Studio Tour with Jen Boehler

 

The studio in 1965 painted white is sits to the left. 
Do you see the little arborvitae planted next to it? 
Look how far it’s spread in the current exterior photo!

The summer of 2003 found me squarely planted in the estate sale circuit, collecting relics I had no space to store in our tiny condo. 
Luckily, on one of my treasure hunts I stumbled upon an adorable red brick farmhouse that had been vacant for the past ten years.  It was, along with its contents, for sale.  Inside waited a glorious challenge for this interior design student: Pepto-pink walls, a postage stamp-size kitchen and wall-to-wall carpeting straight from the sixties — Oh, the potential!  More favorably, it boasted plaster cove ceilings, built-in curios, and a kitschy telephone nook — Swoon.  My husband’s skepticism melted with my enthusiasm, along with the discovery of a little cedar-sided bunkhouse that sat adjacent to the house.  The previous owner had used it as his clubhouse, evidenced by the cigar smoke stains lining the walls.  Little did I know that in addition to being the perfect storage spot for my treasures, this gem would serve as an invaluable studio space someday, lending daily doses of inspiration and levity with its age-related quirks and storied past.

 

These photos were taken in 1984 and kindly given to me by the former owner’s daughter.  Oh, to be a fly on that knotty pine wall!

Following our exciting “First Home” purchase, I discovered the little house was originally a barracks at Camp Freeland for German prisoners of war during World War II, and was moved to our new property upon the war’s end.  The ARTICLES I’ve uncovered since reveal favorable conditions with the soldiers earning a living wage for work in nearby crop fields.  The evolution of the building’s purpose has always intrigued me, with the varied inhabitants having little-to-no commonality:  Prisoners of war, card-playing farmers, and illustrator/author.  This history also gives me pause each time I make a new improvement or design choice, as at times it feels I’m permanently tucking the past behind a coat of paint or treated two-by-four. 

The interior right after we bought the house as I was moving my “collection” in (notice Rusty’s easy chair sporting a tired teal brocade).

 

Shortly after we moved in and I graduated from college with an interior design degree, I used the space on rare occasion to meet with clients, but only seasonally: During the first few years I had to build a fire in the potbelly stove to stay warm in the winter (you can see it in the photos of the clubhouse days).  We relocated the wisteria once it grew too heavy for the aging overhang.

Me at the studio today (December, actually).

When delving into a studio conversion, I waffled over painting the knotty pine walls, but settled on brightening it up with an airy shade of white (followed immediately by plaguing shades of regret for forever erasing the possibility of leaning into its summer-camp vibe).  We removed the drop ceiling added in its card club heyday and covered it with wood extracted from a tumbledown barn out back, installed additional lighting, and replaced the rotted and peeling cedar siding with new.  Architectural details like the front porch and fireplace remain original, and will continue to be there as long as they are intact.  Though nonfunctioning, the fireplace serves purpose as a sanctuary for mother birds to raise their babies each spring, their hungry chirps always a sweet sign of the warm days to come.  The caveat?  On rare occasion, one of these birds will make their way down the chimney and into the studio, with the ensuing mayhem offering that previously mentioned dose of levity!

This tabletop was here when we bought the house,
so my husband used it to build a standing desk to hold my easel.

My daughter Violet with Rusty
after school in her fuzzy chair.

Vintage finds are still spread throughout, but they’ve each now found their purpose.  At the front of the space are my computer, files, and a fuzzy little chair found roadside and recovered for my daughter to pull up after school and chit-chat about the day’s events.  A standing-height skirted table built from a reclaimed top and salvaged fabric offers storage and surface for my easel.  At the center is a table inherited from my grandmother-in-law to paint and catalog textures for my cut-paper illustrations, surrounded by another collection of roadside chair finds for hosting craft nights with friends. 

My faithful studio-mate Rusty
in his easy chair.

A left-behind shelf, market storage bin and oversize crate house a handful of pieces from my Michigan apparel line, and fabric and crafting supplies have a home on salvaged tables and fruit crates.  Colored pencils are propped in a quartered barn beam, and patinated tins, vases and drawers house all other art supplies.  Perhaps most importantly, a reupholstered easy chair sits by the fireplace for Rusty, my faithful studio-mate.

