Today's guest is Kathryn Holmes, who has written, YA, MG and chapter books. Kathryn joined me to talk about the difference in writing for these age categories, the payout for shorter books, submission slumps, and co-authoring.
Frank Cole On The Freedom to Create
Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.
Today’s guest for the WHAT is Frank Cole, author of the Potion Masters series. The third title, The Seeking Serum, released in January of this year.
Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?
I tell this often to kids when I present at schools, but the origin for Potion Masters came to me when I was sitting at my desk and I was trying to think of something to write about next. I had just finished a novel (one that’s still sitting unpublished on my hard drive) and I was struggling to come up with something else interesting. - For some explanation, I often will just imagine weird scenes that may or may not make it in one of my books. The more unusual the better for me. I really do try to put just crazy weird things in all my stories and somehow make them feel like it’s normal, at least for my characters. - As I was sitting there at my desk, from out of the blue, I thought about a random family sitting in a dining room, eating dinner, and at the center of the table was a mason jar with a human tongue. The tongue was licking the glass and the family was okay with this. I remember thinking to myself, like oh man! That’s so weird and so cool! What could be the reason for this bizarre tongue in a jar being a normal situation in this household? Originally, the book was going to be about a family of hexers that curse people for a living and that idea never really caught hold. But when I latched onto the idea of a society of secret potion masters called Elixirists, the story just exploded.
Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?
This is always hard for me, because I tend to overcomplicate things, and I’m not a plotter, at all. If I can’t allow myself to be free to create whimsically, the story often struggles to come to life. Of course, I have to somewhat of a heading in the beginning and usually I start asking myself a whole bunch of questions to answer. Like, why is this happening? Why is this happening now? Why is it happening to this particular character and not someone else? For Gordy, I had to discover why he mattered to the book and how his best friends factored into the equation. Gordy’s family is unique because not everyone in his home can brew potions, but his mom is highly skilled and his grandfather, who Gordy has no relationship with because his grandfather has been banished to Greenland, was once the most evil Elixirists alive. As the series progresses, you learn more about how Gordy’s mom and his aunt and a lot of the people Gordy trusts have kind of a shady history. It makes for a more compelling tale, I think.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
Every time, sadly. That’s the pains of someone who writes by the seat of their pants. One of my previous novels was sold on proposal and when I finally turned in the first draft, it looked nothing like what my publisher initially wanted and paid for. I rewrote a ton over the next month or so, and on the second draft, I found out they were equally dissatisfied. I had to rewrite that book 3 times! It’s way better now than what it was, but man! Was that a pain!
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
I go through idea famines all the time. A lot of it comes from self-doubt, or trying to overthink things. Often, I’ll come up with an idea that I’m so excited about and suddenly I’ll see a movie trailer that’s almost spot-on to what I was thinking about. Then I ask myself, did I create the idea after seeing the movie trailer or before? Then it’s back to the drawing board. Honestly, I can go months sometimes without a fresh idea and I’ll feel this hopelessness that I’m never going to write again and then one day, when I least expect it, something smacks me in the mouth, and I have a revelation. I wish I could find out what it was I was doing prior to the idea, but I’m usually so ecstatic that I have new material that I don’t give it much thought until way later and by then it’s too late to remember.
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
I’ve been very fortunate to work with an agent who I can bounce ideas off all the time. She lets me know when I’m hitting the mark or when I’m way off. I also go to lunch with other authors whenever I can to see how my ideas strike them. You can usually tell when you have a great idea just by their reactions. Also, if I don’t have a solid pitch for the story, I tend not to go that route. I want something that I can easily communicate the plot to readers and publishers and everyone else I have to pitch it to before I start diving in.
I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
My little dog, Darcy, is my muse. She’s a rescued maltipoo, and she’s a difficult creature because she hates the world, but fortunately loves me and my wife dearly. When I first moved into my house in Logan, I was all alone while my wife and kids finished up the school year back in Salt Lake City. It was just me and Darcy in this house and when she would plop down in my office while I typed, my stories started flowing. That can’t be just a coincidence. But she can also distract me too because she wants to play or attack someone outside or raid the snack drawer while I’m getting into my rhythm. So, it’s one of those relationships.
