Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 15

Author Interview: Peggy Thomas

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Meet Author Peggy Thomas!

Website: Peggy Thomas Writes

Blog: Anatomy of Nonfiction

Email: PegTWrite@gmail.com

Bio:

Peggy Thomas is the author of 25 award-winning books for children and young adults, and co-author of Anatomy of Nonfiction, a guide to writing true stories for children. Her newest book is George Washington Carver for Kids. Check out her website for more information.

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Featured Book

George Washington Carver for Kids

by Peggy Thomas

Chicago Review Press, 2019

George Washington Carver was a scientist, educator, artist, inventor, and humanitarian. Born into slavery during the Civil War, he later pursued an education and would become the first black graduate from Iowa Agricultural College. Carver then took a teaching position at the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington. There, Carver taught poor Southern farmers how to nourish the soil, conserve resources, and feed their families. He also developed hundreds of new products from the sweet potato, peanut, and other crops, and his discoveries gained him a place in the national spotlight.

George Washington Carver for Kids tells the inspiring story of this remarkable American. It includes a time line, resources for further research, and 21 hands-on activities to help better appreciate Carver’s genius. Kids will: •Turn a gourd into a decorative bowl• Construct a model of a sod house• Brew ginger tea• Create paints using items found in nature• Grow sweet potatoes• Build a compost bin for kitchen and yard waste• Learn how to pickle watermelon rinds• And more!

INTERVIEW:

Q: What drew you to George Washington Carver?

A: Honestly? Market research. I received a great tip from one of my favorite authors (Nancy) that Chicago Review Press For Kids series liked to cover the basics, even if there were dozens of other books on the topic. I’ve always admired the series, so I analyzed their list, and discovered that they did not have a book on Carver who is commonly featured in teachers’ units on inventors, agriculture, and for Black History Month.

Q: What was your research process like?

A: I began on the couch surfing the net, making lists of books I needed to read and places I wanted to visit. In Diamond, Missouri, on the site where Carver was born, is the GWC National Monument. I walked the woods he played in as a boy, and visited the one-room schoolhouse he attended. The park ranger Curtis Gregory pulled out interview transcripts of people who remembered Carver, and guided me to the most reliable sources.

My next stop was Tuskegee University Archives where I held a slice of the Carver meteorite, and saw what remained of Carver’s research notebooks after his lab burned down. Dana Chandler, the archivist, helped me keep Carver in the proper perspective. Carver was a product of his time, but after his death, he was portrayed as a scientific genius. Hopefully readers will find a balanced portrayal and learn a few new things about him.

Q: How is writing mid-grade different from writing picture books?

A: I forgot how much I missed writing mid-grade and YA nonfiction. My 48-page nonfiction picture books typically have 3000-4000 words. George Washington Carver for Kids has ten times that amount. It felt luxurious. I could explore tangents, flesh out characters, and even speculate. My favorite part in the book is a sidebar called “Rock City — Did he or Didn’t He?” I had found out that Carver, a serious rock-hound, once lived 3 miles from an amazing geological site called Rock City. In the middle of a flat prairie sit these massive spheres that look like giants just abandoned a game of marbles. There is no evidence that he visited Rock City, but as I say in the book, surely one of his many friends must have mentioned it. And how could he have resisted? I didn’t know if the editors would like it or not, but they did. I think it’s fun to do things like that, to peak a child’s sense of wonder.

Q: Is there a word of advice you’d like to share with other writers?

A: Find your tribe. When I was starting out, I was spoiled to be in a critique group with my mother, an accomplished author, and several of her amazing writer friends. I soaked up every word they uttered. After my mother died, I floundered on my own. I missed having that knowledgeable sounding board to bounce ideas off, learn from, and gripe to. Now, I feel twice blessed to have found another stellar group of writers (the Nonfiction Ninjas) who continue to help me grow. It’s hard to do this job alone. Find a critique group that works for you. There is strength in numbers.

Oldie But Goodie: Sensory Details

Here’s another post from days gone by on my blog. I hope you can get some good strategies to use if you didn’t yet read it:

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We can make our story 3-D by adding sensory details.

Sight: What does our character see?

Smell: What does she smell each time she walks into a certain room?

Touch: What does she feel brush across the back of her neck or poke her in the ribs? Hear: What does she hear going on in the background of the scene?

Taste: What yummy treat does she eat at the circus?

When I write, I write in layers. Meaning that first I just need to get the story that is in my brain and in my heart out on paper.

Then I go back in and plug in important things like sensory details.

I just go through and find several key spots (in a picture book) where I can plug in a sensory detail–in space this tight with limited word count–hopefully in just a word, a phrase, or a short sentence.

Go back through and check your manuscript for sensory details. It will really make your story come alive!

