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By Denis Markell
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

As an aspiring writer for children, one of the many dividends of marrying my beautiful and gifted wife Melissa Iwai...

(am I right or am I right?)

was finding someone to collaborate with on picture books.

Seeing as I knew she was an extraordinary illustrator, this was to be expected.

What came as a surprise, however, was how deeply her personal experience as an Asian-American woman in America and the history of her family would affect me and my other work as well.

As a Caucasian, It was quite an education for me to see firsthand the tiny slights and assumptions that she would deal with on a daily basis on the streets of New York.

Because of this, I felt that when I finally wrote my first middle grade novel it would involve the Asian experience in our country in some way.

One of the family stories I learned from Melissa, was of her uncle, Takateru Nakabayashi, who had taken the American name of his favorite Jesuit teacher, brother Nicholas.


Uncle Nick, as he was always called, had been a member of the famed 100th Infantry Battalion, the all Nisei army brigade who had fought in Europe in World War II.


I was dimly aware that such a unit existed, so I did some research and found that there are some quite wonderful books which chronicle the story of these amazing men, who fought for their country so bravely while their fellow citizens, whose only "crime" was to be of Japanese ancestry, languished in internment camps.

But it was a story woefully untold for middle grade readers.

Now I had my subject, but how to tell their tale in such a way that it would reach the largest audience? Nonfiction?

There are gifted writers such as Candace Fleming and Steve Sheinkin who can bring history to life with the drama and craft that enthrall young readers, but that’s not really my strength. I’ve spent years as a comedy writer in other fields, and humor and fiction are more where I’m comfortable.

Historical fiction? While I could have set the story in the 1940s, I wanted to make the story as relatable as possible to kid readers today, so involving a young Asian-American boy in today’s world felt right. By now we’d had our son, and as he grew older, I observed his fascination with computer and video games. It occurred to me that perhaps this was a way in!

Maybe I could hook kids with an adventure, one involving computer games, puzzles and suspense. I could weave the story of Melissa’s uncle throughout, using him as a character and the clues could relate to the 100th Battalion.

If I could pull this off, my readers might get a history lesson without even realizing it! Of course, there would be enough there for teachers to expand on and amplify, if they wished to use my book in the classroom. But my goal was to tell the story with lots of humor and keep the kids laughing as they learned.

Finally, to honor my half-Asian son (who still faces many of the same micro-agressions his mother does), I decided to make the protagonist hapa, as half-Asians are called within the community. Note: for positive examples of hapa characters in Disney films please read this excellent post.

So now I knew what the story I wanted to tell, and how I wanted to tell it. I rolled up my sleeves (okay, I pushed up my sleeves. I wear sweatshirts) and started to write. Click Here To Start was the result.

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This sweet illustration was sent in my Melissa Iwai.  Melissa was featured on Illustrator Saturday.

When I meet a new writer and they ask me for advice, I always point out not to rush to submit what they have written. That advice comes from personal experience and many years of observation. When you are new you think everything you write is wonderful and it isn’t until a few years late and many rejections that you realize you better get into a critique group and learn to revise. The trouble is a writer can go on too long with revisions and setting things aside, so when Bebe sent me this short article I thought it might provide the inspiration you can use going into 2015.

Here’s Bebe:

Listening Too much or Self Doubt
By Bebe Willoughby

While people who worked in publishing above us hurried off to the Hamptons on Friday’s early summer dismissal, a co-worker and I stayed in the air conditioned office to write a book on dreams. Our lack of self-confidence prevented us from sending it out.

We tucked the manuscript safely in a drawer , where it stayed for four years. We joined a writing group and brought along the manuscript. The leader, a well-known writer/ illustrator, said it was publishable and encouraged us to send it out. So we did and got a quick call from an editor who wanted to publish it.

