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MEET MARISA MONTES
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child, and what books influenced you most when you were growing up?

I was born in 1951, so I grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s. I loved books, and I especially loved mysteries, ghost & spooky stories, adventures, books about animals, and books with lots of humor. Some of my favorite books when I was a kid were ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS; THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND; GHOSTS, GHOSTS, GHOSTS; WITCHES, WITCHES, WITCHES; and the very funny “Little Eddie” books by Carolyn Haywood. I also loved folktales and reading biographies of gutsy, famous women like Joan of Arc, Annie Oakley, Amelia Earhart, Betsy Ross, Dolly Madison, Mary Maples Doge, Pocahontas, Sacagawea, and others. I never forgot those names. The stories of these courageous women made me aspire to be like them—they were my role models and helped me become a feminist before “feminism” became a movement in the early 1970s.

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? What was your first job when you graduated from college?

As a child, I was an avid reader. I thought books were magical and believed that the people who created them had to be close to deity. It never entered my mind that I could climb to such heights, so it never occurred to me that writing could be part of my future. Instead, my parents always steered me toward a profession like medicine or law, which is what I finally pursued. Also, as a kid, I never liked my own writing, and I couldn’t write decent fiction as hard as I might try for class assignments. As a teenager, my writing was good, but I knew I was just writing what I knew adults wanted to hear and it wasn’t from the heart or very original. So I went to law school and became a lawyer.

But fate intended for me to be a writer, and within a few years, my law degree took me into legal writing and publishing. Still, legal writing wasn’t the same as writing novels and short stories. In my mind, I was still a lawyer, not a writer—I could write well technically, but that didn’t make me a writer. I was in my mid-thirties when finally, an idea for a story struck me, and it turned into a fantasy novel. I began the novel on a cold, rainy autumn morning, and I started the story with an adventure in a thunder storm, so the inspiration must have been the rain. The novel never became publishable, but it taught me that I could write an entire novel and that I really was a writer! The only way I could explain the releasing of the writer who had been buried deep inside me was that I had been writing law books for over a year, and that boring, tedious writing unleashed my creative side. My first novel also taught me that my voice was in children’s books.

How soon after that was your first book published? Where was it published? Was your first book accepted immediately, or did you experience a number of rejections?

I wrote my first book, a novel, in fall 1987, and began to submit it right away. The first novel was never published—neither was the second or the third. I continued to write other novels and picture books and to submit them. Finally, in April 1996, I received my first contract: a Puerto Rican folktale collection was accepted for a folklore series by Fulcrum Publishing. But the series was discontinued a year later, and my contract was cancelled before the book was published. Also in 1996, another folktale, a picture book, had been accepted by Rosemary Brosnan at Lodestar Book (part of Dutton). Lodestar closed its doors in 1997, but Rosemary took my book with her to Morrow Junior Books. Morrow was purchased by HarperCollins, so my first picture book finally came out 3 years later in fall 2000, JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK—13 years after I started writing. In 1998, my fourth novel was accepted by Harcourt, and was also published in fall 2000, SOMETHING WICKED’S IN THOSE WOODS. Two months later, Harcourt accepted a second novel (which was written 2 years before it was accepted), and it was published in spring 2002, A CIRCLE OF TIME.

I had been writing and submitting my picture books and novels to publishers since 1987, often working on more than one book at once, so yes, I received plenty of rejections. If you want to be a published writer, you need to develop tough skin and get used to the word, “No.”

What kinds of things inspire you to write and trigger your imagination? Where do you get your ideas?

Music: It takes me to a place outside myself and into another world—a world I can see, hear, smell, and capture in words.

Things I believe in or want to believe are true: Undying and true love, a supportive and loving family, life after death, time travel, ghosts, righting of wrongs, do-overs when you’ve made a mistake, justice for the underdog, superheroes.

Memories: My childhood and other personal experiences often trigger stories. My humorous third-grade series, GET READY FOR GABÍ (2003-2004, Scholastic), is very autobiographical.

What are the topics are some of your books? Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you enjoy researching or do you prefer working totally from your imagination? Do you find one easier than the other?

I was born in Puerto Rico of Puerto Rican parents and came to the mainland US when I was four—my father was in the US Army, and after he returned from the Korean War, my mother an I went where he went. As an only child, I had to learn English quickly if I wanted to play with other kids. When I was 7, we moved to France and we lived in the town of Toul, rather than on the army base, because my mother wanted me to learn the French language and culture. Again, I had to learn a new language quickly to make friends. I spoke 3 languages each day—Spanish at home, English in school, and French to my friends. One of my present hobbies is studying foreign languages and listening to French news radio on the Internet. Being multi-lingual was an integral part of who I was. So was being a Puerto Rican American and a woman. All these parts of me have influenced the stories I write.

I write about Puerto Rico and being “Boricua,” a native of PR, and about the importance of speaking more than one language—especially if you are living in a country in which you were not born. All my female characters, main or minor, are strong and gutsy or learn to overcome any weaknesses they may have and discover their inner strength. I come from a supportive, loving family with lots of pets, and I believe in undying and true love (my husband and I have been married almost 32 years and is incredibly supportive of my writing). So most of my books also involve love and family and animals. And most of my stories are chock full of humor or have a few giggles blended into the more serious story because my family has taught me that laughter can get us through the tough times. Since I love mysteries, time travel, and ghost and adventure stories, I write these genres, but also weave in the themes that have played such an integral role in my life. The novel that blends all my loves and passions into one story is A CIRCLE OF TIME(2002, Harcourt). It is intended for all ages and is a ghost story, mystery, time-travel adventure, and love story about the struggles of 3 generations of very strong women. It is the favorite of my books, and probably the most fulfilling and rewarding to write.