And if you’re not sure how to plug in sensory details, just look at your mentor text(s). Read through them and see how they plugged in the sights, sounds, and smells of that topic.

Oldie But Goodie: Plot Worksheet

Right now I’m working on a brand new picture book concept. And I’m plotting it out using a worksheet I love to use. Here’s a former oldie but goodie post I made awhile back on my blog to share this worksheet with you. Enjoy!

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, magazine stories or picture books or chapter books or novels, brainstorming a basic plot structure to use will improve your manuscript guaranteed.

I often use a worksheet, “The Basic Plot Worksheet A,” I created for my own writing projects. The results have been amazing! For the first time EVER I’m getting feedback from editors that my manuscripts are much stronger…and sometimes don’t need major edits at all!

You can download and print out this worksheet by visiting my site, Writing According to Humphrey and Friends. Scroll down the page to CHARTS AND WORKSHEETS TO GET ORGANIZED FOR SUCCESS and click on the “Basic Plot Worksheet A.”

Here’s how to fill this out:

* Fill in the stats in the left column. If you don’t yet have a title for your article or story, just write down a keyword.

-Write your name as the Author.

-Write the name of your target publisher if you have one, otherwise leave blank.

-Write the year as the copyright date. You won’t know until you get a contract whether your publisher or you will own the copyright.

-Write the age of the reader as the Target Age.

-Write your estimated word count of the finished manuscript.

-Add any notes you want to add.

*Now let’s look at the plot chart.

Notice how each story or article has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The middle is divided into two halves.

Beginning

1st half of the Middle

2nd half of the Middle

End

On your chart in the “Beginning” column under “How does the story start?” write down how you want your story to begin. If writing fiction or creative nonfiction, be sure to introduce your main character and the main problem she’ll be battling with throughout the story. If writing nonfiction, be sure to include a hook to grab your reader’s interest.

On the line for “Change 1:” write down a significant change (either emotionally or in the action or in the progression of information) that happens to the character or topic to start the middle of the story or article.

Then under the “1st Half of the Middle” column, write down 3 examples or anecdotes you want to write about in this section to show your MC trying to solve her problem (fiction) or that presents the information you want to share (nonfiction).

On the line for “Change 2:” write down the significant change that moves your character or topic into the next section.

This “middle line of the Middle” of the story or article is the turning point of the plot. It’s the place something important happens in fiction or creative nonfiction that moves the character toward the finish line with no turning back. It’s the place in nonfiction that the information you present is crucial to how your piece will wrap up at the end.

Next, for the “2nd Half of the Middle,” find 3 examples or anecdotes that I want to include here that propels your reader toward the ending. The obstacles should be getting bigger and bigger. The tension should be building.

On the line for “Change 3:” write the single incident that launches your character (fiction or creative nonfiction) or information (nonfiction) to the climax of your manuscript. Then in the column for “How does the story end” list 3 elements to wrap your story or article up with a satisfying end.

This exercise will go quickly for you if you already have solid ideas for your story (fiction and creative nonfiction) or have researched your topic (nonfiction) and already have the basic facts in your head. If you haven’t yet brainstormed your story or researched your topic, don’t despair! Just take your time and enjoy the process of filling out this form. Then take time to brainstorm your story or dig around and research your topic until you have the information you need to fill out each part of the chart.

When you’re done with the worksheet, make a file folder for it and label it “Plot Worksheet” so you can keep it in one handy place in your file pocket of folders.

This worksheet will really pay off at the end. Your writing will be tight and to the point. It will help you not get writer’s block because you will already have a roadmap to follow when you sit down to write.

Oldie But Goodie: Picture Book Rubric

Here’s a former post from my blog that I thought you might enjoy if you missed it the first time.

Rubrics are great tools to use as writers. They’re a kind of check list you can go through to evaluate your own manuscripts, manuscripts people bring to a critique group, and published articles or books.

The first page of a picture book is very important. The first page of a successful picture book contains essential ingredients.

To make the first page of a picture book manuscript shine to catch an agent’s or editor’s eye, use this rubric and evaluate it. Mark its strengths and weaknesses. Then brainstorm ideas to take it up a notch based on your evaluation.

And if you’re studying a picture book that’s already published in the market today, use this rubric to learn why it works…or doesn’t.

To download a copy of your very own FIRST PAGE PICTURE BOOK RUBRIC, visit the site of my writing buddies, Writing According to Humphrey and Friends. Click on the link for the FIRST PAGE PICTURE BOOK RUBRIC, download it, print it out and add it to your personal writer’s notebook.

Free Writer’s Retreat: Customize Your Options

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The key to hosting your own (AND AMAZING) free writer’s retreat is to customize it to meet your needs.