I have another tale to tell that involves doubting myself and listening to far too many people. I wrote a short story entitled “Nothing Lasts Forever.” None of my writer friends showed much enthusiasm, and a top editor told me I did not write well enough for major magazines. I lived with that declaration for quite some time. Then a friend who did not work in publishing advised: “send it out. You have nothing to lose.” She, of course, was right, but I had not seen it that way. My tale has a happy ending. The story was published in Seventeen magazine.

I encourage writers to have others read their work, but be careful about listening too hard. In the end, you must trust yourself.

Bebe Willoughby earned a M.F.A.in creative writing at Columbia University and is the author of five works of  fiction–four children and one novel for adults. She served for ten years as an editor at Random House.

Bebe, thank you for sharing your experiences with all of us. I hope it inspires everyone to get their revisions done and submit more of their writing and illustrating this year. Remember, it doesn’t always have to be a book contract to be successful. Wishing everyone a very successful 2015. Now’s the time to start think laying out a plan.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Advice, article, authors and illustrators, bio, inspiration, Process, revisions, submissions Tagged: Bebe Willoughy, Melissa Iwai

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Melissa Iwai is participating in an AdventChallenge2014 this month and she sent me this fun illustration from December 3rd. Thought it might give you ideas for decorating your best friend. Melissa was featured on Illustrator Saturday. Now her husband has something to tout about below.

After being read and
reviewed by Karen Haas in New Jersey, Cherry Money Baby by John Cusick took at trip to Pennsylvania and visited Gail Krause.

Gail is  pictured on the left holding Cherry Money Baby taken on Thanksgiving day in the Poconos.

Isn’t it a great holiday picture?

After Gail read it she wrote a review on Amazon and Goodreads, then set Cherry off on a trip to visit someone in Louisville, Kentucky.

We’ll have to wait and see where Cherry ends up traveling after that.

Kate Sullivan at Delacorte Press has won two middle-grade novels by Denis Markell (Melissa Iwai’s husband) at auction. The first book, Click Here to Start (a Novel) , is pitched as The Westing Game for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. In it, young Ted Gerson inherits “all the treasure” to be found in his great-uncle’s old apartment – only to realize the flat is actually an in-person “escape the room” game and the reward for completing it could be extraordinary. Publication for Click Here to Start is set for summer 2016; the second book is untitled. Holly Root of Waxman Leavell Literary Agency sold world English right to both books.

Chris Behrens’ had good news. He received a letter from Barnes and Nobel’s Small Press Department in NYC saying they wanted to include his book, Savanna’s Treasure on their stores book shelves. I asked how this came about and he told me he had written a letter to B&N’s Small Press Department and sent them a book to review. I am sure this will help increase his sales.

Congratulations, Everyone!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: inspiration, Kudos, News Tagged: Barnes & Noble, Cherry Money Baby, Chris Behrens, Click Here to Start, Denise Markell, Gail Krause, Melissa Iwai, Savanna's Treasure

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This fun illustration was sent in by Melissa Iwai. Melissa has illustrated over twenty picture books, and her first picture book that she wrote and illustrated was, Soup Day. She was featured on Illustrator Saturday on October 13, 2012. Click here to view.

In the past couple of weeks I have realized that there are always new writers and illustrators stopping by in hopes to learn more about the children’s book publishing industry. I have been blogging everyday for the last five years and so many subjects have been discussed, but many of you have not been following me for that many years. Example, I was afraid to blog about the formatting issue thinking that writers would think I wasn’t covering a important topic, but it turns out that many of you thanked me for clarifying  the subject. I breathed a sigh of relief, because I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

This lead me to wondering if you had more questions that you would like answered. If you do I would be willing to collect them, answer the ones I know and get editors and agents to weigh in on others. Why don’t we give it a test run? I am going to the March Writer’s Retreat that I put out there at the end of last year. Steve Meltzer, Associate Publisher/Executive Managing Editor of Dial Books for Young Readers, Dutton Children’s Books, Kathy Dawson Books, and Celebra Children’s Books and Agent Sean McCarthy from McCarthy Lit are the two faculty members for our small group. We will be spending the weekend with them, so I could get answers to anything you want to know.

