Some Great New Books

Book Expo and the ALA Conference both came to LA this year. What a treat for a book junkie! The multitudinous stacks of new books on the floor create both an enticing and daunting prospect for the coming months. Among the many novels are nonfiction stunners as well, a few noted below. The fact that most of the authors and illustrators are INK bloggers is purely coincidental. (If there is such a thing!)

APOLOGY: I’m sorry not to show the gorgeous covers of all these books, but I’m still working out how to upload, format, etc etc.

First, I must mention VULTURE VIEW by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins. This is a 2007 book, as evidenced by its shiny Giesel Honor Book sticker, awarded at the aforementioned ALA Conference. This book is exquisite in every way. Word perfect, picture perfect. Who knew vultures could be so poetical and beautiful?

ELIZABETH LEADS THE WAY by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon is a gem – highly polished and dazzling – with a skillful mix of the personal and historical portrayed in words and pictures. Best of all is the author’s voice filled with exuberant passion that perfectly matches the subject and theme of the book.

Don Brown has two forthcoming books, each recounting one memorable day. ALL SYSTEMS DISTRESS! relates the grim horror of the sinking of the Titanic. LET IT BEGIN HERE! sends us back to April 19. 1775: The Day the Revolution Began. Brown gives us an hour by hour, mile by mile account of the Battle of Lexington and Concord filled with dozens of personal details. (I’d never heard the name of Paul Revere’s horse before.) We all know that the Patriots were the good guys, the Brits the baddies. But in this account of a traditionally “heroic” event, we see the brutality of war that infects both sides. A British soldier bayonets an American. An American splits the skull of an injured Englishman. One small ray of light: in the middle of the battle, as the Concord courthouse burns, both sides worked the bucket brigade to put out the flames.

CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE: THROUGH THE GATES AND BEYOND by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan presents some of my favorite artworks and their irresistible creators. The photos, text, and book design are beautifully integrated to tell the story of these artists who make some of the most democratic, joyful, gorgeous art you’ll ever see.

1968 by Michael T. Kaufman travels around the world and into space to tell the exhilarating and sobering story of that tumultuous year. Vietnam, Paris, Prague, Chicago, Mexico City, and Apollo 8 all get chapters. As a New York Times reporter, Kaufman was on the scene for some of it. Photos, headlines, and NYT articles intensify the drama. I was over 21 that year, and even marched in Paris in May 1968. But it takes a book like this to begin to understand what it – we – all meant.

I know, I’m going on a bit, but I can’t stop without mentioning THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS, E.B. Lewis’s pictorial homage to Langston Hughes’s poem. [I claim poetry for the nonfiction camp!] I don’t think I’ll ever read the poem again without seeing Lewis’s sublime watercolor close-ups, long shots, landscape, and portraits.

Making Friends

Last month I wrote about the joys of tax-deductible research and the helpful experts we meet, if only via email and telephone. This month I’m feeling just as joyful about the great friends we make in this writing-for-children gig. A few weeks ago I went to the children’s author breakfast at Book Expo in LA. Sherman Alexie’s opening comments expressed his amazement about how nice children’s authors are – much nicer than that ‘other’ writing world he also inhabits.
I expect all of us can tell stories of colleagues going out of their way to read and advise, to encourage and commiserate, even to introduce us to agents and editors. My first book contract came about that way. One of our fabulous INK writers, whom I haven’t even met in person, has offered to open a door for me.

At the moment I’m in Montana visiting my son. After a few sublime days in Glacier National Park, I’m soaking up the scene and the sun in Missoula – biking around town, meeting with the organizers of the fall Festival of the Book, and making a new friend.

About a month ago, while researching a new book, I emailed Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, renowned author of 130+ nonfiction books for kids. One of her books is related to my research subject. Emails flew back and forth as she gave me leads to follow, people to contact. When I told her I was coming to Missoula, she invited me over for tea. After driving back and forth along the highway, trying to find her little mountain road (obscured by orange construction cones,) I finally arrived at her home on the top of a ridge with a glorious view of the mountains. (The 2007 fires on those mountains came within a mile of her house, she said.)

We began by talking about the state of children’s publishing. What happens when publishing houses are bought by conglomerates that have nothing to do with books. The uncertainty and disorder that reign when two big publishers with multiple imprints merge. Which will survive, how will policies change, who will stay, who will go, what will it mean for future of our books? Then we talked about small independent presses whose only business is books.

Soon after, because it’s what women do, we talked about our children, agreeing that they are all much smarter than we are. Typical proud mother talk. Then travel tales, future writing goals, doing school visits vs. writing, her fellow Montana writers, a browse through her library for useful books for me, the prospect of sharing a panel at the upcoming Montana Festival of the Book. And finally, an invitation to stay at her house if I do come to the festival.

In ninety minutes, another friendship kindled by writing nonfiction for children.

P.S. Coincidence or what?: Dorothy herself will be guest blogger right here next week!

Oh, The Places You'll Go...

….. and the people you’ll meet when you write nonfiction! I know I’m not alone in loving – sometimes preferring – the research part of the job. Getting out of my head and on to the phone. Out of my office and into the big wide world.

