Writing from the heart... I think that the best kind of writing comes from inside writers. All of my books touch my life in some way. They often come from personal experience, or in the case of my historical books, from a deep interest in a certain subject. And they always begin with compelling images. Sometimes I carry those images inside for several years before I even begin researching or writing a book. The details of my stories come from many sources: memories of my own childhood....my husband and our three children... my good friends... students and teachers I meet in schools... people whom I interview... newspapers and books... different landscapes... my travels... and various experiences. Writers use our eyes and our ears. We look at small, ordinary things in life as well as big ones. We listen to other people and to their stories. We write about things that are important to us. Maybe it's just a phrase that someone else says that will lead us to a good book idea. Or maybe it's an important historical event. For me, I have to care deeply about that seed of an idea in order to write about it. It has to come from my heart. For all of my books, there are stories behind the stories. Here are a few that you might find interesting. . .

	I feel very lucky to have visited hundreds of schools and to have met thousands of wonderful students and teachers. Because these experiences are a rich and vital part of my life, I wanted to honor them in a lasting way by writing a story. Eddie symbolizes all the children I've met during my school visits. He also symbolizes their enthusiasm, their questions, and their earnest caring about the characters and subjects in my books. The big question that Eddie wants to ask the author is a composite of similar questions asked by my readers. Riverside Elementary is a school in Dublin, Ohio where I have spent a lot of time with students and staff. In this story, it represents all the terrific schools I have visited. Always I carry the images, questions, names and memories of these schools with me on my travels and when I return to my desk in Cincinnati to work on new books. P.S. Look on the author's vest, and see if you can spy Ann Zesterman from Good Luck, Mrs. K!

Ever since learning about the rescue at Dunkirk (in my history classes in high school and college), I have thought that the image of all those ships crossing the English Channel was a powerful one. How heroic this story was! And how very important. I realized that many people my age, and those younger, did not know about this extraordinary historical event. In 1986, I decided that it was something I wanted to write a book about. I began by reading lots of books about the rescue. Then through a friend of mine, I contacted a woman in England who sent me xeroxes of newspapers from June 1940. Reading those articles was an early step on a long journey of research, interviews, and trips to Deal, Ramsgate, Dover and Dunkirk, and of course the many drafts of writing my book. In 1992, before beginning those drafts, I was on vacation with friends in the West Indies and met an older doctor from England. "Were you at Dunkirk?" I asked. "No," he replied. "But I know a man who was - a man who lives in my village back in England." This is how I began a correspondence with Harry Elliott, whom I later would dedicate my book to. My husband Pete and I met Harry and his wife, Fran, on a research trip to England in 1993 and have been good friends ever since. Writers ask a lot of questions. Some - like "Were you at Dunkirk?" - have led me to wonderful places and lasting friendships. Twice, my husband Pete and I participated in the return of 65 of the original little ships from England to Dunkirk. We made the seven hour crossing of the English Channel in 1995 and in 2005. As our flotilla entered the historic French harbor, flags flying, the many people who lined the docks to welcome us, and those on board the little ships, were filled with emotion. Michael Foreman, the illustrator of THE LITTLE SHIPS, lives in London and has written and illustrated many wonderful books.
	This is a book that was published in the Fall of 2000, illustrated with Robert Andrew Parker's wonderful watercolor paintings. The seed for this book was planted in December, 1987 when I was sitting in my dentist's office, reading an article about sledding in Smithsonian magazine. A few lines of the article mentioned an incident in Boston in 1775-76, involving local children wanting to sled on Boston Common, and a British general. I wrote down the date of the issue, put the scrap of paper in my pocket, and tossed it into an ideas file when I got home. I love snowy days and sleds, and you'll find that sleds appear in a few of my other books. For several years after that dental appointment, I kept picturing those kids with their colonial sleds, and the British general in his red coat. In 1991, I called up Smithsonian and obtained a copy of that 1987 issue. Then I wrote to Peter Stark, the writer of the sledding article. A year went by. Finally, one day, I received a postcard in my mailbox from Missoula, Montana from Peter, telling me he had just been forwarded my letter. From then on, I followed my research trail for a picture book. I visited the Boston Common several times, the New York Public Library, and finally the Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I read books about Boston Common and what schools were like in colonial times, studied maps, made notes, and learned about Thomas Gage, the top British general in North America just before the Revolution. One trip to the Clements Library was made in mid-November and it snowed that day! I took this to be a good luck omen. Many people encouraged me along the way, especially Margaret McElderry. For months, I was immersed in this Boston legend, trying to find out when and if it really happened. Other steps included corresponding via e-mail with the curators of Firle Place, General Gage's ancestral home in England. Imagine! E-mail research for a story about the American Revolution, a time when it took weeks or months for mail to reach America from England. Sometimes I begin by writing a book in third person...then I may switch to first person. Every book is different and has its own voice. It always takes time to find that voice. Setting and place are very important to me as a writer. And I love the challenge of putting poetry into my lines. But figuring out a good plot for the story? For me, that's the very hardest part. I finished writing SLEDS ON BOSTON COMMON: A Story from the American Revolution in the month of December, the same season that the story takes place, tied a red ribbon around the manuscript, and mailed it off to my editor Margaret. Meanwhile, my family was wondering if we would ever get our Christmas tree decorated. Margaret McElderry called me a few weeks later. "I like this book enormously!" All those years...all those little steps, one by one by one. My editor's belief was a rich reward. |I celebrated by buying myself a red jacket and asked myself "What would Thomas Gage think of my writing a book about him over two hundred years after his troops were encamped that winter on Boston Common?" Robert Andrew Parker was chosen to illustrate the book, and I began working on a new project. Another year passed. Then in January, I opened our front door one snowy evening to watch the snow fall. There on my doorstep, was a big envelope from McElderry Books, containing the color copies of the art for SLEDS. "Now this is amazing!" I thought. Another wonderful journey of writing a book.