This corner tickles me because it houses a little bit of every era and facet of my life, serving as a museum of sorts:  Painting night with my kids, hand-sewn apron, fine art, illustration, dried corn tassels from the garden, Michigan apparel, crafting supplies, SCBWI conference swag, and vintage finds aplenty.

The contempt I have for these shoes destroying my feet in the early 2000’s
is superseded by my captivation with their cuteness.

My husband enlisted a woodworking friend
to create this colored pencil holder out of a salvaged barn beam.

After designing a line of Michigan apparel ten years ago, I used the studio to store, ship and sell merchandise.  I still have a little corner saved for a handful of pieces.

My grandmother-in-law’s old table covered in supplies to paint and cut paper textures.

Though wonky floorboards sometimes evoke shades of the Mystery Spot and boxelder bugs find creature comfort inside the walls, this little bunkhouse is still my favorite part of the property I scored at an estate sale twenty-two years ago.  As time has passed, I focus less on the lives it lived before us and more on its evolution in the years since we’ve owned it, a reflection currently punctuated by a shift in our household.  By the time this article is published, my daughter will be moved into her college dorm, thus ushering in yet a new iteration of inhabitants and daily happenings.  So if anyone finds themselves in the Saginaw area with a hankering for creative chit-chat, let me know: I’ll have a fuzzy, reclaimed chair open for you.

 

Jen Boehler, Michigan Co-Illustrator Coordinator, is an illustrator, graphic designer and author working on a hobby farm in Saginaw, Michigan. Before pursuing children’s literature, Jen worked as a freelance editorial illustrator, graphic designer, interior/event designer and owned her own line of Michigan travel apparel. She has degrees in both art/graphic design and interior design.

Editor's Note: Thank you, Jen, for sharing your very cool studio with us! If anyone else is interested in sharing their studio with The Mitten, we'd love to see it! You can email me at Sarah.Prusoff.LoCsacio@gmail.com if you might be interested in doing a studio tour post.

Book Birthday Blog with Gail Kuhnlein

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

 

Congratulations to Gail Kuhnlein on the release of Into the Thicket

 

Please share a little about this book's journey. How did you come up with the idea?

Into the Thicket has had a long journey. I originally wrote it shortly after our son found an injured baby rabbit in our backyard when he was about 8 years old (he turns 30 this year!). He and his older brother were playing catch. A throw went over his head, he ran to the football and noticed a small creature lying in the grass. Thus begins the story. Most of the rest is fiction.

 
At the time, I was the new communications coordinator at the University of Michigan’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. One day, my phone rang and on the line was an editor from New York state who needed to verify some information about an animal. We were affiliated with the Museum of Zoology and their well-known Animal Diversity Web. I was able to connect him to someone for the information he needed, but more noteworthy (for me) was that as we talked, I learned that he was a writer and book editor (including children’s books). This fortuitous connection led to me hiring him (twice) to expertly help me edit the manuscript that became Into the Thicket. The original name was Small Rabbits, Big Hearts. He was an excellent editor/teacher who asked me questions to help me to come up with my own answers. 

What was the most difficult part of writing the book?

One of the most difficult parts of writing this book was that it was based on a real-life experience. Originally, I’d included several plot points that mirrored what actually happened. I ended up removing some of these and further fictionalizing the story. It was a classic case of “kill your darlings,” or in other words, you may have to delete parts that you love if they don’t serve the story. My editor was invaluable with his guidance. 

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

I hope that readers, especially children, will be inspired by the compassion for wildlife inherent in the story. Further, I hope they learn some strategies for helping to save animals and just as important, to know when it’s best to let them be. I hope my book helps children to overcome some of their own fears. Perhaps they’ll realize that even small acts of kindness really can make a difference in our great big world. I think this can be empowering. 

What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?

I’ll concentrate on marketing Into the Thicket on social media (posts, stories, reels), by attending author events and readings, blogging, printing promotional items including giveaways (I’m thinking stickers). I’ll contact libraries (where I’ll donate my book) and bookstores, especially the local bookstores that carried my first book. I plan to reach out to more Michigan bookstores this time. I’ll enter a few contests and request several literary reviews. I’ll send a press release about the book’s release to local newspapers, something I had a positive response to last time. Given the book’s subject, I’ll include wildlife rehabilitation and conservation organizations on my press release list. 

What's next for you?

