Interpretive dance, Duchess, Tarantula, zombie, working writer, and funny faces: author (and former RA) Monica Harris
Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI. In this piece, meet author and former RA Monica A. Harris.
You were the R.A. for SCBWI-MI back when I joined in 2009. What was your path to leadership in that children’s writing organization?
Oh goodness Charlie – you’re making me feel old! My path to leadership was pretty similar to others, I suppose. SCBWI took me in as a new writer and helped take me from ‘crawling’ to ‘running’.
My first step was being part of the Advisory Committee – the “in the trenches grunts” who take care of all the miniscule details of conferences, registration, newsletter, etc.
After about 6 years, my friend, Leslie Helakoski, and I decided to step up as Co-Ras. (We knew each other from our critique group. Anyone remember the interpretive dance performance?)
You lived overseas for several
years. Have you ever been back? What are
some of your fondest memories of your life in foreign lands?
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| Monica and friend in Thailand |
We had the opportunity to live in the Black Forest area of Germany and then in the capital of Switzerland (Bern). We have ventured back to those areas that we adore.
One trip was specifically to share memories with my
mother-in-law, who never had the chance to visit while we lived there. It was extremely heartwarming to have our
youngest daughter along who shared memories of her times there.
Fondest memories? The slower pace of life is a big one. In
both countries, stores close by midday Saturday and don’t re-open until Monday.
That time is designated to family, friends, and being outdoors. Most weekends
we could be found hiking trails in the Alps and nibbling on Bavarian
pretzels.
You are a multi-talented creator. Blankets, cooking classes, hand-sewn costumes, belly dancing, and
mushroom gardens. Have you been able to reign in your creative impulses over
time?
Why thank you for the compliment!
You ask if I’ve been able to reign in my creative impulses –
first of all, WHY? Who would want to do that?! Secondly, no…. I have not and I
don’t plan on doing so in the near future.
Creativity is what keeps me young at heart and that is worth a lot these
days. <3
You’ve got a doodling title. How
did it come about that you’re royalty?
I teach my method of Meditative Doodling under the name, The Doodling Duchess. Meditative Doodling is a method of dealing with anxiety, stress, depression, and loneliness.
It
teaches people to connect emotions to shapes and colors. It is a process with
NO mistakes and NO perfection goals. For those who feel they’re not “artistic”,
I point out that everyone has doodled at some point and that’s all that
Meditative Doodling does.
The royal title came from my dear friend, Lynn Jones. As The
Countess of Color, she teaches people about color numerology and how it
affects their daily lives. When we started doing workshops together, she
suggested that I needed a title and anointed me as The Doodling Duchess.
The other doodler in SCBWI-MI is
Vicky Lorencen. Did the Duchess of Doodles have anything to do with Vicky’s
creative proclivities?
Nope – Vicky is her own natural doodler. J
Was there a hint as a child that
you’d become a writer and artist someday? Who most influenced young Monica?
For those who don’t already know the story, my journey to be a children’s author began in 5th grade. I was a quick learner and often finished my schoolwork early. Sometimes, I would be a little stinker and interrupt other students. So, my teacher (who was trying to save her sanity, I’m sure) would send me to the library.
The librarian became my favorite as she
would offer books for me to read based on my imagination. She taught me to
respect books and even how to repair them. One book was the spark…. James and
The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. Once I read that, I knew that I wanted to
write children’s books.
Other influencers would be nature. I grew up on a large plot of land where we were able to garden, raise geese and rabbits, adventure into the woods, and play in a creek.
My parents would wave goodbye in the morning
and make us strip out of our dirty clothes before coming in for dinner. Having
the freedom to explore, catch frogs, chase the geese, pick snacks fresh from
the garden ... that’s a wonderful childhood.
How did you come to write about
creepy-crawly things?
They say that being in the right place at the right time pays off…well, that’s exactly how it happened. During a SCBWI conference, I was talking about my science background with some fellow attendees.
One of them
mentioned an editor at Heinemann Library Books, who was looking for science
writers. Immediately afterwards, I looked up her contact information and sent a
letter with a SASE to see if I could help. (Yep…that’s how long ago it was!
Anyone remember SASEs?)
Sure enough, she reached out and asked if I was willing to write 5 in their early reader series (Tarantula, Walking Stick, Paper Wasp, Black Widow, Tick). Hmm…let me think about it….YES! It was a work-for-hire situation, but I didn’t care.
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| Monica and husband in Thailand I LOVE TO TRAVEL! |
It was a fabulous experience and that same editor recommended me to other educational editors which is how My First Book of Animals came to be. Interesting twist on that book….I had 2-3 weeks to finish it! Talk about a deadline, right?
You also have a fictional book titled Wake the Dead. Where did this pun-filled zombie book idea come from?
One day, at the bus stop, I found myself telling my daughters that they “were loud enough to wake the dead”. It was a phrase that my grandmother use to say to me when I was young.
