Happy Poetry Month! Haiku Musings from Kathy Halsey

 

Haiku helps me see

  through this world into others

  unknown until now

Why Haiku? Why not? Haiku rescued me when I was told by an editor that I didn't tell stories, I wrote stage directions.

 FULL. STOP. I stopped writing for a few months. I sat on the back porch that I'm on right now, looking at clematis and told myself, "You can write haiku." After all, it's just three lines, 17 syllables, and a small contained easy package. However, as I delve into the craft of haiku and started to understand the Japanese version, read more, and participate in podcasts like Poetry Pea, I know what looks simple is much more complex. Haiku is what is said, but even more what is not said. The writer and reader engage in making new meaning through the space haiku opens in us.

That was three years ago. I'm sitting on my porch now instead of cleaning, washing clothes or getting ready for company. Why? Because poetry makes me stop  ordinary life and just be. And when I'm using my senses to just see what's around me, I relax and I open  myself up to new possibilities.

Haiku makes me anticipate the spark nature brings every week. Knowing I'll  write haiku every Saturday, I hunt for moments during the week that bring me solace, peace, and take me to other worlds. With my haiku practice, I meet new people and have been published in poetry journals.  In fact, my first book, Be A Rainbow by KiwiCo Press came from a poem that was an extended metaphor. Haiku taught me that.

All poetry makes us pause, linger, see life magnified in all its beauty and complexities. It allows us to wonder and wander, compose images and create art through words. Poetry allows us to play with words, create new words, compose word songs that can be sung with rhyme, rhythm, beat, and a healthy mix of risk-taking and pleasing oneself first. 

Read and write some haiku or poetry every day or join us at #HaikuSautrday w/host Susan Morhar Andrews, @AndrewsSusanM on X and Bluesky. It's our little sunshine spot on X that sheds light and resistance through our ability to connect and create better worlds.

Here's an image that I took in Lansing, Michigan when Bob and I hiked on a dreary day and found this beautiful park tucked away. Be with this image. Create your own poetry. Please share your haiku or any other poetry in the comments. Happy Haiku and Poetry month to you!

Jo Watson Hackl: An MG Debut Chat and How to Create a Theme for Your Book by Kathy Halsey

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe Book Review

I met Jo Watson Hackl this past summer at Ohio's first Nerd Camp where she presented sessions for teachers, librarians, and other writers. I was so impressed with Jo's extensive presence online and her educational materials for Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, I had to purchase it.

As a former middle school teacher and K-12 librarian, I knew students in this age group, as well as educators, would inhale this book as fast as I did. Jo's main character Cricket is plucky, resourceful, and easy to root for as she survives in the woods alone, searches for her mother who has abandoned her, and sleuths out clues to find her mother who deals with mental illness.

Jo deftly weaves together a page-turner that is part mystery, part history, and part adventure. The timeless themes of family issues, being different, yet wanting to fit in; being independent, yet needing security and a home will resonate with many audiences. Educators and librarians can easily use Jo's deep resources as a well to plan outdoor activities focused on nature and grit. This debut novel is a must-read.

Craft Chat

Kathy: Congrats on your debut middle grade. You indicate on your website that it took years to write. How did the book evolve over time? Do you know how many revisions you went through? What came easy? What took the most work?

 

Jo: Thank you, Kathy.  I’m delighted to be part of your outstanding blog.

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe took over ten years to write and revise. The story changed over time as I centered in on the core emotional journey of Cricket, Smack Dab’s main character. This journey includes her evolving understanding of herself and her changing relationships with the people and creatures (including an adopted pet cricket named Charlene and a poetry-loving dog named Percy) in her .life. Smack Dab is a work of fiction, but it reflects real-life emotions.  I went through dozens of revisions, always with the goal of allowing myself to be vulnerable on the page and to write and revise the scenes I was most afraid to write. I kept working until each part felt true.