This year, I’m excited to share Into the Thicket with children and their adults. While I have possible ideas brewing for my next book, including previously written manuscripts that need work, I don’t have definite plans. I was fortunate to bid on and win the production of three videos through an online #KidLit event on Bluesky to provide support after the California wildfires. So, I have a couple of cool videos on the new book to help with promotion. 
 
Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Many of my experiences have taught me just how unpredictable life can be. I’ve developed a deep appreciation for each day’s small joys. I hope to continue to soak in nature’s beauty and life’s adventures.

More about the book . . .

Into the Thicket is based on a real-life adventure when my (then) young son found an injured baby rabbit. The fictionalized story follows the journey of a young boy and the rabbit one springtime in Michigan. 

The book beautifully portrays an appreciation for wildlife. The universal emotions of compassion and loving and letting go are central elements of the boy’s experience. In addition, he is challenged with overcoming his fears — not only of entering and walking through the dark thicket to get the rabbit the help it needs quickly, but also his fear of losing the rabbit that he loves. Readers will see how even small acts of kindness make a difference in a great, big world. Illustrations of ink and watercolor are by Ann Arbor artist John Megahan.

Published by: BookBaby

More about the author . . .

Gail Kuhnlein has been writing stories since she was young.

Gail majored in journalism and public relations at Michigan State University. She worked in the communications field for over 30 years, most recently at the University of Michigan’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. People met serendipitously at UM were instrumental in publishing her first picture book, How Happy Is a Lark?, a long-awaited dream come true. Her second picture book, Into the Thicket, is available at the BookBaby Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Powell’s City of Books and Amazon. 

She lives with her husband, Tim, just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. Gail loves walking outdoors, practicing yoga, meditation, reading, writing, watching good television and movies, listening to music, and their darling cats. She’s been volunteering at the UM Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for over a year. She especially loves spending time with and holding the babies who need extra tender loving care. They adore their two adult sons, Davey and Trevor.

Facebook: gail.kuhnlein

Instagram: @gkuhny

Bluesky: @gkuhny

Website and blog: https://authorgailkuhnlein.com/

  

Writer Spotlight: Tracy Bilen

Romance, Paris, pantsing, plotless, DIY trailers and misbegotten book titles: YA author Tracy Bilen

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet YA author Tracy Bilen.

Your three young adult novels all have romantic overtones in addition to the suspense. When did you join Greater Detroit Romance Writers (GDRW)? How have you used the GDRW in your three published novels?

I joined GDRW somewhere around 2010 and it’s actually how I found my agent – she was a guest speaker at a meeting and I queried her afterwards.

Back when the group was affiliated with RWA (Romance Writers of America), I entered a lot of their local chapter contests, winning a full manuscript read by a published author, and some awards for my books in progress. (Reputable) contests can be a great way to improve your writing and find the incentive to keep going!

You’re a high school French teacher, and you studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. There’s likely a book there, but give us the Paris pitch. How did the opportunity arise? How did you enjoy Paris and its famous school?

My college had an exchange with the Sorbonne which just happened match perfectly with my long-term dream. I guess my shyness was evident from the forms we had to fill out, because I was assigned to a dorm run by nuns. 

Being the only American in the dorm, I made a lot of French friends and became a little less shy! I loved everything about the experience, except having my purse stolen in a lecture hall at the Sorbonne!

 

 

Whisper, you said, was inspired by the noise your TV made when the volume was turned down. What else in your childhood inspired the thrilling angst that runs through your stories?

Oh, wow. There are little bits of us sprinkled in all of our books, aren’t there? When I was thirteen, I lived in a three-story Victorian house designed by a woman architect, like Olivia does in Whisper. 

In high school I lived in a house on ten acres in the middle of nowhere near a town with just one blinking light like Sara in What She Left Behind. 

And my first teaching job was at a boarding school for skiers with Olympic dreams which was the inspiration for Thirty Seconds at a Time.

 

With three published titles, are you still a “pantser all the way”?

For the most part. I mean, I always know the beginning and the end when I get started, and plot points soon start to crop up after that. But I don’t write them in anywhere near chronological order – I love the Headings feature in Word because it lets me write the scene I’m passionate about in the moment and then easily drag scenes around later.

 

You won a mentorship with Shutta Crum through an SCBWI-MI contest. How much effect did Shutta have on What She left Behind?

