Mighty Village Books: Interview with Danielle Daniel, new Canadian publisher

Anytime that I can promote Canadian books I do so. And with a new independent Canadian publisher starting up, it's another reason to make readers aware of their presence and the opportunity for new Canadian books for reading and for enjoying. Recently, I learned that author-illustrator Danielle Daniel, creator of the award-winning Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (Groundwood, 2015), has been inspired to start her own publishing house named Mighty Village Books. Excited to learn more about Mighty Village Books, I interviewed Danielle Daniel about her new venture. 

• • • • • • •

 

 

Helen Kubiw: What motivated you to start your own publishing house?

 

Danielle Daniel: There have been many reasons behind this decision, but mostly, I wanted to build something new within the publishing industry—something filled with hope, creativity, and innovation. A model more aligned with my own spirit and vision for the future of publishing, one rooted in care, equity, and shared success.

 

HK: When did you first think about establishing a new publishing house, and how challenging was it to go from idea to reality?

 

Danielle Daniel: I began thinking seriously about this about three years ago, after my two novels were published and just as Sometimes I Feel Like a River was launching. Around that time, I noticed the joy I once felt on publication day had begun to fade. I wanted to reconnect with the heart of why I create, and to bring more meaning and joy into the process. Starting my own press felt like the natural next step, a way to nurture both my own work and the work of others within a model grounded in creativity, care and respect.
 

I’ve poured so much into building a press that reflects my values and vision. My experience as an author and illustrator of ten books, my background as an elementary teacher, and my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing have all uniquely prepared me for this new chapter. I also genuinely enjoy growing and challenging myself—pushing into new territory feels like a natural extension of my creativity.

 

HK: As a publisher, what makes (will make) Mighty Village Books unique?

 

Danielle Daniel: Our motto is literally Little press. Big heart. At Mighty Village Books, we believe smaller is better. We publish with intention, choosing quality over quantity, because we care deeply about the books we create, the land on which we live and work, and the exceptional authors we’re honoured to support and champion. Our press was built to offer creators meaningful support and equitable profit-sharing—double the industry standard—because we believe storytelling should be sustainable, not extractive.

 

Beyond publishing books, we also create art and resources for classrooms, libraries, and beyond—beautiful, thoughtful tools that nurture imagination and connection. Through our shop and wholesale partnerships, we’re growing a creative community inspired by art and books. 

HK: This is a large and dauntless undertaking. Are there others who have partnered with you in this venture? Are there other creators whose work we’d recognize involved?

 

Danielle Daniel: This is indeed a large undertaking, and currently a sole proprietorship. While I have a small but mighty team who assist with graphic design and editing, Mighty Village Books remains a heart-led, independent operation built with great care and dedication. I’ve always been entrepreneurial by nature and look forward to the meaningful and rewarding work ahead.

 

HK: I like to keep a list of Canadian publishers of books for young people on my blog. Do you have the URL for your website yet? If so, can you please share it?

 

Danielle Daniel: www.mightyvillagebooks.com

(HK: I have now added this site to my list of publishers. See the list to the left.)

 
 

HK: What genres are you hoping to focus on? Also, will you be accepting submissions from any creator, or might they be limited to those who are Canadian or Indigenous or another group?

 

Danielle Daniel: We welcome submissions from both debut and established Canadian and Indigenous authors. Our hope is to publish a wide range of voices, with a deep commitment to supporting storytellers from underrepresented communities.

Our vision is rooted in nurturing early literacy through picture books and middle-grade stories that honour the emotional landscape of childhood and reflect the richness of diverse Canadian experiences, with a particular focus on voices from Northern Ontario. We’re drawn to stories that hold tenderness and truth, that make room for big feelings, wild imagination, and the quiet brilliance of being a child.

 

HK: What are the titles of your first publications and when are they scheduled for release? 

 

Danielle Daniel: While our first titles will be released in spring 2028, our growing collection of art and products designed to uplift, inspire, and empower both children and grownups is available now.

 

HK: I know that I use BNC CataList for learning about upcoming releases of Canadian books. Will you have your catalogues listed there?

 

Danielle Daniel: Yes, I’m familiar with BNC CataList and the important role it plays in connecting publishers, booksellers, and libraries across Canada. As Mighty Village Books grows and our first titles move closer to publication, I plan to have our catalogues listed there so readers like you can discover our upcoming books alongside other Canadian releases!

 

HK: Danielle, I am pleased to have reviewed several of your books, both those you’ve written (e.g., Sometimes I Feel Like a River [2023] and Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak [2024] and those which you have authored and illustrated (e.g., Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox  [2015] and Once In a Blue Moon [2018]). Will you continue to write and illustrate books? (I certainly hope so.) If so, will Mighty Village Books become your publisher?

 

Danielle Daniel: Thank you so much for your kind words, and for your support and thoughtful reviews of my previous books. I’m so grateful for your work in championing literacy. I’ll absolutely keep writing and illustrating—it’s the work I love most—and moving forward, my books will be proudly published through my press, Mighty Village Books.

  • • • • • • •

It was wonderful to chat with Danielle Daniel 

and learn more about Mighty Village Books.
 
Many thanks to Danielle Daniel
for the pleasure of this interview 
 
and

 

 to Rachel Sentes, Publicist at Serif, 

for facilitating this discussion and post.

 

 

 

If you're interested in checking out the wonderful books that Danielle Daniel has written and/or illustrated previously, here is a sample of titles:

 

 Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak 

(written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Jackie Traverse; Groundwood, 2024)

Sometimes I Feel Like a River

(written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon; Groundwood, 2023)

You Hold Me Up

(written by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Danielle Daniel; Orca, 2017) 

I'm Afraid, Said the Leaf

(written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Matt James; Tundra, 2024)

Once in a Blue Moon

(written and illustrated by Danielle Daniel; Groundwood, 2017) 

Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox

(written and illustrated by Danielle Daniel; Groundwood, 2015) 

Forever Birchwood

(written by Danielle Daniel; HarperCollins, 2022)

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky

(written by Danielle Daniel; Tundra, 2024) 

We Belong Here: Interview with author Frieda Wishinky and illustrator Ruth Ohi

We Belong Here

Written by Frieda Wishinsky

Illustrated by Ruth Ohi

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-9403-7

32 pp.

