You Will Be Edited

I recently read this great post at Writer Unboxed on editorial feedback. It caused me to think of some exchanges I have had with authors who asked me to read their manuscript, but who came away shocked that I dared to suggest that the manuscript might require some changes. Yet their goal was to be traditionally published. (If you went to VCFA, I’m not referring to you. Please go directly to the next paragraph.)

Those who were shocked about suggested changes were authors new to writing who also had, I’m guessing, a preconceived idea not only about manuscript quality but also about how much time the manuscript process “should” take. If you’ve written a book and revised it to a polished stated, you want to be done with it. I get that. No one relishes the thought of going back through a manuscript yet again, especially if you’ve lived with it for some time. But agents may request that you make changes, even if your manuscript already is highly polished. Editors certainly will. Changes take time and energy. The route to traditional publishing is sometimes slow and fraught with people asking for manuscript changes.

Even if your book has sold to a publisher and you spent years writing and revising it, that will not exempt your book from being edited. Many editors have edited authors who have won the gamut of awards: Nobel, Pulitzer, Newbery, Printz, National Book Award—you name it. Their subsequent works are edited. Yours will be also. That’s a given!

And with that said, it’s time to reveal the winner of Shari Swanson’s book, Gertie, The Darling Duck of WWII. Lyn, expect a copy!

 

Thank you to all who commented.

Editing illustration from clker.com. Author photo courtesy of the author.

Check This Out: Gertie, The Darling Duck of WWII

Welcome to the blog! With me today is a friend, the wonderful and vivacious Shari Swanson, who is here to talk about her latest picture book:

Gertie, The Darling Duck of WWII was published by Sleeping Bear Press on March 15, 2023. Shari is represented by John Rudolph.

El Space: Like your other picture book, Honey, Gertie is narrative nonfiction. How did you hear about Gertie? What made you turn this story into a picture book? [To see photos of the actual Gertie, click here.]
Shari: Years—maybe decades—ago, poking through a used book store, I found a book: Reader’s Digest: Animals You Will Never Forget. It had an account of the Gertie story, and I was captivated. For me, the story represents everything good—people coming together toward a common goal, kindness, concern for others—and it was a powerful beacon of hope in a dark time. True to the title of the book I never forgot Gertie’s story. At one point in time, I was writing a daily devotional and wrote a brief summary of the Gertie story as a devotion based on Psalm 91:4: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” This is how I will always think of this story. But, even with time, still the story persisted for me; my time with Gertie wasn’t done. When I was pursuing my MFA, I returned to Gertie’s story, dove deep into the research, and crafted it into the final picture book.

El Space: Please give a quick snapshot of your process for researching.
Shari: I am so fond of research and all the treasures that are uncovered along the way. For Gertie, I poured over the 1945 editions of the Milwaukee Journal as my starting spot. It was fascinating to watch the rise of the little duck story until she was sharing the front page with very consequential events in WWII. Even the ads in the newspaper, many of them duck-centered, were fascinating to understand the time and how important Gertie became to people. From there, I rounded out my research with all the secondary sources I could find about Gertie, with help from the Milwaukee Public Library and Milwaukee County Historical Society (photo below), and then took a dive into WWII itself so I would feel grounded in the time and place.

In general, I absolutely love research and tend to go quite deep and broad as pretty much everything fascinates me. I love primary sources; all of the quotes in both Honey and Gertie are sourced. I love the contemporaneous quotes I find because they draw me right into the time and personalities of the speaker. But, in general, very little of what I discover ultimately finds its way into the book. For example, with Gertie, I researched why the river by Gertie’s nest was so dirty—sewage emptied directly into the river!—and how the flushing station worked. I also became fascinated by bridges that open to let big ships pass by. I’ve tucked what I learned there into my quiver in case that might turn into a future book down the line.

El Space: What draws you to historical settings?
Shari: I love that there are some things about humans that are universal and some that are dependent on time and place. I’m interested in how people respond to the specific challenges from the time in which they find themselves. With history, we can see where we are and look back to where we were and consider the impact past events have had on our present.

The 1940s

One of the things I found tremendously compelling about Gertie’s story was how everyone rallied around her and around the war effort. Everyone helped. In these times of division, that kind of unity uplifts me.

In researching Honey: The Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln, I was fascinated with the ripple effect of kind actions. We know who Abraham Lincoln came to be, and how important he was to our country, so tracing those ripples back to an original kindness, like Honey saving his life, felt very powerful. Without Honey, no Abe.

El Space: What do you think are the ingredients of a great nonfiction story?
Shari: So far, I’ve written narrative non-fiction which means that all the elements of a fictional story are right there in the non-fiction: characters, time and place, a dramatic arc, a climax, and resolution. Personally, I love when a non-fiction story has each of these elements. In Honey, the climax turns on whether Honey will rescue Abe when he is stuck in the cavern. That is as consequential as any fictional story could be. And the resolution when Honey comes through, bringing help, is so rewarding, particularly when we know who little Abe grew up to be.

