I had the opportunity to interview middle grade author Caroline Starr Rose. Her book, MAY B., comes out January 10, 2012, tomorrow! I’m very excited to be giving away a signed copy of her wonderful book. If you’d like to receive it, please leave a comment and I’ll choose a winner through random.org, and then send it to you. Her book is a Junior Library Guild selection and received a starred review from Kirkus. An amazing way to start off for her debut novel!
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Caroline, please tell us about your book.
Caroline Starr Rose: MAY B. is a middle grade historical novel-in-verse set on the Kansas frontier. After a failed wheat crop, May’s parents decide to ship her off to a new prairie couple so that she might help them settle and bring in some money for the family. The couple has problems of their own, and suddenly May is abandoned, with no way to contact her family.
May must face the oncoming winter while coming to terms with who she is and what she’s capable of. (sorry about ending with a preposition!)
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: How long did it take to write?
Caroline Starr Rose: I started my research the spring of 2007 and began writing in the fall. Both my boys were in school for the first time, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to write full time. And then my sons’ principal called me into her office and offered me a job on the spot. One of her teachers had quit abruptly, and her position was in my exact area of certification. Though I had no plans to teach before this meeting, I felt like I was meant for this job and took it immediately.
I spent most of my time revising during the school years and writing over the summer. My first draft was finished fall 2008.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Did you sell your book with the help of an agent? Do you think writers today need an agent?
Caroline Starr Rose: Yes to both questions. For ten years I submitted manuscripts (seven picture books and four novels) directly to editors and collected hundreds of rejections. It was only after I got serious about finding an agent in the fall of 2009 that things started to happen. Within four months, my agent sold my very non-commercial, non-flashy literary historical at auction.
While it is possible to sell without an agent, I can’t imagine doing so. It took me a long time to come to the realization that an agent was necessary (for me, at least) in starting and maintaining a career. Those ten years of submitting on my own weren’t wasted. I learned how to write, develop my craft, and stick it out.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: How do you write? Do you have a routine?
Caroline Starr Rose: Sometimes yes. I’m not one who works well with a word count goal, especially while in verse novel or picture book mode. I remember last summer being stuck on roughly twenty words for several weeks. Twenty words! It was a challenge I finally pushed through, but I think if I had cracked the word-count whip, I would have been very discouraged.
More than anything, I force myself to sit with a project, even when the ideas and direction aren’t there. I work best with general monthly goals. Of course, now that I have editorial deadlines, I make sure to work on other projects when my editor has my work, so that does keep me moving forward.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: If you could give your book to just one person to read, who would that person be?
Caroline Starr Rose: First I need to explain May’s deepest desire is to someday be a teacher. While she is bright and studious, she is also struggles with dyslexia, a learning disability that wouldn’t have been known at the time. This mysterious inability to process information as her classmates do has defined her in school, at home, in the community, and in her own mind.
If I could give this book to just one person, it would be to former student of mine. I had her as a sixth grader, and unfortunately it took me several months to realize her reading ability was well below her peers’ (this was in a group of children in which some were reading at third and fourth grade levels). She rarely turned in work and was often belligerent. What amazed me, though, was her willingness to stand in front of the class after writing workshops and read her very simple stories.
By the time I realized the extent of her struggle, all the slots for a special reading elective had been filled.
I wish I could say I created some marvelous program for her myself. I’m embarrassed to admit I remember doing nothing extra for this child who so desperately needed some sort of intervention. That school year was the first in a new school, and we were all learning the ropes. I had an especially transient population that year -- lost and gained between 30 - 40 students. There was only so much I could do. At the same time, I have woken up in the middle of the night thinking of this girl and others whose needs I didn’t fully meet during my teaching years.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: What is your most favorite line in your book?
Caroline Starr Rose: Here are two stanzas that make me so proud of May.
I go slowly,
invite the words to find
a home
between
each breath.
No one is here
to listen,
or laugh.
I’m not whispering,
not mumbling,
I own this poem.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: What is your most favorite Newbery or National Book Award book?
Caroline Starr Rose: So many to choose from! If I were to pick something current, I’d go with OUT OF THE DUST or HOLES. Childhood picks would include MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, THE HIGH KING (I went through a phase where a friend and I would create intricate maps of Prydain and then act out Alexander’s stories), GINGER PYE, or THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished edits with my agent on a middle-grade contemporary about a girls’ club (inspired by my mother’s girlhood) and a picture book about the Louisiana wetlands.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: List three things you can’t live without.