People
Unless you’re writing about the president or a Beatle, you’ll probably find that the expert(s) on your subject are willing – nay, delighted – to speak to you. Most likely, they live in a rarified world with a few colleagues and a spouse who already know all their stories. You are a new audience, eager to hear what, how, and why their work is so fascinating and important. Of course you don’t begin by saying “Tell me about ______.” You read everything you can and formulate intelligent questions. What can they add that you haven’t already learned?

For my first book, The Wind at Work, Paul Gipe, a noted wind energy expert, invited me to his home for an interview and a look through his extensive photo collection. He let me use his photos free of charge. I also arranged a private tour of a wind turbine factory, got some free photos, and the company has been a loyal promoter of my book every since.

The Guild of Volunteer Millers in the Netherlands includes over a thousand windmillers and their apprentices. I visited one on a Sunday afternoon as he ran “his” restored windmill. Not only did I get a closeup look at and listen to the mill, but I learned that the windmills have to be operated regularly to prevent woodworm larvae from hatching in the beams. It's the vibrations that do that. A few miles away a tourist attraction with several windmills was jammed with people and busy millers. I had a windmill and a miller all to myself.

Not long ago I was researching a particular event in London in 1598. A new book came out that described the event in greater detail than I had found elsewhere. But still I had questions. I emailed the distinguished scholar/author and got a response within half an hour. The man mentioned his son as a prospective reader of my book.

Many towns have historical societies, or perhaps just a display case in the public library, with artifacts from the town’s past. Even more towns have one citizen, probably a native, who is the amateur historian extraordinaire. I’ve had many talks and walks with these folks, who proudly pass on countless stories about their native place. NB: Double the time you think the talk/tour will take. Recently I arrived mid-morning in a town in Norfolk, England for such a tour. I expected to be finished by lunchtime, after which I planned a leisurely drive to York for dinner with friends. I didn’t leave Norfolk until 4 p.m., and ended up dashing halfway up England well over the speed limit.

Places
My travel research began in the 1980s when I wrote for airlines magazines. I rarely took a trip I couldn’t deduct from my income taxes. Besides the pay and the deductions, I found that having a focus for the trip made it more fun. I can’t seem to break the habit – nor do I want to – now that I’m writing children’s books. My recent trip to England involved two talks/tours in two different towns with aforementioned amateur historians extraordinaire.

Then on to Paris where my subject had many adventures. I didn’t meet any experts there, but I did rent a bicycle and found the places he lived, worked, and was imprisoned – snapping photos along the way. I also took some guided walking tours that gave me more information, photos, and local color.

After Paris, I spent a week in the Dordogne region, exploring prehistoric cave art. On this rare occasion I had no research in mind, no story ideas. I didn’t even save my receipts. Then, touring the last cave on my last day, I heard an anecdote that sparked an idea. Aha! Now, home again, I’m contacting authors and curators who will, I hope, lead me to the bi-lingual world authority who can tell me where……. and on it goes.

As for those missing receipts, I’ll have to rely on my credit card bill to help me with the IRS. Luckily I charge everything to my card, which gives me miles to take more trips to research more books….

Now, tell me your exotic, adventurous, disastrous, serendipitous research tales.

Penny-Pinching Picture Research

Before I began writing for children, I worked as a picture researcher for an educational interactive multimedia company. When I began writing nonfiction children’s books, my old job experience proved financially and literarily (?!) valuable. In my next life I want to be an author-illustrator, but in this one, having no talent in drawing or painting, I settle for doing my own picture research. Through my choice of pictures and captions I can strengthen my narrative. Picture research begins during content research, when I photocopy all images I might use, along with source information.

Paean to the Internet
Twenty years ago I began by making a long wish list of illustrations for a project. I faxed this to the Library of Congress (and other venues,) waited a few weeks for photocopies to arrive in the mail, then sorted through them.
Today I enter http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html and instantly access tens of thousands of images, and not just American history. Just now, searching “ostrich” I found 70 entries including art prints, political cartoons, landscapes, and much more from around the world. I especially enjoyed “Mud mosque in Mali with three minarets topped by ostrich eggs.” Be careful. It’s easy to while away countless hours browsing this amazing site.

