Check out the article at Publisher’s Weekly.

Do you usually watch the segment? Do you enjoy it? I usually end up cringing because the hosts have no clue about the author or illustrator, or children’s books in general.

Maggie the Basset Hound, who now watches me pretend to write

I know–it’s been MONTHS since I last posted. But when I don’t have anything to say, I don’t say anything. But what was I doing all of that time, you ask? To steal a line from author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who is judging Round 6 of Public Radio’s Three-Minute Fiction Contest, I was pretending to write a novel.

Host Guy Raz was taken aback, I believe, and he asked why Adichie had responded like that when he asked what she was currently working on. After all, Adichie is an award-winning author. Certainly she must be working on some epic literary endeavor. Adichie said when you tell people you are working on a novel, they expect to see a finished product in a defined amount of time. So she has decided to tell people she is pretending to write to relieve expectations.

But it’s not just “people” who expect a finished product pronto. We authors put great expectations on ourselves all of the time. And when we don’t finish in the time frame we expected because of self-doubt, incessant self-revisions, or the inevitable interruptions of life, we feel defeated. We see authors who are able to ignore life’s roadblocks and write and publish no matter what, and think there is something wrong with us. I have decided, however, that there is nothing wrong with the way I write: it’s just different from the way Laurie Halse Anderson or J.K. Rowling writes. (And I bet neither of them had to care for their fading 15-year-old collie last year, then had the cat bite and infect their leg, followed by a broken foot.)

So I am pretending to write a novel. Let me know if you’re pretending, too.

Why did Elizabeth Bluemle’s column make me think of that show? Bluemle recounts the picture books of her youth and the books she read over and over again, books she’s found out that no one else has ever heard of. I tried to think of obscure picture books I read as a child, but like Ruby I’m drawing a blank. I can’t even remember the popular ones. My memories of reading picture books is lost to me for some reason. I can remember going to the library a million times throughout my life–my mother was an English teacher so there was no way libraries weren’t going to be a part of my life.

But what picture books did I read? Of course I can remember learning to read with the Catholic school equivalent of Dick and Jane–John and Jean. But after that, I just remember delving into nonfiction and novels. I read every book on World War II, saints, read John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage,” and then every Trixie Belden book. So where is my memory of the picture books? I can remember reading “Green Eggs and Ham,” and all of the other Dr. Seuss to my younger (by four years) sister when they came in the mail from the book club. My husband (my same age) can remember selecting Dr. Seuss books to read over and over until the teacher finally told him he was too old for them!

But what were the picture books I read in the late fifties? What books do you remember from your youth?

I don’t read a lot of adult lit–I can’t abide the waste of the English language after a decade of training to make every word count in writing for children. So when I do read it, I like to be entertained. So I admit I’ve read and listened to a couple of the Stephanie Plum novels and loved them. If you’ve never listened to one, treat yourself and do so. The woman who records the books is great.

Does this woman live in New Jersey? I don't think so.

So, like the readers of our children’s books, I’ve formed a picture in my mind of what the main character would look like. And like our young readers, I think I’m going to be disappointed because the producer’s idea of Stephanie and mine is completely different. This is a woman working for her cousin the bail bondsmen chasing down folks who don’t show up for court to make her rent. This is a New Jersey woman who gets beat up by low lifes and who–more than once–has had her car go up in smoke. Somehow, I never pictured young and sexy Katherine Heigl in this role. I pictured an earthier person–kind of a younger Melissa Leo.

So will this work? Only the final print will tell. Sometimes, producers can ignore the few physical cues a writer gives in a book and have the right actor overcome the readers’ image of the character. This worked very well to me with Holes. In the book, Stanley is a round boy. In the movie, Shia La Beouf made me believe he was Stanley, even though he didn’t share the book Stanley’s physical girth.

Do you have a favorite children’s book that was turned into a movie? Did the actor match your mind’s vision of the main character?

Our Tiger

The great thing about being the author of a book about new year is that you know you can party and start anew many times during the year. My next opportunity to do so is February 14, 2010, when the Chinese New Year begins. It’s the Year of the Tiger and our ceremonial tiger is ready to greet the New Year.

While the food of choice for January 1 New Year’s is black eyed-peas, the celebratory food for Chinese New Year is dumplings, aka pot stickers.  There’s a recipe in today’s Chicago Tribune if you’re inclined to try to make your own. If you live in the Chicago area and think you need instruction, the Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute is having classes on February 13-14. Unfortunately my dance card is already packed for that weekend or I’d love to go. It sounds like a yummy class!

For a complete list of all of the awards ALA and its divisions/roundtables confer, see the Shelftalker blog.

What’s your prediction for the awards? Some mock Newbery voters gave the number one prize to The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly while others favor my favorite, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. And don’t forget about the National Book Award winner, Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose, and Kate DiCamillo’s The Magician’s Elephant.

