Lindsay H. Metcalf

June 1, 2020

Writing Craft, Interview, Books in the Classroom, Book Recommendation

Happy Book Birthday, Invent-a-Pet!

Lindsay H. Metcalf

June 1, 2020

Writing Craft, Interview, Books in the Classroom, Book Recommendation

By Vicky Fang

My debut picture book, INVENT-A-PET, illustrated by Tidawan Thaipinnarong, launches on June 2 from Sterling Children’s Books!

INVENT-A-PET tells the story of Katie, an ordinary girl who longs for an extraordinary pet—something more spectacular than a simple goldfish. One day, Katie comes home to find a gift from her mother: a mysterious machine designed to help her create that one-of-a-kind creature. Each time she feeds different items into the machine, out comes a marvelously colorful new animal—like a purple monkey, rainbow-spotted horse, and green bunny! But none of them is just right. Through trial and error, Katie figures out the formula for her absolutely perfect SURPRISE pet.

Why I Wrote It

I started writing children’s books to inspire and empower kids in STEAM (science, tech, engineering, art, and math), particularly girls and minorities. I’m a former product designer, and I’ve had so much fun creating things like DIY robots, buildings that play music, and interactive storybooks. For me, technology is magical, and I want kids to be able to see that too!

Vicky Fang and team at Google have a dance party with their DIY cardboard robots.

The Idea

If you asked me where the idea for INVENT-A-PET came from, I would have a hard time telling you.

The most direct answer is this: I keep a long list of random story ideas on my phone. At some point, I jotted down “mixed up animals” and at another point, I jotted down “Louisa’s Magnificent Mixing Machine.” One day, on an airplane flight (my favorite place to write), I thought to combine these two disconnected ideas, and the first draft of INVENT-A-PET was born!

INVENT-A-PET spread, ©2020 Sterling Children’s Books

But the thing is … if I look back through my life, some idea of pet mixing machines has been there for a long, long time. As a designer of kids’ experiences, often combining technology and education, mixed-up pets have dipped in and out of my consciousness many times before.

The first time that I have a record of it is in 2002, when I was in graduate school studying for my MFA in Design and Technology at Parsons School of Design in NYC. I was working with fellow students on a children’s educational software project. We created a game called PetSet that allowed you to create mixed-up pets by dragging and dropping different icons into a simple animated machine.

The next memory that I have is from 2003 or 2004, when I was working as a game designer at a small independent game design studio called Large Animal Games. We built an online game that created funny, mixed up dogs through a wacky machine.

And most recently, in 2017, I was working as a designer on kids’ experiences at Google, many of which were geared toward inspiring and empowering kids in STEAM. When I told a co-worker about my story, she said, “Oh, like Sound Pet.” I hadn’t made the connection, but at that very moment, I was the creative lead on a kids’ game that let you take care of a virtual mixed-up pet.

I’m sure there are probably more examples. Somehow, this idea was always close to me. That may sound like a strange thing to say about a wacky pet-mixing machine that teaches you STEAM concepts … and yet, it’s true. When they say, “Write what you know,” you may be surprised at what that might be!

The Takeaway

As I get deeper into my writing career, I’m finding that the ingredients that went into INVENT-A-PET hold true for my other books as well. Let’s take a look at those ingredients—or, rather “inputs,” as Katie would have us say!

Usually, I find that a single idea isn’t rich enough to make a strong story. I often need to combine two or more ideas to add depth.
I also need to be able to pull from a bench of rich experiences—which for me, so far, has been related to STEAM inspiration for kids.
And then, after all that, it’s about writing a great story. Impossibly simple, right? (Or is that simply impossible?)

That, my friends, is my perfect formula for an extraordinary story. I hope this is somehow helpful to you on your quest for yours!

I am so excited to share INVENT-A-PET with the world, and looking forward to many more books to come.

Book Details

INVENT-A-PET

by Vicky Fang, Illustrated by Tidawan Thaipinnarong

Pub Date: June 2
ISBN: 978-1-4549-3381-6
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books

Vicky Fang is a product designer who spent five years designing kids’ technology experiences for both Google and Intel, often to inspire and empower kids in coding and technology. Through that work, she came to recognize the gap in education and inspiration, particularly for girls and minorities. She began writing books to provide kids with accessible STEAM-inspired stories that they can read again and again, learning from characters they love. Her goal for her books is to inspire computer literacy for a wide range of kids—while letting their imaginations run wild with the possibilities of technology! Her debut books, LAYLA & THE BOTS (Scholastic early chapter book series) and INVENT-A-PET (Sterling picture book), are launching in Spring/Summer 2020 and feature courageous and innovative girls in STEAM. You can find Vicky on Twitter @fangmous or at her website www.vickyfang.com.