 

I grew up surrounded by the woods of a real-life ghost town, so the relationship to the setting came very easy for me. I wanted to make the setting feel so real to readers that, when they open the pages of Smack Dab, they immediately feel transported into Cricket’s world. I wanted for the setting to function almost as a character in itself. I also wanted to create a clue trail that readers could solve alongside Cricket. If you ever want to have fun as a writer, I highly recommend putting together a clue trail.  It gives you a compelling reason to explore your curiosity and to gather intriguing facts and interesting details and try to make them even more interesting for readers.  A clue trail not only provides Cricket with a quest, but the journey helps her grow as a character and changes her by the end of the novel. My research led me down hundreds of rabbit holes until I found the right combination of clues. I also tried to make each clue have an emotional meaning for Cricket, and it took plenty of revisions to fit them together in a way designed to create a satisfying reader experience.

Yes Electric Mills, the setting, is based on a real lumber town.

Kathy: I love the topics and themes you worked into Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe – family issues, nature, mental illness, art history. Did you arrive at these issues/themes ahead of time or did they reveal themselves organically?

 

Jo: Thanks Kathy. These issues came to me very organically. I’ve always had a close relationship with nature and wanted to set the novel mostly outdoors. To make the outdoor scenes realistic, I studied extensively on outdoor self-reliance, and learned how to live off the land, make shelter, find food, and create a fire from scratch. You can read about one unusual way of making fire, called “fire out of water,” in Smack Dab.

My favorite artist is Walter Inglis Anderson, and his hidden room provided inspiration for the elusive Bird Room in the story and the personal narrative of the fictional artist in the story tied in nicely with that of Cricket’s mother. Mental health is an issue with which more and more young readers and their families are struggling, and I wanted to write a story that spoke to that issue. When I was a young person learning about the world, perhaps my greatest discovery was how people are amazingly complex, and that no person is just one thing or the other. I wanted to create a story that invites readers to lean into a more nuanced understanding of the world.

Kathy: Your main character Cricket is relatable and intriguing. How can writers create characters worth rooting for and that readers can identify with?

 

Jo: Great question. For me, the key to any strong relationship is to allow yourself to be open. Cricket isn’t afraid to admit when she’s scared, or worried, or uncertain, and I think that readers can relate to those feelings. It also doesn’t hurt that, early in the book, she risks the wrath of her aunt to save a real-life cricket, whom she promptly names Charlene. I also tried to make every character three-dimensional (even Charlene and a poetry-loving dog named Percy), with positive and negative qualities, conflicting emotions, and plenty of quirks.

Jo and "Pupper," the inspiration for Percy, the poetry-loving dog.

Kathy: Tell us a bit about your online resource Outdoorosity - its genesis, connection to the novel, and your personal life.

Jo: More and more research provides evidence of the mental and physical health benefits of spending time outdoors and I wanted to highlight this and to provide practical, easy ways for readers to reap those benefits.  This inspired me to found https://Outdoorosity.org years ago as a free resource with inspiration and information about getting outdoors. We post bucket lists each season with fun things to do outdoors. We publish articles about outdoor activities, plants, and animals. We also provide original outdoor photography. I’m currently in the beginning stages of a study that introduces low-cost natural elements to the standardized test setting with the goal of increasing student performance on standardized tests. Interested educators can sign up for more information at https://forms.gle/BhPUpKh4xdZmgViq9 . In my own life, I engage with nature every day. I spend as much time outdoors as possible and, six days a week, post photos from nature on social media. My writing office overlooks a view of the woods, and, whenever I feel stuck, a walk outdoors reenergizes me and boosts my creativity. 

Jo and friends at the Earthskills class hiking

Kathy: You have a cohesive, identifiable online presence. What tips do you recommend writers take to stand out, create an authentic brand?

Jo: I’m so glad that you included the word “authentic,” Kathy. To me, that really is key.  I advise writers to find something that they are passionate about and want to share with others, and then build posts around that theme.  To me, it’s time outdoors and nature. Early in the pandemic, I was holed up at home and the world as I knew it felt like it was coming unraveled.  I wanted to find a way to put a bit of positivity out into the world. Photographs of nature were an easy way for me to do that.

Battle of the Books from Kathy's School Library

Kathy: I'd love for you to tell us about your support of Battle of the Books.

Jo: I was very fortunate to have Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe  named to the Battle of the Books list for North Caroline (twice!). I am a first-generation college graduate and wanted to give back to readers and encourage a love of reading. I offer free question and answer sessions to team members from any state where Smack Dab is on the list. I’ve loved my time visiting with the teams, helping them prepare for their upcoming events, and encouraging them in their own reading and writing endeavors.