Shutta’s insight and guidance had an indelible effect on my development as a writer and in transforming my first novel into all it was meant to be. In fact, it was the mentorship contest itself that inspired me, in part, to begin that novel. Whether you win or not, entering the mentorship contest can be transformative. I cannot recommend it enough!

 

While Left Behind is your first published YA, it was your third manuscript. Tell us about the first two.

My first two books were how I learned to write novels. A critique that I received on the first one was brutal but in the kindest way. It turns out the book had no real plot, just some scenes strung together! 

The second book did have a plot and I queried it for a bit. Then I followed the advice that said to begin your next book as soon as you start to query. 

By that book I had learned to use my own emotional journeys to better embody my characters and What She Left Behind was on its way to becoming my debut novel.

 

You have professional-looking book trailers for all of your books; they’re all compelling and make me want to go out and get that book. How did you make the first trailer? Over the course of the three books, how has your trailer-making process changed?

Thank you! I hired someone to make the trailer for my first book, What She Left Behind. But for Whisper, I decided to do it myself using Biteable, a video software website. 

And I loved it so much that I made trailers for a couple of friends and for my most recent book, Thirty Seconds at a Time. It’s really quite easy to do and very intuitive. 

Probably the only process change I’ve made is to be sure to keep the length under a minute, both to accommodate shortened attention spans and to make sure they can be easily posted to social media.

 

“I give myself a daily word count goal and keep track of my progress in a notebook. I usually write late at night.”  How does writing late at night work with teaching high school?

Yeah, the late-night writing doesn’t happen as much anymore. I think the quiet and stillness of writing late at night was what helped me let go of everything that was holding me back from writing (fear, laziness, imposter syndrome, writer’s block). 

Tracy at her college radio station

In world language acquisition we actually have a word that that sums up the feeling quite well: affective filter. The affective filter is what holds you back from trying to speak another language because you’re afraid of making mistakes. Now I can find that late-night peace in the morning (but not too early!!) 

In fact, it doesn’t even need to be quiet. For me this summer (I’m a teacher), one thing has worked really well: meeting friends at a café to write! My husband wonders how I can get anything done with friends around, but the reason it works is that I know that writing is the only thing I’m supposed to be doing there (besides a bit of talking!) 

For a while I thought I’d have to go to a café every morning to make any progress, but once I eased into the process with friends, I found that the same thing happens at home if I come out and sit on the patio at the same time every day. 

Obviously, that’s not going to work in the winter, but if I can just keep up the routine of a daily time and place, I will be able to power through the sometimes crippling fear of not being able to create.

You told Cynthia Leitich Smith, “The bottom line is that if you really want to publish your book and you’re willing to work hard and listen to criticism, it’s not as unattainable as it seems.”  Was that your attitude even before your first book was published, before you had an agent? You went to school in Paris. Did you always have a can-do attitude?

As writers we’re dreamers, aren’t we? We make up stories about how we imagine things could be. I dreamed of studying in Paris since I was in third grade and my aunt put the idea in my head. Shortly after that I started buying French records at garage sales and clandestinely used the record player at home. 

Tracy and Austria in the 90's

That’s how I learned how to say my shoe size so well in French – that was the part where the record would always skip. When French wasn’t offered at my high school, I took Spanish and studied French on my own so I could test into a higher level in college. 

I kept dreaming and did everything I could to tilt the odds in my favor. 

For me, writing goals are the same. Every time I’d send a query out, I’d do a bit of dreaming about what it would be like if it worked out. But I also took that same garage sale approach to make success more likely: I did the Writer’s Digest novel writing classes, sent my work out to be critiqued, entered contests, joined professional organizations and critique groups, pitched a movie, and most importantly, put myself out there and made dear writing friends. 

At first, criticism was hard to take because it messed with all my dreaming. It reminded me that I hadn’t done all I could. And when you get an editorial letter for a book under contract, that imposter syndrome can hit you pretty hard. 

But just know that you can do it. Let your subconscious mull it over and dig back into the same routines you used to write your book in the first place.

 

Watch Your Back and Come With Me were early titles. How much did your opinion matter when it came to naming your books?

Ha! Those of you publishing veterans out there know that as writers we typically have little to no control over our titles or our covers. My first published book started out as Leaving Dad. But a friend thought that meant it was about leaving Dad at a nursing home, so I changed the title to Leaving, because one-word titles were all the rage at the time. 

