wonderful it’s going to sound when read at storytime!

DP: These are great tips (and happily, they echo the tips I routinely give to others!) What about tips and tricks that you can share from your toolbox for story time presenters in general?

JW: S L O W  D O W N.  This is my number one tip for any presenter. Children are still learning language, so you need to make sure that you’re speaking, singing and reading at a pace that allows them ample time to process what they’re hearing. It might feel silly to read a book so slowly, and with so much emphasis, but really it does wonders for language acquisition. Keep your energy level up and smile - if kids see that reading make you happy, they’re going to want to give it a try too! And make sure you’re reading with your audience, not to your audience. Ask the children open-ended questions to get them involved in the story, and to keep them engaged - what do they think might happen next? Why do they think the characters did what they did? How might a character be feeling right now, and why do they think that? And of course, above all else, have fun!

DP: These are FABULOUS TIPS, Jane. What about for parents who are reading one-on-one with their children? What tips do you have for them?

JW: I like to refer to the “4 C’s” of raising readers - Choice, Consistency, Cuddles and Conversation. Let your children help pick out the books you read together - they are more likely to be engaged in the reading experience if the books match their interests, plus it gives them a feeling of independence and involvement. Make reading a regular part of your everyday routines, to help children understand that reading is important and worth making time for. Cuddle with your child while reading, to help them associate reading with warm, happy memories and emotions. And finally, talk with your child while you read - ask them open-ended questions that get them thinking about the story and the characters.

DP. These are great tips, and you've made them easy to remember--thanks! One last question before we wrap up: If you could go back in time, what would you tell your pre-published self? Or, said another way, what do you know now, that you wished you would have known a bit earlier?

JW: I would tell myself to be patient - with publishing, everything takes time. I’m a very impatient person who likes to get things done right away, and that’s just not how publishing works! So, relax, and just go with the flow!

DP: You speak truth, sister! Thanks for the important reminder...and thanks so much for sharing your Birth Story for Books. 

Best wishes for the successful launch of QUEENIE QUAIL CAN’T KEEP UP! I can't wait to read it! 

*******

Jane Whittingham is a Canadian children’s librarian and picture book author with a passion for books, tea and travel. She is the author is three picture books - Wild One (2017), A Good Day for Ducks (2018) and Queenie Quail Can’t Keep Up (2019). You can connect with Jane on her website, www.raincitylibrarian.ca or follow her on Facebook or Instagram. 





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Birth Stories for Books is an occasional feature of Dawn Babb Prochovnic's blog. Dawn is the author of multiple picture books including Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?, Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? (forthcoming, 2019), and 16 books in the Story Time With Signs & Rhymes series. She is a contributing author to Oregon Reads Aloud and a frequent presenter at schools, libraries, and educational conferences. Contact Dawn using the form at the left, or learn more at www.dawnprochovnic.com. 

The "Consuming Art" Part of the Writing Life

Artifact Panel, by William Morris, Portland Art Museum

Thanks to fellow author, Tara Lazar and her online Storystorm event, January (both this year and last) brimmed with brainstorming activities. Thanks to Portland being home to a rich art and music scene, the month of February has been filled with art and music-related activities.

Here is a quick recap:

In early February, my family took my mom and mother-in-law (collectively known as "the grandmas") to a variety show that benefitted Clowns Without Borders, an organization that brings "laughter and humor to children and persons in areas of crisis." I encourage you to familiarize yourself with and support this organization. The photo below is the cast of performers that volunteered their time and talent for this event, including Louis Pearl, the Amazing Bubble Man; Leapin' Louie Lichtenstein, the internationally acclaimed lasso-spinning wonder; Rhys Thomas, the jaw-dropping juggler, and the awe inspiring Circus Luminescence. I'm sorry to say that this picture doesn't even hint at the fun that was had. The sound of children's laughter (and my mother's laughter!) throughout the event was joyful and priceless.

