Writer Spotlight: Leslie Helakoski

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our quarterly Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet author and illustrator and former SCBWI-MI Regional Adviser Leslie Helakoski.

From Louisiana to the Upper Peninsula: Leslie Helakoski's extraordinary journey in words and pictures

You worked during your developing years at your parent’s Montessori-style “Thinking School.” What of that early school experience do you treasure most?

My parents were all about finding the teachable moments in every day activities which influenced raising my own children and my writing. My biggest take-away was learning to understand and value how kids approach learning and problem solving in different ways. It’s a big part of why I wrote the book WOOLBUR.

You earned a degree in Advertising and worked as a designer and illustrator. Eventually you earned a degree in Illustration from Northern Michigan University in the U.P. You worked for ad firms in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana, but were you really prepared for Yooper winters? 

No, after growing up in south Louisiana, I was certainly not prepared for Yooper winters. But I’d met my husband while he was visiting in Louisiana and that was that. The first things I bought were snow boots and a totally inadequate coat.

But living in the UP helped me nurture the writing seed inside myself. And living in a new environment opened my eyes up to so many new things, ways and ideas. I think living in a different place from where you grow up helps you write for a broader audience.

In an interview you say you joined SCBWI in 1998 “mainly because I wanted to be an illustrator.” But your first five books were written but not illustrated by you. What is the difference between advertising design and picture book illustrating?

It took me a long time to figure out the difference between design and illustration. For me it was realizing illustrating includes character development and showing part of the story, while design can be strictly about how something looks. It was hard letting go of my plans to illustrate my early books but I can see now that I wasn’t ready to do them justice.

This is where immersing myself in picture books played a role. I needed to read read read, and look look look at as many books as I could that were being published then.

Many of your book series are well-known (Woolbur, Big Chickens). But take us back to 2002 with the publication of The Smushy Bus. How did your first picture book publication come about? 

My first book sale---I saw an ad in the back of a writing newsletter asking for humorous books that had a learning aspect to them. I was working on The Smushy Bus at the time, which is one big math problem. I sent it in.

Happily, Lerner Publishing was interested in the manuscript and picked it up. I didn’t know anything about the industry. No experience, no agent, no knowledge. SCBWI was a lifeline and I’ve been a member ever since.

Your next four titles were written by you but illustrated by another artist. Yet, you really wanted to illustrate your own text. What changed that allowed you to illustrate Fair Cow? 

I think my work matured over the years. By the time I wrote my fifth book, Fair Cow, I had been studying picture books for several years, taking classes with illustrators, studying some of my favorite painters. I thought I was up to the task.

When Harper Collins made an offer on the manuscript, but did not want me to illustrate, I was torn. I really wanted to illustrate one of my books. I eventually passed on the offer with the hope that someone else would be interested.

Shortly after that, we sold the manuscript to Marshall Cavendish, a smaller publisher who was willing to have me illustrate. It took me longer than I thought it would but I finally achieved one of my dreams.

Your primary goal was to illustrate your own books, yet you admitted that when it came to Doggone Feet you’d rather let another artist tackle the project. You eventually did illustrate it. How did you come to terms with the difficult dog-eye perspective?  

I often think at the beginning of a project, that I am not the best choice to illustrate a book. It seems that denial and whining are a big part of my process. After some self-doubt and tons of sketches, I might change my mind.

Handling perspective from under a table for Doggone Feet, did have me extra worried. I’m not a highly realistic artist. Eventually, I realized I didn’t have to be. I could make the perspective wonky, which fit with my style of art, and freed me up to play with the art.

You told Cynthia Leitich Smith in a “Cynsations” interview that “after ten years of selling books rather steadily, you hit a wall--nothing was selling.” Finally, in 2017, Hoot and Honk was published. What changes did it take to break through the barriers? 

Hoot and Honk cover 

Picture books themselves changed 20 years ago. Much shorter stories and concise language were what was selling. Teaching standards became important in marketing. Non-fiction and STEM projects were surging.  Paying attention to what is selling is always important.