Tracy's latest YA romantic thriller

With the help of another friend, that turned into Riding Backwards, which is what the title was when it was picked up by my agent. But one editor thought it was a horse book, so that didn’t work either. 

When it finally sold to Simon & Schuster, they decided the title would be Come With Me. I was able to talk them out of it (but obviously not before it sneaked onto the Internet somewhere for you to find!) And then the publishing house finally picked the title What She Left Behind. 

The German version of the same book, by the way, translates to Like Father Like Death – the Germans definitely like their stories dark!

 

Duolingo? Are you a student? You are already fluent in how many languages? How does your knowledge of other languages help you as your write your YAs in English?

Yes, I do a bit of duolingo as a student – some Catalan for a sister school exchange we do at my school. I speak fluent French and also some Spanish and German. I’m currently working on the translation of Thirty Seconds at a Time into French. Unfortunately, the English version of that book is currently out of print – but I will hopefully find a new home for it in the not-so-distant future!

 

There’s a passage attributed to you on a website called Quote Fancy: “He made my mom call and tell Maureen I wouldn’t be in to see her anymore. He said therapy is a waste of money. He also told her to upgrade the cable service and to order him a subscription to Military History magazine. Then he went and bought a new fishing pole for Matt, who is dead.”

— Tracy Bilen

What’s this all about?

This quote is taken from What She Left Behind. My main character, Sara, is talking about her dad, who is both physically and emotionally abusive. Sara’s been seeing a therapist to help her deal with her brother Matt’s suicide. It’s obvious from her dad’s statement that this is not about money, It’s about power and control, but it’s also about denial. 

Sara’s dad’s way of dealing with Matt’s suicide is to pretend it didn’t happen and that he’s still alive. Sara and her mom are forced to play along with the fantasy to avoid provoking her dad’s anger. But Sara’s dad is a complex character – while his abuse is unforgiveable, Sara and her mom struggle with the memories of the loving person he once was.

 

So, school’s just about out for summer, and that’s when you can write full-time. What’s cooking? (In keeping with the bad kitchen puns) What’s on the back burner?

I’m actually working on a book set in Paris, which I hope to finish this summer!

 

Please share any social media platforms:

Website:

https://tracybilen.com/

Book trailers I made:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJwBMTArHK432d57q8rN3wonaJL7-Hr2s&si=kY3GhXUtMhJnBuKu

Insta:

https://www.instagram.com/tracybilen/

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/tracybilenbooks

X:

https://x.com/tracybilen

 

 

 

 

Book Birthday Blog with Kate Rietema

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

 

Congratulations to Kate Rietema on the release of Cheetahs Return to India: The True Story of Aasha and Pavan

 

What are the unique challenges of writing a non-fiction book? Please describe your research approach. 

This was tricky because my research was happening in real time. In fact, my agent submitted this manuscript to Tilbury House before Aasha had her cubs—so it wasn’t until after the book was acquired that I added the spread about her litter. Then, after final edits were complete, I learned the sad news of Pavan’s death. Although we couldn’t add his death into the story, we did include it in a timeline as part of the backmatter.

 

Interior spread

For my research, I gathered information from news articles, newsletters, videos, visiting the Cheetah Research and Education Centre in Namibia, observing cheetahs in the wild, and speaking with primary sources.

 

Spotting cheetahs in the wild—a rare treat!

Because this story is about a current event, I tried to have as many primary sources as possible. This included personal and email contact with Dr. Laurie Marker, who is considered the world’s leading expert on cheetahs; Lea Petersen, head cheetah keeper at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia; and Eli Walker, who photographed and monitored the cheetahs upon their release in India. 

Although I had success in contacting several helpful sources, it’s important to note that I hit a few dead-ends, too. In response to an inquiry of India’s forest and wildlife departments, I received a handwritten response in Urdu! (Eventually I was able to translate the letter, but it still didn’t prove helpful.) 

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

My brother lives in Namibia—an African country known as the cheetah capital of the world. A few years ago, he posted a news article on social media about plans to reintroduce cheetahs from Africa back into India. I knew this would be groundbreaking work and I had to know more!

