I'm so honored that Gayle was willing to come on Robin Hall Writes. You will love her, if you don't already, after reading this interview. Her debut, What the Mood Said released from Putman/Penguin Young Readers Feb. 20, 2014.
Okay, let's get to it:)
RH: As I mentioned,
I found your book at the library and had to read it because of the cover. I'm
mainly a YA reader, but I dabble with MG when my children have favorites or one
catches my fancy. And that's exactly what your debut did for me. Were you thrilled with your cover?
GR: I was blown
away by my cover! As a former librarian
I know how important a good cover is to attracting a reader and one of the
first things I said to my editor when she called to say Putnam wanted to publish
my book--after some excited babbles of delight and thanks--was "Please, please
give me a good cover!" (That's a direct quote.) I don't know if that's what spurred the
amazingly lovely cover that MOON received or if it would have been every bit as
beautiful if I'd said nothing, but I am deliriously happy with it. I recently saw my second book's cover and it
is amazing, too. The art department at
Putnam/Penguin Young Readers is nothing short of fabulous!
RH: Could you tell us a little bit about the
process of creating your cover (if you were able to give suggestions or if
Putnam did it all, etc.)?
GR: Putnam did ask
for any photos I might have of the farmhouse, but other than that, I think they
had a vision from the beginning of what the art should look like. My editor, Susan Kochan, worked closely with
the art director to have artwork that would evoke the feeling of Esther's enthusiasm
for life and her love of the farm, and I think they captured it perfectly as
well as beautifully.
RH: Did Jonathan Bean, who did the
illustrations at the start of each chapter (which I love!) also draw the cover?
His drawing style fit so well with the feel of your writing.
GR: No, Mr. Bean
didn't create the cover art. That was
the work of talented artist/illustrator Zdenko Basic. The chapter art by Jonathan Bean was a thrilling
surprise that came later. I agree that
his black and white art showing the seasons and settings--Chicago or farm--are
a perfect match for my story.
RH: When reading
What the Moon Said, I could picture Esther and her mother rather well. I come
from a family of five girls and two boys, and the family dynamic you created
felt real to me. I especially liked the letters Esther would write to Julia. I
felt for Esther and her need for her mother to demonstrate her love. I read on Literary Rambles that Esther came
about a little from how you imagined your mom at ten and then bits of you
trickled in and then she became her own self. How many revisions did it take to
really discover Esther and her family?
GR: Amazingly, not
all that many. It wasn't so much that I
changed Esther's character as that I allowed it to evolve and grow over the course of the year, much as it would have
in real life. The character I had the
most difficult time with was Ma, because I needed to show her through Esther's
eyes yet embed hints (for example the information Julia shares in a letter
about how Ma blamed herself for the death of her little sister who resembled
Esther so much) as to why she might hold herself so aloof from Esther. I needed to make her brusque without making
her seem mean. It was a tricky tightrope
walk sometimes and I had to rewrite scenes that centered on Ma several times to
get them "right".
RH: Your grandmother was from the old country
and superstitious like Esther's mom. Did you grow up believing some of the same
things Esther did? Or were many of the superstitions ones you researched?
GR: Nearly every
superstition I used in the story was one that I learned from my grandmother while
I was growing up. Like Esther, I
sometimes wondered how she kept track of so many! I did do some research on Russian
superstitions and added a couple of things--primarily the bits about the
fairies, because there was an experience from my girlhood that I definitely
wanted to use in the story but didn't want to use exactly the way it
happened. Here's the real story: when I
was about eight years old my grandmother told me I wasn't to play with a new
girl from down the block because she had a mole on her face which Grandma
referred to as the "mark of the devil". I had
to use this event, but no way was I going to insert the devil into my story, so
instead I used the fairies that pervade many Russian folktales and
superstitions to explain Ma's fear.
Fairies, after all, could do plenty of damage, and in What the Moon Said
they were the cause of Ma's fear of Bethany.
