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Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET DEBORAH UNDERWOOD (5/2011)
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| Deborah Underwood |
I particularly loved HARRIET THE SPY, THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, the Narnia books, MRS. COVERLET’S MAGICIANS, and a lovely book (unfortunately out of print now) called CATHIE RUNS WILD. I also liked more old-fashioned offerings like THIMBLE SUMMER and THE GOOD MASTER. But basically I read everything, fiction and nonfiction. I ordered stacks of books from the Scholastic Book Club and devoured them. Everyone in my house read constantly, even at the dinner table. Even today, you can tell which books were my childhood favorites: they have wrinkled pages from being dropped in the bathtub!
What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer – adult or children?
Initially I thought I’d write for adults. I sold a few magazine articles not long after I left college, and I also tried my hand at writing screenplays, puzzles, and even greeting cards. But I finally realized that since I prefer reading children’s books to reading adult ones, it made more sense for me to be writing for kids.
What was your first job when you graduated from college?
My first job was as a street musician in San Francisco. I played guitar and sang folk songs down at Fisherman’s Wharf. My degree is in Philosophy/Music, so in a way it was a logical career move! I met all kinds of people from all over the world, including military people, homeless men and women, artists, even the chairman of an Australian oil company. It was a great job for a future writer.
Was your first book accepted immediately? or did you experience a number of rejections?
GRANNY GOMEZ & JIGSAW was my first picture book that sold. I did get a number of rejections on it, but some were “good” rejections: rejections with personal notes from editors inviting me to send more work rather than just form letters. In fact, the editor who gave me my very first good rejection acquired THE QUIET BOOK many years later!
Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you findone easier than the other?
I write both fiction and nonfiction, and enjoy both. I learn so much when I write nonfiction books. I often get to connect with interesting scientists and other experts. And I love writing fiction because I don’t need to spend hours checking facts—I get to make everything up!
Have any of your books earned special recognition?
THE QUIET BOOK is an ALA Notable Book and an E.B. White Read-Aloud Award Picture Book Honor Book. It also received the Crystal Kite Award for the California-Nevada region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is part of the 2011 Elementary California Collection. A BALLOON FOR ISABEL received a 2010 Lupine Honor Award in the picture book category. It is also a Smithsonian Notable Book, and is on the Children’s Choices 2011 Reading List.
Have any of your fiction stories been about real people or event?
GRANNY GOMEZ & JIGSAW was inspired by Babe, a pig I met at a Farm Sanctuary. I visited her a number of times and fell in love with her. Pigs form close relationships, and I was touched by how devoted Babe was to her best friend, Tracy. Babe’s great capacity for friendship moved me to write the story.
When is your next book going to be in bookstores?
THE LOUD BOOK, a companion volume to THE QUIET BOOK, came out in April 2011. Like THE QUIET BOOK, it was illustrated by Renata Liwska and published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. PART-TIME PRINCESS (illustrated by Cambria Evans and published by Disney*Hyperion) will be released in 2012, as will THE CHRISTMAS QUIET BOOK.