Clowns Without Borders Benefit Show, Portland, 2019

 
Later in the month, our family went to the Portland Art Museum and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. The main purpose of our visits to these museums was to see the Memory Unearthed and Last Journey of the Jews of Lodz exhibits of the photos taken by Holocaust survivor Henryk Ross while he was imprisoned in the Lodz Ghetto during World War II. The exhibits were a harsh and powerful reminder of the horrors my beloved father-in-law, Henry Prochovnic, endured because of bigotry and hatred. These exhibits are no longer running in the Portland area, but if you can find a similar exhibit in your area, I encourage you to go. If you can't get to an exhibit, there are a few libraries that have Henryk Ross's book of photographs in their collection, including the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon.

After seeing such stark evidence of horror and pain, I found some refuge in the art in nature. Here is a photo of a small portion of a stunning 55,000 square foot mural that can be seen from a trail in the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge:

Mural by ArtFX Design Studios 

If the story behind how this mural came to be doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will! The tenacity of Mike Houck, Director of  the Urban Green Spaces Institute and the artistic vision of Mark Bennett, the late Shane Bennett, and Dan Cohen, the folks behind ArtFX Design Studios, is food for the creative soul.

Which brings me to music, another art form that feeds my creative soul. I'm not one of those authors that must have music on while I write (in fact, I much prefer to write in complete silence), but music is a big part of what fuels my creativity. As my kids have gotten older and spend more and more time socializing and attending activities with their friends, my husband and I have been spending more and more time listening to live music.

We recently discovered that Al's Den, in downtown Portland, hosts live music most (every?) night of the week. The venue typically hosts a particular artist for a full week. We've made a point to catch several Saturday night shows, which is typically the final week of the "residency." So far, my favorite experience there was hearing Israel Nebeker (Blind Pilot) sing an acoustic set. I'm not sure how I'd missed Nebeker's/Blind Pilot's story or music before...but wow. Just wow.

We've also discovered that the Muddy Rudder in the Sellwood area (not far from the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Preserve mentioned above!) has a regular schedule of live music. My husband and I ate dinner before we caught the Sunday evening performance of "Dan and Fran," but the Muddy Rudder pizza looked pretty tasty. We will arrive hungry next time!

Dan and Fran Playing at the Muddy Rudder

We discovered the Muddy Rudder because it's one of the regular spots The June Bugs (one of our favorite local bands), play at regularly (though we haven't seen them there, yet). However, last weekend, we did get to see The June Bugs at the Alberta Street Pub:

The June Bugs at The Alberta Street Pub

They were amazing, as usual....as was Maiah Wynne, the opening act. This was our first introduction to her beautiful and compelling music. We will definitely be following her work going forward.

Maiah Wynne at The Alberta Street Pub

So, what does all of this have to do with the writing life? First, it's a way I can pay it forward and support the work of other local artists. I know first-hand that all artists, authors included, need a steady supply of folks supporting their work. For me, that's book sales, author visits, and other paid appearances. I suspect for musicians it's direct music sales, tip jars/Patreon accounts, and paid concert appearances, and for fine artists, it's direct art sales and commissioned works, etc. So, consuming (and paying for) the work of other artists is important to me. It's a way I can help maintain a vibrant art and music culture in my community.

But also, it's more self-serving than that. When I listen to live music, I bubble over with ideas and inspiration. When I take a walk in the woods, and happen upon a beautiful mural that leads me down a figurative path of discovery about how it came to be, I'm filled with new energy and inspiration for my own creative projects. And, when I sit in a performance hall filled with children and their grown-ups laughing at silly antics on stage, I'm filled with joy and a better headspace for writing.

In the words of Thomas Merton:

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

And now, dear readers, I must find and lose myself in my own art.

(But Stay Tuned: Tomorrow's post, already queued up, will continue with another installment of the Birth Stories for Books series).

Birth Stories for Books: HECK, WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO, by Dale E. Basye

First Title in Series

When I started the Birth Stories for Books series, I had no idea how much I would learn in the process, or how many different versions of paths to publication there could possibly be to share. What a treat it has been to read so many different and varied paths to publication.

I also never anticipated that a guest contributor would frame their Birth Story in quite the clever and hilarious way that author Dale E. Basye has done with this post. How I wish I had thought of this framework myself ... and yet, I don't think anyone could have pulled it off as well as Dale has. So, before this baby is overdue, let's turn it over to Dale and allow him to share how his first book, HECK, WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO was conceived, carried, labored and then birthed.