Kathy: What are you working on now?

Jo: I'm working on another outdoor adventure, art mystery, clue trail story similar to Smack Dab in these elements, and, like Smack Dab, is a coming of age novel. This story features two young chefs who are cousins from feuding sides of the family. They have to work together to survive the woods, solve the clue trail, and not kill each other in the process. I'm having lots of fun.

Jo Watson Hackl is the author of the bestselling novel, SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF MAYBE (Random House Children’s Books), which won the Southern Book Prize and is an Amazon Teacher's Pick. The book is set almost entirely outdoors and includes curriculum tie-ins to art, history, geography, literature, mathematics, and science.

Jo also is the Founder of https://Outdoorosity.org, a free resource for inspiration and information about nature. Jo loves to do school visits and has presented to over 23,000 students, educators, and other professionals. She donates her honorarium to buy books for children selected by the host organization. 

Working with a team of experienced educators, she has developed a bounty of free resources for educators and other readers including outdoor adventures, a "Building Grit Kit," a "Writing and Revision Toolkit," and a "Book Club Kit."

These can be found here:

Website: https://JoHackl.com

Facebook:  Jo Watson Hackl

Twitter: @JoHackl

Instagram:  @JoHackl.

You can contact Jo through her website https://JoHackl.com if you'd like to apply to take part in a mentored implementation of the “Building Grit Kit” or a study implementing nature-based interventions with a goal of improving student performance on standardized tests.

6 Views on Why We Need Nature

by Sue Heavenrich

Whenever I get stuck in my writing, I head outside. I tuck my camera in my pocket and tell myself that I’m just going out for a breath of fresh air. I might walk down my road, noticing how low the sun is in the sky, or the way snowflakes rest on dried rosehips.

I might wander around the yard, discovering brilliant green moss gardens. Or I’ll pull on my garden boots and head to the garden – which sometimes turns into a three-hour minivacation as I discover bees and flies, watch birds, notice buds opening. I’ve been known to turn a quick one-mile walk into an hour exploration.

photo by Sue Heavenrich

My excuse: being outside, in nature, is Good For Me. And there’s research to back it up. Time spent in nature – whether it’s a hiking trail or a patch of green in your backyard – can perk up your brain, decrease stress, make you happier, and increase your creativity. 

Add in some exercise, and you’ve got a winning recipe for breaking through tiny creative blocks. Not only is walking good for your health, it stimulates creativity and improves one’s mood. According to a study at Stanford, people’s creative output increased 60 percent while walking.

I know that when I come back inside, I feel more creative. So I asked a few friends whether they took nature breaks.

They are essential, says snail scientist and writer, Marla Coppolino. “If I've been struggling to figure out how to write or draw something, the "a-ha" moments come when I step outside and meander through my field and connect with the grasses, insects, and whatever else I meet. It re-awakens the parts of my mind that solve problems. Maybe part of this just comes from relaxing, but I think it's more of the connection I feel.”

Illustrator, Annie Zygarowicz spends time watching clouds with her husband. “When we’re driving, we’ll pull over to observe and photograph the cloud formations, their color, density and texture.” Cloud photos and memories inspire their painting and poetry.  

When author Kathy Halsey feels stuck, she heads out to a garden. “Being surrounded by growing things, the sounds of birds and the wind  make feel hopeful and refreshed. My head clears. I feel relaxed, less stressed, and able to sit and work again.” Spending quiet time outdoors has renewed her interest in writing haiku, and she shares her Saturday haiku on twitter using the hashtag #HaikuSaturday. In turn, writing haiku has made her more observant of nature. 

photo by Leslie Colin Tribble

Christy Mihaly sometimes takes her manuscript for a walk. “Usually I walk with my dog through the woods. Sometimes I focus on a particular story problem. Other times, I'm just taking a break and letting my mind wander. Either way, every time, it gets my brain out of whatever rut it’s in, and gives me a fresh start when I return to work. Often the universe sends me new lines for a poem as I walk.”