If you have a burning question, please send it to Kathy.temean(at)gmail.com. You can ask more than one question and it can be about any aspect of the children’s publishing industry. You can be a completely new writer or illustrator, or an author or and illustrator who has published many books. Just make sure you put ASK KATHY in the subject area of the email, so I can search on that. I look forward to reading your questions and sharing the answers later the month.

Had to share the picture below with all you winter weary people out there. Nanci Turner Steveson move from New Jersey to her dream state – Wyoming. Maybe you will feel a little less weary after you see all the snow at her house.

Now that is snow. It brings the words, “Cabin Fever” to my mine.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, demystify, How to Tagged: Agent Sean McCarthy, Ask Kathy, March Writer's Retreat, Melissa Iwai, Nanci Turner-Steveson, New Idea, Steve Meltzer

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No, it’s not back in print—as I wrote that subject title I suddenly realized I might be setting some of you up for disappointment. But I hope you’ll find this almost as good a surprise. This time of year, I get a lot of email from readers looking for copies of Hanna’s Christmas, which has been out of print for, I don’t know, a decade at least. Sometimes the letters sound pretty frustrated: as the holidays approach, used copies of the book jump to astronomical rates in the resale market. I don’t have any available for sale myself—I didn’t even hold on to enough copies for my own children. (I didn’t have quite as many kids when I wrote the book.)

But a couple of days ago, I got a lovely email from a teacher who said her class really wanted to hear the story, and would I consider reading it aloud in a video. Would you believe that has never occurred to me? It was a great idea, and that’s what I’ve done. I made a short video intro below and then comes a second video with the reading of the book. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

(Direct link here.)

(Direct link to read-aloud.)

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I wanted to share this review of the BOOKS OF WONDER presentation/panel that our Melissa Iwai participated in last weekend…big names and such a cool place.  When you get to NYC DO go and visit.  They have original copies of Oz and other wonderful old books. (so do I actually which I cherish!)  anyway….enjoy Melissa’s tale of Wonder….

Sunday was an amazing event at Books of Wonder on 18th Street in Manhattan.  If you have never been there before, it is a fantastic independent bookstore devoted solely to children’s books.  They do not carry any licensing products — you will not find any Disney or Nickeloden books here!  All the picture books are arranged alphabetically by illustrator, rather than author.  It’s the only bookstore I know of that does this!

>We love it there and go often for events of which there are many.  It’s been a wonderful opportunity to meet legendary book people, like the late Tomi Ungerer or Chris Van Allsberg as well as newer, well-known authors and illustrators.  One of our favorite events was listening to Nortan Juster and Jules Feiffer talk about creating The Phantom Tollbooth last year in celebration of its 50th anniversary.

This Sunday, though, I was on a panel there!  My panel mates are all exceptional picture book creators.  I was honored to be included in the group.

With Brian Floca, Anne Rockwell, Robie Harris, Chris Raschka, Deborah Heiligman. Not pictured are Leyuen Pham, Doreen Cronin, and Betsy Lewin.

I was totally nervous before the event – I am not so comfortable speaking in public anyway, but my anxiety was heightened by the stellar company I was keeping.  Anne Rockwell, who is the most sweetest, generous, warmest person ever, put me at ease.  I was so thankful she was able to make it.  She is a “living legend” as Peter Glassman, owner of Books of Wonder, said in his introduction of her.  She has written over 100 books, many of which she herself illustrated.  You can imagine my immense relief when she told me she love the illustrations for her warm story, Truck Stop!

Anne and I both spoke a bit about how the book came to be and our process of creating it.  Brian Floca spoke about his amazing book, Locamotive.   He actually got to drive an old fashioned locamotive for an afternoon as part of his research.   Robie Harris and Chris Racshka discussed writing and illustrating a book about child fears, When Lions Roar.  The challenge was creating something that wasn’t too scary, but scary enough, and what a delicate line that is.  Deborah Heiligman and Leuyen Pham talked about their book on the life and work of Paul Erdos (The Boy Who Loved Math)  as well as the esoteric system of Erdos numbers.  The wonderful Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin of Click, Clack, Moo! fame have been collaborating for 18 years.  Their newest is Click, Clack, Boo! They spoke about their collaboration and how much trust and respect they have for each other — also how they both share the same sense of humor (obvious if you’ve ever read their hilarious books about duck and Farmer Brown).

