Back to Featured Interviews >>

MEET SUSAN LENDROTH (9/2011)
by Bonnie O'Brian

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

Susan Lendroth

I was a master of make believe!  I loved making up stories in my backyard hide-out or at night after lights out in my room.  My bedroom carpet was blue, so I pretended the shadows on the floor were rocks in a crocodile- infested lagoon.  I used to sneak out of bed and jump from “rock” to “rock” while the adventure unfolded in my head.

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

My favorites were stories set in the past – such as wagon train trips out West or adventures during the Revolutionary War -- as well as Nancy Drew mysteries. I still read mysteries (though my tastes have widened beyond Nancy Drew), and I’m still drawn to the past.  All my picture books published to date take place long ago.

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

I loved to write, but being a “writer” seemed like a dream, not a realistic goal.

 When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career? (or a career in illustrating? or just art in general?)

No, I planned on becoming an English teacher (and did).

What was your first job when you graduated from college?

I was lucky enough to teach secondary school in Melbourne Australia for two years.  What a wonderful country!

Was your first book accepted immediately? or did you experience a number of rejections?

My first manuscript (or book) was never published.  The first manuscript to be published was actually the second or third manuscript I sent out.  It was acquired by a publisher about six months after I submitted it (and one and a half years after I first started submitting stories). That book -- WHY EXPLORE? -- was published 18 months later.  So my time period between first trying to sell a book and having a book in print was approximately three years.

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

I also write magazine and newspaper articles, often destination pieces because I love to visit new places.

Where do you get your ideas?

The same place everyone gets ideas – from the universe!  Ideas just appear, following the “What If…" train of thought. The big difference as a writer is that I now try to scribble ideas down in case one may lead me someplace.

Anything can trigger the imagination: an article in a newspaper, a strangely shaped tree, the angle my fat cat lies at when he’s trying to cool off.  But quirky stories out of history seem to grab me more than most things.

Do you enjoy researching or do you prefer working totally from your imagination?

I love both aspects of writing, and since my books are often set in the past, research is usually an essential element.  The trouble is I like research a little too much and easily can be swept away on a tide of fascinating internet content, far, far from the one small question I was trying to answer.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Yes.  Picture books are short, but today’s market often requires them to be shorter still.  So I may write a manuscript, set it aside, and work on another for a while.  Then after a break, I’ll come back to the first to see how much more I can tighten the language.  When I’ve worked on a book for a while, I sometimes feel I’ve written it as tightly as I can, but there are always more revisions possible when I look at a manuscript with fresh eyes.

Is there anything about yourself that you’d like to share - hobbies, where you were born, special talents other than writing/illustrating.

I’m good at rhyming. I can parody songs, write limericks about people, put just about anything in verse format. It’s not a very marketable trait because most picture books are written in prose, but it’s fun.