Ages 6-8

October 3, 2023

Reviewed here 

 

 

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of reviewing an important picture book, We Belong Here, about intolerance and kindness. Today, I have the good fortune of sharing with readers a bit more about the book and the creative process through this Q & A with its author Frieda Wishinsky and illustrator Ruth Ohi.

 

Helen Kubiw:  Whether it be the 1950s, the setting for We Belong Here, or now, there are always those who distrust others who are different, whether in their appearance, their cultures, their faith, language, or something else. Why do you think this still hasn’t changed?

Frieda Wishinsky:  That’s an important question. I think some people are afraid or uncomfortable with anyone who is different because they haven’t had the experience of getting to know them. I grew up in New York City where there were always people around from different cultures and backgrounds. I felt comfortable and curious about that difference. I loved the diversity of food, customs and experiences but I think that some people who live in places which lack diversity, feel afraid of what and who they don’t know.

 

Ruth Ohi:  We have a long way to go, but I feel it has changed: I believe there’s been progress. I’d like to see the interest in making things better continue to grow the way I think it already has.

HK:  I suspect those children who demonstrate intolerance, including those in the book, are often doing so from observing their own families expressing that same bigotry. While We Belong Here demonstrates the value in getting to know those who are different, how do think it’s possible for those children to rise above their learning when they’re seeing the worst at home?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  I hope this story and friendship of Eve and Mark will help kids and their families appreciate that although we are different, we are also alike. No one likes being called mean names. Everyone wants to feel appreciated. And being in touch with people from different cultures makes life richer and better. Being open to change and new people makes us less fearful and happier. 

 

 

 

HK:  The note at the end of the book suggests that the book came about through discussions that you had about your family histories. Once you decide that this was going to become a book, how did the collaborative process work?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  Over two years ago Ruth and I had coffee and shared our family histories. We talked about how Jewish and Japanese people faced discrimination after the war. I said, "If I can figure out how to write that theme of connection and help as a picture book, would you illustrate it?”  Ruth said yes. Now all I had to do was write the story. Not so easy! The story couldn’t be about adults. It had to focus on kids.

     It took me over a year and a half to figure out how to create a story about two kids from different places and cultures who help each other in difficult times.
     When I finally felt pretty good about my text, I passed it on to Anne Shone at Scholastic. Anne had worked on many books with both Ruth and me. Anne liked what I’d written but made some suggestions. After more revision, the text was approved by everyone at Scholastic. Ruth could now begin to illustrate.

     I didn’t see the story with its art till it was almost a finished book. Ruth and I did have a few discussions about historical accuracy, tomato sauce vs. beets, and adding in a carved wooden sculpture but we worked separately.
     Seeing the finished book was a delightful surprise. I loved how Ruth added evocative and touching art to the story and theme. I think her art highlighted and elevated my words. 

Ruth Ohi:  Once Frieda’s manuscript was accepted by Scholastic Canada, she and I communicated through our editor, Anne Shone. I read the text many times so that the characters could move about in my imagination for a bit. I then created page breaks and tiny thumbnails to see how action and pacing could work. I researched the 1950s to immerse myself in the time and sent research elements and resulting rough layouts to Anne. Sketches were drawn and redrawn many times with feedback, until approvals were given to begin final art.

Rough sketch by Ruth Ohi from We Belong Here

 

HK:  I appreciate the fact that both of you were able to contribute familial background history to the story of We Belong Here. I like that, by bringing the two together through Eve and Mark, you were able to produce a story of discrimination defeated by kindness. But, in your own family stories, did kindness always conquer the unfairness of intolerance?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  During the early days of World War Two, my mom met the wives of two Polish Generals when they were all jailed by the Russians as political prisoners. (My mom’s offense was a German sounding last name) These women, Yadviga and Zhosha, treated my mom as a sister, although they came from different religions and backgrounds. The three of them helped each other survive the harshness of a Russian prison for two years. Yadviga and Zhosha also promised my mom that if they were released, they would make sure she was released too. When the Russians changed their political alignment, the Polish women were released, and they got my mom out of jail the next day. Yadviga and Zhosha then opened a children's home in Russia for kids whose parents had been sent to Siberia. My mom worked there till the end of the war.  My mom was a natural storyteller and told me what happened to her in those terrible years. I never forgot the kindness and humanity of these two women.

 

Ruth Ohi:  My Dad was one of the first Japanese Canadians to be allowed to teach in Toronto. He was also a guidance counsellor. Leafing through photos, he’d tell me stories about his wonderful students and the staff that he worked with then and throughout his career.

 

 

HK:  How much of the story includes actual events that took place, like the shop, the rock, and the taunts, and how much is fictionalized but based on stories told within the family?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  The core of the story, that a Jewish family helps a Japanese family, is true. The rest is fiction. We did incorporate elements from our lives in the book though. For example, I was an imaginative kid who loved climbing up on some rocks in a NYC park. My dad carved a beautiful crane out of wood. My dad was a baker and made rugelach.

 

 

HK:  For each of you, what was the hardest part of creating this story?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  The hardest part for me was taking a true story and a general theme and creating a picture book that was universal and kid focused.

 

Ruth Ohi:  One of the hardest parts for me was also one of the most interesting as I had the chance to research the 1950s: fashion, cars, buildings, packaging, life in general. Anything I illustrated needed to actually exist. Everyone helped: Frieda sent family photos, my art director Andrea sent some men’s hairstyles, and Anne found a cake plate that inspired a spot illustration.

 

 

HK:  While many of your picture books, like Fox and Squirrel have important messages about compassion, empathy, emotional support, your books generally have a light-hearted innocence to them that veils those important lessons. How did you approach illustrating We Belong Here knowing that a story of children coping with discrimination could not be couched in sweet and colourful animal characters?

