I’ve been writing full-time since 2002 when my
daughter started 1st grade. I registered for a writing class that
very day and have been working steadily ever since. My first two novels were
historical epics set in ancient Greece. They got me an agent and a lot of
publisher rejection letters. So I changed course and wrote To Catch A Mermaid,
for kids and it ended up at auction.
Library
Love When You Were A Cub:
I grew up on Bainbridge Island, WA and our library
was small but well-stocked. The children’s section was down in the basement. My
sister and I went once a week, with our mother, and I remember checking out as
many picture books as I could carry. Then I’d spread them out on our living
room carpet and read them all in one sitting.
One day when we parked in the lot, we were greeted
by a small, shaggy dog. She followed us to the entrance and the librarian told
us that the dog had been hanging out for a few days and no one had claimed her.
When we came out with our arms loaded with books, the dog jumped into our car.
She became my beloved childhood dog, Lulu. When my mom tells this story she
always ends it with the line, “Lulu was the best thing we ever checked out at
the library.”
The Bainbridge Library has a beautiful garden,
complete with Otter sculptures and a fish pond.
There’s a scene in my book, Smells Like Dog,
where Homer, Dog and Lorelei do some research in
the public library. The room is warm and softly lit and everyone, including the
librarian, is fast asleep. It’s a sanctuary of sorts.
I don’t fall asleep in libraries, but the quiet they
provide is one of my favorite things. A place to be still, a place to focus, a
place to lose myself in story.
Funding for libraries, especially school libraries, is currently under
threat. As an author, what are your thoughts about that?
It totally sucks. Those are my thoughts.
Every single library I visit is struggling. During a
recent Oregon school district visit, I learned that all the librarians were
being laid off. Most school librarians tell me they have zero dollars to buy
new books. Those who have money don’t get it from the school district or state,
they get it from parent fundraising, so if you have involved parents you’re
lucky. One librarian was putting together a presentation for his local school
board members, to convince them that school librarians are valuable
contributors to the school environment. Yeesh. Imagine a football coach having
to make that same speech. That’ll never happen.
Librarians are not alone in this crisis. The
publishing industry itself is facing great turmoil as the book takes on new
forms. Independent bookstores are dying as Amazon.com eats a bigger and bigger
part of the market. And authors are facing smaller advances and disappearing
school visit fees.
I’m getting depressed as I write this. What gives me hope is this—we book lovers are
creative people. Intelligent people. Inspired, passionate, obsessed people. We
will figure this out.
Library Visit Photo
Roar for Reading!
While I haven’t visited ALA, I’ve been to NCTE, IRA,
TLA to name a few. My very first
conference my publisher sent me to was IRA and I was asked to give a speech
about Summer Reading for Teens. No one had ever heard of me. My book, Saving Juliet,
had just come out. This was my first big speech. The conference room was packed with librarians and English teachers. On the stage sat a panel of best-selling authors and little ole me. I was a nervous wreck. I got through the speech, got some laughs because I confessed that my favorite summer read when I was a teen was Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask, a book I had discovered in the back of my mom’s linen closet. The great part was after the speech. My publisher led me to a booth where I was scheduled to sign and there was a line waiting for me. A line! For me. Amazing.
had just come out. This was my first big speech. The conference room was packed with librarians and English teachers. On the stage sat a panel of best-selling authors and little ole me. I was a nervous wreck. I got through the speech, got some laughs because I confessed that my favorite summer read when I was a teen was Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask, a book I had discovered in the back of my mom’s linen closet. The great part was after the speech. My publisher led me to a booth where I was scheduled to sign and there was a line waiting for me. A line! For me. Amazing.
Photo: signing books with Shannon Hale.
A
Roar for School Visits:
It took me a while to figure out the whole school
visit thing. My first year of publication, I visited for free because I had no
idea what I was doing. It was a great way to test the audience, see what
reactions I got. I quickly learned that I do not like visiting high schools.
Even though I write for teens, I’m not very comfortable with them. Honestly,
I’d rather get a root canal than face all that eye-rolling. But elementary schools – that’s a whole different
world. I thrive with that audience. 3rd, 4th and 5th
graders are amazing!
My presentation is all about the genesis of ideas. I
bring lots of props and get the kids to dress up like characters from my books.
The goal is to get them to see themselves as storytellers. Pictures from my
childhood and examples of my early stories and drawings help the students see
me as a real person who was just like them once—just a kid with a head full of
ideas.
Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.
Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian
working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your
library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com
for an interview slot.
