One aspiring writer (and a quick giveaway)

For today’s miniview, we talk to Pamela Ross (a.k.a. WriterRoss if you’re a fan of Verla Kay’s boards). And that header up there--One aspiring author--should read "An inspiring author" because Pam can dish out some serious inspiration for those who are hard at work at their craft. Pam loves picture books and novels, and it’s her dream to have one of these published. But as we know, dreams sometimes work in mysterious ways, so Pam’s first success has been with non-fiction books (Capstone Press), magazines, and writing greeting card copy.

Pam, tell us how you got started writing for children?
There has never been a stage or age when I was anything but a writer. I was writing stories and submitting them to magazines when my friends were playing Hide and Seek, Hopscotch, and Spin the Bottle. (Not necessarily in that order.) I wish I still had the books I wrote as a child. My mom and dad thought I was the most talented kid on the block-- but they also had a thing for keeping the house neat and my stories mysteriously disappeared into trash bags. (If you grew up in apartments like I did in Brooklyn, you would understand: there was barely enough room for a family of five to change their minds there, let alone giving me space to create and keep my masterpieces. At least you can say I learned about rejections, er, recycling, at a tender age.) I grew up, went to law school, and wrote when no one was watching. I thought: I love this but I don't know what to do with this passion. Other people are authors. I am not an "other" person. Other people write books. I will read them.

I can remember the precise moment when The Calling whispered in my ears. Or to my eyes, truth be told. I bought my first computer. A friend had to tell me how to make it Do Something after I pushed the ON button. I taught myself everything I know (and I am proud of this achievement because before learning how to work a computer, the most challenging, scientific thing I had done was change a light bulb). I connected with a computer software fanatic at a computer store. I have no idea how this man knew about a program called GEnie, but he told me there were people there who talked to one another ON THE COMPUTER. There were other writers there. Like Me. He talked me through the steps and voila! I found a children's writer's forum. I saw the name Jane Yolen. Jane YOLEN? Be still my heart. She was real? She was ONLINE? Yes. She. Was. Magic! She wrote messages to people and answered questions. So, of course, I asked a question! A few hours later, there was a response. For me. From Jane Yolen. I printed out the message out and saved it for posterity. I could not believe writers could write to one another. And care. And help. And share information. I was hooked. I went on to study all the children’s writers I loved best. I joined SCBWI, and became a conference junkie. I read all of the "How To" books, took classes, and wrote and wrote. Children's books connected with the writer in me and the soul in me. I've never looked back.

Are you querying editors? Agents? What’s your process?
As of this writing, I have nothing circulating. I am not happy about this. Frustration takes a horrific toll on a writer and you are looking at one, frustrated writer. Thank goodness for redemption and time and ambition and blank slates. I know what I want to be when I grow up, and I’m going to make it happen. I have been read and personally rejected by some of the best editors in the business. I have a list of editors I love and editors I would love to work with one day. I have a lovely list of editors who welcome my writing with open arms and have asked for more, more, more. The only person I can blame is myself for not being more Out There and on the editors' desks as we speak. My friends will yell if I confess this in public: I have never multiply submitted in my life. I know. I am a relic. Put me in the Museum of Natural History. I am the perfect candidate for an agent because as much as I like to talk about writing, selling my own and selling myself is something I am rather shy about doing. I am studying and learning as much as I can about the literary agents in the business that I feel would most connect with my writing. Is there an e-Harmony dating service to match authors and the perfect agent? Sign me up.

In one sentence, tell us where you’ll be in ten years.
I pray one day (hopefully in less than ten years) many passionate readers, will look for my books in their libraries and bookstores and feel as if they are home in the pages of my writing.

Pam, we wish you only the best! It will happen.

BIG NEWS, MINI GIVEAWAY
Today’s post was an in-depth (and sort of long) look at an aspiring writer. Tomorrow, we have the spotlight on a HUGE author whose writing and drawings are for middle readers, but his books are read and enjoyed by kindergarteners, teens, and adults, too. Put your best guess in the comment area, and the first person to get it right, gets a signed galley of his latest.

Marissa's Last Launch-Week Post

Today is the last day of Marissa Doyle's launch week for her uberly fantastic young adult historical, Bewitching Season.

Which means it's our last opportunity to pick her brain.



Hmmm....hmmmm...hmmm
What should we ask her?



We've got it!

Inspiration! When you’re struggling for ideas, Marissa, what do you do to get recharged?



And Marissa says...


Ideas are never the problem. I have notebooks full of ideas for stories, some with synopses already written. Ideas are a dime a dozen, which is why writers crack up when someone walks up to them and says, “I’ve got this great idea for a book! I’ll tell you what is it and you can write it, and then we’ll sell it and split the money.”

Struggling occurs when I’m in the middle of a story. I’m more of a plotter than a pantser; that is, I have a pretty good idea about the arc of my story before I start writing it though of course it can change and usually does. Changes mostly happen because as I write, the characters become more and more their own people, and if I have it plotted that character X is supposed to behave this way and do this, but he won’t because that’s just not who he is anymore…well, it can be a problem.

The best thing to do at this point is get up from the computer and do something else that has nothing to do with words, something that occupies the surface of the mind and leaves the rest of my brain free to work on the problem. Quilting is great for this, though there’s always the danger that I’ll get sucked into it too deeply and start going through fabric and flipping through designs and planning a new one...and then the creative part of my brain gets occupied with the quilt instead of the book. So I try to leave little stacks of cut-out pieces of fabric by my sewing machine, ready to be sewn together just in case I need them.

Driving is a great place to work out book problems too, preferably on familiar roads. But an even better place is the shower. Again, I think it’s that doing something familiar and rote--and what’s more rote than shampooing your hair?-- that occupies the “front” of the brain and allows the deeper bits to get to work without distraction.

I wish I could add doing housework to the list. My house would be a lot cleaner if dusting and vacuuming were more conducive to working on solving story problems, though folding laundry is boring enough to be useful.




Marissa, thank you for a wonderful week on the blog. It's been a treat getting to know you better. We wish you every single kind of success there is with Bewitching Season and your writing career!