Joan & Her Writing
A GREAT School visit making zero the hero masks
1. HOW DID YOU BECOME AN AUTHOR?
First I was an art director at a graphic design firm in Texas. I moved to New York City to become an associate art director at Scholastic, where I designed books for children and worked with editors and illustrators. What a great job!
In the beginning, I wanted to draw the pictures in children’s books. Along the way, I got ideas for stories and submitted them to publishers, hoping they’d make them into books. Now I write full time and have written and/or illustrated over 200 children's books.
2. WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS AND HOW DO YOU WRITE YOUR BOOKS?
My books often begin with a title. Like GODDESS GIRLS. I thought: what could a series with that title be about? What kinds of problems and adventures could the main characters have? How could their problems be solved?
Here’s what you basically need to write a book: Interesting/unusual characters, a big problem, and a way to solve that problem in the end. Humor and a great title help, too! I've usually already decided on the title, characters, middle, and ending before I start writing a book. I work out the details as I go along. For chapter books like HEROES IN TRAINING and middle grade books like GODDESS GIRLS, I write an outline first. For a picture book, I often make a fake black-and-white book called a dummy with words and pictures to help me figure out the story. Look at the bottom of this page to see samples from my ZERO THE HERO dummy. Often, the illustrators of books I write look at my dummies for inspiration. Then they make pictures that are way better than mine!
Ideas are the easy part of writing. Developing an idea into a story with a beginning, a middle, and a satisfying end can be hard. I don't give up on an idea I like. I keep trying to turn it into a story. Hard work and not giving up are sometimes more important than talent, when it comes to writing. If the story you’re writing gets stuck, go look at other books. Go for a thinking walk. Ask smart or funny friends for suggestions. Sooner or later something will spark your story in a new direction.
3. DOES EVERY BOOK YOU WRITE GET PUBLISHED?
No way! I have file drawers full of unfinished or rejected stories. But I have a long, ongoing list of book ideas I'm excited about, and I am usually writing more than one book at a time.
4. HOW DID YOU START WRITING GODDESS GIRLS AND OTHER SERIES WITH SUZANNE WILLIAMS?
We met at a writers’ event (SCBWI) in Seattle. We started talking and that led to hanging out. One day I asked her if she’d like to try to write a book series together. She was surprised, but said yes. That was my lucky day. Right away, we wrote ATHENA THE BRAIN, our first book in the Goddess Girls series—a girl-power Greek mythology series set at Mount Olympus Academy, a middle school where Zeus is the principal. In all, we have co-authored 6 book series: GODDESS GIRLS, LITTLE GODDESS GIRLS, HEROES IN TRAINING, SCHOOL FOR MAGICAL MONSTERS, GRIMMTASTIC GIRLS, THUNDER GIRLS and a new series coming soon. We work via email and phone since we live far apart, but we get together about once a year in person. I’m so glad to have Suzanne as a friend!
5. DO YOU HAVE A HOBBY? ANY PETS?
I love line dancing with friends, and go to several line dance marathons every year. And I love eating chocolate (see Halloween photo below for evidence). I have two cats, Bobo and Shark.
6. CAN I WRITE TO YOU?
Yes, please click the CONTACT link in the green bar at the top of this page.