One such walk resulted in a picture book. Strolling by a hayfield and watching the balers operate, Chris mused, “Storing summer in a bale…” Those thoughts grew into HEY, HEY, HAY! (A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make them)

Photographer and nature writer Leslie Colin Tribble finds that being outside is the best therapy for feeding the creative part of her life. “The act of movement while being outdoors sparks my mind into focus and clarity. Putting one foot in front of the other clears my thoughts and gives me greater vision about a project - allowing my mind to wander into the story I’m writing. Nature photography sharpens my perception, and I love stumbling across the perfect vignette of rock, lichen, wildflowers and soil that I can capture with my lens. Focusing on the small things in the immense landscape where I live reminds me that the tiniest detail is important in creative efforts.”

Later, when she looks back on her photos, she feels the sense of place all over again – bringing back physical and emotional details she can incorporate in a story.

So this week, head outside and see what you can discover. And if you are looking for some weekly nature breaks, check out my Wednesday posts at Archimedes Notebook.

Books for Earth Day and Poetry Month ~by Christy Mihaly

Today let's explore poems about Earth! Tomorrow (April 22) is Earth Day . . . and of course . . .  

April is National Poetry Month. 

SO: Here's a quick round-up of ten Earth-themed books for kids. Of the many books out there I chose 5 outstanding poetry books and 5 favorite rhyming picture books. Please add your own in the comments! 

Nature-Themed Poetry Books

Poetry is an ideal way to encourage kids to explore nature: reading and writing poems makes us slow down, observe, and ponder the wonder and the connections.

The Wisdom of Trees: How Trees Work Together to Form a Natural Kingdom (Roaring Brook, 2021).

This new picture book is written and illustrated by Lita Judge. It illuminates cutting edge science about how trees communicate and collaborate in communities. Judge uses heartfelt, evocative poems to convey the magical-seeming properties of trees. Gorgeous art complements the scientific sidebars and helpful back matter about each spread.

A Place to Start a Family: Poems about Creatures That Build (Charlesbridge, 2019).

David Harrison's dozen poems about animal architects, illustrated by Giles Laroche, provide a fun introduction to structures that animals build, from birds to fish, prairie dogs to king cobras and more. 

Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year (Nosy Crow, 2018) is a gorgeous 366-poem anthology edited by Fiona Waters and illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon. Though the selected poets tend toward the classical (Emily Bronte, Margaret Wise Brown, William Wordsworth, Robert Frost) with a smattering of traditional verses, it's a nice introduction for kids.

National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry: More than 200 poems with photographs that float, zoom, and bloom! (Nat Geo Kids, 2015). Whew, that title just about says it all. This book will engage young readers who love photos. It's filled with stunning Nat Geo images from around the world, paired with poems old and new. The poets here include Nikki Grimes, Langston Hughes, and Naomi Shihab Nye, and are collected by J. Patrick Lewis, a former children's poet laureate. 

Song of the Water Boatman and other Pond Poems (HMH 2005) offers wonderful kid-friendly poems about the creatures and plants that live in and around a pond. Joyce Sidman starts with my favorites -- spring peepers, those tiny heralds of spring --  and moves through the seasons with poems and informational sidebars. Striking woodcuts by Beckie Prange bring the pond ecosystem to life.

Rhyming Picture Books about Earth

Chase the Moon, Tiny Turtle: A Hatchling's Daring Race to the Sea (Page Street Kids, 2021). In rhyming verse, Kelly Jordan captures the drama of a loggerhead turtle's post-hatching sprint across the sand to the safety of the ocean. The lyrical text and Sally Walker's engaging illustrations are sure to delight young readers as they learn about sea turtles and their struggle to survive.

Ocean Soup: A Recipe for You, Me, and a Cleaner Sea (Sleeping Bear, 2021). Meeg Pincus's clever rhymes explain plastic pollution in the ocean, using the metaphor of soup -- how we threw all the ingredients in and let it simmer for years -- and includes specific actions kids can take to help. Bright illustrations by Lucy Semple keep the tone upbeat. 

 

Anywhere Farm (Candlewick, 2020) by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Brian Karas, stands out for its inclusivity. It encourages kids by letting them know you can start a garden on a city vacant lot ... or really anywhere: 

"But a pan or a bucket,

a pot or a shoe, 

a bin or a tin 

or a window will do." Empowering and inspiring.

One Earth (WorthyKids, 2020) is a rhyming counting book that does it all! In addition to teaching the numbers, text by Eileen Spinelli and art by Rogerio Coelho share the wonder of Earth, and may inspire kids to want to take care of it.