For example, let’s talk about the answers you gave for the questions I asked in my last post:

1. Expect to have your meals and snacks provided?

If yes, (that’s what I would expect) here’s what I do: The week or so before I schedule my stay-home retreat, I make dinner each night as usual. Except I do one thing different. I double the recipe. Yup. If I’m making a quiche, I make 2 instead. If I’m making mashed potatoes, I double the number of potatoes in the pot. If I’m cooking a simple pot of soup, I make 2 pots instead. And then I freeze whatever we don’t eat.

This not only provides instant frozen dinners for me during my writing retreat, it also provides dinner for my hubby, too! Often I freeze portions in plastic containers in single servings and sometimes I put several items on a paper plate and freeze it that way. It practically takes no extra time to double a recipe and it gives me so much more time to enjoy my writer’s retreat!

So if you’re the chief cook and bottle washer in your household, the next couple of meals you cook, just double them, and freeze them for the best frozen dinners ever! All your family has to do is heat ’em up and serve while you’re working away on your writing project.

2. Have hours of uninterrupted time to write?

If yes, then do whatever it takes to make sure you get hours of uninterrupted time to write at your stay-home retreat. If you left for three days, would you make arrangements for your neighbor to walk your dog? If you left for three days would you ask your in-laws to pick the kids up from school for the afternoon? If you left for three days, would you take 3 days off from work? Then do the same for your very own free writer’s retreat that you’re taking at home. You can do it!

3. Need exercise breaks?

If yes, be sure to schedule in breaks during your very own personal writer’s retreat. Just be sure that you “IMAGINE” that you’re still away on an expensive retreat and not dawdle your break away and lose your focus.

4. Want brainstorming sessions (either by yourself or with other writers)?

If yes, be sure to schedule in brainstorming sessions along with uninterrupted writing time. If you want to brainstorm with other writers, skype or facetime works wonders!

5. Want group time for feedback on your manuscript’s progress?

If yes, invite some cyber writer friends to skype or facetime at specific times during your retreat to discuss your work you’ve been accomplishing. Most writing buddies are thrilled to get some shared critique time.

6. Turn your cell phone off for long periods of time?

If you would turn off your cell phone during teaching sessions or critique sessions or writing sessions at a retreat you paid $3000 to attend, then go ahead and turn it off for your very own stay-home retreat.

7. Spend some of your time on social media?

If you would minimize social media during an expensive retreat, minimize it during your own personal retreat, too. Just imagine what you would do at an expensive writer’s retreat and do the same at home.

8. Want any other type of activity or perk included in your retreat package?

Be sure to schedule this into your day! For example, if you want to listen to a best-selling author or top editor at an expensive writing retreat, search online for free webinars and schedule some watching time into your own personal retreat.

The bottom line is, give some thought on what you would expect your day(s) to look like if you paid the big bucks and went away. Then work it into your own schedule and make it happen…all for free…and all in the comfort of your very own home! It will be AMAZING!

Jane Austen Popcorn

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This week to celebrate the launch of my brand new book, I’m hosted at the super fun blog, NineteenTeen: Being a Teen in the Nineteenth Century.

I love the focus of this blog. Plus, 19Teen asked me some super interesting questions about my journey with all-things-Jane.

Come join in the excitement and hop on over to read the interview. CLICK HERE to visit NineteenTeen.

And to make it even more fun, I’m inviting you to post a comment on NineteenTeen’s blog. Go ahead and ask me any question about what went into writing this book, Jane Austen for Kids. Anything! This is your chance to get your curiosity satisfied! I’ll post my answer to your questions as a reply.

 

Free Writer’s Retreat: Set Priorities

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As children’s writers, we have imaginary worlds at our fingertips. For the imaginary characters we create, we develop where they go and when.

Why not use these skills for creative imagination and PRETEND we’re going on a $3000 writer’s retreat…yet host our writer’s retreat in our very own home and not break our bank account?!!!!

To help you imagine what this amazing retreat can look like, ask yourself these questions so you can set your priorities straight:

IF YOU PAID $3000 TO FLY ACROSS COUNTRY TO ATTEND A 3-DAY WRITER’S RETREAT, WOULD YOU:

1. Expect to have your meals and snacks provided?

2. Have hours of uninterrupted time to write?

3. Need exercise breaks?

4. Want brainstorming sessions (either by yourself or with other writers)?

5. Want group time for feedback on your manuscript’s progress?

6. Turn your cell phone off for long periods of time?

7. Spend some of your time on social media?

8. Want any other type of activity or perk included in your retreat package?

We’ll talk about some of your potential answers to these questions in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Free Writer’s Retreat: You’re Invited!

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As some of you know, this past Christmas, my husband and I moved. As you may guess, our life turned upside-down for awhile. Especially since this move was unexpected, (a house unexpectedly went for sale close to our grandkids), my life felt unorganized for several months as we were living out of boxes and didn’t have phone or internet (we still don’t have internet yet but are learning to manage with a personal hotspot!).

