Meet Lisa Rose
It’s my delight to introduce you to vivacious, rap-writing debut author Lisa Rose. I first met Lisa through our regional chapter of SCBWI and was immediately attracted to her bright smile, energy and enthusiasm. And wait until you hear her good news . . .
Tell us about your book–details! We want details!
SHUMLIK PAINTS THE TOWN will be published by Kar-Ben in 2016. It’s about a painter named Shumulik who needs to create a mural for Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). He can’t think of anything to paint and soon all of Jerusalem will be there. What is he going to do? It has a funny surprise ending!
Can’t wait to read SHUMLIK PAINTS THE TOWN and find out what the surprise is. So, when did you know you wanted to write for children?
It sounds cliché, but I was in second grade. I wrote a poem and my teacher called me a writer. I always wanted to write. But my mother told me to do something that made money. So I became an elementary teacher and got really, really, really rich! Moral of the story: don’t listen to your mother.
Very funny, Lisa. Now, what is it about writing for children that appeals to you versus writing for adults?
Hope. All children’s book must end in hope or by definition they are not a children’s book.
What’s the best writing advise you’ve ever been given?
I was a playwright before I wrote for kids, but this still applies: “No amount of sequins can save a bad script.”
Love that. And it definitely applies to children’s writing too. As you know, Frog on a Dime is all about encouraging children’s writers, so what’s the most encouraging thing anyone has ever said to you (related to writing)?
It was from Michigan’s own Debbie Taylor. I was writing outside of my race and shared with her I wasn’t trying to be revolutionary, I just wanted to write about something that touched me. Debbie said, “That’s your answer!” Recently, I was working on a project and it just wasn’t working. I tried and tried. Until I realized I was writing it for all the wrong reasons. I think good writing must have passion and purpose. The idea must scrape your soul.
Photo by Vicky Lorencen
What advise would you give to someone who has been pursuing publication for a long time, with close calls, but no contracts?
Keep going and learn how to flip-turn. I was swimmer before I was writer. It is excellent training. I was used to going as fast as could into cement walls. Instead of crashing after rejection, I just turned around and swam as fast I could into another cement wall. I sent the editor at Kar-Ben over twenty stories. We were on a first name rejection basis. But she kept encouraging me to send more stories. And so I did. I told myself I was going to keep writing until I got a contract or a restraining order from her. Luckily for me, the contract came first.
That’s great advise, Lisa. I’d never thought about flip-turns, but that’s a perfect analogy for the submission process. Time for one last question? Okay, name three things we’d be surprised to learn about you.
1. While I have this nice Jewish book coming out with Kar-Ben, most of my novels feature African-American characters and I am working on a digital media project with the former producers of rapper Eminem. Yes, I even write rap music.
2. I have partnered with a Detroit graffiti artist, Fel3000ft. to create a chapter book. I joke that I write everything from shalom to shazizzle!
3. I like eating ice cream with a fork.
4. BONUS! I have an e-book coming out with MeeGenius in the Spring: OH NO! THE TOOTH FAIRY BROKE HER WING! It is a sequel to OH NO! THE EASTER BUNNY IS ALLERGIC TO EGGS!
Hey, this was fun, Lisa. Thank you for stopping by Frog on a Dime. Wishing you many more publishing success stories. Keep doing those flip-turns!
Welcome to Debut Author Leila RasheedLeila Rasheed has gained an MA in both Children's Literature and Creative Writing. She started work at Reading Is Fundamental, a children's literacy charity, before moving to Belgium. Leila now works as the children's bookseller for Waterstone's in Brussels.
InterviewWhat is one book everyone should read?
A book I recommend to pretty much everyone and massively admire is Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. It’s simple, funny, sad, beautiful, and all in what must be less than 10,000 words. It’s the only verse novel I’ve ever read that’s also a poetry novel.
Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.
Because it’s great fun and perfect comfort reading for one of those days you just want to spend under the duvet.
Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
I’m working on a sequel to the first Somerton book, plus two more titles in the Witch of Turlingham Academy series that I write under the name Ellie Boswell, plus a middle grade supernatural suspense novel of my own. And many, many more ideas in the pipe-line!
Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
It has to be getting letters from children who read my first book, Chips Beans and Limousines, and wrote to tell me they loved it.
