Episode 8: When you made your book, did you ever think about giving up along the way? with Gloria Respress-Churchwell
*Please note that these episodes were all all recorded pre-pandemic!
Welcome to Episode 8! When you made your book, did you ever think about giving up along the way? Join us with author Gloria Respress-Churchwell!
TRANSCRIPT:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today I'm here with Gloria Respress-Churchwell, the author of Follow Chester!: A College Football Team Fights Racism and Makes History, illustrated by Laura Freeman, as well as the book, Robert Churchwell: Writing News, Making History: A Savannah Green Story, which was illustrated by Michael McBride.
Grace Lin: Hi, Gloria.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Hi. How are you?
Grace Lin: Good. I'm so glad you're here. Okay. Are you ready for today's question?
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Yes. Thank you, Grace Lin, I want to say thank you for inviting me to be a part of this, this is wonderful, your podcast.
Grace Lin: Oh.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: I'm so excited.
Grace Lin: We're honored to have you. Well, today I have a question for you from a person named Roberta.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Okay.
Grace Lin: The question is...
Roberta: When you made you book, did you ever think about giving up along the way?
Grace Lin: When you made your book, did you ever think about giving up along the way?
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Oh Roberta, that's a great question. Yes, I did. Initially, when I shared my story with my publisher, Charlesbridge, they were very interested in the story, but they told me that I needed to cut my main protagonist in the story and I felt that that was, oh gosh, I'd worked on it so hard at that point and I had over 20 revisions and I just felt really defeated. But Karen Boss, my editor, was very encouraging. She says, "You can go with the story as it is, but that's something they really weren't interested in and it probably wasn't going to get published to be honest with you." But after listening to her, and I knew I wanted to get that story published, so I said, "You know what? I'm going to cut that protagonist and go with the suggestion that my editor has given me." Because that's how your work will get published, unless you want to self-publish, that's something totally different. But it's good to be open to ideas on how to change your story.
Grace Lin: How long did it take for you to write this book?
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Oh gosh. It did take over a year to write the story and it was published in September of 2019, so I'm really excited about that, yes.
Grace Lin: Well, I have had many books where I felt like I would give up on the way.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Grace Lin: There's one book that I wrote, When the Sea Turned to Silver, which took me six years to write.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Wow, yeah.
Grace Lin: And I would say around year three I kind of threw up my hands in the air and said, "This isn't going to work."
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Yes, but don't you think Grace Lin, that that's when you do your best work is when you're about to give up and it all comes together. It's just like... It makes you that person that you need to be in order to make it happen.
Grace Lin: I think it's good to take a little break every once in awhile, but I think you take a break, but if it keeps coming back to you over and over again, you know that you have to go back to it and when you go back to it and if you really, really work, usually it's even better than you even thought it would be.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Yes, yes, I agree.
Grace Lin: At least that's how it's been for me.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: I agree. I agree. And the stories sometimes it comes to you.
Grace Lin: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: And you can't let it go. I mean it just stays with you. It's like you may want to let it go, it's like, "No. No, you're not letting me go. I'm still here. I'm here."
Grace Lin: I know, so sometimes even when we want to give up, we're not allowed to.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: We're not allowed to give up because our protagonists in that story are not allowing us to give that story up.
Grace Lin: Yeah.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: They want their stories.
Grace Lin: Because they want their stories to be told. Exactly. Totally.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Yes, exactly, exactly.
Grace Lin: And hopefully you listen to all of them or read all of them and hopefully you read all of them.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: You're right. So Roberta, don't give up.
Grace Lin: Yes.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Don't give up, because that's when you're about to write your best story.
Grace Lin: Yes, as they always talk about, the darkest part is right before dawn, right?
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Mm-hmm (affirmative) Yes. Definitely.
Grace Lin: It's a cliche, but it's completely true.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: I agree.
Grace Lin: So thank you so much, Roberta, for your great question.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: That was an awesome question.
Grace Lin: And thank you, Gloria, for helping to answer it.
Gloria Respress-Churchwell: Oh, thank you.
Grace Lin: Wasn't that great? If you'd like to learn more about today's author, please go to our website KidsAskAuthors.com for more information. Special thanks to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for helping to facilitate this interview. Also, thanks to the High Five Books and Art Always bookstore and Ms Carlton's second grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.
Grace Lin: Grownups, remember if you know a kid that has a question, a book review, a short story, a poem, or even a joke they would like to share on this podcast, please submit it to KidsAskAuthors.com. And if you'd like to reach me, you can sign up for my author newsletter by clicking on the little link icon at the top of KidsAskAuthors.com or you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I use the handle @PacyLin. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, please spread the word, tell your friends and colleagues to listen and of course, please leave a review on iTunes. That really helps me know that you like what we're doing so we can keep doing it. And now we'll close this episode with a kid book review.
Our book review today comes from Suh-ling! :
The book I would like to talk about is Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. This book is about two people named Sam and Dave who are digging a hole and they want to find something spectacular but they keep missing the something spectacular. I like this book because it is super funny and because it is so silly that Sam and Dave are digging such a big hole and keep missing the something spectacular.
More about today’s author:
Gloria Respress-Churchwell has a passion for sharing stories with children that are nonfiction, especially those about unsung heroes. Having received an M.A. and M.F.A. from Simmons University in Children’s Literature and Writing for Children as a Lee & Low and Friends Scholar, Respress-Churchwell’s recent picture book Follow Chester! (Charlesbridge Publishing) spotlights the man who coined the phrase microaggressions which are subtle insults that people of color face daily. Respress-Churchwell speaks around the country at schools and universities on the making of her books and is also the curator of a scripted musical podcasts that complement her books. “They’re an organic and fun way for children to connect with historical facts,” Respress-Churchwell
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore and Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews. Also, special thanks to the Eric Carle Museum of Picturebook Art for helping to facilitate today's interview.