Kjersten Hayes

April 20, 2020

Writing Craft

Writing humor when all you feel is fear

Kjersten Hayes

April 20, 2020

Writing Craft

By Kjersten Hayes

This month I celebrated the book birthday for THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, written by me and illustrated by Gladys Jose. My first published picture book. Hooray! It’s a funny book, yet it exists in large part because of something that’s not funny at all—fear.

Without dwelling on it, I’m a PTSD survivor. The nutshell story—my dad died in a horrible accident when I was young, and then I survived a series of awful accidents myself. The resulting accumulative anxiety eventually was diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder.

I bring it up because learning to calm extreme anxiety is a practical skill for many PTSD survivors, myself included. And since my funny book is coming out during an anxiety-inducing global pandemic, I thought I’d share some approaches I use to calm my own nerves while writing humor.

What to wear when you want to be fast on your toes while writing.

Lower the bar.
When my brain is heavy with worry, play helps. I set aside intentions of writing anything “good” and aim for play instead.
Gamify.
When I feel fear, it’s like I’m a deer-caught-in-headlights. I freeze. But gamifying tricks me into unfreezing, which relaxes me. Quantity challenges and time challenges usually help. For example, write 20 ideas for a main character in 20 minutes—GO! Then I set a timer and see if I can do it.
YES AND...
In improv comedy, comedians use this mantra called “YES AND...” They say YES to whatever first comes to mind, AND they roll with it. They do it over and over until what they are doing is so ridiculous you can’t help but laugh. Doing this with writing is funny too. So, I say YES to every silly thing that comes to mind, AND I write it down. Thinking fast usually makes things silly. And silly calms.
Brainstorming
Using “YES, AND” when I am writing (instead of performing live comedy, which I would never do) means I don’t have to only say yes to the first idea that comes for each part. In fact, it’s often more fun and sillier if I say yes to the first ten ideas. So, I do. I write them all down. This also moves my mindset from one of scarcity toward one of abundance. And it’s soothing on the nerves to feel like the sky is vast with options. Plus if I brainstorm a list of options, I can pick whichever direction delights me most, which makes my work funnier.
Bird by bird
This is a phrase writer Anne Lamott uses in her book of the same name to describe working on writing one step at a time, instead of getting overwhelmed with the entire project all at once. It’s calming to focus just on what’s at hand and build on it. So—from the idea stage, to figuring out characters, to conflict, to solutions—for every part of writing a full draft, I keep the bar low, I gamify, I say YES AND, and I brainstorm. I do this step by step, over and over, until I have a full draft of something. Bird by bird I build the laughs.

While I’m no advocate for extreme productivity under duress (be kind to yourself!), I’ve found writing humor in this way to be empowering. It’s a coping strategy that helped bring my first published book into the world—THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK. Writing it made me laugh. And best of all, now I get to share those laughs, too!

Book Details

THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE
TO HIDE-AND-SEEK

by Kjersten Hayes
Illus. by Gladys Jose

Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7846-5
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Kjersten Hayes, the debut author of THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, lives in Bellingham, Washington, in a century-old house full of color, books, pottery, art, music, and happy kid noises. She is a lifelong writer and artist.

Follow Kjersten Hayes:

Website: www.kjersten.com
Twitter/Instagram: @kjerstenhayes

Kjersten Hayes

February 26, 2020

News, Writing Craft, Book Recommendation

WOOD, WIRE, WINGS and the Process of Engineering a Story

Kjersten Hayes

February 26, 2020

News, Writing Craft, Book Recommendation

Happy (Belated) Book Birthday, Plus a Signed Book Giveaway!

By Kirsten W. Larson

In 1906, just three years after the Wright Brothers first flew, Emma Lilian Todd, an inventor and self-taught engineer, looked at the airplane designs of the day and decided she could build something better. The process of creating her own unique airplane took Lilian four years, multiple designs and redesigns, and numerous tweaks and tests. Nevertheless, she persisted (as they say).

One of my favorite images of Lilian Todd, hard at work in her workshop, which was also her studio apartment. Photo credit: The Library of Congress.

