Debut Author Interviews

Kelly Bingham is the author of Shark Girl, a young adult novel in verse (Candlewick, Spring 2007)

• Kelly Bingham on...Family Appreciation
• Kelly Bingham on...Completion
• Kelly Bingham on...Critique Groups
• Kelly Bingham on...The Call
• Kelly Bingham on...Audience
• Kelly Bingham on...Surprises
• Kelly Bingham on...Writing Schedule
• Kelly Bingham on...Other Careers
• Kelly Bingham on...After-Sale Revisions
• Kelly Bingham on...Agents
• Kelly Bingham on...Prior Research
• Kelly Bingham on...Ideas
• Kelly Bingham on...Training
• Kelly Bingham on...Why Kids?
• Kelly Bingham on...Setting
• Kelly Bingham on...Celebrations
• Kelly Bingham on...Influential Books
• Kelly Bingham on...Ideal Reader
• Kelly Bingham on...Character and Self
• Kelly Bingham on...What's Next?
• Kelly Bingham on...Outlines
• Kelly Bingham on...Why Write?
• Kelly Bingham on...Book Memory
• Kelly Bingham on...Self-Help Books
• Kelly Bingham on...Website
• Kelly Bingham on...Cover Art
• Kelly Bingham on...Character's Conflict
• Kelly Bingham on...Taste in Books
• Kelly Bingham on...Favorite Bookstore

Now that you’re under contract, does your family better appreciate your writing?

My family has always been truly supportive, and never voiced doubt. Still, you’d have to assume after two years of listening to me say, “I’m working on my novel,” they would have had a few private misgivings. Everyone was thrilled when it sold, and I do think that now I have a bit more credibility when I say I’m working on my book!

How did you know you were “done” with your book and ready to submit it?

All I can say is, I finally reached a point where I felt there was not one more thing I would or could do to the manuscript—I was proud of it and my character’s story felt “complete.” Naturally this was after thousands of rewrites, but still—I finally made it.

Do you belong to a writing group?

No, but I do have some wonderful and very talented writer friends who will, when they can, read something I have that I need a fresh eye on. I find this assistance priceless. I return the favor when I can. There’s no way I could write anything without the help of my friends—they are an absolute must before anything comes close to being ready for an editor.

What happened when you received ‘The Call’ that your book would be published?

Just a week before my birthday, AND I had just barely begun exchanging emails with my online-dating-service hunky boyfriend, who is now my husband. I was alone, the kids were at school, and I was sitting down to write. Up popped an email from my editor, Liz Bicknell, at Candlewick, who I had been breathlessly waiting to hear from. She wrote, “I’d like to publish Shark Girl, please!”

I just screamed and screamed in my empty house. I called my friend, Betsy. She and I screamed into the phone several times, then lapsed into gasping, “Oh my God. I can’t believe this,” back and forth. I abruptly said, “I have to go, Liz may be trying to call!” Liz did call and we talked about the book and I tried to remain calm, but I felt like screaming some more with joy. Liz was just so wonderful and complimentary and spectacular. It was all I could do to remain professional. After I spoke to Liz, I called my family. Everyone. I cried. I think I laid on the floor and just stared at the ceiling, it was so overwhelming.

And relief. I felt relief that I had actually done it, and I had not been crazy for sticking to the project. That the people who had helped me, encouraged me, and stuck by me were now going to share in my happiness.

It was a joy to share the news with my classmates from Vermont College, my writing buddies. And to tell my mentors who had helped me so much with the book. But the best part was meeting my online dating service hunky boyfriend (who is now my husband) in person a couple weeks later, and being able to mention in a much calmer frame of mind, that yes, actually, I had just sold my second book.

Such a wonderful day!

Who is the target audience for your book?

SHARK GIRL is targeted for 14 and up. The main character is a fifeen-year old girl who turns sixteen during the course of the story.

Having said that, I think any reader 12 and up would enjoy this story. Especially readers who enjoy the poetry novel.

SHARK GIRL is for anyone who likes stories about uncontrollable, life changing events, and how a person deals with that. It’s about losing something you think you can’t live without, then discovering….maybe you can. It’s also about fitting in and not fitting in, the importance (and non-importance) of looking “normal”, the way kids treat each other in high school, the fallout of a disabling injury in a teen’s life as well as that of her family, and the capacity we all have to love and to overcome and move on.

What has surprised you the most so far?