When an Idea and the Incessant Need to Prove Yourself Fall In Love…
by Dale E. Basye

Conception

It started innocently enough. I was reading a lot to my new son. Mostly snarky classics by Roald Dahl, but also new stuff like A Series of Unfortunate Events (which was new then, as were we all…). And at some point, I was thinking “Wow…you can get away with a lot in children’s books! It would be really fun to write one!” Meanwhile, I had been working in advertising for nearly ten years and the cracks in my creativity were beginning to show. I needed an outlet: beyond my ever-growing desktop folder of rejected advertising campaigns deemed too edgy and bizarre. 

About this time, I—like most new fathers—was thinking a lot about hell. And, perhaps Pat Benatar’s “Hell is For Children” was on the radio, but that’s when the idea of an under-aged underworld popped into my head. Not quite Hell—that would be a little bit much—but maybe something more kid-friendly, something like…Heck. And then one thing led to another…

Testing Positive

I had a regular lunch with a friend: a fellow writer who was stifled by her advertising agency job and wanted to stretch out by developing ideas for potential books or screenplays. As was typical with our lunches—after gossiping and dishing dirt on our mutual acquaintances—we got to the work of sharing our accumulated ideas. So, when it was my turn, I read my list of ideas along with a pithy synopsis of each. One of these was “Where do the souls of the darned toil for all eternity, or until they turn 18, whichever comes first? Well, Heck, course. ‘Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go’.” She loved it! So that was all that I needed: just a little direction on what idea to pour my energy into for the next few months.

First-Trimester

I initially envisioned Heck as a TV show (which may very well be the case someday soon…full circle and all), as I “saw” it in my head. So my first draft was in screenplay format. I entered it into a Bravo TV contest where the winning entry would result in a pilot and possible series! I’d like to think that it came in second…along with all of the other entries that lost. But at least the contest got me off my butt (or got me sitting on my butt, more to the point) to “finish” the story (as if any story is ever finished…).

Second-Trimester

I have always needed some sort of deadline…some tape at the finish line to break, even if the finish line itself was self-imposed. So to me this was the Willamette Writers Conference. I picked an editor to pitch to, Diane Landolf of Random House Children’s books, and thus I had my goal. So I busied myself adding flesh to the skeleton that I had created for the Heck script to make it more bookish. And so the date of the conference arrived all too soon, and I valiantly pitched Heck (along with another story about a robot on Mars) and—while expecting polite refusal and perhaps some useful feedback—I surprisingly, received an invitation to send her the finished manuscript. Leaving the conference table, slick with flop sweat, I assumed that this was standard procedure. She didn’t want to make a “scene,” so she allowed casual solicitation. It wasn’t until a month had passed when I received an email from Diane asking where the manuscript was that it hit me: she really did want to read Heck. In fact, she also relayed that my pitch was the best that she had heard, and that she had checked out my website and knew that I could, in fact, write, so…

Third-Trimester

…I had to hustle to bring this baby to term! I finished my manuscript and sent it off to Diane, trembling all the way. She got back to me fairly quickly saying, while she loved the story (uh-oh, I thought: looking for “while”s and “but”s like landmines in her letter), she couldn’t offer me a publishing deal as the story didn’t really have an ending (it still had a sort of “tune in next week…” kind of pseudo-ending). But, she went on, she was confident that—if I followed her extensive notes (more words than the manuscript itself, it often seemed)—that she could offer me that wonderful of most wonderful things: a publishing deal! 

Contractions

Isn’t. Can’t. Don’t. Shouldn’t… yeah, the contractions were coming fast and furious at this point. Here is a glimpse into my typical response to feedback: “What?! There’s no way I could do that. Absolutely no freakin’…well, I suppose I could do this. But, then…no…well, wait: sure. Actually, yes! If I did that, then I could do THIS! Oh…yeah! Great!” 

Labor

And so it went. Back and forth. Back and forth. Push. Push. Breathe. Breathe. And, after a couple of months, the manuscript was “finished.” 