Compost Stew: Recipe for the Earth (Dragonfly Books, 2014) puts a different spin on the "ocean soup" concept. It's a zippy rhymer that explains compost to kids. With clever rhyming verse by Mary McKenna Siddals and fun pictures by Ashley Wolff, this book is a great way to get kids excited about composting. 

Bottom line: Nature inspires great writing! This post just scratches the surface -- what other great books do you recommend?

Author Interview with Chris Mihaly By Suzy Leopold

HEY, HEY, HAY!
A Tale of Bales and the Machines and
the Machines That Make Them
by Christy Mihaly; Illustrated by Joe Cepeda
Book birthday: August 14th; Holiday House

Chris' cute smile. 😊

Hip, hip, hayray for fellow GROGger, Chris Mihaly and her new book HEY, HEY, HAY! A TALE OF BALES AND THE MACHINES THAT MAKE THEM. Written by Christy and illustrated by Joe Cepeda this book makes its debut on August 14th. 

Read all about this rhyming picture book ⎯⎯⎯ a tale of a Mom and daughter duo and the process of making hay on their farm. 

Children ages 4-8 are sure to have a better understanding about farm life and how things work. Back matter is included.

Living on the Illinois prairie, there are farm fields surrounding us for miles. Six years ago, our little farmhouse was built on what was once a corn field. Together my husband and I enjoy gardening on the Midwest soil. My roots come from a long line of farmers who farmed on the plains of North Dakota and Minnesota.

My cousins continue to farm the land my great grandparents once farmed. My heart is connected to the earth and all its beauty. So with an appreciation for the land, I am captivated by Chris' book about bales of hay.

Please join me as we have a conversation to learn more about Chris and her latest picture book.

Q1: Chris, tell us about HEY, HEY, HAY! What was the inspiration behind this story? The Vermont Farm Bureau promotes your title on their web site. Tell us more. 

A1: Suzy, I’m so impressed that your sleuthing about my book led you to the Vermont Farm Bureau! I interviewed with a reporter from the Farm Bureau this month. She’s writing an article for their monthly magazine about Vermont writers of children’s books about farming. I had a great time chatting with her about the book.

In HEY, HEY, HAY! I wanted to share with kids the real-life excitement of bringing in a crop from the fields. I figured young kids would be interested in what hay is and how it's made, and also in the big machines that help bring in the hay. It turned out there wasn't a kids' book about hay— who'd have thought it? So, I could fill that gap! (As the director of a state agriculture-in-the-classroom program told me, "Give me accurate farm books—I don't need books about talking cows.").

The initial inspiration for the book came from my own hayfield. The rhythm of the haying machines (mower, rake, tedder, baler) got into my head during haying. I realized that storing all that grass over the winter was, in essence, storing summer, and these words began to run around my mind: "Listen and I'll tell the tale how we store summer in a bale." The book grew from there.

Inside spread: When it's high enough, we mow!

Q2: Share your author history. When did you begin writing for children and how did you know it was something you wanted to do?

A2: I always loved to write but for some reason I didn’t think of writing as a viable career. I went to law school and became an environmental lawyer in San Francisco. I loved the work there (and it involved a great deal of writing!) 

I began thinking about writing for children after I had kids and spent time reading to them in the 1990s. About twenty years ago, I took the Institute of Children’s Literature distance learning course in writing for children. I enjoyed the course and loved the idea of writing for kids—because it was clear to me that raising a generation of readers is our best hope for the future—but my personal writing aspirations didn’t go beyond that for many years. 

Q3: How long did you write until you became published? Can you tell us about the process of finding and signing with and agent/editor?

A3: I had been writing for years, but not seriously working toward publication. That changed in 2011 when our family went to live in Spain for a year. My husband had a sabbatical leave and he was invited to teach for a school year at the University of Seville. So we went! My daughter attended a local Spanish school, my husband was teaching, and I took the opportunity to try out writing full-time. I focused on writing for children’s magazines. I returned to some assignments I’d completed for the ICL course all those years earlier, and worked on polishing them. I didn’t have an English language library nearby, but I could research magazine markets and make submissions online (Back then, Highlights was still requiring submissions by mail, so I didn’t send to them).