RH: What the Moon
Said is set in Chicago and Wisconsin early in the Depression. I have a huge
respect for people who write historical novels. The need to be accurate
terrifies me so much that even in my contemporary novels I create fictitious
locations. Can you tell us about your
research process and how much time it took? Was there anything you couldn't
find that you have to guess about? What surprised you most in your fact
finding?
GR: The need for
accuracy in historical fiction was the single most difficult aspect of writing
Esther's story. Like you, I am much more
comfortable writing about make-believe places and events where I can't be
caught in a mistaken detail. I did lots
and lots of research on everything from the cost of a stamp in 1930 to what
crops are planted in southern Wisconsin and in what months and when they are harvested.
I fretted over every detail fearing I'd make some unforgivable error and lose
all credibility and get blasted by reviewers. But every time I read any part of
the manuscript I found myself questioning new details and then fact-checking
them. There were three phases to my
research. First, the conversations with
my mother about her childhood, especially on the farm; then I read books about
the Depression; and finally I did detailed research online. The internet was an
incredibly useful tool. I do confess to
making up the name of the town the farm is set near. I wanted the freedom to make up the details
of the community without getting snarled up in the "facts" of a real
town's history. Luckily, too, I had the
comforting reassurance of knowing that amazing copy editors at Putnam were
watching my back and double-checking anything that raised any sort of flag for
them. But yes, writing historical
fiction adds a whole extra layer of work and stress to the writing process.
RH: Your verb choices were precise and strong.
From page one I knew you could create a vivid story. Can you tell us about your
drafting (pantser/plotter/detailed outliner) and revision process?
GR: I am a plotter
who works from a rough outline. First I
get an idea; then I let it simmer on the back burner of my mind for a while to
see if it holds my interest/passion and if lots of sub plots sprout from the
main idea. If it does and they do, I
start making lots of notes about the main character, their family, their
friends, and the setting. Then I create a
crude outline--really more of a summary broken down into chapters. And when I know how my story is going to end,
I begin writing the first chapter. It always takes ten times longer than
writing any other chapter since I am still feeling my way a bit and I'm laying
the foundation for everything else that is going to follow in the book. If the
first chapter isn't solid, it won't grab the reader, and the rest of the story
won't grow organically from it.
RH: Could you tell us what you're working on
now?
GR: I just finished
the final copyedits on my second book which will be coming out in August of
2015. It's another historical fiction
novel for middle graders, but it's from a more recent time period. It's called Cold War on Maplewood Street
and takes place in Chicago during the week of the Cuban Missile Crisis in
1962.
Now that it's
officially out of my hands, I'm working on a contemporary story (also MG) about
loyalty and how far it should go.
RH: What were your favorite books growing up?
GR: Little Women, Trixie Belden mysteries, Anne of Green Gables, Taffy's Foal, Heidi, A
Wrinkle in Time, The Wheel on the School, and Charlotte's Web are just a
few of the many, many books I loved as a girl.
RH: My ten-year-old son is writing a book. Do
you have any advice for young aspiring writers? GR: Tell your son I
said, "Way to go! I'm very
impressed. Writing is hard work--but
when it's your passion, there's nothing that you'd rather do." As for advice, I always tell aspiring writers
to keep a journal--not necessarily about their daily activities; that can get
boring pretty quickly. But about highlights/lowlights
of family events, personal disappointments and triumphs, and especially the feelings that accompanied them. These
are great to draw on later to remind us how a ten or twelve-year old thinks and
expresses his feelings. The other reason
to keep a journal is to jot down ideas for stories, and to paste in pictures
from magazines that suggest settings or stories, as well as to keep track of
ideas for unusual characters. A journal
is also a great place to keep a list of the books they especially loved reading
including a few notes about why they
loved them. All of this is not only going to be a great resource in the future
but is a fun way of nurturing the blossoming writer within them.
RH: Thanks so much for being here and sharing so much of your writing experience with us. I can't wait for Cold War on Maplewood Street and am looking forward to your MG contemporary.
Gayle has a great website with all kinds of links to exploring the world where Esther lived. Find all that goodness
here.