I use quotations for “finished” because, well, then there’s the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) to edit…a process where I learned that you can not change major things at this point (I have an irritatingly George Lucas-ish habit to want to drastically change things I’ve already done rather than just move on).

There is also the artwork. Before publishing my first book, I always assumed that the author and illustrator would meet-up, maybe go camping together, and come up with a whimsical marriage of story and art. But it’s not like that. At all. It is more of an arranged marriage. The first cover art for Heck wasn’t right. The illustrator—who was excellent—created a heroic visual blend of adventure and fantasy that, while beautiful, totally missed the tone of “creepy and funny.” So then my editor told me of an illustrator that Random House wanted to try—Bob Dob—and that Heck seemed like the perfect prospect. And it was: his style was goofy yet dark, scary and hilarious (scarilarious?). At this point, with the art giving Heck its weirdly beautiful face, the book was starting to crown…

Birth

And so the day arrived. The day of birth. Publication day! Frankly, there is nothing cooler than seeing your book in a store. Seriously. The pride in reading your name on a spine, right between J. M. Barrie and L. Frank Baum (in my case), is, ironically, hard to put into words. To this day, if I see my book in a store (usually a bookstore, not so much a Bed Bath and Beyond), I will tidy it up on the shelf so that it puts its best face forward (truth be told, I will sometimes do so at the detriment of Mr. Barrie and Baum).

With birth also comes parties: events to announce your book to the world! Parties filled with strangers: publicists, bookstore owners, librarians, etc. These are all great fun and are a way to get everyone excited for your book (fun fact: librarians really like free liquor…maybe they think they are merely borrowing it for 2-3 weeks before returning it). It makes you feel like you are the toast of the town. But that feeling can’t last forever, sadly…

Post-partum Depression

The attention of a publisher is like a lighthouse. It slowly rotates, in order to illuminate a landscape (in the case of the publishing industry, the works of other authors). And, like a lover’s gaze, you are warm and special…but then that gaze (or the beam of a lighthouse…sorry for the assault of metaphors) moves on, and you feel cold, alone, unloved, and stuck in the dark. 

So there’s that. But, still: there is that afterglow a new author experiences that makes them think that anything is possible. There is a bit of a publicity budget which either affords cool tchotkes (in Heck’s case, cool die-cut brochures and silly giveaway items like measuring tape that gauges “how bad you are”), or helps fund a number of scheduled appearances. And those are great. But then…it’s over. And—if, in an extreme display of idiocy, you promised a series—it’s time to get back to work. At home. Alone. In the dark…

Second Child

The second book is easier. It’s also harder. Easier because you know you can write a book this time out. A whole book. From beginning to end. And live to tell the tale (or write it, more specifically). But it’s also harder (or at least it was for me) since I took the second book a little more seriously. I was a real author now, writing a real book that a real editor and a real publishing house were waiting for. For real. 

Book Eight

And the process continued for books three, four, five, six, seven… Each book selling fewer and fewer copies, with the publicity budget and overall publishing interest dwindling in kind. 

But, like a child, a book takes on a life of its own (even books about death). You have to sort of let it go. Let it be its own entity. People will have their own unique experiences with your book. In the case of Heck, some children who didn’t like reading due to their frustration with personal learning disabilities embraced the book and vowed that it provided an entry into a world of literature: something that actually changed their lives. Conversely, there are also the “one-star reviewers” who viewed Heck as an abomination. And, at least in terms of adjective overuse and pointless asides (like this one), they very well may be right. 

So while the experience has left me with numerous emotional stretch-marks, birthing books is indeed the hardest job you’ll ever love. In many ways, my life has gone to Heck ever since. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dear readers (and labor and delivery nurses), I hope you have enjoyed this story as much as I have. I've read it over and over again, and laughed out loud. Every. Single. Time. (Sometimes in new places that I had overlooked in a previous reading). Thank you so much, Dale, for sharing your story with us, but mostly, thank you for taking my invitation to share your birth story so fantastically literally. May your books always be fruitful and multiply!

***************

Dale E. Basye is a writer, author, and bon vivant (a fancy French word that means “someone who misuses fancy French words”) who lives in Portland, Oregon, where he must—on a daily basis—wage life-or-death struggles with grizzly bears, nettled beavers, and inconsistent Wi-Fi signals.

