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MEET DENISE DOYEN
by Bonnie O'Brian

When you were a child did you ever have moments when you thought you were going to be a writer when you grew up?

Denise Doyen

My grandmother was a writer. Until I was five, I lived in Highland Park, CA and she lived just down the street. My grandfather converted their garage into a studio library for her. From our hillside porch, I could see the peak of its roof through the eucalyptus trees. Inside, her library was complete with tall free-standing bookshelves, narrow book-lined aisles and even a wooden-drawer card catalogue. My grandmother kept a big table stocked with newsprint and crayons. We grandkids sat at that table and drew while she typed.

I think being exposed to people who worked in the arts helped me envision such a life for myself. My grandmother’s name was Marion Morris. She wrote short stories about Los Angeles and her Irish family. She was friends withLeo Politi; he illustrated her stories for Script Magazine. They lived not too far from each other back when Los Angeles was surrounded by grassy hills and you could get downtown by simply jumping on a Red Car. Mr. Politi’s original artwork hung on the walls of her little garage library. One of the things I think about when I visit schools or libraries, is the idea that talking with a “real writer” (who turns out to be just a regular person) can plant seeds of possibilities in the mind of a child.

What do you most want the students to get out of your visits?

Well, if there are any nascent writers in the audience, I want to encourage them. For students on other paths, I try to share the fun of wordplay and the power of language – which I think can be helpful in many arenas from politics to advertising to teaching. I talk about good tools to have in one’s writing toolbox. I love words -- playing with the order of words, making up nonsense words, finding just the right word; I hope that affection for language is catching.

Where do you get  ideas? What kinds of things inspire you to write?

I try to remember stories that moved me when I was little. I don’t copy those, but I do study how they were crafted. Then, I try to combine the feelings I had for those tales as child with what I have learned about them as an adult writer. Finally, I try to create something that is mine, original, but that reverberates with the inspiration.

My book ONCE UPON A TWICE was inspired by my favorite childhood poem JABBERWOCKY by Lewis Carroll. I didn’t want to do a spoof or too close a take-off on that classic nonsense piece. I did want to evoke that listening experience with an exciting cadence that would drive my adventure and portmanteau words that would capture kids’ imagination like Carroll’s words had captured mine. I guess my process is rather like art students going to a museum to study the great masters. In this case, the masters I studied were Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.

It was a very welcomed and pleasant surprise when ONCE UPON A TWICE was awarded an EB White Read Aloud Honor Medal this year.   

What are you working on now?

This time round, that process of recalling childhood favorites led me back to THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, a tale I still adore. There is something about those characters -- Mole, Ratty, Badger, Mr. Toad (as conveyed by Grahame’s writing) -- that charms one into believing in them and their world without question. Toad owns a grand estate. He wears fine clothes and covets shiny motorcars. Yes! Yes, he does -- and always has. And there is nothing cutesy or silly or fantastical about it. Toad Hall is a real, a serious place, as is Mole’s humble abode and Badger’s labyrinth. Ratty’s beloved rowboat is bumping on its tether against the riverbank right now. I firmly believe that. So, in my next book, I’m attempting to echo, to capture, that same feeling: unshakeable verisimilitude in an anthropomorphic tale. The book’s working title is: ADVENTURES IN NEPAW.
 
My story is about a group of climbers, led by Trekker Raccoon and Master Jam Ling Sherpmouse, who are attempting to climb the tallest, then-unconquered peak in the Himalayas. It takes place at a time when such endeavors were the province of gentlemen climbers aided by the invaluable Sherpas. I’ve done a ton of research. I love the period, the terrain and cultures of Nepal, and the courage and spirit of those involved. The book has turned into something of an epic adventure; but, well, that is exactly what such early expeditions were. And, as it turns out, it can also be what writing one’s first novel is.

When do you expect to be done?

Ha! I expected to be done two years ago! The truth is: this beastly story has me in its stubborn, snarling grip – which is a great gift to a writer. I’ll be done when it releases me.
 
So far, I’ve been working on ADVENTURES IN NEPAW for five years (sigh). But I’m passionate about this story and committed to doing it and its cast of animal characters justice.

My mother, Shirley, was a kindergarten teacher; she brought stacks of books home to read to my brother and I. Sharing stories, being read to, imprinted tender, cozy feelings for books in my mind. Writing can be a long, lonely, row to hoe; it helps to have those good underlying feelings to keep me company while I work towards completion. (Thanks, Mom.)