 

Ruth Ohi:  I think Frieda’s story has a sweet innocence as well. My author/illustrated picture books have a lot in common with We Belong Here as they tend to focus on the role of empathy. When finding friends who look different from you, it doesn’t always matter from a young child’s perspective whether it’s an animal or not. I love that there are so many different ways of viewing the world for a child to choose from. My book Scribble is a celebration of what makes us different. Three very different looking shapes (Circle, Square & Triangle), with the help of a non-shape friend, discover how much you can accomplish using your differences. Fox and Squirrel is a celebration of what makes us alike. The series is based on two very physically different animals who discover that they have a lot in common i.e., they both need to eat and sleep and like to play.
     Looking back, I think my author/illustrated stories reflect my childhood – someone who looked very different from everyone else in their class (I also wore a metal back brace for over four years for my scoliosis) and was figuring out their place in the world. I never set out to teach a lesson when I write a story, but do enjoy hearing that they help kids and spark conversations about empathy.

 

 

 

HK:  I know that We Belong Here is not your first picture book of a fictional account of a historical event. Your own Kenta and the Big Wave (2013) deals with the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and Joy Kogawa’s Naomi’s Tree (2008) deals with the internment of Japanese-Canadians during WW2. How do you approach illustrating a book of historical relevance and are there certain challenges you need to address?

 

Ruth Ohi:  Like Frieda’s story, research was required for both. The interiors and houses in Kenta and the Big Wave came from photos taken during my visits to Japan with my Dad and then later with my husband and my own kids. Kenta’s dog is the Ohi’s Shiba Inu that my daughters got to walk. It was an honour to illustrate for Joy and great to finally meet her at the launch, do a library session together and hear her say that she loved my illustrations. She is so gracious and kind. I feel very lucky in the authors I’ve been able to illustrate for.

 

 

 

HK:  I had thought it was unusual for an author and an illustrator to query a book together (unless the author is the illustrator). How did you get the publisher to accept a submission with both text and illustrations?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  We were lucky that we’d both published a bunch of books with Scholastic and we’d both worked with Anne Shone. Scholastic knew our work and we were happy this story resonated for them. Plus it’s great that I’m Jewish and Ruth’s background is Japanese so we could bring each of our cultures into the story authentically.

 

 

HK:  Do you see a follow-up book or perhaps a companion book that takes the perspective of an older Eve and Mark as teens or as parents themselves, or perhaps a story of a different kind of discrimination experienced by others?

 

Frieda Wishinsky:  I hadn’t thought of a follow-up book, but I’d love to do another book with Ruth. Now all I have to do is think of a story that she might like illustrating!

 

Ruth Ohi:  I’d love to illustrate another Frieda story. Anyone who gets to illustrate one of her manuscripts is very lucky indeed.

• • • • • • •

Many thanks to 

author Frieda Wishinsky and illustrator Ruth Ohi 

for the privilege of asking them questions 

about their new book We Belong Here. 

As a story, it has great depth in its history and its lessons, 

and both Frieda and Ruth have brought insight and heart to it.

I hope this interview shares all that with you, my readers.

• • • • • • •

Tough Like Mum: Q & A with author Lana Button

Yesterday I reviewed Tough Like Mum, written by Lana Button and illustrated by Carmen Mok.

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Tundra Books

978-0-7352-6598-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2021

Reviewed here

 

 

Today I have the pleasure of presenting 

this question and answer interview 

with author Lana Button.

 

Author Lana Button

 

HK:  When I started reading Tough Like Mum, I wasn't sure if the issue tackled by the book was poverty or depression. Then I realized that what was most important was resilience which can be the antidote to both. As the author, what came first for you in writing the story: the issue or the response?

 

LB:  I am sensitive to these issues on a personal level, on a professional level as an early childhood educator, and on a creative level as an author for young audiences. I wanted to write a picture book story that would bring these issues to light; knowing and experiencing that there are children among the picture book audience who live with the challenges Kim and her mum face. It is important and powerful for children to read, in stories, that they are not alone in their experience. 

I also felt that a picture book tackling the issues of poverty and mental health could be used as a tool for building understanding and developing empathy, for those who have not had these life experiences. I was interested in telling a story that would provide a safe and age-appropriate place to start important conversations.

Finding the response–figuring out how to tell a hard-hitting story, while respecting the age and sensitivity of my young audience–was where I was tripped up, and where this story idea was stalled for a long time. I waited for the story to come to me. Then I heard two comments. One by a teacher. “Some of my students can’t complete their homework because their power gets shut off and it’s too dark.” Another was a response to the cost of an upcoming field trip. “It’s only $6.00. I mean, what’s $6.00?” All I could think from that was, “We can’t assume to know what $6.00 might mean to a family, what life is like in their home.” And BOOM! this very resilient little girl, waking up with her thumb in her mouth, popped into my head and her story became very clear to me.
 

HK:  Poverty is a tough topic to cover in a picture book, especially one for young children, though this is sadly the experience for many. How did you manage to stay realistic about the issue, for children to be able to see themselves, and still be compassionate without revealing vulnerabilities and sensitivities that some would prefer hidden? 

 

LB:  It is a tough topic, for sure. And I wanted to give a voice to Kim’s reality, while ensuring my young audience wasn’t overwhelmed. And so, I entrusted Kim as my storyteller. This resilient little girl is not easily shaken, and she conveys her experience in a matter-of-fact way, as children often do. She tells it simply, which allows a young audience to interpret the story at its baseline. I then relied heavily on the illustration to fill in the details of Kim and her mum’s reality. The nuances of the illustration allow an audience, when they are ready to take it in, to dig deeper into the story.

HK:  Tough Like Mum ensures that, first and foremost, we see the strengths of those dealing with poverty and hard times, not any weaknesses. Your title says it all. Is there a mum or a child for whom you wrote this book?

 

LB:  I wrote Tough Like Mum with the hope that there will be an audience who feels connected to this story on a personal level. I wrote it for anyone who is struggling or has struggled with financial burdens, and for those experiencing the weight of depression in their home.  In particular–the child who needs to feel seen, who needs to feel championed to try one more time, to reach out and ask for help–this book is for them.

