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Laurel Decher on writing middle grade and the value of speaking up
Hi, folks. I’m a few hours later than usual releasing this episode, but I’m on my own with the kiddos for a bit again and exhaustion happens. I also realized in my intro I wished everyone a belated Happy Easter and Happy Passover… but Passover is still happening. Whoops.
Aside from some small mistakes, I think I have a great interview for you all with middle grade author Laurel Decher about the first in her planned series centered on stepping out of your comfort zone.
Laurel is incredibly thorough as a guest an provided a bunch of bullet points and links if you’d like to read as you listen. If you’d rather just listen, scroll on down to the bottom for the audio player.
And don’t forget to grab Laurel’s book, The Trouble with Parsnips!
Questions:
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your books.
I’m from the U.S. but I live in Germany. I write middle grade fiction (for ages 9 to 12). I’m working on a series of “Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales” with a “growth mindset” theme. The first one was published October 2018. It’s called TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, a story about the magic of speaking up.
2. How did you first get started writing?
* Got back into writing fiction when a friend invited me to a writing workshop.
* Started writing after my first child was born when brother-in-law gave me a writing book covered with hand-made paper with flowers embedded in it.
* Went the whole route: short fiction—query—writing conferences to meet agents and editors. Moved to Germany, met The Winged Pen colleagues at the online WriteOnCon conference and joined SCBWI Germany & Austria.
* It’s a cliché but family health issues made me realize time was short. Taking ten years per manuscript and not getting them out there was demoralizing. I felt like I had taken all the available risks at my level.
* What drew you to write for this/these age group(s)?
* 2nd child started scouting, but there was no leader after 1st grade, so I became a leader. My co-leader and I asked ourselves “What has scouting got to offer that the kids can’t get in all of the other fancy after-school programs?” “What if we let the kids lead the meetings?”
* At the same time, I started going to Toastmasters, a club that teaches public speaking. Before this, I thought people who ran meetings were born knowing how. Aha moment!
* So many castles! When I first saw the castle in Cochem, it had rooks flying around the tower and rows of pink cherry trees blooming down by the river. Everything said: “Fairy tale!”
* What is something special that your books offer kids? Why should a parent/teacher/librarian/etc. pick them up?
* For TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, I had two goals.
* Delight the reader in every possible way. I wanted this book to be FUN to read. First manuscript where I asked critique partners to mark whatever they found funny. Aiming for the positive feedback was a huge turnaround. We’re all taught to be tough and take feedback and maybe even get the nastiest feedback possible, but the opposite works surprisingly well. It’s fun too.
* Help the reader imagine their way into a world where speaking up is possible even if they never want to be in the debate or drama club.
* In the book, another character tells the nameless princess to “Say one thing”.
* The idea for the book came out of a conversation with a friend. We were talking about how easy it is to “broadcast on more than one channel” when you’re trying to say something difficult. Anticipate other people’s objections before they’ve had a chance to have any. It leaves a kind of conversation fog in the air and the speaker feels like no one heard them at all. Because probably no one did.
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By Connie B. Dowell
5
22 ratings
Hi, folks. I’m a few hours later than usual releasing this episode, but I’m on my own with the kiddos for a bit again and exhaustion happens. I also realized in my intro I wished everyone a belated Happy Easter and Happy Passover… but Passover is still happening. Whoops.
Aside from some small mistakes, I think I have a great interview for you all with middle grade author Laurel Decher about the first in her planned series centered on stepping out of your comfort zone.
Laurel is incredibly thorough as a guest an provided a bunch of bullet points and links if you’d like to read as you listen. If you’d rather just listen, scroll on down to the bottom for the audio player.
And don’t forget to grab Laurel’s book, The Trouble with Parsnips!
Questions:
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your books.
I’m from the U.S. but I live in Germany. I write middle grade fiction (for ages 9 to 12). I’m working on a series of “Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales” with a “growth mindset” theme. The first one was published October 2018. It’s called TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, a story about the magic of speaking up.
2. How did you first get started writing?
* Got back into writing fiction when a friend invited me to a writing workshop.
* Started writing after my first child was born when brother-in-law gave me a writing book covered with hand-made paper with flowers embedded in it.
* Went the whole route: short fiction—query—writing conferences to meet agents and editors. Moved to Germany, met The Winged Pen colleagues at the online WriteOnCon conference and joined SCBWI Germany & Austria.
* It’s a cliché but family health issues made me realize time was short. Taking ten years per manuscript and not getting them out there was demoralizing. I felt like I had taken all the available risks at my level.
* What drew you to write for this/these age group(s)?
* 2nd child started scouting, but there was no leader after 1st grade, so I became a leader. My co-leader and I asked ourselves “What has scouting got to offer that the kids can’t get in all of the other fancy after-school programs?” “What if we let the kids lead the meetings?”
* At the same time, I started going to Toastmasters, a club that teaches public speaking. Before this, I thought people who ran meetings were born knowing how. Aha moment!
* So many castles! When I first saw the castle in Cochem, it had rooks flying around the tower and rows of pink cherry trees blooming down by the river. Everything said: “Fairy tale!”
* What is something special that your books offer kids? Why should a parent/teacher/librarian/etc. pick them up?
* For TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, I had two goals.
* Delight the reader in every possible way. I wanted this book to be FUN to read. First manuscript where I asked critique partners to mark whatever they found funny. Aiming for the positive feedback was a huge turnaround. We’re all taught to be tough and take feedback and maybe even get the nastiest feedback possible, but the opposite works surprisingly well. It’s fun too.
* Help the reader imagine their way into a world where speaking up is possible even if they never want to be in the debate or drama club.
* In the book, another character tells the nameless princess to “Say one thing”.
* The idea for the book came out of a conversation with a friend. We were talking about how easy it is to “broadcast on more than one channel” when you’re trying to say something difficult. Anticipate other people’s objections before they’ve had a chance to have any. It leaves a kind of conversation fog in the air and the speaker feels like no one heard them at all. Because probably no one did.