Jane Yolen's Blog, page 5

Wednesday Q & J: May 17, 2023

Q:  If you weren’t a writer, what would you want to be?

 

J: A ballerina, (I studied at Balanchine’s School of American ballet (from ages 7-14) but they have the half-life of a writer. And if you dance in toe shoes, your toes bleed. A teacher (but then I already teach writing and have taught literature at Smith College). A pirate queen except I don’t handle guns or swords and I get seasick.  Best to just write about them.

Wednesday Q & J: May 10, 2023

Q: What do you think is the best line you’ve ever written?

J: “Under a shining Owl Moon.”

 

Follow up Q: How did that line happen?  And, why do you think it works so well?

J: I can’t remember any big struggle with that last line. My big struggle in the book–a 20 year struggle by the way–was finding the voice of the character who is telling the story. The long poem seemed to complete itself as my poems and picture books often do.  Perhaps the pages that are collected at the Kerlan Collection in Minneapolis, where all of my manuscripts go, would tell a different tale of that ending. But honestly, what I remember it now–sixty?  years later, is that the last line  just completed itself perfectly. without any more attention from me.

EVERYTHING LEADS UP TO THE LAST LINE….and sometimes I struggle, (especially with novels..) But this is a picture book, and actually a long poem.

This was a time when the last line just seemed to write itself.

 

Note: Owl Moon was published in 1988 (not quite 60 years ago, even if it feels that way!)

Wednesday Q & J: May 3, 2023

Q: What is the best piece of advice anyone else ever gave you?    How did it help you?

 

J:  My agent Marilyn Marlow told me: “if she turns it down, we’ll send it elsewhere…” Also when I asked her if I should write some of the books under a pseudonym,” and she said….”Too late!”  In the first instance, she was telling me there were still many other editors and publishing companies and lots of time… and in the second she reminded me that some people actually wanted MY name on the book.

 

Note: Marilyn Marlow passed away in 2003 and she is greatly missed.

Wednesday Q & J: April 26, 2023

Q: How do you feel about reviews?

 

J: DEPENDS ON THE REVIEWS!!!!  One is always looking for a “money review,” ie. one the publisher can use to help sell the book.

But even bad or slightly “meh” reviews often have a quotable liner or two. As an ex-reviewer myself, I understand that a review can be written on a bad day, or in a hurry, or by someone who has never liked one’s work, or by an adoring ex-student fan, etc. To take them personally is to bring yourself down with no recourse. Publicly arguing with a reviewer always puts the author in a bad light. So shrug, find a single good sentence or phrase or word if one is there. Then move on.

Wednesday Q & J: April 19, 2023

Q: What do you love most when you’re writing about each of the different genres of children’s books?

 

J: That’s a tough question, but first let me tell you what I love about all of them: that first burst of an idea, the first words I put down. Of course, then there is a long slog where I might have a thrill here or there when something comes together. But when it is finished the first time, I am in love with the piece……Until I re-read it. And then it is slog time again. Good books are re-written, not just written.

Poems, because they are shorter, have all that condensed. But a good poem, like a good picture book, delivers on the promise of the opening at the end.

Picture books–when I get an idea, I want to sit right down and write the whole thing all at once. But I know from long experience that a picture book can take as long as a single sitting or twenty years (How Do dinosaurs Say Goodnight was written as a poem in a single sitting for an editor’s child who hated to go to bed and loved dinosaurs and the editor told me it was a book. Truly! Owl Moon took twenty years to write–it was a family story of ours and I had trouble deciding who was going to be the narrator, among many other things.). So, I no longer get depressed if it not a one—sitter. But what I love about picture books the most is they are usually totally lyrical, condensed, and end with a big pow or revelation at the end.

What I love about writing novels is the surprise every few pages when something seems to reveal itself to me. I am not a plotter, but the kind of writer who (especially in novels) flies into the mist. And the surprise of what always seems to happen at the end is my favorite part.

Wednesday Q & J, April 12, 2023

Q:  Sometimes you write only poetry for a while and not any prose. Or the other way around. Is there a reason for this?

 

J:  I cannot explain how sometimes I am in poetry mode, sometimes prose. It is one of those deep mysteries of my writing life. It has nothing to do with weather….but rather whether or not I feel pome-ish. Often I feel that one poem tumbles into the next. But with novels, if I am on a roll, it is one sentence, one long idea, which some call a plot but I do not.

Distinguish between plot and ideas?  Sure…one is linear and the other is not. One builds up steps for the main character to fall down. The other puzzles over the steps, decides to paint them green or gray, or make the steps into a sidewalk instead, or just sit for a while on the step and contemplate the local fauna, or fall into a great dream, or…. Yep, not at all alike.Then why is plot–which in my summary sounds so easy, as easy as…well….falling down those stairs… so difficult for me whilethe pantsers way–fly into the mist–is the way I make my plots a piece of cake? If I knew the answer to that, I would sell it on the internet and rise a billion dollars. It just bloody well is what it is.

What to do with a Stick

Illustrated by Paolo Domeniconi
Creative Editions (March 14, 2023)
ISBN 10: #568463650
ISBN 13: 1568463650

Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate the remarkable joys of a sick that can anchor a daydream, fend off monsters, and even make music.

What reviewers have said:

“Yolen’s rhyming meter is flawless and begs for the story to be read aloud, which is the best way to share a book with a child. Like a favorite song, you may even find yourself reciting certain lines to one another… Fighting a dragon, anchoring a boat, fishing—each image imparts the magic of youth that Yolen’s words are meant to portray. What to Do with a Stick is a book your children will enjoy looking through even when they can’t read. This will only make it more enjoyable when they start putting the rhyming words together themselves.” — NY Journal of Books“Stick with this story—it’s a winner…a love letter to both creativity and the childhood exuberance of imaginative play…Readers, both solo and in large groups, will love the rhymes, the big, bold illustrative choices, and the message that imagination is the best playmate of them all.” — Kirkus Reviews

Get WHAT TO DO WITH A STICK from:

 

JY Interviewed by Worcester Book Stop

Wednesday Q & J: April 5, 2023

Q: Tell us about the Jane Yolen Cabin at The Highlights Foundation.

J: Many of the cabins at Highlights are dedicate to particular writers who have taught there. And then the author (if alive) sends stuff from their private collections –favorite tea, or hat worn when writing, or books they wrote, or books they love, or trinkets, etc. Then someone–the author, a friend, a daughter (mine), etc. who goes to collate what has been sent. and Viola! now the cabin can be lived in by someone teaching or learning at a Highlights conference.

A note from daughter Heidi: Additionally, there is a Jane Yolen & Heidi EY Stemple scholarship at Highlights for which anyone can apply. For more information about the Jane Yolen Cabin or the scholarship, visit:

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Wednesday Q & J: March 29, 2023

Q: What was your first book?

J: My first book with my name on it was PIRATES IN PETTICOATS, a nonfiction book about women pirates. But–a not so secret secret–my father who was the World Champion Kite Flier, was asked to write THE YOUNG SPORTSMAN’S GUIDE TO KITE FLYING part of a series of books about kids and sports.  He loved writing his name on the bottom of the contract, and signing his name on the front of the book for book buyers. But I wrote the entire book for him and it was REALLY my first book.