It’s always exciting to hear the winning titles and know that the next day, the Today show hosts are going to give their authors five seconds of  airtime, mispronounce their names and/or the titles of their books, and be generally illiterate about children’s literature (except maybe Al).

Two of the things I did manage to create last year--a Christmas quilt and matching pillow

So I start another year, not full of resolutions but full of the awareness of the realities of my life. I will have periods when family will take up a lot of my time. I will have periods when I have lupus brain and will feel overwhelmed and under-energized. I will have times when I’d rather be quilting (the new hobby I started last year–oh yeah–big time-sucker). So I’m starting the year by thoroughly cleaning and rearranging my office to help eliminate the days when I walked in my office and had no idea what I was supposed to do because my desk was impossible to find. 

I’m also eliminating a lot of unproductive things, like the number of emails I receive, and the amount of time I spend online. I don’t need to know when FTD, Overstock.com or Southwest Airlines is having a sale–I’m not buying anything anyhow. I’m debating the usefulness of Facebook. I know a lot of authors say you HAVE to be on there, but I haven’t figured out why. If it’s so your readers can find you, I have a web site for that and besides, lately the main people finding me on there are old friends from high school. 

The best thing about living on a calendar year is that while you’re here, you always get another chance to do better. On January 1, the slate is wiped clean, the past can be forgotten, and opportunities to create are endless. 

“The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now.” 

–Bill Cosby, Time Flies 

It’s every writer’s nightmare—you’ve sold your manuscript only to have something come up to delay or forestall its publication. If it’s something as simple as your editor leaving the company, your manuscript will be assigned to another editor at the publisher.

But what if the publishing company is sold? Chicago area writer, poet, and writing teacher Heidi Bee Roemer’s third book—the just released WHOSE NEST IS THIS?—ran into this bump in the road on its way to publication. I spoke to Heidi about her experience.

Heidi, congratulations on your book. Can you give us a short description of your book?

Whose Nest is This? (NorthWord Press, 2009) is a collection of riddles-in-rhyme that describe fascinating nests created by various birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, and even fish! I must mention that Connie McLennan’s illustrations are absolutely gorgeous!

How did you get the idea for the book?

In all honesty, the idea for the book wasn’t mine! Shortly after selling What Kinds of Seeds are These? to NorthWord, I asked my editor, Kristen McCurry, if she had any particular wishes for a new book topic. She mentioned nests, and I was off and running. Six weeks later, I turned in my manuscript for Whose Nests is This? Six weeks after that, she accepted it. Of course, I was thrilled!

When and how did you find out that your original publisher (NorthWord) had been purchased by Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group? Did the new company have a track record in publishing for children?

The artwork and most details on the book project were wrapped up when, one day, I got a surprising email from Kristen saying she was leaving NorthWord. The company had been sold to Rowman & Littlefield, a publisher that had not previously published children’s books.

Most contracts have a clause that if the company is sold, the book’s contract goes to the purchasing company. So you knew your book was still under contract, but did everything go as planned?

Communication with the new publishing house was difficult at first. I’m sure they were scrambling to handle the huge and complicated task of assimilating the new books and all the resulting legalities. My contract stated that the publisher had eight years in which to publish the book. If it wasn’t published within that time frame, then the rights would revert back to me and my illustrator; we could try to sell it elsewhere.  I certainly hoped I would not have to wait THAT long! But the new owners could not exactly pinpoint when Nests would be released. So I had to wait. And wait and wait some more! This made it difficult to schedule book signings and related promotional events that I’d normally do.

The delay, as I understood it, was because there had been some debate over ownership between Rowman & Littlefield and their imprint, Cooper Square Press. Whose Nest is This? was due to be released in spring, 2008, but didn’t come out until fall, 2009. But happily, it was truly well worth the wait!

What advice do you have for a writer when his/her book’s publication date is delayed?

The road to getting published seems to have an unusual amount of twists and turns, much like the dramatic plot line of any great story. If you’re having trouble getting information from the publishing house, you might consider contacting your illustrator to see if she has any updated news on the circumstances surrounding your book. In any case, be professional, polite, and patient as you try to glean information from the publishing staff. You have no idea how hard your editor may be working on your behalf to resolve the issue, whatever that may be. Lastly, try not to stew over things that are beyond your control. After all, a delayed publication is better than not being published at all!

What’s next for you? Do you have any more books in the pipeline?

I am hopeful that my new nonfiction book about African bathing beauties, tentatively titled, Warthogs Never Soak in Suds, will make the final cut with Sylvan Dell. Also, author Laura Crawford and I have collaborated on a geometry book geared for third graders; we will be marketing C is for Circle next month. As always, fingers crossed for another book sale!

Thanks, Heidi! I know this newest book is going to be another teacher favorite!

Author Heidi Bee Roemer can be found on the web at www.heidibroemer.com. She blogs with authors Laura Crawford and Kim Hutmacher about nature books and writers at http://wildaboutnaturewriters.blogspot.com.

THE WRITER’S LIFE features insights into the realities of writing. Look for it periodically at The Riant Writer!