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by Barbara Nass
First, let me start by thanking Tara for hosting me and my debut picture book, FIX AND STITCH. Tara was a gift to me. And I mean that literally. When I retired, my work team gave me consulting time with Tara as a retirement gift. I can’t think of a better way to have jump-started my journey into picture book writing.
They say “write what you know”. And for a time, I struggled with the notion of writing a STEM story about tech and especially one to inspire young girls into this field. In my previous tech career, I mentored women across my organization and the few (emphasis on few) that were in tech. I also promoted tech careers at St. Elizabeth University as well as Rutgers University. I was all in on developing a tech-related story, but ideas that were picture-book-worthy didn’t come.
Other ideas did come, though. And the one that was the springboard for FIX AND STITCH began with the question of how a porcupine gets its first hug.
That idea could have gone in many directions. But instead, wound up about Squirrel, a creative tailor, who helps solve Porcupine’s problem. But in FIX AND STITCH, Squirrel has his own need. The birds have headed south, the last of the leaves are on the ground and winter is coming. Squirrel must build his winter home before it’s too late.
Instead, he delays, again and again, continuing to help his woodland neighbors, each with their own amusing dilemma. Squirrel just can’t say “no”.
Aha! I did write what I know. Squirrel grew up in a family like mine.
And while this story offers a message of kindness and friendship, what was the message that young readers would take away? I wanted a story about empathy, not self-sacrifice. Revision was needed and an author’s note added opening the door for discussion with children. In fact, I’ve already received notes from parents letting that they’ve had these important conversations after reading the story and author’s note. One even told me that it was quite a meaningful moment with his daughter. This feedback means everything to me. So, while I hope young readers will delight in this story of a clever tailor and his ingenious designs, I also hope they walk away with this life lesson in balancing empathy with attending to one’s own needs. A lesson that quite a few adults have now told me, they wished they had learned at an early age.
I want to thank Karen Grencik and Barb McNally for wanting this story told. And to Liza Woodruff, an amazing illustrator who truly captured the spirit of the story and its characters.
Congratulations on all your success, Barbara!
Blog readers, Barbara is giving away a copy of FIX AND STITCH. Just leave one comment below to enter and a random winner will be selected at the end of the month.
The winner of the last giveaway, MILKWEED FOR MONARCHS (critique), is Ashley Bankhead. Congrats, Ashley, and expect an email from me shortly.
Barbara Nass grew up in Brooklyn, NY. married, and raised her son in New Jersey. There, the family enjoyed hiking New Jersey’s scenic park trails. A woodland habitat she used as the setting for FIX AND STITCH, her debut picture book. A tech executive, whose career roots began in early childhood education, Barbara will forever treasure those moments when her students first learned to read. Barbara now lives in Manalapan, New Jersey. Visit her at BarbaraNass.com, Instagram @barbara.nass.writer, and Twitter/X @barbara_nass.
I am currently waiting for the final printing of my first author-illustrator project, EMERSON BARKS, which is due out in August of 2016. What sparked the idea for my story? PiBoIdMo.
I am always looking for fun story ideas and ideas for new illustration samples. So, when I first heard of PiBoIdMo in 2011, I signed right up. Until that point, I had considered myself an illustrator only. I had been working for years making art for stories written by other people, and had only dreamed of writing something myself. I do love bringing other people’s ideas to life visually, and would wait eagerly for stories that I connected with. The stronger that connection, the more enjoyable and effortless the process was and the more successful the final art. What better way, I thought, to connect with a story than to write it myself?
So, I embarked on a month of writing down picture book ideas to get my creative juices flowing. Looking back through old notebooks I see the same thing has happened each year. My ideas are all over the map. Some are boring, tired and overused, some are ridiculous, and some are terrible. Here is one of my “stinkers” as Denise Fleming calls them:
One other thing happens when I start writing down all of my ideas—I start thinking about picture books ALL THE TIME.
When this happens, I see potential everywhere and my brain starts to reframe everything as a story.
I see my kids and their friends do something interesting, or hear a funny snippet of their conversation. . . .
I watch my dogs’ reactions to one another. What are they thinking? . . .
I watch the newts that cross my walking path in the rain. Where are they going? . . .
I listen to the radio and hear a story or snippet of news that gets me thinking “What if?”. . .
Because my brain has been primed to look for ideas, each of these things can inspire a story, and occasionally one of these ideas shows some promise.
One November PiBoIdMo night (November 12th, 2012, to be exact) I was lying in bed getting ready to sleep when our dog Emerson started to bark. He barked and barked and barked, like he always does. As I lay there, hoping he’d stop a question entered my mind. What would happen if Emerson held in his barks? Was there a funny reason that he was barking? Would the barks fill him up like a balloon that would eventually burst?
I started to wonder, and I wrote all of my questions down. Because I kept thinking about Emerson and his barks, I knew this idea would be a good one to pursue when I sat down to write.
Of course, the journey didn’t end there. There were many drafts and sketches, much help from my critique partners and from my agent, several conferences attended and craft-of-writing books read, and the infinite patience of everyone in my family.
When a dummy was finally ready to share, it went out to multiple editors. Luckily, I found an editor who saw the same promise in the story that I did. Several years and many revisions later, here I am, waiting for the first copies of EMERSON BARKS to come off the press. Thank you, PiBoIdMo, for opening my eyes to inspiration. It was there all along but I just had to learn how to look for it.
Liza Woodruff is the illustrator of over twenty books for young readers, including If It’s Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws by Kim Norman and The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Elizabeth Bennett. She lives in an old farmhouse in Vermont with her family and their two dogs. Emerson Barks is the first book that she has both written and illustrated and will be available in bookstores in August of 2016. To see more of her work, please visit: LizaWoodruff.com.
Liza is giving away a copy of THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN NEW ENGLAND, written by Toni Buzzeo, Sterling Publishers, October, 2015.
Leave a comment below to enter. One comment per person, please.
This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)
Good luck, everyone!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 