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

Last fall, I had the extreme privilege of visiting the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa. While there, I had dinner with the head cheetah keeper, Lea Petersen, and I asked her what she wants readers to know. Lea said, “Even if our work is really tough, and even if we don’t get the results we hoped for, we still need to try.” Reintroducing cheetahs into a country where they’ve been regionally extinct for 70 years is an enormously bold move. There is no guarantee this plan will work, but there are conservationists who have dedicated their lives to saving cheetahs—and they’re not afraid try. Like Lea, I hope readers feel inspired to try new things—even if it’s hard, and even if it might not work. 

 

Visiting the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa

What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?

I’m looking forward to all the usual visits at bookstores and schools, but because of the subject matter, I’m also reaching out to zoos. I sent mailers to every zoo in the United States and Canada who keep cheetahs, suggesting my book for their gift stores. I’m also working to set up a couple interviews with zoos that host podcasts.
 
You can find my book in all the usual places—Amazon, Bookshop, and hopefully at your local bookstore. If it’s not in stock, please request it! You can also request it at your local library and check it out for free! 

 

Final proofing before it goes to print!

What's next for you?

I’m thrilled to share that I have three more picture books releasing in the next two years! I have two holiday books with Paraclete Press—one for Christmas and one for Easter. I also have a free verse poetry collection about seasons that will be published by B&H Kids. 

More about the book . . .

Long ago, cheetahs roamed India's grasslands and forests. But as farms expanded and cities grew, India's cheetah population dwindled . . . to nothing. Now, seventy years later, cheetahs are back! From a selection of African cheetahs, Aasha and Pavan are chosen as the first cheetahs to be released into the wild. Will they survive in their new home? Will they thrive? Will India finally see a return of their beloved cheetahs?

Published by: Tilbury House

More about the author . . .

Kate Rietema is the author of three children’s books and nearly 100 stories and poems in publications like Highlights, Cricket Media, and The School Magazine. She lives and writes in a red house in Michigan with her husband and five daughters. Kate hopes that cheetahs will always survive, and that this book will inspire readers to learn more about wildlife conservation. You can find more about Kate’s books at https://www.katerietema.com/ 

Instagram & X: @KateRietema

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKateRietema

Website: https://www.katerietema.com/

 

Kate on safari through Etosha National Park

 

Book Birthday Blog with Karolyn Wallace

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

 

Congratulations to Karolyn Wallace on the release of I Love It When We Read Together

 

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

I Love It When We Read Together grew out of fond memories of nightly reading with my own children. As an elementary school teacher, I can think of no greater gift than to encourage parents to do the same. Now a grandmother, I watch my children read with their children every night. I admire the dedication to storytelling, inquiry, and closeness that they nurture whenever and wherever they open a book.

What inspires you to write?

As a retired teacher, I wanted to find a way to give back. Writing about reading seemed like a great fit. I hope to encourage partnerships that make shared reading a deeper experience.

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

It’s my wish that older readers will find the book instructive and notice some reading strategies that they can use. I hope younger readers will see themselves as partners that can also try out the same reading strategies. Younger readers may find it fun to notice the animals reading on each page as well.

What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?

As you can imagine my favorite marketing plan is to go directly to children and visit schools and libraries. It is so much fun to show the original pictures of animals reading that I made and that Joey Wall skillfully incorporated into his illustrations.  So, I take books and collages on tour with me on school visits and bookstore events.

What's next for you?

It’s my hope to build a series of books around togetherness. Whether its cooking or fishing together, early readers can easily use the reading tools mentioned in I Love It When We Read Together while enjoying other  experiences with a companion. 

More about the book . . .

I Love It When We Read Together invites reading partners to create their own special rituals, with gentle prompts and charming illustrations that encourage kids to read along, spot animals and spark lively conversations. This book is perfect for building fluency and connection. Inspired by the literacy challenges of the pandemic, early childhood educator Karolyn Wallace crafts a cozy experience that helps families bring the joy of reading home.

Publisher: Mission Point Press

More about the author . . .

Karolyn Wallace is a seasoned educator with over twenty years of experience teaching in elementary classrooms across public and private schools in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New York. Before that, she was a broadcast journalist at local news affiliates in Los Angeles and Flint, Michigan. She is currently part of the team at The Children’s Learning Lab, where experienced educators connect with elementary students for online learning. She divides her time between Michigan and California, enjoying the company of her husband, children and grandchildren.   