I knew I had to shorten my texts. And I literally went through an early draft of Hoot & Honk with a marker blacking out every other word (or so.) I came up with a more clipped version which somehow worked.

The book was about a nocturnal bird and a diurnal bird, so I had some science/biology at hand and I knew Compare and Contrast was something educators focused on, so I kept that in mind as I was writing the final text.

Recently, Are Your Stars Like My Stars? was published, written by you and Illustrated by Michigan artist Heidi Sheffield. Did you play a role in choosing her as your artist  

I’ve known Heidi for many years through SCBWI and we have been in an author/illustrator crit group together for several years. I’ve always admired her work.

When I sold STARS to Sterling Publishing, I knew my art was not a good fit. My editor and I both wanted something ethereal and beautiful. My style of art is more playful and whimsical, so I was OK about not illustrating.

We were considering several artists when it hit me that Heidi’s work might be a good fit. I talked to Heidi to see if she would be interested. When she said yes, I sent the editor a link to Heidi’s work suggesting her as a possibility. They were pretty quick to say yes, and contacted her agent to set up a deal.

Heidi grasped the concept about seeing each other in different ways and her art highlighted the text beautifully. We’re happy that it’s been one of the best-selling books at independent bookstores in Michigan this winter.

You spent more than ten years as the Co-Regional Adviser for SCBWI-MI. What are your proudest accomplishments during your reign?  

Being Co-Regional Advisor for 11 years was a great privilege and adventure. Encouraging a strong sense of community was an early and continuing goal.

To that end, we started regional shoptalk meetings around the state. Our fabulous members expanded on these by offering to share their journeys and information with their own and other regions. These meetings have become a great perk of membership. We all have so much we can learn from each other.

Our members’ willingness to share has been phenomenal. Along the way, we also strengthened our illustrator community with great programming, stellar volunteers, and strong illustrator coordinators. Over 9 years, we held 3 large multi-region events. The Marvelous Midwest conferences were able to bring big national style events at an affordable rate to the Midwest.

   

By far, my biggest accomplishment was pulling Carrie Pearson in to be Co-RA with me. She and I were in sync from the beginning and putting our heads together for our region was a great joy. My heart-felt thanks goes out to all of our volunteers for making Michigan a strong and vital chapter.

Author Darcy Pattison appeared as a presenter at an SCBWI-MI conference years ago. Today, you and Darcy teach “PB&J, Picture Books and All That Jazz” for Highlights Foundation. Did you first meet her at our conference?

Yes. I first met Darcy at our Michigan event many years ago. We became friends who looked at each other’s work occasionally. Then, years later, we met up again when we were both speaking at an event in Pennsylvania held at Highlight’s Barn.

We knew we had a lot to offer PB writers and came up with the idea to collaborate on a workshop partly because we approached writing so differently. We felt we could offer a lot of information in different ways.

Our PB&J (Picture Books and All That Jazz) has been running each June for 6 years now. It’s an intense 4 days but we feel it is the equivalent of attending 4 or 5 conferences. Many of our attendees go on to sign with agents or sell manuscripts after attending.

Anything you wished I’d asked?

Since retiring as RA, my husband and I sold our home in Kalamazoo and are dividing our time between Louisiana and Grand Rapids or the Upper Peninsula.

I’m always working on a few manuscripts in differing stages. STARS came out in January and a book I illustrated for the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency 

(KRESA) will be out this spring and circulated to schools around the state.  I have two manuscripts that are ready to go out.

And I’m working on a mid-grade novel---which is soooo different from picture books. We’ll see where that goes.

But wherever I am, I am sure I’ll be writing, or talking about writing. I mean really, what’s better than doing what you love?

Leslie Helakoski grew up in the Louisiana bayous, found employment and her husband Up North. She has written 11 picture books and illustrated three of them. She spent more than a decade as the Co-Regional Adviser of SCBWI-MI.

Charlie Barshaw submitted his full YA manuscript to a big-name literary agent. While finishing up revisions on his MG novel about a squirrel invasion, he's tinkering around with a new YA ghost story.