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MEET ANNIE BUCKLEY
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Annie Buckley

As a child, I loved to read and draw and make things. I spent most of my time at a big corner desk with a window overlooking our back yard making little books and cartoons and paper dolls. I also loved to sit next to the heater vent – even though we lived in Los Angeles – reading. My favorite books were the Black Stallion and Little House on the Prairie series. I liked being able to follow the characters from one book to the next.

Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

Yes, I wrote little books and stories. But it wasn’t until fourth grade, when my teacher asked us to write and illustrate a story, that I made my first book. I had so much fun and really took my time to write the story, draw pictures, and make a book. For the covers, I wrapped two pieces of cardboard with red and white checked fabric and held them together little gold brads. After that, I was hooked and made more books. When I was in high school, I made a magazine called “Buckley’s Bazaar” with my friend’s faces on pictures from fashion magazines and funny captions. I put it all together and then made copies to give out to classmates.

What was your first job when you graduated from college?

After college, all I really wanted to do was to travel and make art. First I did travel, all around Europe and Turkey and Greece. But when I came back home, I became a teacher and continued making art in a studio in my garage. I was a teacher for about seven years and really enjoyed getting to know so many amazing kids! Sometimes I think I learned as much from my students as they did from me. After teaching 2 nd and 3 rd grades, I taught art to 4 th and 5 th grades, and then I taught yoga to a whole school (K-8). I was lucky to have lots of fun teaching jobs before I left to attend graduate school and then become a writer and artist full time. But I still enjoy being a mentor to new teachers in the classroom.

What are the topics are some of your books?

I have written two decks of cards for kids. One teaches how to do yoga especially for kids. The cards are color-coded and each one includes ideas for fun activities that relate to yoga so kids can be creative with their yoga practice. I also co-wrote a deck of cards that shows kids how to write stories including cards for characters, settings, and more. I write non-fiction books for children too. Some of the topics I have written about are hero girls, beautiful birds, making movies, and the lives of famous people such as the astronaut Ellen Ochoa and the musician Yo-Yo Ma. I enjoy writing stories for both children and adults too. A book of my short stories, NAVIGATING GHOSTS, was published in 2007.

Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you find one easier than the other?

I write both fiction and nonfiction and I enjoy them both for different reasons. With nonfiction, I like researching and learning about new things. I also like trying to figure out the best way to write about these topics for children. My goal is that they are informative and fun to read, so I try to include lots of new facts but explain them in a way that will make sense to children. With fiction, I just love the challenge and adventure of getting lost in a story. I studied art for many years so I apply what I learned about the process of creating something to writing fiction. In a way, I approach it similarly to how I would approach making a collage or a sculpture. On the one hand, there is a process of using my imagination and letting go, and on the other, an analysis of the process and structure of the thing being made. For me, this balance is important.

Do you do other types of writing - for example, educational, nonfiction, magazine work?

Yes, in additional to books, I write for magazines and I write educational curriculum. What these different kinds of writing have in common is the process of formulating ideas and getting them down on paper, but each one is unique. For example, the style or language I use to write an art review is not the same as what I use to write a children’s book. With all the writing I do, I consider the material, what I want to say, how it will be best understood by the audience, and then write several drafts until it is the best I think it can be.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

Since I write both fiction and nonfiction, these are inspired by different ideas. But there are some core things that inspire the majority of my writing. One of these is art. Because I love art in so many forms, and believe in its power to communicate about experience, I am inspired to write about it, whether through art reviews or articles or books. Art and the creative process tend to creep into my fiction as well. World cultures in a broader sense also inspire me because I am fascinated by the different ways that people think and create and live all over the world. As part of that, I tend to be interested in and inspired by people who are able to create beautiful or peaceful or meaningful change in the world.