 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET ELIZABETH SHREEVE
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
| Elizabeth Shreeve |
Reading gave me endless delight; I was a total and complete bookworm. I adored animals and was fortunate to have parents willing to put up with a house full of beagles, stray cats, goldfish, canaries, salamanders, caterpillars, butterflies, and other critters that my brothers and I brought home. I loved riding my bike at top speed—such freedom!—and climbing trees, taking ballet, drawing and painting, and playing the flute. The music helped with writing – it gives rhythm and pace.
What books influenced you most when you were growing up?
I loved fantasy (the Oz books, the Narnia books, THE HOBBIT, DUNE, A WRINKLE IN TIME, MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE, MARY POPPINS, DR. DOLITTLE, THE RESCUERS, THE ROOTABAGA STORIES) AND ADVENTURE (LITTLE HOUSE IN THE WOODS, NANCY DREW, THE SECRET GARDEN). My mother and I used to read poetry to each other, and my dad read the Lord of the Rings book aloud to the family (he was an excellent Gollum!).
If you didn’t write as a child, then when did you start writing and what inspired you to start?
As a child I didn’t write many stories, just lots of (bad) poems and journals. My early ambition was to be a librarian so that I could read, read, read. I rediscovered my love of children’s books when sharing books with my sons. Then, exactly a year after my mom’s sudden death, a story popped into my head like a gift. That story became my first published book (HECTOR SPRINGS LOOSE, Aladdin, 2004), and I’ve been writing ever since. Sometimes grief does that—it shakes you up and makes you discover a new part of yourself.
Do you do other types of writing - for example, educational, nonfiction, magazine work?
As part of my “other” career in the field of environmental design, I write reports, marketing material, and articles on urban design and landscape. And I have to say that architects are visual thinkers and don’t have much tolerance for wordiness…just like kids!
Where do you get your ideas?
When I talk to children about writing, sometimes I say that ideas can come from all parts of us: the head, the funny-bone, the heart. In other words, we get inspired by what we study and read, by what makes us laugh, and by what makes us joyful or sad or lonely or hopeful. To me, the most satisfying stories contain a bit of all of these. I get ideas from my family and from what I observe. Writers are always observing! Also words themselves are a terrific source of pleasure and interest. Like…how about the word “kerfuffle”?
What gave you the idea for OLIVER AT THE WINDOW?
OLIVER AT THE WINDOW was inspired by a memory of my little stepson waiting to see who would pick him up from nursery school. Like many kids whose parents have split up, David was never quite sure whether mom or dad would show up. I wrote the story as a way to reassure that little guy (now a big, tall college graduate) as well as other kids who feel bewildered or alone when they start new schools or things happen in the adult world that they don’t understand. OLIVER is dedicated to my stepson; it came straight from my heart.
What really triggers your imagination?
The natural world, jokes, animals, being around kids, and anything that makes me feel passionate about a person or a situation. I often get ideas when I’m walking outdoors by myself, not thinking about anything in particular; it’s like the ideas have to slip in sideways.
Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?
In addition to raising my kids, I have a job with deadlines and travel. So I don’t write every day but I try to get up early to capture some productive morning hours whenever I can. Then on the occasional weekend I pack up my computer and head off to a non-stop writing retreat by myself or with some other writers.
What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?
I want kids to know that reading is fun. It makes the world bigger and brighter; it takes us to places we would never otherwise get to visit. Reading is like P.E. for your brain.