Dale E. Basye has written stories, screenplays, essays, reviews, and lies for many publications and organizations. He was a film critic, winning several national journalism awards, and published an arts and entertainment newspaper called Tonic.  

When he isn’t writing books, which is the great majority of the time—time spent either not writing or putting off writing or planning on putting off writing—Dale enjoys riding his bicycle (or anyone’s bicycle, actually), eating tiramisu, and converting oxygen to carbon dioxide. Find out more at http://wherethebadkidsgo.com/.  

Birth Stories for Books: THE BEAR WHO COULDN'T SLEEP, by Caroline Nastro

Not too long ago, Birth Stories for Books featured a story about Wind, who is tired and needs a place to rest and another about One Snowy Day. Keeping with the themes of winter and rest, today's post features an interview with author Caroline Nastro about her book THE BEAR WHO COULDN'T SLEEP, illustrated by Vanya Nastanlieva (NorthSouth Books, 2016).

Dawn Prochovnic: Thank you for stopping by to talk with us about your picture book THE BEAR WHO COULDN’T SLEEP, Caroline. 

It’s my understanding that the birth story for this book is a bit unique in that you met your editor at a writing conference and then contracted together with illustrator, Vanya Nastanlieva, for publication of the book. Can you tell us a little bit more about your experience? 

Caroline Nastro: I was used to collaborating with artists as a theater director, and I thought it would be interesting to collaborate in a similar way with a picture book illustrator. I read a great book called Illustrating Children’s Books by Martin Salisbury who is a professor in the Children’s Book Illustration program at Cambridge School of the Arts in the UK. So I looked online and saw that the school posted the websites of their recent graduates, and I discovered an illustrator named Anca Sandu, a Romanian-born illustrator living in Portland, Oregon. Anca and I started working together and presenting our projects to publishers. Anca’s work is beautiful; she has written and illustrated several books, and her artwork for one of my manuscripts, Emmeline, was a finalist for the Katherine Patterson Prize.  So when I wrote The Bear Who Couldn’t Sleep, I showed it to Anca, and she thought that another friend of hers from Cambridge who was really good at drawing adorable animals would be a great illustrator for that book. So she put me in touch with Vanya, and that is how Vanya and I began working together! Vanya is a Bulgarian illustrator based in Cambridge, UK so it’s been a really interesting, international journey of sorts, all thanks to the internet.

A year later I was accepted to the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature Conference, and I saw that Beth Terrill from North South would be attending.  I really love the books that North South publishes, so I was keeping an eye out for Beth at the conference. And then while walking in the hall during a break at the conference, I overheard someone introduce herself as Beth Terrill from North South and there she was!  I showed her the Bear story and a few of Vanya’s pencil character sketches and that is how the process started.

Here is one of the first Bear sketches that I showed to Beth at the conference:

Early Sketch by Vanya Nastanlieva

Before the project was acquired, North South asked us for a few color samples and a few more sketches. Here are some of those:

Color Art Samples: Vanya Nastanlieva

DP: Those are lovely. I can certainly see why Beth was interested! Pitching a story alongside a collaborator's illustrations is definitely a less typical approach. With that in mind, can you share with us a little bit about the process of working together with Vanya?  

CN: In terms of how Vanya and I worked together, we did a lot of experimenting and exploring of ideas between the time that I first showed Beth the project at Rutgers and when we started working with the team at North South, which I think was really helpful to the process. When we began working with North South, we continued working in this way, with Vanya and I working together behind the scenes and then presenting sketches and storyboards to Beth and the art team at North South for their input. In a way, I acted as a kind of informal art director—Vanya would send me sketches and ideas before we presented them to North South, and I’d give my input. Since Vanya had never been to New York City, I also did photo research for her—taking pictures of Central Park in the snow and the Dinosaur Hall in the Museum of Natural History, or finding images to capture that old-school, timeless feeling of New York City that we were trying to create, such as the storefronts in the Times Square spread.