I guess I thought once I wrote a book, the rest of my writing would come “easier.” As in, “I learned how to write a novel. Now I will write another one, and it will be easier and faster with each one.” Not so! As a wise mentor of mine (Jane Resh Thomas) once said, “Each book teaches you how to write THAT book, and that book only.”

So, even though I wrote a book and sold it, I still sit at my computer day after day, floundering, struggling, writing volumes of pages that get thrown away, and experiencing the usual feelings of doubt, dismay, worry, and frustration. I am still wandering down wrong paths, still trying to “find” my way with story structure and character development and arc and pacing, still feeling alone and confused. All the same worries and struggles are still here, and I can see that what I have been told by the veteran authors is true: This struggle is part of the writing process, always.

And why do we do this, exactly?

The other unexpected thing about becoming a writer was discovering what a super fantastic community there is out there of writers for children of all ages. People who write for kids are really wonderful, and I have been fortunate enough to find many dear friends. I feel truly lucky to be part of a group of such talented, supportive, smart, interesting, and diverse people.

What is your writing schedule?

All various attempts at a regular schedule have survived and been successful for short periods of time, then they crumble up and go away. In the past, “Two pages a day, every weekday,” has worked wonders. Now, I simply write when I can, and let go of the guilt when I can’t.

As for writing every day no matter what, forget it! We have lives after all, and writing is not supposed to be some kind of chore.

Having said that, if I only wrote when inspiration hit or I was in a creative mood, I would rarely write. Much, much, much of completing a novel is about discipline. And time in front of the computer writing stuff that may or may not be good, when you’d rather be doing something else. Anything else. This is the plain truth.

By the way, I count research related reading or internet surfing as writing time, too!

What career would you pursue if you weren’t a writer?

I spent most of my adult life working in the animation industry as a story artist. I love art and it has always been my “first” occupation and career. If I never wrote again, I would return to drawing, but hopefully, I will be able to combine the two at some point, and illustrate as well as write.

How much revision did you do AFTER you sold your book to your publisher?

Extremely little. And almost all of it centered around making the poems fit into the line limit per page. (There are a certain number of lines per page, and a few poems got cut off in a page turn right at an emotional moment, so we felt they’d be better off shorter.) My editor has been wonderful to work with on this novel and I love her ideas and the way she always expresses positive, complimenatry notes whenever the book is discussed at all. Such an attitude goes a long way to making me feel open and willing to tackle any revision she may ask.

Is an agent useful or necessary for a first-time author?

There is no question an agent can get your work read at places that would be otherwise closed off to an unpublished author with no representation. And yes, an agent can be an ally in shaping your career.

But an agent can bring their own handful of complications to the process, so choose wisely. Most agents now are something of editors: You may hear, “I’m not submitting this, I just don’t think it’s that good,” on a project you adore. You may hear, “I know you love this book but I really don’t get the ending. Let’s revise it together before we consider sending it out.” You may even hear, “Probably somebody would publish this, but it’s not going to make any money, so should we really be spending our time working on this project?” They may ask you to rewrite something in a way you don’t agree with, and you may reach an impasse on a book you slaved over for years.

You have to decide if you can deal with this. You also have to get as much information as possible about an agent you want before you sign with them. Find their clients and talk to them. I’m sure most agents are fantastic, but there are stories out there about agents that do not return phone calls, give mixed messages and little feedback on an editor’s response to a manuscript (even a rejetcion often comes with positive comments, and you need to hear those), some take lengthy vacations, a week or a month off, etc, etc. Some will not submit picture books. You need to understand what to realistically expect before you sign anything with any agent.

I had an agent myself for the first book I sold, and could not have sold it without her. Greenwillow is closed to unsolicited submissions—not to mention the personal contact my agent had with my editor there which went a long way towards getting the manuscript read right away—and this all resulted in my first sale.

I later parted ways with my agent, and am now agentless. I sold my second book, this novel (which is going to be my first book, as it turns out) on my own, with help from a fellow author who thought his editor would like my book, and let me use his name when sending it in. I handled the contract myself and did not use an attorney.

So, your options, when starting out, are limited, since so many houses are closed. But no, I don’t feel an agent is absolutely necessary. I would advise knowing who you are getting involved with and honestly assessing your personality type before agreeing to any working relationship.

Everyone is a different case. Do your work, get it great, then do your research on selling it after that. And whatever happens, keep trying. If you have a good story, agented or not, it will find a home.

How much research and/or meditation about your subject did you do before you began your first draft?