Everyone had such an interesting perspective on the work of picture book creating. It was really fascinating and inspirational.  I was so happy to meet finally Chris Raschka and Betsy Lewin  whose illustrations I adore and whose books Jamie grew up with (along with many of Anne’s).

Anne Rockwell and me outside of Books of Wonder after the event. Do I look relieved?

It really is such a gift for kids to be able to meet authors and illustrators of the books they love.  If you ever have the opportunity, please do so!  Not every place is like  NYC where there are book events all the time, but in cities across the country, especially at independent book stores, there are events taking place often — and they are free!

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I was just catching up with my HORN BOOK reading…love that magazine…. and noticed that Melissa Iwai has a nice review in the Sept Oct edition for TRUCK STOP, written by Anne Rockwell from Viking.  It’s a lovely story about noticing and caring, but is a must for any young truck lover!   “Iwai’s mixed-media collage art uses texture, bright colors, and a variety of perspectives to draw readers in.” It’s an honor to get a review in Horn Book.  Book deserves it….. Hope you’ll check it out.

Melissa’s also been busy doing signings…one today at Books of Wonder in fact! (NYC…favorite book store!)  And these will include the new full length board book of B IS FOR BULLDOZER written by June Sobel from Houghtin Mifflin Harcourt.  It’s been a trade book since 2003 but this is new….lovely to see new editions keeping a good book in print longer.  Again, for the truck loving child it’s such fun!

And if you haven’t yet visited Melissa Iwai’s blog THE HUNGRY ARTIST you are missing good food and insider artist tips….yummmm…..

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A wonderful truck book for boys and girls is being released this week…DO take a look and enjoy.  I’ve ‘borrowed’ the blurb from Melissa Iwai’s blog here…about the book and author and, for some, a surprising fact about the collaboration process.  Congratulations Melissa and Anne ….it’s a most fun result of a growing friendship!

I’m thrilled to announce the release of TRUCK STOP, written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by moi!!  The official Viking pub date is this Thursday, but we are kicking off our blog tour today.  TRUCK STOP is a fun picture book for young kids that celebrates all the different trucks and their drivers who gather for breakfast every day at the young narrator’s family’s truck stop diner.

When I first was offered the manuscript in 2011, I was so excited to see it was written by Anne.  I’ve been a big fan for a long time.  She`s written over 100 children’s books for all ages, on topics ranging from boats, history, mythology, to the first day of school, bugs, to the seasons.  Go check out her collection of books here!  Needless to say, I didn’t need much time to think it over and said “yes” to my editor immediately.

Most people don’t realize it, but usually the author and illustrator don’t meet or collaborate at all on the book.  Exceptions are made, of course, if they are married, related, or perhaps have worked together in the past.  So it was such a pleasure last week when I finally had the opportunity to meet Anne in person.  We had been corresponding via Facebook  for the past year after I turned the artwork in (yes, it takes a year for a book to be printed!)

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I am most honored to be part of the Friday Feb. 1st Artist Intensive for the SCBWI Winter Conference (Grand Hyatt 42nd) this coming weekend!  Our panel discussion is “WHEN DO I QUITE MY DAY JOB?” and I’m looking forward to the subject and opportunity to share the basics (and not so basic) to the business of being an Illustrator.  Brenda Bowen (editor, now Lit Agent, and writer) and Jan Constantine (general counsel for The Authors Guild) and I (20 year artist agent) will be moderated by David Diaz.