 

HK:  I think that whatever hardships we all go through–physical, emotional, financial–asking for help is one of the hardest things to do and Tough Like Mum demonstrates that it happens for both adults and children. Why do you think it’s so hard to do so?

 

LB:  When we ask for help, we expose our vulnerability. That’s a scary place to be. Yes, it might be a path to help. But it might also be a path to rejection, to judgment and gossip, and to more pain. And if we’ve tried reaching out and then experienced hurt or rejection, it can be so much harder to take that chance again. 

And sometimes it might seem that the only thing we have control over is our reputation.
 

But it is my hope that a young reader might be inspired by Kim’s strength. That in times where they might need help, they will reach out to ‘the helpers’ in their community; the friends, the neighbours, the teachers.

In Tough Like Mum, Jen has done a great job teaching her daughter to be resilient. But ultimately it is Kim who leads her mum to realize that she is tough enough to accept help

 

HK:  The austerity of Carmen Mok's artwork reflects Kim and her mother's circumstances well. How much input did you have in ensuring the tone of the illustrations worked with your story?

 

LB:  I wrote the story with quite a few art notes. And I had a great conversation with Tara Walker at Tundra Books, who had the same visual interpretation of the story that I had. Samantha Swenson and I worked closely on the edits and she patiently indulged me as I gave her pages of back story for what seemed like every scene. I felt ‘heard’ and I felt like we were all on the same page when it came to the tone of the story. And so, when it was placed in the very talented hands of the incredible Carmen Mok it was time for me to step away and let Carmen and Sam do their magic. This distance is an essential part of the process, so that the illustrator can bring to life their interpretation, of what then becomes our story. And the result was a wonderful collaboration of words and art that told the story I was hoping to tell.

 

HK:  If there is one thing that you’d like young readers to see or learn from this story, what would it be?

 

LB:  I would love for a young reader to see hope at the end of a difficult day. I would love for each reader to see themselves as strong and resilient, and tough enough to ask for help (and keep asking for help) when they need it.

 • • • • • • •

 

Thanks to author Lana Button for talking to me about Tough Like Mum. This interview has given me loads to think about with respect to writing, and books that children need to read, of which Tough Like Mum is surely one.

Thanks also to Samantha Devotta, Associate Publicist at Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers, for reaching out and helping arrange this interview, and providing images to accompany both the review and this Q & A.

Interview with Jon Klassen, author-illustrator of The Rock from the Sky

The Rock from the Sky

Written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-1563-2

96 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2021

Reviewed here

 

After yesterday's review of Jon Klassen's picture book, The Rock from the Sky, I had the pleasure of interviewing the author-illustrator about his newest creation. Here is that Q & A.

Jon Klassen, author-illustrator of The Rock from the Sky

HK:  Between the little hats worn by Turtle and Armadillo, and the rock hanging in the air, I suspect that you’re a fan of the surrealist artist René Magritte.  Is this actually the case or is there another influence that inspires your art?

Jon Klassen:  I am a Magritte fan for sure – I don’t think I used to be, but I’ve come around – though the hats and the rock have other sources too. The bowler hats I think do a few jobs, referentially – Magritte, but also Laurel and Hardy, since I think of these stories as kind of like little comedy skits, and also Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. I’m not positive they wore bowler hats in that, but it feels like they did, and Beckett’s work generally has been a big deal for me. The rock itself is very Magritte, I agree, though there’s a weird reference for that one too – the first Edward Gorey drawing I remember seeing was on the cover of an edition of The 39 Steps by John Buchan and it’s just a drawing of a huge rock hanging in the sky over a flight of stairs going down a cliff, and it had a really big effect on me. I still love that drawing.

 

HK:  Was the germ of an idea from which The Rock from the Sky arose Magritte’s work The Castle of the Pyrenees or  something else altogether?

 

Jon Klassen:  I think it actually arose mostly from a talk I heard Alfred Hitchcock give on the nature of suspense, and how you could make an interesting scene out of a group of people sitting around a table talking about something very boring if you had told the audience ahead of time that there was a bomb under the table that would go off in 5 minutes. I enjoy drawing characters doing next to nothing, but I need some sort of setup that gives me permission to have pictures like that, so the rock from the sky was my “bomb under the table.” I really have been drawing rocks for like 15 years just hoping there will be a story for them some day. The back cover of the book, and the spreads where it’s just the rock in the sky, are kind of why I started the book in the first place.

 

HK:  Though there are only three characters–Turtle, Armadillo and Snake–and minimal dialogue and action, they are clearly distinct, especially Turtle and Armadillo. Why choose a turtle, an armadillo and a snake for your characters in The Rock from the Sky?

 

Jon Klassen:  They were kind of intuitive choices. I wanted this book to kind of connect with the other books I’d done, almost like the bit players from those books that finally got to put on their own show. The turtle was useful, practically speaking, since he moves slowly and it helps contrast with the rock falling. The armadillo-type guy just looks kind of humble, but also I think of him as kind of a man alone, out in the sticks a little more, so maybe he’s wise that way, kind of knowing. The snake just made me laugh. Snakes scare me badly in real life, so making him mute and kind of unknown to us was the best I could do. Also, he doesn’t get a bowler hat. I think he would have wanted one but there were only two so he had to settle for the beret.

 

HK:  Although we don’t actually know the source of the rock other than the sky, there is a suggestion that it is other-worldly. Why use a rock then, something so commonplace and familiar, rather than an unrecognizable structure, similar to the alien creature?

 

Jon Klassen:  I like the word “rock,” firstly, and as I say I really like drawing them. It’s such a blunt thing, and there’s no questions about it. If it was some kind of otherworldly structure, there would be all sorts of problems to solve that I wouldn’t know how to solve. It kind of reminds me of what I read about the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey where they had all these initial complicated ideas for what some kind of alien beacon would look like, but in the end they kind of had to admit there was no knowing, and the black monolith they finally used became almost a visual admission of that. We just don’t know. 

HK:  The book is divided into five parts which is different from your earlier picture books. While each chapter progresses the story, from the rock’s arrival and the animals’ interactions with it until the ending, each part still tells its own tale. It reminds me of I Want My Hat Back, This is Not My Hat, and We Found a Hat, which were written as three different books but are linked.  Did you write The Rock from the Sky as individual stories ever or were they always destined to be part of one? 