At Shari’s book launch party

In Gertie, again, the stakes are life and death. Will the bridge tenders be able to save Gertie and her brood when the eyes and hope of the whole world are on them? When juxtaposed with the concurrent events of the war, this little duck’s struggle takes on new depth and meaning.

To me, these high stakes stories make for page-turning non-fiction. The happy resolution in both of these stories leave the reader with a sense that all is right, or can be, with the world, and that people (and dogs) can accomplish great things when working together.

El Space: What inspires you as you write?
Shari: I love children and want to give them stories that will feed their souls as well as their intellects. Hopeful stories of people coming together inspire me and, when I find a good one, particularly if there are animals involved, I’m eager to pass it along with hopes it will inspire others as well.

Shari with her granddaughters, Ella and Lily

El Space: What are you working on next?
Shari: I’m not sure what will be my next published book, but I’m at work on several: a non-fiction picture book gold rush journey, a middle grade fantasy, a non-fiction-inspired picture book about a prisoner’s daughter, an early chapter book fairy tale, and an early chapter book legal fiction which I hope can be a series. I’m focusing on finishing, and then we’ll see where things go.

Thanks, Shari, for being my guest!
Looking for Shari? Look for her on her website, Twitter, and Facebook.

Looking for Gertie, The Darling Duck of WWII? Check out Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, Amazon

One of you will be handed a copy of this very book! Comment below to be entered in the drawing. Winner to be announced sometime next week.

Book launch photos by Todd Swanson. Author photo courtesy of Shari Swanson. Animals You Will Never Forget book cover from Open Library. Photo from 1940s from Wallpaper Safari. Gertie cover photo by L. Marie.

Nostalgia

Happy Martin Luther King Day! He had a dream. What’s yours? As you think about that, I’ll move on.

Lately, characters from past television series have been making the news because of their return to the silver screen. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart, below). Lizzie McGuire. The cast of Saved by the Bell and Full House. Not to mention MacGuyver, in a show rebooted awhile ago. I’m just waiting for an announcement about a Columbo reboot, though I can’t imagine the show without the late, great Peter Falk.

Nostalgia has been the catalyst for the return of many film franchises, shows, toys, and candy. This is probably why you can see so many old favorites from the past (toys, candy, TV shows on DVD) at the gift shops of restaurants like Cracker Barrel or specialty shops.

As I read Shari Swanson’s picture book, Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins), which we discuss here, I felt a sense of nostalgia watching young Abe exploring the woods near his home. He had a lot more freedom than most kids his age do nowadays. So did I. When I was eight (a year older than Abe is in the story) and was given my first bike, I would tell Mom, “I’m off,” and would be gone for hours, riding around the neighborhood. Even with T-Rexes still roaming the earth back then (totally dating myself), I had the freedom to go off with just a friend who was my age.

    

Lest you think, What awful parents, this was the norm back then. Starting in kindergarten, my best friend and I walked to school without hovering parents. And I lived in a neighborhood in Chicago!

My parents had taught my brothers and me to always look both ways while crossing the street, as well as teaching us “Stranger Danger” stuff, like never talk to strangers or accept anything from them. Even with all of that freedom, I survived childhood. (Spoiler alert in case you wondered.)

Nowadays parents would probably be arrested for the amount of freedom my parents and Abe’s parents allowed kids. Sadly, we live in a world where many parents have to go the extra mile to keep their children safe. I hardly ever see kids out by themselves, with the exception of my neighbors’ kids. But I know their parents are just a shout away.

So I’m nostalgic for the times when I was free to roam without fear. If I had a dream, in the vein of Martin Luther King, Jr., my dream would be for a world in which children could do the same.

The winner of Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln is Lyn!

Lyn, please comment below to confirm. Thank you to all who commented on the interview post.

What makes you feel nostalgic?

Patrick Stewart photo from The Daily Telegraph. Dream image from clipart-library.com. Martin Luther King, Jr. image from wallpapersin4k.org. Candy from 4imprint.com.

Check This Out: Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln

With me on the blog today is the fabulous Shari Swanson (another great Secret Gardener classmate; for others, click here and here), who is here to talk about her picture book, Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln, which was published by Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins and debuts today, people! Woot!

     

Shari is represented by John Rudolph. After Shari and I chat, I’ll fill you in on a giveaway of this very book. Now, let’s talk to Shari!

El Space: Four quick facts about yourself?
Shari: My favorite color is periwinkle. Actually, periwinkle is a favorite word, too. Perhaps I’ll write a book about Mr. Perry Winkle and his Phantasmagoric Adventures Through Color. (Dibs. 😀)

• I love games, all sorts—puzzles, mysteries, board games, sports, hiding pictures, and treasure hunting.
• I have a beloved dog named Honey, not, surprisingly, named after Abraham Lincoln’s dog.
• I love words—etymologies, derivations, roots, cadence, sound, rhyme—everything about words. When I was in high school, I read All About Words by Maxwell Nurnberg and Morris Rosenblum while suntanning on the beach. One of my favorite courses in college was linguistics.