That’s when the lightbulb moment happened.
What if the story’s protagonist DID wake the dead? How would he get them back to sleep? From
there, it was searching for puns and making them visually appealing to young
kids. This book is still near and dear to my heart. <3
That’s an
astounding body of work. Are you a working writer, paying the mortgage?
Charlie – please define a working writer? Haha.
I was working pretty diligently for many years and then life happened. My parents got older and needed more help. Then, my father passed unexpectedly just over 2 years ago. My mother has dementia so it was an immediate move into the caregiver position.
My tasks shifted to
selling their house, finding a suitable place for my mom, clearing their
estate, and then helping my mother with hip surgery after a fall. As many of
you know, I am also a Nanna to a 10 year old granddaughter and that adds
additional tasks to my list.
Reality check---Writers rarely make enough to pay their mortgage! My goal isn’t to make buckets of cash; it’s to share stories that touch the hearts of children.
How does
one find a job assessment writing? Especially in multiple states?
Years ago, there was a call out for Michigan children’s
writers. The state had finally decided that, if we are going to required
assessment testing, then we should at least be hiring Michigan writers and
teachers to create the tests. I can’t recall exactly how the request came out
but when the chosen few were invited to Lansing for training, I was happy to
see so many SCBWI faces like Shirley Neitzel and Pat Trattles.
The company we worked through was Data Recognition Corporation. As it turns out, other states eventually hired them for their
assessment testing as well. Those of us who were interested were offered the
chance to do additional work. Writers
research topics based on the state’s needs, put together proposals, and submit
them for consideration. Those chosen are work-for-hire passages and often have
a 2 week deadline.
I Love My Family,
Bugs are Cool!, and Time with Riley. What part of Monica is in each of
these titles?
These books are in a series with Caramel Tree Books. They are a Korean company that produce books in English for their young learners. They hire English speakers for the stories and Korean illustrators for the art.
I was able to put a little Monica Spice into several! For I Love My Family, I have a monkey
introducing her family to her friend, Crocodile. At that time, my oldest daughter was in
Malaysia studying small mammals. She fell in love with (and ended up marrying)
a British gentleman who was studying crocodiles. I used them as the main
characters in the story and yes, I am hidden in there as well.
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Bugs Are Cool! allowed me to weave in my husband and my dear friend, Cathy Bieberich. In that book, there is a character who is afraid of bugs (my husband) and another that loves to educate him on how wonderful and amazing they are (Cathy).
Time with Riley is an ode to my granddaughter, Rylee.
The story shows Riley, a boy in this case, having amazing experiences with her
pet turtle (that’s me!)
Each of the books in that series has a little something
about people I love. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to do that?
DOT-TO-DOT
STORIES (ISBN
0768203112 – Fearon Teacher Aids): Created for educators teaching grades
K-3 with reproducible pages to use in the classroom. Divided by subject
and age level, these activities teach young writers about creating a story
using a familiar dot-to-dot picture. Besides numbers, there are grade/age-appropriate
words that the students connect in story building sentences. In the end, they
have a story AND a picture.
You helped your daughters to get published. Are they still involved with writing?
What an interesting question Charlie! My oldest daughter (now 35) writes scientific
papers on ecology conservation topics as part of her daily job. My youngest (33)
writes orders and contracts for medical devices.
There are
many writers named Monica Harris in google. How do you distinguish yourself
from the other literary Monicas?
I have to admit, it’s been a long time since I “googled”
myself! I see a couple of Monica Harris
writers and it looks like they do adult novels. I’m not too worried at this
point.
I will admit that years ago, when I did more school visits,
if you did a search, it would bring up a porn star. So glad that SHE doesn’t
come up immediately. Yikes!
No
current website? What are your preferred social media?
I used to pay
a lot of money for a website. My goal was to get school visits but, since
funding for such things has diminished or is extremely limited to only
currently published authors, I let it lapse. I do have a Facebook page still
where I can share any updates. If I suddenly publish more books, I will
consider another website.
Marketing is a tough job and one that sucks time away from my creativity. The less I need to deal with it right now, the better.
What’s
next for Monica?
Today’s TO DO
list includes:
A cup of tea.
Stroll in
nature – maybe finding funny faces on rocks or trees
Playing with
a new picture book idea (because next week is critique week with my girls)
A piece of
pie from a local bakery
* I’ve given
up making rigid goals – life has taught me that changes can come too quickly.
So, I enjoy the moments, listen to The Universe, watch for butterflies, and
talk to my plants. It’s amazing what they all have to say.
Please share any social media:
Monica Harris writer:
https://www.facebook.com/monicaharrisbooks/
The Doodling Duchess:
https://www.thedoodlingduchess.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thedoodlingduchess/
https://www.instagram.com/thedoodlingduchess/?hl=en