 

Jon Klassen:  I wrote the first story on its own, but kind of knowing that, even if I solved it, it was going to be too light to justify a whole book. But when it was done, I had these three characters who I knew something about, and I had a rock sitting there, and I wanted to see what the next little while felt like after it showed up, even if it didn’t do anything. The idea that their lives just kept going and their relationship problems just kept puttering along in the face of this thing, and all that it implied, was fun to think about. Cause you kind of have to keep going. What else are you going to do?


HK:  Though your humour is incredibly sophisticated in its layering and messaging, kids get it, even if differently from adults. Do you find yourself rethinking how you present a story to make sure it’s accessible for all or do you endeavour to always match the audience for which the book is slotted?

 

Jon Klassen:  I sort of ride the middle between myself and the kids, I think. If I’m interested, or laughing, or whatever I’m hoping will happen to an audience, that’s about the best I can hope for, and then the job isn’t so much to think about what they’re going to take out of it, but what they’ll understand, event-wise. Clarity in the words and the pictures, so that even little kids are given a good shot at least getting what’s physically going on, is a big goal and takes up a lot of my time. But past that I don’t find I’m very good at adjusting for different audiences or guessing who is going to get what.

 

HK:  The audience suggested for The Rock from the Sky is for readers of ages 4 to 8. I think that the book is sophisticated enough for older readers. In fact, I could even see it becoming one of those classics like Where the Wild Things Are or The Little Prince that were written for children but revered by adults who derive deeper meaning from the text and art. For whom did you write The Rock from the Sky?

 

Jon Klassen:  That is a very very nice thing to say. I do always hope that adults will like the books too, or at least understand what interested me about making them. You don’t want anyone to think you were bored. Who I have in my head when I’m making them I think is sort of a murky mixture, kind of ghosts fading in and out. It’s me now, it’s me as maybe a second or third grader, which is when I remember a lot of these books really connecting, but it’s also friends I had then, my brothers as they were then, my parents. I remember being kind of a ham at family reunion dinners and things like that, and that table was about 25 people, and I probably think of that size crowd at a maximum. That’s the room I know how to play to, even if everyone would rather just be eating.

 

HK:  Your art is described as created digitally with watercolours. Do you start with watercolour and then work with it digitally or are some images digitally rendered? Essentially what I’d like to know is where you start and how your progress to end up with such austere but powerful illustrations.

 

Jon Klassen:  Any austerity comes from the roughs, I think. My stories kind of live and die based on characters facing a certain way or walking from one spot to another one, and that has to be clear so I try not complicate it, visually. The roughs are all big shapes and big decisions, so I can have fun inside those shapes later but I know what their job is going to be also. I’m not looking for the final rendering of anything to carry the story, or the book, it’s just there to make it look better and hopefully add to the mood. Once the roughs are done and I know where everything is going to go, I do a lot of versions of the separate pieces - the skies, the ground, the rocks, the characters, and try and allow for happy accidents in there, knowing I can control things later. Then I just pick out my favourite ones and assemble them on the page. The digital part comes in when everything is on the page together and I want to make it all look cohesive. It’s a very relaxing way to work, usually, because there’s no phase that seems super high stakes, and I really enjoy enhancing or subduing all the weird things the paint does, but minding that it doesn’t take over or distract from the story, either.

 • • • • • • •

 

Interviewing Jon Klassen has been such a treat for me. 

I've admired his work since the publication of his first book 

I Want My Hat Back 

released in the month prior to this blog's inception.

I continue to be impressed by the depth of his work 

and this interview supports the validity of that assessment. 

 

So, many thanks to Jon Klassen for responding to my questions.

Thanks also to Sarah Dunn, 

Marketing and Publicity Director at ZG Stories,

for facilitating this interview.

The Starlight Claim: Q & A with author Tim Wynne-Jones

 The Starlight Claim

Written by Tim Wynne-Jones

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-0264-9

240 pp.

Ages 13+

September 2019

On September 10, 2019,  Tim Wynne-Jones's newest YA thriller, The Starlight Claim, was released and I reviewed it here on CanLit for LittleCanadians.

As the book will launch over the next few weeks here in Ontario including tonight in Toronto, I had the pleasure of interviewing author Tim Wynne-Jones about his book.

Enjoy the writing revelations Tim Wynne-Jones shares with us here about The Starlight Claim.

HK:  The Starlight Claim is an action-packed novel that includes characters from your earlier book The Maestro. However, rather than following The Maestro’s protagonist Burl, you chose to focus on Nate, Burl’s sixteen-year-old son. Why choose to make The Starlight Claim an intergenerational sequel?

TWJ:  A great question and one that made me laugh. For years readers have asked me what happened to Burl, since I leave it kind of hazy at the end of The Maestro. They also often want to know what happened to Burl’s evil dad. Mostly, they hope something awful! So what took me so long to write a sequel? Life – that’s what. Anyway, by the time I finally got around to writing this book, it had been twenty-four years – long enough for Burl to have a sixteen-year-old of his own. And I couldn’t resist letting Nate (named after the Maestro, himself, of course) brave his way up to Ghost Lake, alone. 


HK:  The Maestro was published in 1995. How difficult was it to write a sequel over 20 years after the original book? Were there some obstacles that you found impossible to overcome?

TWJ:  Some books are harder to write than others, taking two or three years. This book was the other kind. I was SO happy to return to the same magical setting as The Maestro, with the added dimension of making it late winter. This story not only addresses what happened to Burl and his dreadful father but also looks at a true story about my own “Ghost Lake” and the ramifications of a haunting tragedy. It was a dream to write, full of built-in conflict and very high stakes.


HK:  At its heart, The Starlight Claim is all about conflict: conflict within, as Nate struggles with his guilt over a friend’s death; conflict with others, as he eludes criminals and grapples with family dramas; and conflict with a landscape of epic beauty and unyielding hurdles.  Surprisingly, though Nate is dealing with all those tensions, he is an amazingly grounded young man. He is smart enough to accept fear but keeps his head and more than survives.  How did you conceive of him, especially knowing where his father came from?

