Okay. My blog title has little to do with the actual blog post, but I'm nonetheless excited to share Crooked Book's first interview. Fellow author and blueboarder, Anna Staniszewski, has agreed to answer
pressing questions about her new novel, My Epic Fairy
Tale Fail, which is scheduled for March 2013, as well as her first
picture book, Dogosaurus
Rex, coming from Henry Holt in Spring 2014. Let’s start with the
important stuff.
(1)
Anna, thank you for stopping by. What’s your favorite funny word? Mine is
weasel.
Definitely
"duck." The word is just fun to say, and it rhymes with lots of
things. Plus, ducks are the funniest. They waddle. They quack. They wiggle
their feathery bottoms. You really can't go wrong with a duck.
(2)
Does this word appear frequently in your new novel?
Sadly, no, but I think
that's something that needs to be rectified immediately. Thank you for pointing
out this huge duck oversight!
(3)
Okay, now I need to know more about My Epic Fairy Tale Fail. It’s a sequel, right?
Yes! The first book,
My Very UnFairy Tale Life, came out in November 2011. In the sequel, Jenny the
Adventurer is back, solving more magical problems, encountering ridiculous
fairy tale creatures, and trying to find her long-lost parents.
(3) I love the title.
How was writing a sequel? Were there any “Ack! Pressure!” moments?
The hardest part of
writing the sequel, by far, was the beginning. It was a challenge to weave in
background info to remind readers of what had happened in the previous book,
but to do it in an active and interesting way. The original opening chapter was
the main character and her friends sitting around, chatting. It was BORING.
Finally, I scrapped the opening all-together and started over. Instead of
focusing on setting up the story for those who hadn't read the first one, I
focused on making the opening funny and exciting. Thankfully, that took some of
the "sequel pressure" out of the process.
(4) I think it is
great that you write novels AND picture books. How do you compare the two
processes?
Overall, they're not
that different. There's a lot of brainstorming, revising, cutting, and
polishing that goes into both. I would say the main difference is how much work
happens on and off the page. With novels, I tend to spend a lot of time
reworking scenes and playing around with them in the document. With picture
books, I find that I often need to put the whole manuscript aside and just
stare out a window for a while. I also tend to write picture books out by hand
while I stick to my laptop when working on novels. Somehow it's easier to find
the exact right words when I have pen and paper in front of me.
(5) How did Dogosaurus
Rex come about?
Not long after my
husband and I adopted our black Lab, Emma, I was getting ready to take her for
a walk. She was squeaking her furry head off, trying to hurry me along, so I
said, "Hold on, dogosaurus. We're going!" The minute the words were
out of my mouth, something clicked in my head. As I walked the dog that
morning, my brain kept playing with the idea of a dog/dinosaur character.
Eventually, after many many revisions, that idea turned into an actual story.
(5) When you first
began writing for kids did you start with novels, or picture books?
For years I thought of
myself only as a novelist, mostly because I was so wordy. I couldn't imagine
being limited to so few words! But eventually, as I learned to focus and cut
and tighten my writing, I became more comfortable with the picture book format.
Now I love working on picture books. They're challenging but in a way that I
find invigorating.
(6) Do you have any
advice for an author aspiring to write in both formats?
Well, since I've
mentioned focusing, cutting, and tightening a few times already, I would say
that's my main advice. Learn to really boil down what your story is about and
try to pinpoint how your character will change from the beginning of the story
to the end. And don't be afraid to cut! I know your words can feel like precious
gems, but they're not. They're replaceable. And sometimes, you need to flush
those darlings down the toilet and start over. It will pay off. I promise.
Thank you so much for sharing your time with me
and my readers. I look forward to your new releases!
For more information about amazing Anna visit
her website at: http://www.annastan.com