DP: It's great to hear the back story. Speaking of which, I’ve read in earlier interviews that you grew up in New York City and the idea for THE BEAR WHO COULDN’T SLEEP came to you when you were walking through Central Park on a snowy day. Can you tell us a little more about how the story idea came to you and how it developed over time? 

CN: At the time I had been reading some nineteenth century journals written by pioneer women for another project.  And it was interesting to see how closely aligned their lives were to the cycle of the seasons.  In winter, they wrote about chores such as sewing and fixing tools or making candles, but it was generally a quiet time, a hibernation of sorts. I also had just returned from spending a weekend in a cabin in the woods in northwest Connecticut where there was no electricity. It was really peaceful and quiet in the snow. And so when I was back in New York City and walking home through Central Park in the snow, it really struck me—this dichotomy between the natural world, where the plants and animals were “sleeping,” so to speak, and the world outside the park that was always in motion no matter the time of day or the season.  And then I started thinking about an animal character, a bear, who has this same feeling of urgency to always be moving, to get things done—a bear who can’t slow down or tune out the distractions, even when nature demands it. And then this bear learns that having a nice, quiet place to sleep in the winter is not all that bad; in fact, it’s perfect.  At heart, I think The Bear Who Couldn’t Sleep is really about that: the importance of stepping back, taking a breath, and seeing that the quality of what you do is often more important than the quantity; or in other words, trying to be “as present” as possible and in tune with your surroundings, something that animals naturally do.

DP: Oh, that's beautiful, Caroline. That really puts it all in perspective. Now that we're feeling all cozy, let's shift gears a bit to talk some more about process. What was the process and timeframe between that initial idea and the story that was formulated fully enough to submit to an editor? And, when you compare one of your earliest drafts of this story to the version in the published book, what stands out for you in terms of what is most different? Likewise, is there anything in particular that stands out that was included in your earliest drafts and survived the revision process?

CN: I brought the first version of the story to my children’s writers’ group at the New York Society Library, which is a wonderful resource for any NYC-based writers! This is how the story started in that version:

“Once upon a time there was a bear who could not sleep in the winter. 
While his mother and brothers slept, he lay awake. 
He counted sheep.  He drank some hot milk.
He even tried yoga.
But try as he might, he simply could not hibernate!
The leaves fell, the snow came, but still Bear could not sleep.”

In general, I included a lot more detail in the first versions of the story. I like to do that: write as many details as I can at first, “overwrite” the story, so to speak, so I can picture the world and the character’s behavior and then I pare it down, bit by bit. Oftentimes, I find that I can still feel the traces of the original story even though the words are no longer there, if that makes sense. It was about one or two drafts later that the story took on a shape that was very similar to the version that I showed Beth at Rutgers.

And then after the story was acquired by North South, Vanya and I made other changes. That was what was especially great about collaborating directly with Vanya; we could tweak the story in response to each other’s ideas. One example is the scene at the bus stop. That scene wasn’t in the text at all. But Vanya drew a sketch of Bear falling asleep at a bus stop, and then waking up amidst all of the people waiting for the bus.

Sketches by Vanya Nastanlieva

So I wrote that scene in. In another instance, Vanya and I were exploring different possibilities for the moment when Bear first arrives in the city. We wanted to show that there were a lot of exciting things going on in the city, but we also didn’t want the city to feel too overwhelming. Beth, who is an amazing editor, came up with the Thanksgiving Day Parade idea, which was perfect. And Vanya really outdid herself with that illustration.

Illustrator: Vanya Nastanlieva

I’m not sure any of these changes would have happened if not for the fact that Beth, Vanya, and I were all working so closely together. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback since about how well the illustrations and text work together, and I think our close collaboration had a lot to do with that.

DP: I would agree! (I especially love the scenes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art...Folks will just have to get the book to see that spread!) 

As you reflect on the journey from idea to published book, is there any one moment along the way that you credit with opening the door for this particular story to find its way to publication? 