Well, for the ‘big picture’ answer, let me say that I began writing SHARK GIRL in summer 2001. It will be a real book on a real shelf in spring of 2007. So, six years in the making.

To be more specific, it took me three years to write the manuscript. SHARK GIRL is a poetry novel, but for the first year, I wrote it in prose and wandered down many wrong paths. I feel this was unavoidable; that I had to go there before I could find my groove. Once I did, it took two more years to complete. My story is about a girl who has her right arm bitten off by a shark. In 2004, just as I finished the mansucript, the very same thing happened to a real fifteen-year old girl in Hawaii. It was a horrendous and tragic coincidence. But even so, my agent at the time and I both decided we’d put the book away for a while. So it sat in a drawer for a year before I decided to submit it.

As for research, I knew nothing when I began writing about sharks or about amputation. I worried I’d mess up the facts, or represent the situation in an artificial way. I was terribly concerned about sounding condescending or glib or uninformed. Worry, worry, worry. So I read tons and tons, and then I surfed the net for vast amounts of information which I sorted through to the best of my ability. I can’t even guess the number of hours involved. I spoke to occupational therapists. I interviewed a maker of prosthetic limbs, and I interviewed a man who had lost his right hand early in life. How gracious a person do you have to be to grant a clueless author an interview, in which she asks personal questions about your life as someone with one hand? People really are brave and wonderful and amazing. And coming across people like this is one of the best parts of research.

Also, I had to research sharks and shark attacks! Ugh! Now I know more about both topics than I ever believed possible. I read chilling accounts, cold hard facts, and sorted through stomach churning photos. But as grueseome as it was at times, it was all necessary. And it helped me find my character and understand the facts. (And confirmed a lifelong belief that human beings should stay out of the ocean, period.)

The cool thing about research is that it doesn’t take you ‘away’ from your writing, even though you may spend hours each week doing it. It only adds to your writing. All of it is food for thought, so to speak, and all of it helps to expand your mind and your base of knowledge. And speaking for myself, I know that much of what I found in research sparked ideas for poems which found their way into the book.

Where did you get the idea for your book?

SHARK GIRL began in the summer of 2001, just before the September 11th attacks. At the time, the biggest story in the news was the rash of shark attacks that had happened that summer. There were many attacks but the one that stuck with me was a little boy who had his arm bitten off by a shark, and later reattached.

I remember thinking that for the rest of his life, that child would always be known for that. Then I started wondering what it would be like to lose part of one’s self in such a violent way, which would then be broadcast to the nation as evening news. So I started writing, with the intent to write from a young child’s persepctive. But my main character, Jane, stepped in. Jane was fifteen, an artist, and she had a lot to say. And she wouldn’t leave me alone until I just surrendered my original plan, and let her speak. So, the book became YA.

I think it goes without saying that this very event DID happen years after I’d started writing, in 2003 just as I finished my draft. It happened to a fifteen-year old girl in Hawaii. All I can say is that that was a horrible, tragic coincidence. I put the book away for a year, even though it was ready to submit, because it just looked too much like I had capitlalized on her loss, and been inspired to write my book based on that.

SHARK GIRL is fiction, and not based on any one person or event.

What writing training have you had?

For ten years, I took workshops, conferences, and the occasional writers’ day or something like that, mostly through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. And that was helpful. I had a critique group, and that was helpful. I read lots of books on “how to write children’s books.” I took a week long workshop through the Highlight’s Foundation and met Richard Peck, Ted Arnold, and many other people I stood in awe of, who encouraged me. That was all helpful, too. I had a pile of rejection letters, a pile of mediocre manuscripts, and a lot of hope.

Then I enrolled in the MFA program at Vermont College; and earned a master’s in Writing For Children and Young Adults.

By the way, a classic response to this information is: “Why do you need a master’s degree in order to write books? Can’t you just sit down and write?”

Well, yeah. For some people. But as I mentioned, ten years of trying to do just that, and I could see that I had gone as far as I was ever going to go, talent-wise and knowledge-wise. Two years at Vermont taught me more than I would have learned in a lifetime of self-teaching, and that’s no exaggeration. For me, the intensive, one-to-one teaching through Vermont is what taught me how to write, how to plot, how to understand structure and character and literature, all that stuff. The faculty there gave me the tools I needed to advance to the next level in my writing. It was the best gift I ever gave myself.

Why write for children and teens?

I’d really like to copy Marlane and G.Neri on this one—what perfect answers—so very true!