The cool thing was that living in such unfamiliar surroundings shook loose a lot of fresh writing ideas for me. That year, I published my first piece, a story about a girl who moved to Spain. It was published in an online magazine, an unpaid market. But, a credit! My next piece was an article for one of the Cricket magazines. It was about the Spanish sailors who sailed with Columbus – a topic all the kids in Spain knew about, though I hadn’t.

When we came back to the US in 2012, I resolved to keep this incipient writing career going. I published an essay in a local parenting newspaper, and I continued submitting queries for articles. I also started attending conferences and workshops, and became more active in SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). I joined a critique group, which has been the most important step for me in learning how to write and revise. Our online group has been together five years now, and during that time all of us have been published, and some have signed with agents, and we’ve all improved in our writing. I learned to write picture books and also started publishing nonfiction in the school and library market, which I still enjoy. 

In the summer of 2014, I wrote Hey, Hey, Hay!  I sold it in the summer of 2015. About a year after that, I submitted my work to agent Erzsi Deak of Hen & Ink Literary Studio, and she now represents me. 

My hayfield

Q4: Share your love for the beauty of nature. 

A4: I’m not happy if I can’t get out in nature. When we lived in town, I often set off up the hill to take long walks in a large, leafy park. What I loved most about my work in the law was knowing I was making a difference in preserving valuable habitat for wildlife, clean water in the lakes and rivers, and beautiful open space for farms and ranches.

Now that we live out in a rural area (by the hayfield!) I especially love watching the land as the seasons change. In winter, I look for little critter footprints on the blanket of white snow covering the fields and forests. When the sun melts the accumulated snow in the springtime, I love watching the green leaves pop out so suddenly, and listening for the first cheeping of spring peepers (tiny frogs). In summer, I love the songs of the birds, the frogs, and the crickets, the cries of the hawks returning to their nest each year, and the dances of the fireflies in the night. The autumn is spectacular as the leaves turn brilliant red and orange, and the air crisps up and the cycle of the seasons turns again. And there’s nothing like a walk outdoors to get the creative juices flowing, or to get a writer out of a stuck place in a work in progress. It’s always inspiring.

Haying!

Q5: Do you write every day? Do you experience days when you become stuck and don't know what to write next? Have you ever given up on a book and filed it away? 

A5: I write something every day. I can’t always get to a work in progress, and sometimes what I write is just bad. When I can write a poem in the morning – that always starts the day off right. These days, though, my writing is more likely to be related to promoting my picture book than to be on any new creative project. But I write because writing is what I do.

Often I have a deadline for a work for hire, or for an article that I’ve pitched. I find that deadlines are the best inspiration there is! And I’ve always got more than one writing project on my list. 

How to get through a stuck spot? I actually wrote a GROG post about blasting through writer’s block last year.

Some ideas: get up and move (the old walking cure); read; try a writing prompt unrelated to your stuck project; or some creative (writing-related) procrastination.

And yes, I have many story drafts that are filed away, waiting for me to come back to them (or not).

Q6: Where do you find inspiration and ideas for your manuscripts?

A6: It is cliché, but I find inspiration everywhere – in the news, in things my neighbors say, in things children say, in books I read, in dreams, in songs—inspiration is, like my hayfield, under my nose.

Q7: Do you have ideas in your head at the moment? What is your next project?

A7: I’m writing a cool STEM book under contract for an educational publisher. So I should be concentrating on that right now…

But, yes, there are always new ideas bubbling up, uninvited. I have a couple of picture books on submission (which may mean more revisions in the future); I am revising several more before my agent starts submitting to publishers. I’ve also got a good start on drafting a middle grade nonfiction book about a musical topic. I’m writing some poetry. And I’ve got a list of ideas for new projects that somehow keeps getting longer.

Mom drives the tractor in 
Hey, Hey, Hay!

Q8: Do you have any thoughts on including Back Matter for a fiction book?

A8: I’m a big fan of back matter in all books. I think that relevant factual information, well presented, enhances the reader’s experience of any book, be it a picture book biography, middle grade science fiction, or adult historical fiction. 

Hey, Hey, Hay! is fiction because I invented a narrator to tell the story of how we make hay. But it’s also accurate and informational, and I wanted the book to include factual information about hay. I love that we have a glossary of haymaking terms (like “tedder,” and “baler,” two of the machines used, and “switchel,” the traditional haymakers’ drink). And my editor suggested adding a recipe for switchel, which makes it even more fun. 