Like Lilian, I spent four years finding the best way to tell her story, including trying out multiple formats and revisions sent out to critique partners and others to “test” my story. This week is the official birthday of WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane, illustrated by Tracy Subisak and published by Calkins Creek. In celebration, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of my early “designs” with a focus on my opening line.

I started this book in author Susanna Hill’s Making Picture Book Magic class in March 2014. From the start, Susanna encouraged a flexible approach to writing and required us to brainstorm several first lines. I selected this one for my first draft:

“Even as a child, Emma Lilian Todd couldn’t hold a bit of wire or tin without twisting and turning them and making something new.” (March 2014)

I loved this first line from the start. It spoke to Lilian’s visceral need to make. Inventing wasn’t something Lilian chose, but something she had to do, as elemental as breathing. The line had a lot of heart.

Like Lilian, airplanes were in my blood. Here I try on my dad's flight helmet.

But like Lilian, I wasn’t satisfied. I kept tinkering in response to conference critiques and brainstorms I had for new directions. As is often the case, successive attempts didn’t necessarily improve my design. Here’s another crack at it from a year later:

“Toolbox by her side, Emma Lilian Todd whacked and snapped and snipped. In her hands, wood, wire, and tin transformed into toy airplanes.” (Feb. 2015)

This time I started the story not with Lilian as a child, but as an adult tinkering with toy airplanes. The lines have some nice alliteration and vivid verbs. Yet looking back on it now, I see that this approach didn’t speak to Lilian’s character as much as my initial first line from March 2014. Still, this is the version that enticed my agent (whew!) and eventually went out on submission to editors.

I soon learned my latest version wasn’t quite good enough to soar — yet — as many rejections came my way. Lucky for me, Carolyn Yoder, my brilliant and patient editor at Calkins Creek, offered me the opportunity to revise and resubmit my draft, encouraging me to add both context and heart. I tinkered some more and came up with this:

“Even as a small child, when Emma Lilian Todd saw problems, she sought solutions. At first, the problems were small, like how to find metal to make her inventions (Answer: She saved tin cans from her supper.) But as Lilian grew, so did the problems she wanted to solve.”(Jan. 2017)

Now, if you’ve read the book, you know this is close, but not the final opening. It captures Lilian’s problem-solving nature and places her invention of the airplane in that context. But let’s face it, it’s a bit flat.

Carolyn encouraged me to tweak my design AGAIN, and in April 2017, we came up with the final opening, part of the final design that soars onto shelves today.

“To Emma Lilian Todd, problems were like gusts of wind: they set her mind soaring. Sometimes the problems seemed small, like where to find metal to craft her inventions. (Solution: she saved tin cans from her supper.) But soon Lilian’s challenges ballooned.”

The opening still speaks to Lilian’s fundamental need to solve problems. Yet it uses lyrical language, including simile, alliteration, and assonance, which help it sing. My word choices also hint at aviation by invoking gusts of wind and balloons.

In my first job after college, I traveled to air shows like the Reno Air Races to talk to the public about NASA and its aviation programs. It was good training for writing a picture book about airplanes!

Through this lengthy process, I came to realize that crafting stories (and even airplanes) is not necessarily about the flash of inspiration or the initial effort. The ability to create something that really works comes down perspiration — in other words, persistence — over many years.

So here’s my advice to writers: If a story speaks to your heart, stick with it. Keep tinkering and tweaking your draft. Make sure you add to your toolbox along the way, keeping up with the latest designs (by reading new books) and honing your craft. Someday the book of your heart will take flight, too.

Book Details

WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane

by Kirsten W. Larson
Illus. by Tracy Subisak

Pub Date: February 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-6297-9938-4
Publisher: Calkins Creek

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

In celebration of the book birthday of WOOD, WIRE, WINGS, I’m giving away a signed copy to one lucky follower. Enter using the Rafflecopter below. Entries will close at 11:59 PST on March 4. Winners will be chosen at random and announced here and on social media on March 11.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kirsten W. Larson used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes books for curious kids. Kirsten’s debut book, WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: EMMA LILIAN TODD INVENTS AN AIRPLANE, illustrated by Tracy Subisak, is available now from Calkins Creek. THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle), will follow in fall 2021. Kirsten also has written 25 nonfiction books for the school and library market.

Follow Kirsten:
Twitter: @kirstenwlarson
Instagram: @kirstenwlarson
Website: kirsten-w-larson.com