If you could jump in to a book and live in that world, which would it be?
The Lord of the Rings. I read the trilogy when I was a teenager and was overwhelmed by it. The films are fun, but they don’t do it justice – they are too literal and focus too much on action scenes.
What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Be proud of everything you achieve and don’t be discouraged. Also be prepared to listen to advice from expert readers, and expect the process of growth to hurt.
How did you know you should become an author?
Because I wasn’t happy or fulfilled doing anything else.
Who are your favorite authors of all time?
Many, many. Authors I love include Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Herge, J R Tolkein, Lucy M Boston, Joan Aiken, Tove Janson.
Can you see yourself in any of your characters?
In the second Somerton Book, Rose is a fish out of water in a world where she doesn’t know the rules and doesn’t know how to fit in. I felt like that a lot of the time when I was a teenager. I think lots of people who end up being writers do feel like that – the odd one out.
How do you react to a bad review?
They’re upsetting, of course, but I try not to dwell on them.
If you were President for a day,what is the first thing you would do?
GUN CONTROL.
What one item would you eat for the rest of your life?
Chickpeas! In hummus, in salad, in curry, or just straight from the jar.
Scariest moment?
Having to read from my own writing for the first time in front of an audience. It was a requirement of a creative writing module I took, and it was an excellent requirement because it helped me get over the fear and now – after a lot of experience – I quite enjoy it. If anyone reading this has the same problem, there are two tips 1) Read much, much more slowly than you think you need to. 2) Look up from the page, at the audience, as much as you can. And remember, nothing bad is going to happen. You’re not going to faint or make a fool of yourself. No-one is going to laugh. Everyone in the audience is on your side. Breathe deeply and calmly and go for it!
Favorite restaurant?
La Cigale in Brussels, Belgium, where I used to work as a bookseller. It’s just a good, solid neighbourhood restaurant that does great steaks.
If you were not a writer, what would you like to do?
Something that involves physical activity and travelling – being a writer you’re basically stuck at a computer all day, that’s the downside of it. I’d love to have been an archaeologist.
Are you for or against books being made into movies?
It suits some books, usually plot-driven ones. When the main strength of a book is the prose rather than the plot, it’s hard to convey that in movie format. I don’t aspire to have my books made into movies - if it happens that’s nice, but it’s not my ultimate aim. My ultimate aim is for it to be a good book.
What drives you insane about the writing process?
That it takes so long. I need three lifetimes to get everything done!
Cinders and Sapphires by Leila RasheedOne house, two worlds...
Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averley treats Rose as an equal. And Rose could use a friend. Especially now that she, at barely sixteen, has risen to the position of ladies’ maid. Rose knows she should be grateful to have a place at a house like Somerton. Still, she can’t help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady, like Ada.
For the first time in a decade, the Averleys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. But terrible scandal has followed Ada’s beloved father all the way from India. Now Ada finds herself torn between her own happiness and her family’s honor. Only she has the power to restore the Averley name—but it would mean giving up her one true love . . . someone she could never persuade her father to accept.
Sumptuous and enticing, the first novel in the At Somerton series introduces two worlds, utterly different yet entangled, where ruthless ambition, forbidden attraction, and unspoken dreams are hidden behind dutiful smiles and glittering jewels. All those secrets are waiting . . . at Somerton.
Cinders and Sapphires will be released on January 22nd by Disney-Hyperion
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Welcome to Debut Author Nicole McInnesI am the author of the contemporary YA novel, BRIANNA ON THE BRINK (Holiday House, Spring 2013).
I am also a university writing and literature instructor, a mom and a horsewoman.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature (Creative Writing emphasis) from the University of California at Santa Cruz (go, Banana Slugs!). I also received a Master’s Degree in English (Creative Writing emphasis) from Northern Arizona University (go, Lumberjacks!).
I currently live and work in northern Arizona. Check out this cool multi-media presentation by NAU film student Haley Leonard!
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
That’s easy. A warm sourdough bagel with Greek yogurt and a hot cup of coffee (very blonde with tons of milk since I start vibrating if I drink too much caffeine).
When you were little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?
