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MEET TERRY PIERCE
by Bonnie O'Brian

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

Terry Pierce

My family moved a lot ( Texas, New York, Washington state, California), but no matter when we ended up, I always enjoyed spending time outside, in nature. I was 100% “tomboy” and loved to explore everything I could. I was not afraid of getting dirty! One of my favorite pastimes was climbing trees to bird watch. My other love was reading. I even made my own “library” in my bedroom and would have “story hour” and read to my stuffed animals.

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?

When I was elementary school age, I wrote a lot of poetry at home. I used to make my own poetry “books” that I also illustrated. When I was in high school, in addition to poetry-writing, I did a lot of journaling. I believe that journaling is a healthy and creative way for teens to express themselves and work through some of the issues they face. I know it helped me.

What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer – adult or children?

Without a doubt, children. I was a Montessori teacher for twenty-two years so writing for children felt as natural to me as breathing.

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

When I first started writing, I had so many manuscripts rejected in the book market that I decided to give the magazine market a try. I had a few articles accepted (which immensely helped my ego) and that gave me the confidence to resume book-writing. My first book acceptance was for a joke book, which was accepted by the second publisher to which I submitted. When it was accepted, I counted all of my rejection letters I’d received before that time and they totaled 160 (that’s not a typo). Suffice it to say, persistence and willingness to learn are the keys to success—a message I like to give students .

What are the topics are some of your books?

Five of my books are about Hawaii. My picture book, TWO TALES OF HAWAII, tells two stories about how the Hawaiian Islands were formed; the Myth of Pele and the science of geology. I also have an educational coloring book series about Hawaii. Additionally, I have three joke and riddle books: GREATEST GOOFIEST JOKES, GOOFY KNOCK-KNOCKS, and PET JOKES

THAT WILL MAKE YOU HOWL (co-authored with Ruth Musgrave). My most recent book is an emergent-level easy reader called, TAE KWON DO! It’s about a brother and sister attending their Tae Kwon Do class.

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

Absolutely. I usually have at least two stories going on at the same time, but they are not usually within the same genre. For example, this past year I worked on my first novel, an easy reader, and a picture book series.

Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?

Yes, I generally work about seven hours a day. I look at writing as my career, so I continually work at it. I write creatively at least one hour a day, depending on the project. Sometimes I write up to four hours a day. I spend the rest of the time doing other writing-related work (school visits, speaking events, submitting manuscripts, promotional work, SCBWI-related activities).

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

I really want to turn kids onto writing. I love it when a teacher writes me and says that I reached a reluctant writer through my riddle-writing activity. The focus of my presentation is that there are many different ways to write; riddle-writing, poetry, fiction stories, non-fiction stories, articles, coloring books, songs or puzzles. I want kids to see that just because they might not like one type of writing, that doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy another kind of writing. My motto is, “Writing is fun and there are many ways to do it!”

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

No, I majored in early childhood development then did my Montessori training as post-graduate work. I wanted to teach, most of all, but I always enjoyed writing, whether it be writing the school newsletter, journaling, correspondence or writing articles to distribute to the parents of my students. It wasn’t until my early 40’s that I developed a strong desire to write for children, so after twenty-two years of teaching, I went against all sound advice and quit teaching to pursue a writing career. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.