Feeling Intimidated by Your Famous Subject? Befriend Them First!
By Rosanne Tolin
When I first set out to write about Michael Bond, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. He was a legendary figure—after all, the Paddington Bear books have sales topping 35 million and have been translated into 40 different languages! How could I possibly bring this literary giant to life in a way that honored his legacy? So, I started with a hook: the astonishing bits of information I had read about the true origins of his Paddington character. Those surprising facts made me confident that Bond was worth writing about. That’s because he wasn’t only a gifted children’s writer but also someone who was deeply affected, from a young age, by immigrants and refugees. His life had to be worth documenting in a way that had never been done before.
It all began with an article I read in Tablet Magazine titled “Paddington’s Surprising Jewish Roots.” At the time when I began my research, there were a number of interviews that glossed over the author’s writing journey. Since he had passed away a short time earlier in 2017, most of these memorialized him, sprinkling in amusing quotes about the author’s own bond with Paddington Bear. The two of them, as it turns out, were essentially the same being—inseparable.
It seemed I had suddenly found multiple points of personal connection. Here was a man who lived very much in his imagination. In his mind, it made perfect sense that Paddington Bear was as real as an old companion or immediate family member.
If I overthought it, the task I’d set out on—to write the first ever biography of this iconic writer—seemed a bit daunting. However, as I began to research in earnest, carefully putting the pieces together, I felt a deep affinity for both Bond and Paddington. Like Bond’s connection to his book character, I too, in a sense, grew close to the writer and his best furry friend. As my fondness for them expanded, I found myself fully immersed in their timeless story.
For me, that was the only way I could invest in writing More than Marmalade by befriending my subjects and appreciating both Bond’s faults and his genius—from his self-deprecating (and quintessentially British) wit to his undeniable quirks and his quiet human kindness.
These weren’t the only qualities of Bond I identified with. He was a writer after all, and it is somewhat apropos that my debut book was about his burning desire to be an author. Above all, More than Marmalade: Michael Bond and the Story of Paddington Bear is his story of persistence in pursuit of a dream. Somewhere along the way, Michael Bond became my mentor, too. So, you see, Bond and I—along with Paddington Bear—go together almost as perfectly as bread and orange marmalade.
Bond had to go through a lot of trial and error before he created the wildly successful Paddington series. For my part, it took me three years, from concept to publication, to see my book debut in the world. Here are a few of my suggestions for setting yourself up for writing success:
Writing happens when no one is looking. The fact is, writing itself is a solitary business. While many writers are more introverted, many of us still seek feedback from others. Understand that you’ll need to be self-motivated, but you should also seek out others you trust to give you the honest opinions you’ll value. That will immensely improve your craft.
Build a team around your writing. Join SCBWI. Go to conferences, both in-person and virtual. Attend author events and readings. Make connections on social media in whatever form you choose. Just pick one and get comfortable with using it. The biggest team builder for me? Find a critique group! If you have a good one, they’ll always have your back. They’ll let you know what works, how to make it better, and when to put away that manuscript for good. The same goes for beta readers and literary agents. Never stop growing your circle!
Don’t fear tech. Embrace it! Continue expanding your toolbox when it comes to technology. Especially with events like COVID-19, many of us had to leap head-first into areas of this that scared us: ZOOM, Google Hangouts, YouTube Read Alouds, and SO much more. Many writers realized out of necessity that online platforms could be used in new, creative ways to reach our audience of readers.
Most of all, have fun with writing middle grade! After all, is there a better job out there than writing for kids? So, go ahead, trust your gut and sure, take your writing aspirations seriously. But—taking cues from the late great Michael Bond’s author playbook—maybe not too seriously!
Rosanne Tolin is the author of More than Marmalade: Michael Bond and the Story of Paddington Bear.