EXTRA CREDIT INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA DEFELICE:

Starting off the New Year for LitPick, author Cynthia DeFelice is stopping by to earn for an Extra Credit interview! Cynthia is a prolific author of novels and picture books which include Fort, Signal, Wild Life, Weasel, The Ghost of Fossil Glen, and One Potato, Two Potato.

Do you have a solid outline before writing, or do you usually get ideas as you go along?

No! (Apologies to teachers who want their students to make outlines. I absolutely understand how beginning writers can benefit from this practice.) I never have an outline. I have a vague notion of a plot or a character, and I start writing to see where it all will go.  At some point, I will create a timeline to make sure events could actually unfold the way I have written them.

Has someone you knew ever appeared as a character in a book (consciously or subconsciously)?

All the time! Once I had met the real Dirty Dan the Tarpon Man, how could I not use him in the book THE MISSING MANATEE?

Usually, though, I use bits and pieces of real people, or I loosely base a character on someone I've met. In THE GHOST OF FOSSIL GLEN, I recalled a painful bullying episode from my own childhood to create the characters of Karen and Pam.

What do you do when you get writer’s block?

Take a walk. Talk to my husband, friends, other writers. Share my concerns about the story with my writer's group. Sleep on it. Do research. Write through it, knowing I will in all likelihood throw out most of what I write. Sometimes you need to write a lot of bad stuff to get to something good.

If you could live in a book’s world, which would you choose?

Interesting question. I wouldn't want to live in the world of many of my favorite books because the best novels include struggle, conflict, and pain, and occur in settings that present formidable challenges - and (maybe I'm a wimp) who would sign up for that?

As a kid, I would have loved to live in world of the Borrowers: Pod, Homily, and Arietty. Their secret miniature world fascinated me, and I loved imagining what uses they might make of the things in my bedroom and our house.

What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?

To Kill a Mockingbird. It is the rare case in which I feel the movie truly enhanced the book and brought it to life. Those actors ARE Scout, Jem, Atticus, Calipurnia, and Boo Radley.

If you could have lunch with one author (dead or alive!) who would it be?

I would love to have lunch with Jane Goodall. She is a personal hero, who has lived a life of real consequence. Her work with chimps continues to be ground-breaking and vitally important. And she can write!

Wild Card Question: You have written both novels and picture books. Do you prefer one over the other?

I love writing both novels and picture books. However, if I were forced to choose, I'd pick novels. Picture books belong half to me and half to the illustrator. That collaboration is fun and oftentimes surprising. But a novel is all mine, all mine! I get to spend more time with my characters, more time creating a world, and this of course gives me more opportunities to incorporate the ideas, thoughts, values, and humor I think kids crave.

Cynthia, thank you for your time! It’s been a pleasure getting to know you better!

 

SIX MINUTES WITH CYNTHIA DEFELICE:

Today, Cynthia DeFelice joins LitPick’s Six Minutes with an Author! Cynthia has written over award-winning thirty novels and picture books. Her favorite part about writing is “creating a character out of thin air, and feeling that character come to life beneath my fingers on the computer keyboard.” She lives in Geneva, New York, with her husband Ralph and their “wonder dog” Gabby. 

How did you get started writing?

I was having a ball as a school librarian, sharing books with kids and hearing what they had to say about the ones they read. When I was reading a great book aloud, I noticed how quiet the room would become. I'd look up to see a class of kids with their eyes wide and fixed on me, their mouths hanging open. They were totally entranced, waiting to HEAR MORE. One day I simply came to a decision: I wanted to be the person who wrote books that made kids' faces look like THAT.

Who influenced you?

My mom, for sure. She read to me, my sister, and my two brothers every night. Mom always made sure we had books of our own and from the library. She and my dad were big readers and appreciated literature.

Beyond that, I believe everyone I've met was an influence in some way. Every experience I've had makes me the person - and hence the writer - I am today. Every book we read is an influence, too, consciously or sub-consciously. I learned to write by reading wonderful books, not by taking classes.

Do you have a favorite book, subject, or setting?

Unfair question!  There are too many!  But, okay, okay, since YOU INSIST! I have a weird soft spot for books with animals, Native Americans, wilderness settings, and unusual (yet believable) characters. 

I am not alone in saying that To Kill a Mockingbird made a huge impact on me. I first read it as a fifth grader. I had to bring a note to school from my mother saying it was okay. I thank my parents for understanding that no subject matter is off-limits if it is presented from a point of view young readers can understand. Since I was able to see the more disturbing events in that book through the eyes of Scout Finch, I could absorb them and learn from them.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?

PAY ATTENTION!  Keep your eyes open, your ears open, and your heart open to the world.  You never know when something will happen that you can use in your writing. 

Secondly, READ!  I promise that the more you read, the better writer you will become.

Lastly, WRITE. If you write, you are a writer. Whenever you have an experience, a strong feeling, a passion for something, take the time to put it into words.

Where is your favorite place to write?

Occasionally, I write on the end of our dock or on the porch or in a hotel room. But it never feels right. When I sit in my office, I FEEL like a writer. Something about the crazy, crooked walls helps. I like having my favorite books around me and pictures of my favorite people in front of me. I love that my dog can hang out on the floor next to me, and I don't have to be dressed up to go to work.

What else would you like to tell us?

Well, thank you for asking! I would like very much to tell you about my newest novel, Fort. Here it is the beginning of summer vacation, and this book is about two boys who build a fort in the woods over their own summer break. 

I mean, who hasn't built a fort? Even if it meant throwing a blanket over the dining room table and making the space underneath your own? 

Augie and Wyatt scrounge materials from Al's Junkyard and build their dream fort. They eat food they catch on their own, cooked over a campfire, read comics, gaze at the night sky, and have a blast. They're not looking for a fight. But two older kids, J.R. and Morrie mess with the fort when Wyatt and Augie are away, and they are forced to launch Operation Doom.

I had so much fun writing this book. I hope you'll have as much fun reading it!

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Thanks for joining us, Cynthia! We just know that kids will have lots of fun reading your books. :) Fort is available now in print and e-book formats.