TWJ:  Well, first of all, thank you for your kind words. Luckily, Nate is his father’s son and if you know Burl, you know what a resourceful soul he was, even as a kid. And Nate has all the savvy and inner strength of his father. And I do have to add, here, that he’s modeled on a good friend who has been kind enough to let me fictionalize his own story. Make no mistake, this is a work of fiction, but Nate’s grounded personality is very much a reflection of a real person. The person I’d most want to have handy if I was ship wrecked on a deserted island!  


HK:  While Nate is very much in the present, dealing with nefarious characters in a remote setting, struggling for his own survival, the past is everywhere.  It’s in the history of the camp, in his knowledge of his grandfather and in his memories of his friend Dodge.  What does The Starlight Claim tell us about the role of the past in the now and perhaps in the future?

TWJ:  The past is always with us. And I think never more so than when we lose someone that matters a great deal to us. Especially if you have to grapple with the fear of your own complicity, real or imagined, in the tragedy. It seems fitting, somehow, that as Nate travels up to the lake, burdened by a sorrow even heavier than the pack on his back, he should venture into the world of the past, so to speak, where his grandfather lurks. He says at one point, while he’s on the train heading up to the family camp that he’s travelling backward through his father’s history, stop by stop. So you’ve put your finger on an underlying theme.   


HK:  Japheth Starlight advised Burl in The Maestro that “You made the mess–you clean it up. That’s the way you become master of your own destiny” and it seems all the men in Burl’s family demonstrated that they learned this lesson to various degrees, even the repugnant Calvin Crow. How do you think Cal finally recognized this wisdom?

TWJ:  When readers talk to me about Calvin Crow they just about growl. That makes me so happy; the truth is -- I think any writer will tell you – writing the “bad guy” is so much more interesting than writing any other character. Cal is my “favourite” bad guy! That said, he’s human. Aren’t we all! So, I needed to find what made him tick. There is nothing so shallow as a bad guy who is just plain bad. We are all motivated by things that happen in our lives. There was something of this in a monologue of Cal’s in The Maestro and I wanted to expand upon it. I think that novels are often about redemption. I wanted to give him another chance.
    

HK:  As the story progresses, the reader realizes Dodge, the friend whose death Nate is  haunted by, is not the person Nate has held him up to be in his memory.  Moreover, Cal has his own issues with how he remembers things with his own son. What do their stories tell us about the capacity for memory to reflect something other than reality?

TWJ:  These are profound questions, Helen, thank you. One of the fondest wishes any writer can have is that the reader who cares to dig deep will find things to think about. I will defer to the wonderful English writer, Aidan Chambers, who has said this: “My personal conviction is that we are not changed by our experience, as common wisdom has it. What changes us are the stories we tell about our experience…” This is important: it’s not that we “make up stories” about our lives and therefore fictionalize them – another word for lying! It’s more to the point that we shape the experience into something tellable. We all do it. Have you ever had the experience of telling someone a family story within earshot of a sibling, who immediately jumps in and says, “That’s not the way it happened!”? That’s what I’m talking about; we see the world from our point of view. The delight of being a writer is imagining all kinds of points of view. 


HK:  The Maestro was a middle grade novel written for young readers ages 11 and older whereas The Starlight Claim is recommended for a slightly older audience, 13+. What in this new book prompted the publisher to propose that The Starlight Claim is more appropriate for a YA audience?

TWJ:  I’m not privy to that kind of decision-making, but I would guess it’s the addition of hardened and violent criminals to the mix. I think that any eleven-year-old who loves adventure stories will love this book – I sure would have when I was that age. And to be frank, they’ve probably seen a lot worse characters, in movies that get a PG rating. 


HK:  I could see continuing Burl and Nate’s stories, perhaps Burl’s after The Maestro but before The Starlight Claim, and both of their stories after The Starlight Claim. Would you consider this and why or why not?

TWJ:  Hmm, that’s a good question, as well. I’d have to say it’s unlikely, at this point. I don’t naturally steer toward sequels. That said, I’ve written two trilogies in my life: The “Zoom” picture books and my Rex Zero middle grade novels. They lent themselves really well to follow-ups. It took me twenty-five years to write a sequel to The Maestro. Maybe in another twenty-five years… But I never say never.

Many thanks to Tim Wynne-Jones
for again gracing CanLit for LittleCanadians with an interview
and providing insights into his newest novel and its writing.

Thank you also to publicist Winston Stilwell
for facilitating this endeavour.

••••••••••••••••••••

Best wishes to Tim Wynne-Jones on The Starlight Claim,
a story that I'm sure will capture all readers,
whether fans of thrillers or YA or great literature of any genre.


(And don't forget tonight's launch in Toronto and also in Kingston and Ottawa. Sadly Perth's was yesterday. Details here.)

The Ruinous Sweep: Q & A with author Tim Wynne-Jones, plus giveaway

The Ruinous Sweep

Written by Tim Wynne-Jones

Candlewick Press

978-0-7637-9745-7

400 pp.

Ages 14+

June 2018

Reviewed yesterday

Yesterday, I reviewed Tim Wynne-Jones's latest young adult thriller, The Ruinous Sweep.  Today, as part of a blog tour, I have the pleasure of posting a Q & A with the author about his book.

(Be sure to read to the end for details about a special giveaway.)

 

HK:  Much of The Ruinous Sweep reflects Dante’s Divine Comedy, from the title to Bee who mirrors Beatrice, keeper of divine knowledge, to the deadly sins including lust, anger and treachery, and the Inferno beasts of a lion and a leopard.  Was the initial premise for The Ruinous Sweep always based on Divine Comedy or was it secondary to the scary incident you mention in your Acknowledgements? 