CN: I think the one tangible thing that really opened up the door to publication of The Bear Who Couldn’t Sleep was that meeting with Beth Terrill, North South’s editor, at the Rutgers Conference. But what’s also interesting is that before that meeting occurred, I had had a couple of life-changing experiences, including a serious car accident, that had led me to reevaluate my life and look at my world in a completely different light. I think that is a big part of why I started writing picture books in the first place. And I wonder if that “coincidence” with Beth would have happened without those life-changing experiences, i.e. that they went hand in hand; like static electricity, they kind of “attracted” each other. For me, it’s a reassuring thought to think that no matter what is happening on a professional level, we can still be creating opportunities, moments of growth, on a personal level, which may lead to other doors opening….

DP: That's a really important reminder, Caroline. Thank you for that. Speaking of your professional life, I understand that in addition to being a picture book author, you are an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director (congratulations!). What advice would you give those of us who do not share your background in theatre/film that might be helpful?

CN: I think my experience in theater really helped me focus on the visual elements of the story while I was writing it. Even though I knew I wouldn’t be illustrating the story myself, I was always thinking about what the scenes might look like. As I was writing the story, I would picture Bear, imagining what he might do next or how he might react to a situation as if he were an actor in a film or a play.  And then I would write the text to accompany that picture. I thought of it as a kind of balancing act between what could be said better with words and what could be said better visually. That’s something you do in theater all the time, and I think it’s really helpful to use that same kind of approach when writing a picture book. You start to see places where the text isn’t really needed, where you can let the pictures tell the story.  Conversely, it also helps you to see which text is really needed, to see what words the pictures really cannot do without.  I actually think that’s what I love most about writing picture books—finding this balance between the illustrations and the words. 

So to sum up, I would say to other picture book writers who may not have this kind of theater background: Imagine a world. Think about what you see in that world, and then write text that complements (and doesn’t overshadow) that world.  Because when you give great illustrators a text that has room to breathe, they will fill that space with wonderfully inventive visuals.

DP: Yes! That is so very true. Well, before we close, is there something you wish someone would ask you about THE BEAR WHO COULDN’T SLEEP and/or your path to publication that you haven’t had the opportunity to share yet? 

CN: I would like to say how wonderful it is to be writing books for children.  I’ve been reading the great Mo Willems’ Let’s Go for A Drive lately with my toddler. And I’ve been thinking about how amazing it is that I am part of a profession where there are characters like Piggie and Gerald who want to go on a drive, and when they realize that they need a car which they don’t have, they invent a pirate ship! It’s a world without limits, where anything can happen—a place filled with hope, imagination, enthusiasm and joy.  And I think anyone who works with children or for children, who tries to look at the world through their eyes, can’t help but feel that joy and enthusiasm. It’s infectious. And it’s such a gift. No cynics allowed….

DP: I could not agree more, and I could not have said this better myself. We are so lucky to be working in this hopeful and joyful field. 

One more question before we wrap up: Do you have anything you’d like to add about what you’re currently working on?

CN: Yes, Anca and I have some interesting projects we’re working on. I’ve written a manuscript for one of Anca’s story ideas about an invisible monster, and Anca has done some beautiful sketches and watercolors for that project. Here’s one:

Artwork by Anca Sandu

And lately I’ve been re-working the text for a story called Outside Amelia’s Window about a girl in a wheelchair who is inspired to “soar” by the migrating birds outside her window.  I’ve been working on this manuscript at the Bank Street Writer’s Lab, a critique group that I joined this past year. It’s been wonderful receiving feedback from the talented and experienced writers who are members of that group.

Here is one of Anca’s illustrations for Outside Amelia’s Window:

Artwork by Anca Sandu

DP: Oh, wow, Caroline. These images are full of energy and inspiration! (I'll look forward to crossing paths with Anca someday--we live in the same town, after all!) And, speaking of inspiration, thank you for sharing your inspiring birth story for THE BEAR WHO COULDN’T SLEEP, available everywhere books are borrowed or sold. I've learned so much from you, Caroline, and I know our readers have, too. 

*****

Caroline Nastro is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and theater director. Her first picture book, The Bear Who Couldn’t Sleep, was published by North South Books in October 2016.  The Spanish edition, El osito que no se podía dormir, (translated by Mercedes Herrero) was recently named one of the Best Children's Picture Books of the Year in Spanish by the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee. Caroline currently lives in New York City.