Instagram: Togetherwithkarolyn

 

 

Writer Spotlight: Diane Telgen

 Encyclopedias, black belt, Monty Python, WFH, ghosts, and fart jokes: Author and long-time Michigander Diane Telgen 

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet author and long-time Michigan resident  Diane Telgen.

Diane Telgen

Diane says: FYI,  I was born in Ann Arbor and spent almost all of my next 45 years in Michigan. I served as website coordinator for SCBWI Michigan in the 2000s. 

Tell us about the young Diane who loved reading. When did the writing come in?

My mom taught reading, so I learned pretty early and was devouring classics like Little House on the Prairie by the time I started kindergarten. I couldn’t check out enough books from the library to match my appetite for reading, so my go-to material was the set of World Book encyclopedias we got from my teacher-grandfather.

You could often find me browsing entries like “dog”—so many breeds!—or “human body,” which had these amazing see-through pages that showed the various systems stacked atop each other.

But the Childcraft part of the set probably had the most influence on me. I practically wore out the spines on the first two volumes, Poems & Rhymes and Stories & Fables, the latter of which started me on my lifelong love of fairy tales and fantasy.

The other volumes covered subjects like “how things work” and “people to know.” These volumes taught me that stories about real life could be just as fascinating as those about dragons or spaceships.

Diane at age "7 or 8 (with my dog Jojo), visibly annoyed I'm being asked to stop reading to look at the camera"

I always joke that I read encyclopedias so much as a kid, that’s probably how I ended up writing them when I grew up! But I knew I wanted to write my own stories from about sixth grade onward. I’d go overboard with any English assignments involving a creative writing aspect, then finally tried a novel after college.

*Bonus Material: Random Real-Life Facts about Diane* 

Diane writes: "Despite being an absolute klutz growing up, I took up taekwondo in my thirties, became a black belt, won a national championship, and became a 4th-degree master."

You could write a book and I hope you will. But what drove you into martial arts?

I started taekwondo training back in my thirties because my son and I could take classes together and I was trying to encourage him to stay active with a sport. I ended up falling in love with its mix of structure (the patterns of forms) and creativity (combining self-defense moves), and it taught me how to fall and fail and get back up again—great lessons for an aspiring writer!

While my son quit after getting his second-degree black belt, I continued training for over fifteen years, competing nationally and eventually becoming a certified instructor and fourth-degree master. 

My cement break at my taekwondo testing for 4th-degree master in 2015

At our dojang, black belt tests involved an intense full-day examination, then several weeks of rehearsal before putting on a public demonstration. My love for the sport and my fellow students kept me going, despite bumps and bruises and the occasional dislocated toe—I even tested for fourth degree while living four hours away from the dojang!

But after I moved even further away and suffered an unrelated foot injury, I had to retire. I do have a YA manuscript based on my experiences, though!

Gale was first a man who founded a company with his name. And somewhere in suburban Detroit, Gale was a publisher who collected bio facts about authors and illustrators. You got to work there, fresh out of school. What was it like rubbing elbows with the literati?

I loved working in downtown Detroit in the Penobscot Building for Gale, compiling biographical entries and writing essays about authors. I once spent an entire month writing about Monty Python, both collectively and individually, but nothing topped getting responses from my favorite authors when I sent them their entries for review.

I’ve still saved personal letters I received from the likes of Arthur C Clarke, Isabel Allende, and R.L. Stine—the latter a fellow Python fan who said I was the first to notice he’d taken a pseudonym from a Python sketch!

Much of your published body of work is work-for-hire. The Haunted series, as well as two historically-researched titles. How would you explain work-for-hire to a novice writer? I know some WFH authors who won’t sell their books because they get no royalties. How do you square book sales if you aren’t financially rewarded for them?

Kidlit book cover collage:

Basically, work-for-hire projects happen when a publishing company or book packager comes up with an idea and then hires a writer to flesh it out. Your name is on the cover as the author, but the publisher retains the copyright and all the profits. You get paid when you turn in the manuscript, and that’s it—no royalties.

Transitioning from a publishing company employee to a freelancer doing work-for-hire felt pretty natural for me, because I was used to writing to someone else’s requirements and having them retain the copyright. 

I can make a little extra from my work-for-hire projects because the publisher of my Spooky America books sells them to me at a sizable discount; I then resell them online or at events, keeping the profit.

And my Ghostly Tales have allowed me to do school visits, where I talk about my books and especially how to do research. I love talking to kids about writing, and school visits can provide a little more income, as they do for traditionally published authors.