TWJ: Wow! Somebody knows their Dante. The answer to your question is the latter of the two proposed. I didn’t think about Dante at all until I was a couple of chapters in. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the mysterious, moon-wet landscape Donovan found himself lost within, dazed and confused, was reminiscent of a very famous 14th Century epic poem. So, I started reading that classic again to see what my protagonist was likely to run into. For a brief moment I thought he’d follow Dante’s entire journey, but pretty soon it became obvious that twenty-first century Donovan had his own demons to vanquish and the two wanderers parted company. But it sure gave me a lift in the early going to fall back on that amazing story. Fiction, even when it seems unique and entirely new, usually builds, in one way or another, on what has gone before. There’s nothing new under the sun. Or under the moon, for that matter.


HK:  Do you believe readers need to have a background understanding of Divine Comedy to appreciate the fullness of the story of The Ruinous Sweep or do you hope The Ruinous Sweep will lead them to check out Dante’s epic work?

TWJ: Not at all. I think everybody knows a little something about that random, transitional world between worlds, where nothing quite makes sense but there is this pervasive, suspenseful feeling that at any moment anything might happen and everything will change for the better or worse! We’ve all experienced it, if only in our dreams.


HK:  For much of the book, the story is told in two voices: that of Donovan who is confused about what has happened and what is happening, and his girlfriend Bee as she deals with the aftermath of a horrifying night.  Usually when told in the voices of boyfriend and girlfriend, their perspectives come together in the end but not in The Ruinous Sweep.  Instead their perspectives become untangled when the mystery is solved.  Why did you keep the two separate for much of the book rather than blend them into a strong couple working together, even if separated by circumstances? (I don’t want to spoil the ending by giving away too much.)

TWJ: In the first draft, I wrote all of Donovan’s story first. It’s weird, because while I was locked into his story I couldn’t really see or imagine Bee. I only knew he was desperate to reach her and that, one way or another, she would be there for him. Then one of my sons sent me a video of the composer Ludovico Einaudi playing I Giorni (The Days) with the violinist Daniel Hope in a club in Stockholm. And there she was, Beatrice, all in shadows, just over the pianist’s shoulder.  (See the video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54LgLNpW3KE) She looks kind of distracted as if she’s only half there or the sad and beautiful music is reminding her of something or someone. A journey all her own.


HK:  While many assume that the adage of actions having consequences usually refers to negative actions, like getting angry or dealing in criminal activity, some positive actions, like trying to not hurt someone’s feelings or to protect someone from potential harm, can also have dire consequences.  Is this something you believe needs to be recognized or was it merely an unintentional message in The Ruinous Sweep?

TWJ: This is such a great question. What I love about writing is that, for me, it’s always a learning experience. I never set out to write a book I know the ending of; I never write a book with an agenda; I set out to discover what effect will result from this or that cause. For example, Hamlet’s father’s ghost tells his son who murdered him. Go. It worked pretty well for Shakespeare. Once I start that ball rolling, all sorts of issues come up but I can only understand them in the context of my characters and what they are going through. Their motivation rules. I don’t want to put words in their mouths. Of course I do, but I try really, really hard not to make them mules for some message I might have to pass along. I set them loose in trying times and watch and learn. Sometimes I just have to shake my head at what they get up to, but then I turn the jets up higher, increase the stakes, and put them in even worse jeopardy. That’s how I come to learn what the story is really about. I often don’t know the theme of one of my novels until I read the reviews. Which might explain why I got such lousy marks in high school English.


HK:  There is a character in The Ruinous Sweep who has a unique ability to communicate with those at death’s door.  Do you believe in mediums and have you ever had a reading from one?

TWJ: I’m not sure what I think. I guess I’d have to waffle and say I definitely don’t not believe in mediums. Dante was led on his journey through Hell by the ancient Roman poet, Virgil. Donovan Turner gets himself a crusty farmer lady with a heart of gold named Jilly. There are just some trips you can’t make alone.


HK:  One thing I appreciate in your writing, whether middle grade or young adult, is that you give young readers much credibility.  You “talk up” to them, recognizing that their stories do not need to be simple for them to be understand.  How do you find the right balance of writing for youth without writing down to them?

TWJ: When I was a teenager I read adult books; there really wasn’t a genre that was labelled “young adult.” But in any case, I’ve always thought that if you’re reading a book that pulls you in, featuring characters you really care about, caught up in truly intriguing situations, you’ll figure out whatever you need to figure out in order to go along for the ride. I remember smiling when the Harry Potter books came out. There were all these experts who said adolescents couldn’t possibly read books that were that long. Hah! Rowling proved the “experts” wrong.  Kids who were so young they could barely even pick up The Order of the Phoenix read it in a weekend and remembered every significant detail. Honestly, I think young readers are often way better readers than adults, if they’re sufficiently engaged by the story. For one thing, their brains aren’t full of mortgages and back problems. I always tell my writing students not to ever underestimate a young reader. No spoon-feeding. No needless explaining. No sugar coating. Don’t dumb down the language. Feed a kid a delicious new word and let them figure out what it means from the context in which it’s used. All of us, adults and kids alike, skip over what we don’t quite grasp but if the journey is exciting enough, it doesn’t slow us down.


HK:  If there was one message which you’d like readers to take away from The Ruinous Sweep, what would it be?

TWJ: It may already be apparent that I don’t write messages into my books. But I know I learn things from writing them and I hope my reader learns stuff, too, although it might not be exactly what I learned. This journey began for me with a traumatic experience I needed to come to terms with. A violent experience that left me stunned and confused. As Sting says, “Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could.” And I guess that song says at least one of the things I’d like my readers to understand: we must never forget how fragile we are. 

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •

Many thanks
to author Tim Wynne-Jones
for responding to some probing questions with his honest answers
and
to book publicist Winston Stilwell
for arranging this Q & A.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •


BUT WAIT!


 WANT TO WIN AN AUDIO BOOK of THE RUINOUS SWEEP?

As part of the The Ruinous Sweep blog tour,  

Tim Wynne-Jones and his publicity team 

are offering an audio book of The Ruinous Sweep,
 read by the author himself.


Residents of Canada and the U.S. 

who would like to enter to win the audio book

just need to leave a comment below
(before noon (EST) on July 3, 2018) 

explaining why you'd like to listen to the audio book
of The Ruinous Sweep.
We'll do a random draw (using a random number generator)

and notify the winner via reply to their comment.