I wanted to either be a horse trainer or a writer. I ended up doing both – supporting myself by training horses, giving riding lessons and judging horse shows while pursuing publication. My first blog was even called A Writer and a Rider. At some point along the way, it started to become clear that I’d have to choose one as my primary focus. While I chose writing, I still have two old geldings at home, and my kids and I enjoy them tremendously.
What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I adore fashion and consider it an art form unto itself. This is surprising because as a horse person, a dog person, a writer and a mom, I can usually be found either in my jammies or wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Days when I can dress up a little are a big deal for me.
Favorite place you've been?
There was a busy street in the middle of downtown Cairo, Egypt. I was incredibly lucky to be there with my mother when I was fifteen, and the two of us were sitting in a café when I looked out the window and saw a man apparently training a grey Arabian horse right in the middle of all the traffic and mayhem. I remember feeling completely at home in this foreign environment and having the strangest feeling of déjà vu, like I had been there before.
What's your biggest challenge as a writer? How did you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
Currently, my biggest challenge is balancing the hustle and bustle of a debut novel year with the time needed to work on my current book. The things that help most in overcoming this are connecting with other writers to see what works for them and also “Just Doing It” (i.e. writing and editing when I can, promoting when I can, taking breaks when I can).
Favorite/most influential teacher?
Ron Hansen, the author of Mariette in Ecstasy and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, was a huge influence during my undergraduate years at UC Santa Cruz. Not only was he a generous teacher of craft, but he was able to share his experiences as a working writer in a way that helped me understand in a concrete way some of the risks and rewards involved in pursuing the writing lifestyle.
What is on your "keeper shelf" of books?
Sara Zarr’s Story of a Girl, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, Lorrie Moore’s Like Life, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, tons of Steinbeck, Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies, lots of literary anthologies I use for teaching, Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose, Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, a bunch of poetry, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Jewell Parker Rhodes’ Ninth Ward, Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit, Sally Swift’s Centered Riding and a ton of other horse books. Shall I go on?
Do you like the spotlight or lurking in the shadows?
Oh, goodness. My perfect day would entail hours of just observing people in different situations, and I’m thus a huge shadow lurker. So much so that people have often told me that they thought I was stuck-up or stand-offish before they got to know me and realized what a dorky goofball I’m capable of being.
How do you go about revising/editing?
I try to do what I tell my writing students to do. I hammer out a draft, then take a break from it for as long as I can. When I revisit what I’ve written, I can then do so with a bit of a cold, objective eye. This gives me ideas about changes that need to be made before an editor sees it and can help me take it to the next level where I’ll chop what doesn’t work, add more plot and character details where needed and basically rewrite the thing until it (hopefully) shines.
Scariest moment?
That would have to be the Loma Prieta earthquake in October of 1989. I was a college student, and it was my first day of work at this awesome clothing boutique on the Pacific Garden Mall in downtown Santa Cruz. I remember handing a really cute polka dot dress over the counter to a customer when it felt like an enormous fist slammed into the side of the store. The next thing I knew, the building was rocking, the front windows exploded, and clothing racks were flying everywhere. I immediately went into drill sergeant mode and started yelling at everyone to get out of the store. As we were all running toward the door, I looked up and saw a wide crack opening up in the ceiling. I remember thinking the names of my parents and my brother and then thinking “Goodbye.” When we were all finally outside, I stood there with my knees shaking so hard that I thought they’d surely start knocking together. A similar scene can be found in the book I’ve just finished drafting – a moment when the main character truly believes she is going to die and the “last” thought that goes through her head is a goodbye to the people she loves most.
Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
I have just wrapped up another contemporary young adult novel and have a third in the works (also a contemp). I’m excited to see what sorts of adventures those novels will experience on their paths to readers’ hands, but in the meantime I’m looking forward to the release of BRIANNA ON THE BRINK (available for pre-order as of December 2012 at Barnes & Noble, Indie bookstores all over the place and Amazon). Readers should feel free to connect with me on Twitter (@Nicole_McInnes), on Facebook (NicoleMcInnesAuthor) and at my website (www.NicoleMcInnes.com). This interview has been a blast! Brianna on the Brink by Nicole McInnesA one-night stand has life-altering consequences for popular, sixteen-year-old Brianna, who must then accept help from the one person closest to her mistake.
Brianna on the Brink will be released on January 7, 2013
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