Needless to say, my writing schedule took a trip to the South Pole and looked in danger of never returning. I had writing commitments for which I couldn’t even find my important papers or boxes of key research notes. Yikes!

Finally, out of desperation, I booked myself for a writer’s retreat. And after several days of being “away,” I finally got my writing priorities back on track.

The great thing about this writer’s retreat is that it’s free! I wanted to invite you to go, too. Especially if you have a writing project that just isn’t being attended to lately in your busy life, a writer’s retreat could be just the thing you need.

Here’s the scoop:

Host your very own personal writer’s retreat in your very own home!

If you signed up to go to an expensive writer’s retreat such as Highlights, you’d mark it on your calendar, tell all your friends and family, get the days off work, hire a babysitter, and disappear for several days while you gloriously bask in all things writing.

So for starters, choose the dates for your very own personal writer’s retreat. Clear your calendar of any commitments and reschedule appointments if necessary. Make all the arrangements as if you were actually traveling to attend a writer’s retreat. Treat your very own personal writer’s retreat as if it’s the most expensive retreat in the world.

In upcoming posts, I’ll give you some tips on how to make your very own personal writer’s retreat AMAZING!

Author Interview: Lisa Amstutz

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Meet Author Lisa Amstutz

Website: Lisa J. Amstutz: Author, Editor, Ecologist

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLisaAmstutz/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ljamstutz

Bio:

Lisa Amstutz is the author of more than 100 children’s books, including Applesauce Day (2017) and Finding a Dove for Gramps (2018).

Lisa specializes in topics related to science and sustainability. Her work has also appeared in a wide variety of magazines and newspapers. Lisa serves as a volunteer judge at Rate Your Story and as assistant regional advisor for SCBWI: Northern Ohio. Her background includes a B.A. in Biology and an M.S. in Ecology/Environmental Science.

When she’s not writing, you may find Lisa hiking in the woods or enjoying a cup of tea and a good book. She lives with her family on a small-scale farm, in Ohio. Lisa is represented by Victoria Selvaggio of Storm Literary Agency.

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Featured Book:

Finding a Dove for Gramps

by Lisa J. Amstutz

Art by Maria Luisa Do Gravio

A boy and his mom continue the family tradition of participating in the annual bird count. Since Gramps went South for the winter, the boy hopes to spot Gramps’s favorite bird for him…a dove! But with so many different birds in the nature preserve, will he be able to spot one? This heart-warming family story about nature celebrates a holiday census that was first started in 1900 and happens every year.

As a fun surprise, we have a guest post by Lisa today on one of the strategies she uses to land so many book contracts. Thanks, Lisa, for sharing with us an inside peek on your successful career as a children’s writer!

Just Pitch It!

By Lisa Amstutz

While some types of books need to be submitted as full manuscripts…picture books and novels, for example…many nonfiction books can be sold as a proposal. Magazines often request proposals for nonfiction articles as well.

This model can be an advantage for editors, as they can help to shape the piece before you write it. And of course it’s a boon for the writer, as it takes much less time to write a proposal than a whole manuscript.

However, writing a good proposal does take time. Most publishers want a cover letter, bio, list of comparable titles, and a synopsis or outline along with several sample chapters. Some add other requirements to this list.

After writing several proposals only to be told that they were too similar to an existing book, I decided to try taking Nancy’s advice: taking a step back and pitching some ideas first to gauge an editor’s interest, especially when targeting an existing series. That way, if they already have something in the pipeline or simply aren’t interested, you haven’t wasted a lot of time writing a proposal.

I started by studying Chicago Review Press’s online catalog. I came up with several topics that could fit into one of their existing series, then I emailed the series editor to see if she’d have interest in seeing a proposal for any of them. After a phone chat, I wrote up a proposal for the one she seemed most interested in, and ended up getting a contract for Amazing Amphibians, which will be published in 2019.

When I found myself rooming with Nancy at a retreat last spring, I got to thank her for her advice in person. This is definitely a technique I’ll be trying again in the future!

Thanks again for sharing, Lisa! It was so exciting to meet you AND be your roomie at the retreat. Best wishes with your writing!

Another Book Giveaway for Janeites!

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Would you like another chance to win a free copy of my newest book, JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS?

The wonderful site, Jane Austen’s World, is hosting a giveaway for two lucky winners. CLICK HERE to visit Jane Austen’s World. Be sure to hop on over and post a comment to get your name in the hat.

And as an extra special bonus, you’ll get to share in my experience as I visited Jane’s final resting place on the 200th year anniversary of her death. It was an unforgettable day, and one that I want to share with all of you.