Because I did so much researched writing during the 15 years that I practiced and wrote about the law, I prefer writing purely from my imagination and focusing on fiction. However, even in fantasy, a certain amount of research is necessary to get things right. So when I wrote my first supernatural mystery, SOMETHING WICKED’S IN THOSE WOODS (2000, Harcourt), I spent a great deal of time researching poltergeists and the supernatural. The study of the paranormal is a serious area of research that has merited a place in many important colleges, and I didn’t want to mock it or demean it by making up nonsense. I also did a great deal of research when writing my Puerto Rican folktales and the stories of Juan Bobo (like JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK, 2000, HarperCollins). But even then, my favorite part was the translating and interpreting of the tales. Although fiction is my first love, I do hope to write one or two non-fiction picture book biographies some day, and that will take serious research. Neither fiction nor non-fiction is easy to write, but my “children’s “ voice seems better suited to fiction. Non-rhyming, mainstream picture books (as opposed to folktales) are the hardest books for me to write.

I got the idea from a tiny, 4-line Halloween poem on a post card that my mentor and fellow children’s author, Barbara Steiner, sent me gave me. The meter and the words sang to me, and I played with some spooky Spanish words, a parade of creepy characters, a bit of a plot, a twist at the end, and voilà! Or should I say Olé?

JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK (2000, HarperCollins): The Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration; and A California Readers “2006,2005, 2004,2003 California Collections” Selection

SOMETHING WICKED’S IN THOSE WOODS (2000, Harcourt): A Junior Literary Guild Selection

A CRAZY, MIXED-UP SPANGLISH DAY (2003, Scholastic): A Sunshine State Selection

LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN (2006, Holt): The Pura Belpré Award for Illustration; and The Pura Belpré Honor for Writing and A California Readers “2007 California Collections” Selection

Here is an email I received from a young reader in Taiwan (I’ve deleted her name)—it’s long, but worth reading:

I am xxxx xxx, from grade 7, attending Taipei American School. I love fantasies. If I end up with a fantasy book, I could be endorsed in it forever.

A few days ago, I borrowed your book from the library. The book itself was so realistic and fun and interesting, it made me skip my lunch and break to read it. I mean it was really great. This is very embarrassing but I cried at the end.

As I was reading this book, I felt like I was a 3rd person, actually watching the whole scenario, but at the same time, I was Allison, feeling the love towards Joshua. Of course, I felt Becky as well inside me, but I felt closer to Allison, not because of the time difference, because of the fact that she's nearly been through something almost as exact as my experience.

Almost an year ago, I was diagnosed diabetes. That time I didn't even know what diabetes was or that I had it. I just felt sick and uncomfortable. People told me I looked so skinny that it looked like I was meatless and advised me to go see the doctor. But for me, hospital was always not such a pleasant place for going so I left my blood glucose over 500mg/cc for over a month. My best friend from Korea, who does not have an adequate amount of money had visited me that time. But I couldn't have fun with her because of the condition I was in.

The first sign of danger came on the second day of school. The 7th grade lockers are on the 3rd floor and I never found it difficult to walk up the stairs to the third floor. However, the first and second day, it was so exhausting that I could barely lift my legs up each step. Then I just collapsed on the stairs and was carried to the nurse. It wasn't considered so serious then because everyone thought it was because of my diet and weightloss. However, the next day, I went to an amusement park with my best friend and I fainted there. I was carried to a nearby hospital which is small and does not see much of serious situations for a checkup. Then I went through all the basic checkups. When they told me to lie down, I fainted. Just before losing my consiousness, I remember seeing my mother's tears. I've never seen her tears before because my mother is a very strong, confident person. That was all the memory I had until I woke up in the ICU in the biggest hospital in Taipei.

When I woke up, I couldn't move at all, breathe, talk, hear, or even see anything properly. My mother came twice a day, staying by my side and soothing me. That time is when I thought the exact same thing Allison thought: I have been so harsh to my mother and never thanked for all the little things she'd done for me. I think I really understand how Allison feels when she is by her mother's side because I was just like her, unable to talk, unable to do anything at all. The only difference was that I was in my body, and not unconsious. After I came out of the ICU, I I realized that something was wrong on my left breast. The doctors said I needed a surgery to cut it out. The surgery went on for 3 hours because the breast was a very sensitive part of the body and my skin was too thin to properly sew the cut part up.

I remember that when I woke up, I was still dizzy from the anesthesia. I had another surgery after I came out of the hospital because the part where it was sewn up had broke open again. It was the hardest time of my life. I never thought being sick could be this bad. And I learned to thank my parents, espeicially my mother for everything.

Oh, I'm so sorry I talked about myself so much. I actually wrote this letter to tell you how much I loved your book! It was amazing. I really wish you could visit my school and I can buy a proper copy of your book.

I'm sure that if you get to write a sequel, it would be great as well. I just adore the way you write and I wish myself to write that way. I've always liked writing. When I grow up, I really want to write my childhood, and tell everyoneelse about diabetes in a more familiar way then a textbook or a nonfiction, information book.

I really really wish you could come to our school. I wouldn't know what to do if you came. I'd be so happy that I could sing a solo in the lobby(I'm not the best singer in the world : P) If you can come, could you come before next summer? I am planning to go to a boarding school after 8th grade in TAS. It would be fine if you came to the boarding school but I'd really like for my friends and acquaintances to know about your book and actually read it.

I'm extremely sorry for my letter being really long. But I really really *100000000000000000000 loved your book. To me, it would be the best book I've ever read in my lifetime.

MEET MARISA MONTES by Bonnie O'Brian

MEET MARISA MONTES
by Bonnie O'Brian