"Formats and approaches and
publishers' wants are constantly
changing. STORY stays as the one
great constant. The challenge is
to find the way to tell your story
in a way that is true to it AND
that works for the market of the
day."
~
Harold Underdown ~
Gifts for My Writer
Friends:
Anne
Greenwood Brown has a wonderful post HERE on using literary allusion in your
writing. It’s terrific.
Janice
Hardy, who shows up here a LOT, has a great writing exercise HERE. I’m going to have to try this one.
Click
HERE for an excellent post by Jamie Gold on using beat sheets in your writing.
In my last post, I offered a gently-used ARC of Anyone by Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp to one of you. This week's winner is Joanne Roberts. Joanne is a children's book writer and illustrator from Pennsylvania who blogs at Bookish Ambition. You can check out her blog by clicking on the title. Congratulations, Joanne! I'll get your book out to you this week. I have another wonderful giveaway, so read on!
You know I love historical fiction and this week I want to tell you about an incredible historical book for Tweens. I have no idea why I haven't written about this sooner, but sometimes I lose my way. It's been out for well over a year, and I read it not only as soon as it came out, but before. The author, Nancy Herman, is in one of my critique groups, and this book is one for which we all want to take a little credit. It is amazing.
All We Left Behind: Virginia Reed and the Donner Party is a story that many of us feel is familiar, but Nancy Herman tells the story in a way unlike any accounting I've ever read. Virginia Reed was thirteen years old in 1846 when her family and the Donner family left Illinois on what they thought would be the adventure of a lifetime. The state of California offered free land, a healthy environment, and a chance for a new, fresh start. It is not an easy journey, but hope for the future carries them all along. But the leaders, including Virginia's father, make questionable decisions about the route to take. When they realize time is short to make it over the Sierra Madre mountains before winter, they make the decision to use an untried shortcut, a decision that changes hope to horror.
The story is told in the pitch-perfect voice of Virginia. We ride along with her on the journey and grow up with her in this extraordinary time in her life. This is not just a story, it is a coming-of-age story like few others. Virginia Reed was a real person and through exceptional and
Nancy was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about her work. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed doing it.
TWS: The Donner party’s tragic journey was
certainly an extraordinary event, but one not a lot of young people have read
about. How did you decide on that as the basis for your book?
NH: I’ve always been
interested in stories of life-and-death situations and the human qualities that
define who survives. The Donner Party tragedy is such a story. Because
13-year-old survivor Virginia Reed wrote letters and, later in life, a memoir
of her extraordinary journey with the party, I wanted to share her untold story
of bravery and perseverance with young readers.
TWS: What did you do to prepare for writing All
We Left Behind? Please tell us about your research process for this book.
NH: My research
started with reading just about every book written about the Donner Party—and
there are a surprising number of them! There are also a number of informative
websites. I researched at the Bancroft Museum in Berkeley and was allowed to
examine a private collection of Donner Party artifacts, first-hand accounts,
and other papers at Sutter’s Fort. Each bit of research led to another museum
or library or book, and of course I had to get all the period details right,
too. That meant more research. The whole process became more and more
fascinating, and I extended it by following the Donner Party’s journey on my
own, by car, to see the landmarks that Virginia saw for myself. I blogged about
that journey and it later morphed into its own informative website, http://www.followingthedonnerparty.com
TWS: How did I not
know about that website? It’s terrific. Thanks for the link. Next question: The
voice of Virginia Reed is very strong and real. How did you develop her voice?
NH: That’s so good
to hear, because I struggled with Virginia’s voice through several drafts and
revisions, but my beta readers repeatedly found her rather distant. This was
probably the most frustrating part of writing the book for me, and I was
eventually at an impasse. I finally had a breakthrough at a Highlights Whole
Novel workshop, when author Liza Ketchum mentored me and encouraged me to dig
into the very difficult, emotional scenes, mostly between Virginia and her
parents, scenes that I had been skimming over and avoiding because, well—they
were so difficult and emotional. When I stopped holding back and dove into
those scenes, Virginia’s voice became loud and clear throughout the entire
book.
TWS: Your writing has
such a great, natural flow to it. Do you spend a lot of time planning your
writing – outlining and such – or is it a much more organic process for you?
NH: Thanks, Rosi! I
actually outlined each chapter chronologically beginning with life in
Virginia’s hometown, through all the documented mishaps and tragic mistakes on
the journey, to her family’s entrapment and eventual rescue. Scenes and
dialogue and the presence of certain party members changed many times as the
final manuscript took shape, but the chronology of events stayed the same.
TWS: I am honestly
shocked this book wasn’t picked up by a traditional publisher. Was it always
your intention to self-publish? Can you tell us a little about how you came to
that decision?
NH: I had a very
supportive agent, but after several passes, I was too impatient to wait any
longer for a sale that could add another two or three years until the book was
in print. By now I had some very strong ideas on what I wanted for the cover
and marketing plan. With the blessing of my agent, I hired a book cover
designer, a content editor and a copy editor, and self-published. I was
successful in getting my book placed in visitor centers, libraries, museums and
bookstores in California and other states along the Oregon and California
trails. I am still working on the best way to offer it en masse to California
school libraries, my biggest potential audience.
TWS: What do you hear
from your young readers?
NH: I think the main
comment I hear from young readers and adults alike is that they realize they knew
very little about the Donner Party, beyond the
sensationalism, before reading my book.
This is probably the most gratifying comment they could give me, because my
intent was to humanize these brave men, women and children, and tell their true
story through Virginia Reed’s experience.
TWS: That was my experience as well. I think most
people know little beyond the grisly details of the end of the story. Thank you
for so generously sharing your time and thoughts. Is there another book on the
horizon?
NH: Thank you so
much for asking me! And yes, I’m currently researching and beginning to write a
historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake and fire. I already have a title, The Girl on Valencia Street, and I’m hoping for publication in
2017.
When I asked Nancy to do this interview, she generously offered a signed copy of All We Left Behind: Virginia Reed and the Donner Party book for a giveaway. To win, all you need do is have a
US address, be a subscriber or follower, and tell me that in a comment
you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click
HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like
extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet,
blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you
have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for
each that you do.
Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.