The SCBWI conferences are always so very inspirational and done so professionally and with such care for the market and those who participate in it, that it’s always a joy to be part of and/or attend.  I’ll also be one of the judges for the Art Show which is a wonderful part of these events.  Sat. and Sun are full of other talks and sessions for writers and illustrators (or both) and an almost overwhelming opportunity to get an ‘insiders’ look at the children’s book industry. And you meet and chat with so many interesting people!

If you are planning to be there, please make yourself known to me.  And if not this year, do try to attend in LA,CA (Aug.) or NYC (Feb) at some point…invaluable!  See you there!

(“CAT”artist Melissa Iwai’s got the right idea about books!)

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We are very happy and proud to announce today is the official LAUNCH of HUSH LITTLE MONSTER from CAT artists Melissa Iwai, and her writer husband Denis Markell, and Little Simon (S&S) as publisher!  They’ve done a couple of books together and this one is such fun!  It received a recent STARRED review in PW too!  The story is great for Halloween, but it’s not JUST for that holiday…. we have ‘little monsters’ all year long.  Do take a fun look….

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Reviewed by Amy M. O’Quinn for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: Chanukah Lights Everywhere
Written by: Michael J. Rosen
Illustrated by: Melissa Iwai
Hardback: 32 pages
Ages: 4-8
Publisher: Harcourt Trade, 2001; 1st Edition
ISBN-10: 0152056750
ISBN-13: 978-0152056759

In this bright and colorful book, a young boy and his family celebrate Chanukah (Hanukkah) or the Festival of Lights. But author Michael J. Rosen also cleverly incorporates the skill of counting into the story by matching the number of candles that are lit on the menorah each night to other kinds of lights that can be seen by the five-year-old boy and his family.

For example, on the second night of the Festival of Lights, the family has lit two candles on the menorah. And as the little boy and his sister are spinning the dreidel on the floor, they notice TWO headlights outside as their grandfather drives up.

On the fourth night of Chanukah, there are four candles burning on the menorah. But the little boy also notices there are FOUR flames flickering under the skillets and pots on the stove as his mother fries up a platterful of latkes.

And on the seventh night of Chanukah, the family takes a drive around the neighborhood. The boy notices that at his best friend’s house, where Christmas is celebrated, there are lamps with just one bulb burning in each of the SEVEN windows—just as there are seven candles on his menorah at home. The boy’s father says, “Chanukah is also about the joy of different religions sharing a street.”

Throughout the eight days of Chanukah, and even afterwards, the little boy sees lights that remind him of the candles on the menorah. And he thinks about Chanukah and being Jewish in such a wide world of other lights—it extends far beyond the menorah.

This engaging book by Michael J. Rosen has certainly captured the spirit of the Jewish celebration while also providing the reader with a glimpse into the life of a young boy who finds joy in the traditions of his family and his heritage. He is also very observant of the one-to-one correspondence of the different kinds of lights around him as he adds candles to the menorah each night.

The illustrations by Melissa Iwai are lively and playful and add much to the story. Young readers will enjoy finding the menorahs (sometimes cleverly hidden) on each page. Children might also notice and count the growing number of cats throughout the story.

At the end of the book, Mr. Rosen includes two pages about the history of Chanukah and the symbolism of this Festival of Lights. The information is helpful to readers (such as myself) who are not as familiar with Chanukah, and it also provides insight and understanding about this important Jewish holiday!

********

Amy M. O’Quinn is a pastor’s wife and former schoolteacher-turned-homeschool mom of six. She is also a freelance writer who enjoys jotting down ideas around the fringes of family life. She specializes in non-fiction, and her work has been published or acquired by magazines including Jack and Jill, US Kids, Guideposts for Kids, Learning Through History Magazine, Highlights, GEORGIA Magazine, Homeschooling Today, International Gymnast, etc. She is also a product/curriculum/book reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and a regular columnist for TEACH Magazine. The O’Quinns live on the family farm in rural south Georgia. You can find Amy’s blog, Ponderings From Picket Fence Cottage, at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/picketfencemom.

Amy M. OQuinn, Chanukah Lights, Melissa Iwai, Michael J. Rosen, Picture Books

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