El Space: How did you come to write this picture book about a dog and Abraham Lincoln? How long was the process of writing the book?
Shari: When I was teaching middle school literature early this millennia, we read about Abraham Lincoln’s early years from an excerpt of Russell Freedman’s book on Lincoln. It was fascinating. I hadn’t ever heard about Lincoln’s Kentucky years and wanted to know more. I thought perhaps children would like to read about Lincoln when he was their age. I had the pleasure of meeting the late Russell Freedman at an SCBWI conference in 2006 and told him how much I wanted to write a picture book expanding on those details from his book. With tears in his eyes, he encouraged me and told me what a wonderful picture book that would be. When I was deep in that research, I discovered Honey. Honey had saved Lincoln’s life! What would the world be like if we hadn’t had Abraham Lincoln? Honey was an unknown hero. Honey, I thought, would make a wonderful picture book. And then I set off to write that story. The first draft of my book was written when I was doing the picture book semester at VCFA, back in 2011. I sold it in 2016, and now it is finally in the world!

El Space: How did you get started writing picture books?
Shari: I’m not sure there is an easy answer to this. I’ve always loved picture books. But I didn’t always understand that I could write them. Somewhere along the line, I realized that you don’t have to be a master artist to write a picture book, and that made me think maybe I could try it. I took a course in picture books at UCLA Extension way back in the early 1990s, I think, so it’s been a lifelong dream. I enrolled in the picture book semester when I was at VCFA with Julie Larios, and a workshop just prior to that with Julie and Uma Krishnaswami. That six months was maybe my favorite in my entire education as it was so filled with play and words and sheer delight.

El Space: How much input did you have with the illustrator? What was your reaction to seeing the illustrations?
Shari: Every picture book author/illustrator interaction is probably different. My editor, Maria Barbo at HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen books, was wonderful at taking my thoughts and opinions into account at each stage of the process. First, she asked me if I had an illustrator in mind to suggest. That inquiry sent me on a delightful tour through bookstores and libraries, trying to find artists that had the right feel for Honey. When she suggested Chuck Groenink, she sent me links to his portfolio. [Click here for a post about Chuck and his process on another picture book.] We both loved his work, especially his use of light in dark scenes, a skill that would be important for the cavern scenes in Honey. Seeing Chuck’s first drafts for Honey was a highlight of my life. Right there in my hands was this charming beautifully-realized art bringing my words to life. As we moved forward, I had the ability at every stage to offer my thoughts. One suggestion that I am thrilled Chuck incorporated was adding more detail to the forest scenes. I wanted the readers to feel just how distracting the woods were, with all the sounds and animals, and have the reader be literally distracted by the detail on the page just as young Abe was distracted on his journey.

El Space: What picture books have inspired you as a kid? As an adult?
Shari: As a child, I loved Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, Are You My Mother, by P. D. Eastman, and all things Dr. Seuss. As an adult, I love picture books that are poetic and musical; those that have wildly creative art, perhaps looking at things from unusual perspectives, and those that celebrate characters who are not stereotypic.

     

El Space: Any advice for would-be picture book writers? What do you think a twenty-first century kid needs to see in a picture book?
Shari: My best advice it to read your work out loud. Notice where the pauses and awkward phrasings are so you can fix them. I also think it is hugely important to make a picture book dummy, eight sheets of paper folded in half to make 32 pages, and block out your story. Where are the breaks? Are there interesting page turns? Is there something that is illustratible on each page? Finally, don’t give up. Take the time to create as often as you can. The joy is in the journey. I’m not sure what a modern kid needs to see in a picture book. I hope in Honey, a modern reader can both identify with young Abe—his distractedness, his love for animals, his desire to help—and think about the differences, too, like how Abe walked miles alone through a wild dangerous forest, so that the book is both timeless and grounded in its time.

El Space: What will you work on next?
Shari: I have several more works in progress, but the one getting my immediate attention is a non-fiction picture book, another heartwarming story of an animal/human interaction, this one from WWII.

Thanks, Shari, for being my guest!

Looking for Shari? Look no further than her website, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Looking for Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln? Check out your local bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Indiebound.

One of you will receive a copy of Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln in your very own mailbox. Just comment below! Winner to be revealed January 20, 2020.

The first meeting of the picture book club almost ended in a fistfight. While Lazy Buns and the Squeezamal agreed that Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln, is a great book, they disagreed on the refreshments, or the lack thereof. “It was your job to bring tea with honey for us to share!” the Squeezamal grumbled, Lazy Buns having only remembered to bring herself a cup of coffee.

Author photo by Christie Lane Photography. Book covers, with the exception of Shari’s book, are from Goodreads. Periwinkle flower from Wikipedia. Book storyboard from somewhere on the internet. Other photo by L. Marie. Squeezamals are a product of Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company. Lazy Buns is a Pop Hair Pet, a product of MGA Entertainment.