Gayle grew up in Chicago. Like Esther, she enjoyed school, was an avid reader, and loved dogs and horses. She attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where she majored in Creative Writing and was the editor of the literary magazine. Gayle never outgrew her passion for children's books, and she worked as a children's and young adult librarian at a public library for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, enthusiastically sharing her love of books with young people.
Also like Esther, Gayle eventually moved to Wisconsin, but by then she was a mother with three children. She worked in the reference library, and later as a copyeditor, at American Girl. During this time period she published short stories for children in Cricket, Ladybug, Jack and Jill andChildren's Digest magazines.
Now Gayle writes full-time in her home just outside of Madison, Wisconsin, where she lives with her husband, Don, and slightly neurotic rescue dog, Fiona. She is living her dream, she says, writing books she hopes will make the same difference in children's lives as her favorite books and authors made in hers. What the Moon Said is her first novel.
From Cortney: As writers we are constantly gathering inspiration (whether we know it or not). An overheard conversation, watching people interact, teenagers laughing together, hearing others tell stories. I believe we subconsciously refer to our life experiences as we write and create stories. We have to. In order to generate realistic emotion and detail that readers can relate to, we have to have some kind of jumping-off-point to base them on. I'd like to share just a few things that sparked ideas for me as I created the world of PHOBIC, a world which is based on the ethereal aspect of seemingly ordinary places.
Inspiration #1
My great aunt lived alone in this fantastic old house built by her father, my great-great grandfather. And it felt like stepping back through time every time I walked through the door. BUT. Right off from her back door--the entrance we always used--was a staircase. It wasn't long. It wasn't even hidden like those in my story. But this staircase led to Aunt Vay's basement with its concrete floor and old cast iron stove and that pair of metal roller skates that always sat alone on a shelf. I hated going in that basement, especially by myself.
Looking back at these pictures now I wonder why I'd been so scared, but as a kid that basement was terrifying!
The basement in PHOBIC plays a huge part in the mystery of the house Piper lives in. It's a place she's been forbidden from entering, but this time she's determined to find out why.
Inspiration #2
Another instance happened at Aunt Vay's when my mom, sister, and I had pulled in late at night to sleep after traveling from California to Utah all day long. We were tired. It was cold and windy outside. And my mom couldn't find her key to the back door. We tried that knob several times and then as I went to reach for the knob again, the door opened. All on its own. OPENED. My mom, sister, and I all exchanged looks and when I checked the knob (on the now open door), it was still locked. True story! So it prompted the opening and this scene in PHOBIC:
My best friend Todd’s red pickup appears at the curb, spewing exhaust like the truck has a cigarette up its backside. I jerk up. My pulse kicks at the sight of him. That’s been happening a lot more lately, my insides flaring up and doing some sort of spastic dance whenever I catch sight of his alluring smile and dark curls.
Leaving the second Pop-Tart on the table, I stuff my phone in my pocket and snatch up my backpack and clarinet case. I dart past the round, velvet-topped table in the wide hallway to the front door.
I reach for the knob. It won’t turn.
Heart pounding, I try again. One way, then the other. Chick. Chick. The lock mechanism is vertical. The door isn’t locked.
“Not now,” I say under my breath. “Please not now.”
The hairs at my nape skulk up one by one until they all stand on end. My wrist flicks, and the obstinate knob makes the same chick chick sounds. The eerie feeling spreads down the length of my arm, making the knob cold under my touch. What is going on? I’m used to my house doing strange things, but why won’t it let me out?
Inspiration #3
The Winchester Mansion in California has also been intriguing to me, especially the staircase that leads to the ceiling. This whole house is completely creepy, but especially this:
Piper's house also has a hidden staircase similar to this one. Her discovery of it knocks her sense of reality way off course, and she begins seeing flashbacks of the original residents of house. Which leads to...
Inspiration #4
I LOVE romances, along with Victorian/Regency-era stories. So my final inspiration for the story--particularly the flashbacks that Piper has to the past--is:
Downton Abbey (I know it takes place after the two eras above-mentioned. But still, inspiration.) It was after watching the first few episodes that my two star-crossed servants in love sprang into my head.
There were many other sources of inspiration as well, but these are the main ones. What about for you? What inspires you when you write?
