We’re switching things up a bit with an interivew I did for kidlit author Mary Boone’s blog. Have you checked out Mary’s fascinating book, Unfathomable: 20 Wild (But True) Stories About the Ocean, illus. Max Temescu (Bright Matter Books)?
Here’s my review:
Where’s Mary Boone? You can meet her in person at the following events:
Since we’ve both been crazy-busy lately, Mary Boone’s Six Questions interview of yours truly landed here, but please make sure you visit her site and read about other Kidlit creators.
Erin answers Mary Boone’s six QUESTIONS:
Q 1. Once you’ve created a first draft, what’s your next step? Critique group? Check in with your agent? Tuck it away to let it age?
Erin Dealey: Every book is different, but typically I will start with a messy first draft. Then I’ll share the concept with my agent and clean up the manuscript (I write in longhand at first, so this means getting to my laptop.) to share it with my critique partners. (Shout out to authors Patricia Newman and Lori Mortensen aka the PBJs –Picture Book Jammers.)
However, in the case of Squirrel Draws BIG Feelings, illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell was in it from the start because I was inspired by the incredible 3-D chalk art designs she created at a nearby park during COVID. You can see some of them here on Jena Benton’s Simply Seven blog. So, with Squirrel, I actually sent the initial draft to Lu, who immediately started creating thumbnails and samples of art to go with it.
I certainly didn’t expect this, but she was so excited, she just jumped in! The crazy thing is we went through so many different versions before we landed on Squirrel, Porcupine, and Bear’s story. And Luciana illustrated every single incarnation. She is amazing!
Q 2. What was the process/ timeline for this book, from idea to publishing?
Erin Dealey: Friends, this book is an example of never giving up. As mentioned above, it was inspired by Luciana’s chalk drawings back during Covid. So our timeline started in 2020! Early early drafts had Bear as the main character. Luciana talks about this timeline and you can see an early illustration of Bear here.
If you’re doing the math you’ve discovered it took six years for Squirrel Draws BIG Feelings to go from idea to publication but I honestly feel it’s way more relevant today, so the timing is actually perfect. One very important lesson I’ve learned over and over in Kidlit is that writing children’s books is a marathon –not a sprint. I’m endlessly grateful to Luciana and our agent Deborah Warren at East West Literary for believing in it from the start. And huge thanks to our wonderful Beaming Books editor Naomi Krueger, this story has grown into exactly what it was meant to be.
Q 3. What has helped you build resilience along the bumpier parts of your path to publication?
Erin Dealey: I firmly believe that the many “hats” I’ve worn in my life have all come together in this #kidlit life of mine. My career as a theater educator, director, and actor taught me early on that rejection is not personal.
When you aren’t cast in a production –whether on stage or in film or TV—it’s not because you aren’t talented. It’s because the director has a different vision of that project. This has helped me many times when my manuscripts have not instantly found a publisher (Some are still waiting, believe me.) I am not afraid to revisit a manuscript and play around with different versions. Writing is a Language ART, and isn’t that what artists do?
My motto is: It only takes one YES. I have learned that a rejection means that editor is not invested enough to want to move the story forward and give it the attention it deserves. And sometimes that means I need to pivot and revise–again. But the best news is someone else is out there who will believe in it as much as you do. Never give up!
Q 4. Do you work on multiple projects at the same time?
Erin Dealey: I do, yes, but they are all in different stages of development. For example, right now I am happily waiting for edits from an editor on my latest book. (Can’t share any more yet, but I am SO EXCITED!)
Meanwhile, I have been busy with Squirrel Launch Parties with PreK-1st grade classes—and many buckets of chalk—haha. We’re having so much fun!
At the same time, I have a messy first draft of something that popped into my head recently. And I am almost finished with a draft of a one act play. (Another creative “hat” I wear is playwright for young adult theater groups. See Uproar.com for my plays.)
Q 5. What’s a particularly striking or memorable reaction someone has had to this book?
Erin Dealey: We have had so many wonderful reactions in the past few weeks since Squirrel… released on April 7th !
One of my favorites is when a dad wrote to tell me the second he and his daughter were done reading the book, she wanted to dig out her bucket of chalk so they could go outside and draw! Oh my bookness –what music to my ears!
Q 6. Who should read this book?
Erin Dealey: Besides kids, teachers, counselors, librarians, parents and caregivers around the world, I would love it so much if ART teachers and ART Museum curators, and COUNSELORS would read and share this book.
Art is for everyone. Let’s face it, the world needs art more than ever. Right? Art can help us all express those BIG feelings we have been having lately. I sincerely hope each of us feels the urge to dig out that bucket of chalk and DRAW.
Next up on the blog:
We’ve Got Mail –an #AuthorLife appreciation for the wonderful student letters from the past school year + busy #Educators who go the extra mile EVERY DAY.
And on June 30th:
We chat with Nazanin Agange Ford about her must-read, new picture book,
My America Blooms
Illus. by Fateme Mokhles (Beaming Books).
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