Indelible Grace CDs or NPR while driving (sorry, that’s two!)
peanut butter
a book
Thank you very much for letting me interview you. Here is a link to your website so anyone who wants to may purchase your book, or get in touch with you may do so. http://www.carolinestarrrose.com/
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Caroline, please tell us about your book.
Caroline Starr Rose: MAY B. is a middle grade historical novel-in-verse set on the Kansas frontier. After a failed wheat crop, May’s parents decide to ship her off to a new prairie couple so that she might help them settle and bring in some money for the family. The couple has problems of their own, and suddenly May is abandoned, with no way to contact her family.
May must face the oncoming winter while coming to terms with who she is and what she’s capable of. (sorry about ending with a preposition!)
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: How long did it take to write?
Caroline Starr Rose: I started my research the spring of 2007 and began writing in the fall. Both my boys were in school for the first time, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to write full time. And then my sons’ principal called me into her office and offered me a job on the spot. One of her teachers had quit abruptly, and her position was in my exact area of certification. Though I had no plans to teach before this meeting, I felt like I was meant for this job and took it immediately.
I spent most of my time revising during the school years and writing over the summer. My first draft was finished fall 2008.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Did you sell your book with the help of an agent? Do you think writers today need an agent?
Caroline Starr Rose: Yes to both questions. For ten years I submitted manuscripts (seven picture books and four novels) directly to editors and collected hundreds of rejections. It was only after I got serious about finding an agent in the fall of 2009 that things started to happen. Within four months, my agent sold my very non-commercial, non-flashy literary historical at auction.
While it is possible to sell without an agent, I can’t imagine doing so. It took me a long time to come to the realization that an agent was necessary (for me, at least) in starting and maintaining a career. Those ten years of submitting on my own weren’t wasted. I learned how to write, develop my craft, and stick it out.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: How do you write? Do you have a routine?
Caroline Starr Rose: Sometimes yes. I’m not one who works well with a word count goal, especially while in verse novel or picture book mode. I remember last summer being stuck on roughly twenty words for several weeks. Twenty words! It was a challenge I finally pushed through, but I think if I had cracked the word-count whip, I would have been very discouraged.
More than anything, I force myself to sit with a project, even when the ideas and direction aren’t there. I work best with general monthly goals. Of course, now that I have editorial deadlines, I make sure to work on other projects when my editor has my work, so that does keep me moving forward.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: If you could give your book to just one person to read, who would that person be?
Caroline Starr Rose: First I need to explain May’s deepest desire is to someday be a teacher. While she is bright and studious, she is also struggles with dyslexia, a learning disability that wouldn’t have been known at the time. This mysterious inability to process information as her classmates do has defined her in school, at home, in the community, and in her own mind.
If I could give this book to just one person, it would be to former student of mine. I had her as a sixth grader, and unfortunately it took me several months to realize her reading ability was well below her peers’ (this was in a group of children in which some were reading at third and fourth grade levels). She rarely turned in work and was often belligerent. What amazed me, though, was her willingness to stand in front of the class after writing workshops and read her very simple stories.
By the time I realized the extent of her struggle, all the slots for a special reading elective had been filled.
I wish I could say I created some marvelous program for her myself. I’m embarrassed to admit I remember doing nothing extra for this child who so desperately needed some sort of intervention. That school year was the first in a new school, and we were all learning the ropes. I had an especially transient population that year -- lost and gained between 30 - 40 students. There was only so much I could do. At the same time, I have woken up in the middle of the night thinking of this girl and others whose needs I didn’t fully meet during my teaching years.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: What is your most favorite line in your book?
Caroline Starr Rose: Here are two stanzas that make me so proud of May.
I go slowly,
invite the words to find
a home
between
each breath.
No one is here
to listen,
or laugh.
I’m not whispering,
not mumbling,
I own this poem.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: What is your most favorite Newbery or National Book Award book?
Caroline Starr Rose: So many to choose from! If I were to pick something current, I’d go with OUT OF THE DUST or HOLES. Childhood picks would include MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, THE HIGH KING (I went through a phase where a friend and I would create intricate maps of Prydain and then act out Alexander’s stories), GINGER PYE, or THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished edits with my agent on a middle-grade contemporary about a girls’ club (inspired by my mother’s girlhood) and a picture book about the Louisiana wetlands.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: List three things you can’t live without.
Indelible Grace CDs or NPR while driving (sorry, that’s two!)
peanut butter
a book
Thank you very much for letting me interview you. Here is a link to your website so anyone who wants to may purchase your book, or get in touch with you may do so. http://www.carolinestarrrose.com/
1 comment:
Very nice interview! I've read so many good things about this book; it's definitely on my to-read list. I would love to win a copy! Thanks for the giveaway.
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