FAQs
How do you develop your fictional characters?
One technique which is fairly constant for me is to try and consider what animal characteristics a person might have, and then use those to mold the character into someone quite unique. For example, in Spider Summer, Elvira, the babysitter, is based on an insect while her son, Thomas, is based on a Piranha (because he tries to nip people’s legs). In The Keeper of the Trees, Aunt Julia draws traits from an ant, and in The Moon Children, Mrs. Schmidt is represented by a number of pig-like traits. These are the most obvious ones in my children’s writing, but there are others: I’ll let readers figure them out for themselves.
What was the hardest thing you’ve written?
Although it is the shortest, Daddy Longlegs at Birch Lane required the most number of edits—I think almost every word has been changed from my original version, and I presented about 25 drafts of the story to the editor. Because picture books rely on economy of language, and a kind of balance and rhythm is needed for reading them aloud, each word must be considered very carefully.
One other difficult thing for me was to create a character who tells jokes. Luke, in Spider Summer, wants to be a professional comedian when he grows up, and so he practices telling jokes all the time. Making up these jokes was no easy thing, and after I had written the first draft many of them were about vampires, as young Thomas was at that point nicknamed The Vampire (because he’s teething and likes to bite people on the knees). When my editor wanted “vampire” changed to “piranha”, all the jokes had to be transformed as well.
Which of your books is your personal favorite?
I tend to favor the book I’m working on at the moment, which right now is The Moon Children. Probably when it’s been in print for awhile and I’m working on something else, I’ll like that one best, too. As long as I’m still working on something, I tend to think it has more potential to be good. Then, once I see it in print, I notice any mistakes I’ve made!