Your writing job in the Haunted series of books, as I understand it, was to take the stories from a previously-published adult collection and make it palatable for kid readers. How much writing versus editing was involved?

My Spooky America books are “adapted” from Arcadia’s local ghost-story collections for adults. I brought editing skills to the project by choosing only the stories that I thought would appeal to kids—ones involving disasters, child ghosts, and the like—and excluding those that seemed too violent or confusing. I used the originals for the basic facts, then did additional research.

Finally, I wrote my version of the stories entirely from scratch, because I knew I needed to provide a lot of historical context for kids to understand who these ghosts were and where they came from. I really consider these books half-local history, half-ghostly tales—as I sign my books, Ghosts are just history trying to get your attention! 

Is this title yours: Latinas! : women of achievement / Diane Telgen, Jim Kamp, editors ; foreword by Nicholasa Mohr.  If yes, what was involved in editing and compiling this collection?

Photo of selected books from my reference book career as editor, author, or contributor:

This title was adapted for the general market from a biographical directory I edited at Gale, Notable Hispanic American Women. The work is mainly gathering suggestions for listees from an advisory board, collecting research, and assigning entries. Not super interesting work, but I did get to personally interview an Olympic diver for the project.

“Hellmuffin”?

It’s weird where ideas can come from. My first published short story, “Hellmuffin,” came from a friend’s social media post complaining about her cat: “What the hell, Muffin?” This immediately brought to mind the idea of a devil-cat, and my friend granted permission for me to steal the word.

When a fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts grad announced she was seeking stories for a YA Halloween anthology, I drew on my experiences taming feral kittens and spending time on my grandparents’ farm to flesh out the initial concept.

You lived in the U.K. for four years. This is another book, (most of your life experiences would make a good story). Do you still have a passable accent? What kind of cultural shock to you and your family?

While that chance combination of words inspired a full story, other life experiences somehow don’t spark my muse. I spent four years as an expatriate in London and it became a huge part of my identity—I was the lone American in a local community band, for instance.

It gave our whole family new perspectives through the people we met, travel all over Europe, and daily exposure to British culture, but I’m not sure that experience will ever end up in a story. But I never say never! 

Me at a sixth-grade author visit in 2023: 

“[M]y inner child is a 9 year old boy who loves fart jokes.” Have you matured innerly?

My motto has always been: “You’re only young once, but you can be immature forever!” I delighted in bringing fun facts about 19th-century sanitation into one of my Ghostly Tales books in order to explain why so many people left cities like Milwaukee and Chicago in the summer to sail to lovely, clean-smelling western Michigan.

 Angelella Editorial?

After graduating from Vermont College of Fine Arts with my MFA in writing for children and young adults, I gave up reference book work to focus on my own writing. But as I’m sure many readers will be aware, it’s hard to break into traditional publishing.

So when one of my classmates invited me to join her freelance editing company, Angelella Editorial, I thought that would be a great alternative outlet for my knowledge and experience.

Me on my magical graduation day in 2017
 with my MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts

I worked on everything from rhymed picture books to adult fantasy series, with some clients who were just starting out and needed coaching to others who were experienced indie authors who just needed copyediting. One of my picture book clients got an agent who sold the book I helped edit at auction!

I’m mostly retired from Angelella Editorial now, with one or two legacy clients I’m still coaching, because I want to devote my working hours to my own writing. I still hope to find an agent and get a traditional publishing deal, and I’ve had champagne rejections with a YA fantasy and a nonfiction picture book. I still hope those projects see the light of day someday,

What's next?

I've been a member of SCBWI since around 2000,
 attending my first conference in Greece in 2002.
Here I am at the 2017 LA conference
dressed in costume for the Silver Linings Gala.

I’m currently working on a fantasy romance for adults with the intention to indie publish if I don’t find a traditional publisher. The industry has changed so much since I attended my first SCBWI conference in 2002, but I haven’t given up my writing dream yet!

Share your social media platforms:

Goodreads: author page for Diane Telgen

BlueSky: ‪@neglet.bsky.social‬

Instagram: Diane Telgen (but it’s mainly cat pictures)

Website: dianetelgen.com

I have a Twitter/X account but I don’t use it; it just exists so no one else can take it over: @neglet_