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Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET MARSHA DIANE ARNOLD
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| Marsha Diane Arnold |
This is an example of one of the many delightful and bold questions I receive from students when I visit schools. I’m still not certain how to answer it! I do know that I’m 59 now and holding on to my memory is one of my biggest challenges. Other favorite comments from students when I visit their schools have been: “My heart is beating so fast to meet you.” “When I think about your books, it’s like I’m in a magical place.”
You visit lots of schools every year. What do you enjoy most about visiting?
I love seeing all those smiling faces in my audience, students who love to write and draw and create, students who love to hear stories. I also like those hugs many of the younger students spontaneously give. There are other reasons. I do like to travel. I’ve visited over 25 states plus Puerto Rico and Germany on school visits. I also enjoy meeting teachers and librarians. They’re so interesting. Perhaps most of all, I love hearing the stories teachers share with me after I’ve left. One shared about a young boy who was timid and quiet. After my visit, his “buttons were popping” with enthusiasm. She expressed gratitude for the experience of my visit and what it was going to mean in his and all the students’ lives. Such stories are humbling, but I am grateful for them. To inspire children to have the confidence to pursue what they love – that’s what I hope to do when I visit schools.
Which of your books did you most enjoy writing?
How can I choose? I fall in love with all of my characters. I was inspired by Little Four’s determination and courage in HEART OF A TIGER. I laughed at Yellow Dog as he posed for the photographers in THE PUMPKIN RUNNER. My heart raced with Velma Jean and Ruby Jane in THE BRAVEST OF US ALL. I particularly had fun, though, with Lily, the cow who didn’t fit in with the herd in PRANCING, DANCING LILY. What a spirit! My father had a dairy farm when I was a child. Although none of our cows danced, it was fun to think back to times on the farm as I wrote about Lily. I also enjoyed writing the rhyming letters Lily sent to Mamoo and the herd as she danced around the world, searching for a place to fit in.
Was your first book accepted immediately or did you experience a number of rejections?
My first story, HEART OF A TIGER was rejected 13 times before I found an editor who loved it as much as I did. If I visit your school, you may get to hear me read from some of those rejection letters. It’s painful, but it’s my job! Seriously, I think it’s most important for students to know that failure is just a stepping-stone on the way to success. Perseverance is important for authors and for everyone else in life.
Have any of your books earned special recognition?
After I’ve told you that HEART OF A TIGER was rejected 13 times, I will also share that it is my top award winner. It won an award you just get one chance at: the Ridgway Award, which is for the best first book by a new author. Among other awards, it was a Junior Library Guild Selection. My favorite awards though, were those where the children in a state voted it their favorite book of the year! HEART OF A TIGER was a Children’s Choice award winner in Missouri, Indiana, and Washington State! Almost all my books have been honored in some way. THE PUMPKIN RUNNER was a Smithsonian Notable book. It was thrilling to visit the Smithsonian with my husband and son one year and unexpectedly find my book in their bookstore!
Have any of your fiction stories been about real people or events?
My book THE PUMPKIN RUNNER was inspired by a real man, an Australian farmer named Cliff Young. He was 61-years-old when he entered a 500 mile race from Melbourne to Sydney. People laughed because they thought he was too old to run in an ultra-marathon. But Cliff won the race and ran it two days faster than anyone else ever ran that race. You can read more about Cliff at my website, www.marshadianearnold.com, in the Book Gallery.
What are you working on now? When do you expect to start submitting it to publishers?
Three projects are on my front burner. One is a picture book, BAREFOOT HANNAH AND THE PRINCE OF SHOOSTER. Another is a chapter book. My editor wants me to take the characters from an early reader story I sent her and expand the story into a chapter book. I’ve never written a chapter book before. It will be a challenge, but also lots of fun. The third project is my first attempt at a novel. The title of this work is RADICAL. It’s about a family going through lots of radical changes and the dog that helps them survive. It’s inspired by my own experience with breast cancer, so it’s difficult for me to write at times. I hope to have the picture book and chapter book completed by the first of the year, but the novel will take longer. If it’s ready by the end of 2008, that would be grand. Mid-2008 would be grander!
What do you like to do besides writing? Do you have any hobbies?
Life is such an adventure. I love to do so many things that sometimes I have a challenge sitting down to write, even though I love writing stories. I enjoy gardening, taking walks in the beautiful countryside around my home, hiking up volcanoes, snorkeling and scuba diving, spending time with my family, and watching my daughter perform on stage (she’s in musical theatre), plus lots more!