Reading to the first grade: An advance copy!

Q9: What are your thoughts about critique partners and critique groups? Do you have any advice for finding writers and sustaining a long-term relationship that encourages learning and growing?

A9: As mentioned above, my online critique group has been a pivotal influence in my writing life. I’ve learned a great deal through reading and critiquing their work, and of course the members of the group have taught me so much through their comments on my work. After five years of working together online through monthly manuscript and critique exchanges, we are more than writing partners, we have become real friends. I’ve met up with several of them at workshops and conferences and on personal travel, and in fact one member, Sue Heavenrich, and I collaborated on a book (more on that later). 

Our group, which we call the First Friday Scribblers, has organized an “unworkshop” at Highlights Foundation, and will be meeting in person for several days of intense writing this summer. We’re planning discussions and presentations and other writerly activities – as well as hanging out and enjoying one another’s in-person company.

Recently I also joined a local critique group of children’s writers. I like meeting face to face, and I enjoy getting to know members of the local writing community as well. In finding a group, my experience is that it’s best not to rush into it – first get to know the people in the group, and their writing, before you commit to joining. But I have also found that pretty much all children’s writers are welcoming, supportive, and sharing.

As to tips for success, I’d say, communication is the key. Be clear about what the rules for your group are. And, be kind. Because the goal of a crit group is to help all the members improve their writing. 

Grandson, 
an excellent advocate of Nana's book.
"Such a cutie patootie!" ~Suzy

Q10: Tell us about your previous publications, stories, poems, magazine articles, and educational market?

A10: As I mentioned, I started with magazine work, which was a great way to hone my writing, learn how to work with editors, and write to a publisher’s specifications. I still write for magazines, because I really enjoy it (and they publish what I write—usually within a few months, and they pay). 

The first book I published (in 2016) did not have my name on it. It’s the National Geographic Kids’ Junior Ranger Activity Book. I wrote the words for the games and activities and quizzes, and worked with a team to review photographs, illustrations, and other graphic elements. Since the book tracked a format and used features that NGK had previously developed, the publisher didn’t offer me an author credit. It didn’t bother me, though, since I had such a great experience working with that team, and the book was so much fun to create.

Since then I’ve published a half dozen educational books on topics ranging from “Moose” to “All About Apps” to “Using Math in Fashion.” Each one has been fun to write, and for each one, I’ve learned a ton.

I’m particularly excited about Diet for a Changing Planet: Food for Thought, which I co-wrote with Sue Heavenrich (a fellow GROG member and also a member of my online critique group). This book is aimed at kids in grades 8 to 12; it explains how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions—and also perhaps help relieve world hunger—by changing what we eat. We invite young readers to consume more weeds, invasive species, and insects (which are plentiful and nutritious and don’t require large investments of fossil fuels). Recipes are included. It will be published by Twenty-First Century Books (Lerner) with an official release date of October 1.

I’ve also been writing more poetry recently. I published a nonfiction poem in Highlights magazine (inspired by my time in Spain, again) last year, and this year, two of my poems were included in a poetry anthology, IMPERFECT: Poems about Mistakes: an anthology for middle schoolers. 

Q11: Share something about yourself that very few people know about.

A11: For several years while living in California I owned a Kawasaki motorcycle. I lived in a houseboat in Sausalito, in San Francisco Bay, and on nice days I commuted across the Golden Gate Bridge on my motorcycle. I loved it.

Chris in a canoe.

Chris reading to first graders.

Q12: Where can readers find out more about you?

A12: I’d love to connect with readers out there in the social media universe. Feel free to comment on this post, and …

Please like my Facebook Author Page.

Check out my author website.

You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, too.

It’s been such a pleasure “talking” with you, Suzy. Hey, Chris! I, too enjoyed our conversation. It's been my pleasure. 

I look forward to reading your picture book, HEY, HEY, HAY! and learning about the summer chore of baling hay shared by mother and daughter. The warm paintings of oil-over-acrylic illustrations by Joe Cepeda, of the mother/daughter team look warm and inviting. 

I can't wait to read the recipe for a mug of switchel.

Natural Living Ideas
http://www.naturallivingideas.com/switchel-benefits/