We look forward to reading your comments below.

Pulse Point: Q & A with author Colleen Nelson

Written by Colleen Nelson with Nancy Chappell-Pollack

Yellow Dog (Great Plains Publications)
978-1-927855-97-3
192 pp.
Ages 12-15
May 2018

Yesterday I reviewed Colleen Nelson's newest YA novel, Pulse Point, which she wrote with Nancy Chappell-Pollack.  Today Colleen Nelson with input from Nancy Chappell-Pollack answers a few of my questions about the book, their writing process and the future for Pulse Point.

HK:  Pulse Point is totally unlike any YA novel you have written to date both in genre and in its collaborative authorship, and I’d really love to delve into this.  First, how did you come to write the novel with your sister and what did you find most challenging as well as most advantageous about writing Pulse Point as part of a team?

CN:  Pulse Point began as an idea that Nancy had for a screenplay. Her background is in screenwriting and theatre, so we pitched it to a screen writing contest. I wrote the ‘treatment’ which is a type of synopsis used in the television/movie industry. We didn’t win, but the idea was too good to let go. Nancy and I were both invested in the idea, so we decided to work on it together.

One of the challenges writers face is the isolation factor. For hours every day, I sit in a room by myself and tap away on my laptop. Sometimes writing feels like a very slow, uphill slog and what’s worse, I have no idea if what I’m writing is any good! It was motivating to send Nancy a chapter and get her feedback on it. She knew the characters as well as I did and knew the direction of the story. We collaborated on every aspect of the book, even though I did the bulk of the writing.

As for the genre, writing dystopian wasn’t as different from realistic YA as you’d expect. Pulse Point might have a different setting and the characters face unusual challenges, but they still have to be relatable. Just like in realistic fiction, Kaia had to deal with conflicts with friends, family and figuring out who she is. We tried to remember it is the characters, not their dystopian world, driving the story.


HK:  Second, have you always wanted to write speculative fiction or did the idea for Pulse Point originate with your sister Nancy Chappell-Pollack?

CN:  The idea was Nancy’s. It started with a ‘what if’. What if a pulse point, implanted in a finger and meant to control a person’s life, suddenly malfunctions? How would they react to this sudden freedom? Other than continuing on with Kaia’s story, I don’t have any plans to write other speculative fiction.


HK:  Speaking of speculative fiction, do you consider Pulse Point more science fiction or dystopian, and why?

CN:  Nancy and I talked about this and decided that it’s more dystopian than sci-fi. We wanted to create an alternate version of our world where climate change has made it impossible to live outside, or so Kaia thinks. I think in dystopian, a writer can play with politics and economics and world building in a different way than in science fiction. 


HK:  The scientists who created the City under a dome seemed to have good intentions after global warming brought disaster after disaster to their world.  But, like the saying goes about good intentions, their decisions about the nature of the City including who should be allowed in and how relationships are structured, seem to be discriminatory and harmful.  What message did you want readers to get about this new world?

CN:  The scientific minds that created the City were concerned with saving a species. They were intervening with natural selection, or maybe speeding it along, by only selecting people with disease- and ‘defect’-free genetics. We were thinking of a couple of things when we wrote Pulse Point. The first is the Spartan society where weak newborns were left to die because the city-state wanted to raise only the strongest soldiers (and have mothers who would breed the strongest soldiers). The second was the lack of humanity that a purely scientific-based community would develop. In the same way that AI (read Erin Bow’s excellent Scorpion Rules for more on this topic!) uses reason, not empathy, to make decisions, the City relies on efficiency.

While the City’s decisions make sense at a practical level, they are harsh and inhumane. There is so much to discuss about the morality attached to embryonic testing and selection. You might have also noticed that there is no dance, art, religion or literature in the City. All of those things are considered unnecessary and a waste of resources. I’m really glad I don’t live there!


HK:  Because Kaia’s world within the City is very much dictated by genetic rankings in which features like blue eyes and birthmarks are considered defects, there is much discrimination.  Even Kaia expresses this disdain for her newly-discovered brother who is blind.  How difficult was it to have your characters express such negative thoughts and for you to write those ideas?

CN:  Kaia is a product of her environment, so her prejudices are a result of what she has been taught. The flipside is that the people she meets outside of the City do not have those same discriminatory ideas. The conflict that results lets Kaia grow to accept differences and see the value that everyone brings to a community.


HK:  Many young adults will be delighted to know that there is frisson of romance brewing under Pulse Point’s main plot.  But with Lev and Gideon both in the picture, Kaia may have some choices to make. Did you always intend to have a romance as a subplot in Pulse Point or did it develop as your story took shape?

CN:  The truth is, I hate writing romantic scenes. There’s nothing more cringey than a cheesy kissing scene with awkward dialogue. It can kill a story and put a damper on good writing. Nancy was the one who pushed for more romantic tension and the creation of a love triangle between Kaia, Lev and Gideon. Like with most things, Nancy’s instincts were correct and I agreed to write it.

This book went through so many drafts, characters and plots changed drastically with each one. The one thing that never changed was Kaia’s strength and determination as a female lead. We did not want her to be focused on her hunt for a mate, or a potential romance. We wanted this book to be accessible to male and female readers and to make sure the romance furthers the tension, but doesn’t make it seem that all female characters need a male-focused romance.


HK:  Readers will recognize that Kaia’s story is not over at the conclusion of Pulse Point. When you started writing Pulse Point, was it always your intention to have a sequel? What plans are there for publication of a sequel or sequels?

CN:  At first, we envisioned Pulse Point as a trilogy, but our editor suggested we make some significant changes to the ending. Those changes altered our original plan from three books to two. I’d love to write a second book and find out what happens to Kaia and Lev and the Prims. I think there’s more going on in the City than we know about and I hope it doesn’t take us another seven years to find out what it is! 

Thanks to Colleen Nelson and Nancy Chappell-Pollack

for talking about Pulse Point with CanLit for LittleCanadians.  

It's always a pleasure to talk books with writers of wonderful stories 

and to learn about the creative process.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Check out other blog tour stops for more about Pulse Point