ALL ABOUT SUZY LEOPOLD
Tell us a little about yourself outside of your
writer life.
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| Perry & Suzy |
In 2012, my
husband Perry and I began a new chapter of our lives. Perry grew up in
Edwardsville/Glen Carbon, Illinois and I was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
While living in Texas, we made plans for our dream to return to the Midwest,
the land that we love. Our life on the Illinois prairie is filled with many
adventures as we set up our homestead and garden in Staunton, Illinois. Perry
and along with his cousins, from Mic Construction built our modern farm house.
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Our Farm House
on the Prairie |
Springfield, the
capital of Illinois, is fifty miles North of our home. Another fifty mile drive
in a southwesterly direction and we are in St. Louis, Missouri. Crossing over
the Mighty Mississippi River that designates the states’ borders is always
impressive to me.
My husband and I
are parents to five boys, three daughters in law, and seven grandchildren,
Johannah [16], Joshua [11], and Jaxon [7], Henry [7] & Charlotte [4]; Lily
[5] & Lane [4].
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| Seven Silly, Sweet Grands! |
When did you
first know you wanted to be a writer? How long have you been writing?
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The Twelve Days of Christmas in Minnesota
By Constance Van Hoven
Illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka |
I have memories
of my Mom, my sister Jill and I visiting a Minneapolis Public Library on
numerous occasions and checking out a tall stack of books that included The
Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, Harold and the Purple Crayon by
Crockett Johnson, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Curious
George by H. A. Rey, The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, Farmer
Small by Lois Lenski and many more classic titles. Mom said I always asked
her to read favorite titles over and over, again and again. I truly feel she
instilled the love of reading in my heart.
As a student in
high school, I recall a semester of a required English class that included creative
writing. The foundation of what good writing looks like began in college. And
perhaps because of my love for reading, I always knew that I would study
elementary education and become a teacher. After receiving a Bachelor of
Science degree in Elementary Education I earned a Master of Education in
Reading-Elementary, a Bilingual certification and a Reading Recovery
certification.
Reading and
writing go hand and hand and are paired up for a reason. The development of
English includes listening, speaking, reading and writing. One cannot learn how
to write without having knowledge of reading nor can one learn to read without
knowing written letters and their sounds and meaning.
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Read More Books and
Fewer Texts |
As an educator to
hundreds of students, over my thirty-five year career, I taught many students
how to read and write. All of my students were encouraged to keep a journal.
This past summer, I provided reading and writing summer school lessons to three
students. Their parents felt it was important for them to be engaged during the
summer so that they would be ready for the 14~15 school year. Modeling for
students in the classroom provided me with many opportunities to write and
share stories. I still have many of those early stories, that I wrote,
including some written in Spanish.
So, I have delved
into the written word, throughout the years, however, in reality have become
more serious about the craft of writing for children, since I first
participated in PiBoIdMo by Tara Lazar in November 2013.
Do you have any
publishing credits?
Currently, as a
Write Team member, I scribe columns for the Carlinville~Macoupin County
Enquirer~Democrat Newspaper. Many of my articles are educational in nature
and provide information for parents and their school aged children to equal
student success. Reading is Magical, Avoiding the Summer Slide, Make this
the Best School Year Ever, Celebrate Our Earth and many more titles are examples of articles I
authored.
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| Avoiding the Summer Slide |
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Make a Personal or
Family Resolution &
Fulfill the Promise |
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Recognize, Respect &
Pay Tribute this
Memorial Day |
Do you have an
agent?
No, I do not have
an agent. However, I do know that it is important to find the right match for a
writer when seeking an agent to represent my work. Since an agent is someone
who I want to support my writing career, I feel it is important that the ideal
agent should be knowledgable and supportive, as we work together sharing the
love of literacy.
What inspires you
to write?
Inspiration is
all around me. My head is always spinning with ideas, and I feel it is
important to listen to others and observe happenings around me. I am inspired
by so many topics: *shadow type memories* of being a kid, the beauty of our
prairie flower and vegetable gardens, riding my bike on the country roads,
reading picture books to my children and students, classroom experiences of
listening to my students learn and grow, and spending time and making memories
with our seven, sweet, unique grandkids.
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| My Writing Desk |
What has helped
you in this writing journey?
• Reading a large collection of
children’s picture books that I own.
• Checking out tall stacks of picture
books from the public library.
• Reading books about the craft of
writing that I own.
• Checking out many resources from the
public library.
• Referring to resource books on my
book shelf: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Rhyming dictionary, 100 Words Almost
Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles, and many more.
• Participating in writing challenges
and webinars on the Internet.
• Participating in several critique
groups, online and face to face.
• Networking with writerly friends.
What’s one thing that the writing community doesn’t know about you?
Mmm . . . I
really need to give this question some thought. Just one thing? I
suppose I could say I took piano lessons as a kid and wish I would sit and play
more often and work beyond being a beginner! Kinda typical of most kids who took musical instrument lessons, I
guess.
Nah, how about my
sister and I are on a picture post card? That’s kinda unique; isn’t it! My
parents owned The Sun Deck Motel, in Texas, and guess who is seated on the
diving board beside the swimming pool? Yours truly!
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The Sund Deck Motel
Postcard
Oh, I know, what
I can share . . . I participated in an event that I created, Bicycling for
Books. On my birthday, in March of 2011, I rode my bike 55 miles to solicit
donations of books. I set up a “wish list” of suggested book titles that my
students like and my family and friends made donations of books that were
purchased and mailed to my school address. More than one hundred books were
distributed to my students! I am thankful that my administrators allowed me to
take a personal day, from the classroom to ride with Perry, my coach. I
completed the ride with the following stats: Weather: Overcast, partly
sunny; 54°to 68°; 20 + mph winds; Miles: Fifty-five.one; Time:
Four hours one minute. I was so excited to share the love of literacy and to
encourage physical activity with my students.
All of the kids were happy to select two, new books.
|
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Bicycling for Books
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What writerly
wisdom can you offer to other writers?
Believe in your
voice and the story that is in your heart. Write about what you know. Write
about what you love. Most importantly, enjoy the journey of writing. Do not be
in a hurry. Be in the moment. Learn and grow every day. Read, write and create
every day.
What are your
hobbies?
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| Cardinals |
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| Spring |
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| Winter |
- Painting with acrylics and watercolors
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| For the Grandkids |
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Cycling along the Mississippi River
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| My Marin Portofina |
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| Do ya want a cookie or two? |
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| May I serve you? |
Where can
readers find out more about you?
Word Press: Through the Prairie
Garden Gate http://sleopoldblog.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzy.leopold
Twitter: https://twitter.com: SuzyK5
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/suzyl/
GROG Blog: http://groggorg.blogspot.com/p/meet-grog-authors.html
Thanks so much, Suzy! It was wonderful getting to know you more and seeing such lovely pictures!
January
seems like a natural start to new literary beginnings, whether it's a
new story or heading off on idea-collecting expeditions. And
I'm not
the only one - there's a whole bunch of people who brainstorm story
ideas at this time of year. We gather at our digital water cooler over at StoryStorm, where
we share insights on the art and craft of writing. (Registration is
open through January 9th). By the end of the month we've got 30 (or
more) ideas so we can hit the ground running in February and work on
getting the stories onto the page.
If you need help finding ideas, check out Stalking the Wild Ideas from last year. Then pull on your woolly socks, grab a cuppa, and start scribbling.
