Ask the Author: Tricia Springstubb
Answered Questions (12)
Tricia Springstubb
I'm reading about Ferdinand Magellan for my work in progress (I really am). I have ARCs of Tracey Baptiste's new Jumbies book and Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's sequel to "The War That Saved My Life". I'm also looking forward to Elizabeth Strout's new novel-in-connected-stories, "Anything is Possible", and, for fun, Weike Wang's "Chemistry". I'll probably re-read some favorite Alice Munro stories, and as always, I hope to read more poetry!!!
Tricia Springstubb
Wow. This is an amazing question. Is it okay if I steal it for my writing classes? I can think of many mysteries, but the one I'll go with is: how did I ever manage, at the age of 21, to choose the right person to marry (it's now 45 happy years later)? Do I have absolutely amazing intuition? Or have we both changed and compromised to accommodate each other? Or was there fairy dust floating in the air the day we met?
Tricia Springstubb
I love this question, though it's impossible to name only one couple. Three I adore: Frog and Toad (Lobel), Elizabeth and Darcy (Austen), and Eleanor and Park (Rowell).
Tricia Springstubb
Hi, Kris! Thanks so much for getting in touch. HarperCollins has promised the discussion guide will be ready sometime this month, July. I'll post it to my website right away, and will give you a heads-up when it's there. "Every Single Second" is a book meant to spark lots of questions and start many conversations, so I really appreciate your considering it for your book group. Best wishes, Tricia
Tricia Springstubb
Hi, Antonia, and thanks very much for getting in touch. I'm guessing you mean "Every Single Second", and yes, I totally think you can read it. It deals with serious issues, but never in a graphic way. The shooting is reported, not witnessed. Also, it's about things like friendship and donuts and pesky little brothers!! I DO hope that someone else, your friend or someone in your family, will read it, too, because there are lots of things to discuss. Please let me know what you think of the story, and again, thanks so much for writing. Happy reading!
Tricia Springstubb
"Every Single Second", my new middle grade novel, will publish on June 7. "Moonpenny Island" comes out in paperback the same wonderful day!
Tricia Springstubb
The ideas for my work come from everywhere—memories, overheard scraps of conversation, things I read in the newspaper, stories my friends or family tell. But the ongoing inspiration, what keeps me working and working to turn those ideas into the best books I can, is children themselves. Stories matter so deeply to them. They take my story and they make it their own. Knowing that will always inspire me.
Tricia Springstubb
Karen, I'm very excited, too! Congratulations to your son—can't wait to meet him! FOX STREET was inspired by an actual incident here in Cleveland, where developers and the mayor planned to use eminent domain to demolish a small working class neighborhood and replace the homes with high-end condos and retail. The neighborhood fought back! I followed the conflict from a distance, and began to imagine what it would be like to be a 10 year old girl living on one of those streets, all her life contained there. Mo's losing her mother, her sister Dottie, Mercedes and Da, the quest for the fox: all that came from my imagination (though when I was little, my friends and I did have a secret hide-out/clubhouse in a nearby field!). Hope that answers the question—and see you soon!
Tricia Springstubb
If you want to be a reader, read. If you want to be a writer, read and write.
Tricia Springstubb
Getting to have more than one life!
Tricia Springstubb
The idea for "Moonpenny Island" came from the visits I make every year to a tiny island in Lake Erie. In summer and autumn it's busy with tourists like me, but I've always wondered what it would be like to live there year round. The population shrinks to less than 200. There's a school with fewer than 20 kids, fresh food has to be flown in on a little plane, and people need to depend on each other for better or for worse. My island is even smaller, and further from the mainland. I loved living there while I wrote!
Tricia Springstubb
I just finished the copy-edits for my new middle grade novel, "Moonpenny Island". It publishes in February! I'm also looking forward to seeing the finished sketches and cover, by the wonderful Eliza Wheeler, for my new chapter book, "Cody and the Fountain of Happiness", coming out in April. Two books in one year for me--that's a big and exciting first.
My work in progress is a middle grade novel that's darker than anything I've done before. It deals with fate vs. choice and which matters more--what we think and feel or what we do. The working title is "Just a Second" and that is all I can say for now!
I've also got another Cody book in the works! These happy books are so much fun to write.
My work in progress is a middle grade novel that's darker than anything I've done before. It deals with fate vs. choice and which matters more--what we think and feel or what we do. The working title is "Just a Second" and that is all I can say for now!
I've also got another Cody book in the works! These happy books are so much fun to write.
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