Bargain hunting
Picture researchers for glossy magazines and high-profile books will turn to stock houses first. As a children’s author, that’s the last place I look. Some publishers will give authors a photo budget; some will require you to pay for photos; some will pay upfront, then take the costs from royalties. (By photos I mean all illustrative material.) Three types of fees may apply: research fees to find the photos; print (or scan) fees for the image itself; and permission fees to the copyright holder.
Tasks to avoid: the enormous job of acquiring prints and scans, sending letters and invoices, paying invoices, and getting permission releases for every single image. Get your publisher to do that, if you possibly can.
Whatever your agreement, you’ll want to get the most for your money. Here is how to do that:
• Library of Congress – Much, though not all, of their collection is in the public domain. This means you will pay print fees, but not permission fees. LC doesn’t do research for you. If you don’t find what you want online and can’t travel to Washington, you’ll have to hire a private researcher to go through the files of prints. (If you do visit the Library, you can spend blissful days browsing…..)
• Government agencies – NASA, NOAA, USGS, and many other public agencies have old and new photos, as well as charts, graphs, maps and the like – all in the public domain. National tourism agencies, here and abroad, also offer free or cheap photos.
• Private companies – They are often happy to give you illustrations for free.
• Historical societies – These are great sources for local subjects and landscapes, and for material like maps, documents, letters, etc. You may have to pay the staff for extensive research, but they often reduce or even waive permission fees if you say the magic words: “children’s book.”
• University and large public libraries – Libraries offer many of the advantages of historical societies. In addition they may have the “papers of” your subject or subjects relating to your subject. “Papers of” are often microfilmed and if you can’t visit the source library, they will send the microfilm to your local public library through interlibrary loan. Ask about “ephemera” which may be found outside the prints and photos collection. For my book on Jeannette Rankin I located the menu for a 1913 Montana suffragist luncheon: “roast young Montana turkey with chestnut dressing.” I also found suffragist lyrics to “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
• Museums – Art, history, and natural history museums are great sources for illustrations, but prices are higher. The magic words “children’s book” probably won’t lower your permission fees, though you might negotiate if you buy several images.
• Stock houses – These act as agents for freelance photographers, news photos, and some historical collections. Permissions fees are high – in the hundreds of dollars (or more) – and are usually non-negotiable.

Visit libraries and archives whenever possible and browse. I found several wonderful windmill-related images for The Wind at Work in an old postcard collection at a museum. These weren’t cataloged and I doubt a librarian-researcher would have thumbed through the boxes.

When I’ve gathered more than enough possible illustrations, I send copies to my editor and we cull them together. At this point we discuss how many high-priced images we really need. Be sensible, but not miserly. That gorgeous image that costs $500 may be like the designer shoes or crystal vase that brings you joy for years to come. And unlike the shoes, your perfect illustration is tax-deductible.

Please add your tips on penny-pinching picture resesarch to the comment file below.

True Confessions

I love to read nonfiction – history, biography, environmental essays, memoirs, kid’s books, adult books – and I love to write nonfiction. But last fall I hit a wall.

Before I started writing for children back in the early 90s I wrote nonfiction (art reviews and features and travel features mostly.) I wrote scripts (nonfiction) for interactive educational multimedia programs. Since then I’ve written nonfiction for early and middle grades and I've loved it all.

So what happened last fall? I had just returned from six weeks in Italy and France: singing in Italian cathedrals, basking on Lake Como, bicycling from Geneva to Nice, lolling on the Riviera. Now I love my hometown, Los Angeles, and I love my work. So when jet lag had faded I surveyed my hard drive. I saw several works in progress, and one I was especially eager to complete. But, for the first time in my life….. I didn’t want to write. I was afraid even to think the phrase wr***r’s bl*ck. Or maybe I just wanted to go back and sit by the Mediterranean, sipping cappuccino and eating croissants still warm from a French oven.

At first I didn’t worry: I had heaps of business to take care of. I traveled to Washington DC for the National Book Festival where my latest book, Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer, was featured at the Montana State booth. Back home again, nothing had changed. I dared to think the words wr***r’s bl**k and felt worse. My editor wanted another biography from me. I had an idea or two, but nothing stirred the heart. I read my works in progress. Yawn. I slogged through a revision or two. Then I panicked. Was I finished as a writer? Was I doomed to return to Italy and eke out my days drinking cappuccino by Lake Como? (Ha!)

Three months into spinning-through-denial-slogging-and-anxiety, I attended a guided meditation. I lightly floated “my work” into the cosmos and got a reply: “Focus.” I knew just what it meant: work on one genre, rather than skipping from picture book fiction to biographies to middle grade novels – as I have done for years. Furthermore I knew where to focus: biography. I did have those drafts, I did have an editor wanting more.

Now, epiphanies are common as dirt – just like story ideas. Less common are completed stories and epiphanies made manifest. But this one worked for me. With “focus” lighting the way, I finished one biography, began a second, found a third subject while researching the second, and stumbled across a fourth subject while on a field trip for the third.

So what was my problem? Why the writer’s block? Back to the meditation evening. Jotting down thoughts of my experience, I dared put into words what I didn’t like to admit: I have been a slave to status. Just as children’s writers are the proles of the literary world – “anyone can do it!” – with literary novelists as reigning monarchs, my feudal world of children’s literature was ruled by Baron and Baroness Novelists, surrounded by picture book author courtiers. Below stairs in the scullery, lived the – wince – nonfiction writers. None of this was rational, mind you. I know nonfiction to be just as gorgeous – and difficult – as fiction. But my neuroses dwell not in reason’s realm. Anyway, coughing up my dirty secret allowed me to see that it was – to misquote Mr. Scrooge -- just "a bit of undigested beef.” (And I’m a vegetarian!)

I’m happy to report that while I still long for croissants warm from a French oven, I am working again, neither scullery maid nor duchess, but a (mostly) contented scribbler – writing biographies, telling the best stories I can.

Besides, I’m off to Paris in April, thanks to a winning raffle ticket. More about that next month.