I write both for both adults and kids—but my YA and children’s books are the only ones I have ever tried to sell. They feel the most truthful to me. I guess I’m still stuck in those teen years—remembering all too well the agony and angst, the highs and lows, the emotional “Stuff” that comes with the territory of slowly leaving childhood behind. That’s the stuff I most want to write about and share.

Where is your novel set, and why there?

Another great question. But my answer is so simple it’s dull. My novel is set in Southern California because, at the time, that’s where I lived, so I felt I could set my characters inside that environment and let them walk around and I could see where they were. Also, I needed my story to take place near an ocean and a public beach. And the ocean needed to have a few sharks in it. So, there you are.

How did you celebrate your book sale?

I had already planned a weekend in NY, and found out just a few days ahead of time Candlewick wanted my book. I went to NY and had a wonderful time, feeling high on good fortune and happiness. I bought a scarf and somet toys from street vendors, feeling expansive. I returned home on my birthday and as my kids helped me blow out the candles on the cake, I had a spine-tingly feeling that my life was just beginning to turn a corner. A week later I met my amazing future husband on an amazing first date, and two months later I was engaged!

So, okay, that’s not really exactly “How I celebrated,” but all those events happening at once feels tied together somehow. Everything came into my life at once, so much love and good fortune that it far outweighed anything I could have bought myself or done.

When the actual advance check came, I took my kids out to dinner at a non-McDonald’s place. That was our big monetary treat!

What books had an impact on you when you were growing up?

All books impacted me in some way. The act of reading was something that fed my soul, and I read quite a bit growing up. I loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and must have reread each one a hundred times. In short, I was always reading, and good or bad, I would lose myself in the story entirely. I think the fascination with the very concept of writing something down that could take people to another world and another time is something most writers have in common—it’s pretty rare to meet a writer that was not a reader at an early age.

This is not to say a person cannot start writing at any age, no matter what their background, of course. The world needs good stories, always.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I’ve got to be honest here—anyone would be my ideal reader. I feel my story deals with themes that apply to all ages and groups—who hasn’t felt isolated, weird, different or judged among peers? Who hasn’t dealt with loss and wondered how they could get past it?

It is my hope I have lots of different readers for SHARK GIRL, and that everyone finds something they can relate to.

Is your main character like yourself?

Jane Arrowood, like all characters from my work, is a mesh of different things. Yes, parts of me are in her. But most parts of her are borrowed from friends and family, strangers I’ve observed or overheard, and nebulous teen emotions and ways of thinking that I remember from myself and friends at that painful age.

And of course, large parts of her are her own, entirely fictional, the result of an identity that mysteriously comes together when you mesh different pieces of people and imagination into a fictional character. That’s one of my favorite parts of the writing process—when your characters begin to take life as you write, and THEY start telling YOU how they would react, what they would say, etc. It’s very fun.

What’s next after your debut novel?

Wow, I have to follow everyone’s exciting answer with the dull and honest: “I have several projects in the works, for all different age groups. I have yet to settle on which one will be my next focus.”

A middle grade novel, an easy reader I am illustrating, a contemporary YA novel, and a collection of short stories of historical fiction. All are calling to me, and I’m giving each my attention until one project settles to the foreground.

But in the short term? What’s next is time with the family, a vacation or two, and lots of reading—I have at least 38 books I can’t wait to get to, thanks to my classmates!

Do you outline before writing?

No outline. I usually start with a premise. Then a character. Then I start writing.

I usually write out of sequence, writing scenes I “know” I want. As I do this, more and more scenes naturally create themselves or come to mind. I circle around, keep going, and discover the end pretty much when I get there. Then I feel great…for about five minutes.

Then I throw out huge parts of my writing, and start the reconstruction process, replacing old scenes with new ones, adding new characters or killing off old ones, and always working towards that ending. It’s really a long, round-about way to do it, but it works for me.

Why do you write?

Because I want to. And I don’t always want to, so I don’t always write. But it’s part of my life and who I am and what I do…among many other things. I can’t see abandoning it entirely, even when I get frustrated and need a break, it’s always just a break. I love to tell stories and make sense of the world around me. Writing helps me do that.

What is your earliest book memory?

“Lamont, the Lonely Monster” is one of the earliest books I remember. It was about six inches by six inches, and had a series of lift the flaps, each one revealing something fascinating about Lamont. I also remember a scratch and sniff Christmas book my mom used to read to me….the scents were orange, peppermint, gingerbread, hot chocolate, and Christmas Tree….I loved that.

What are some of your current favorite writing or author-help books?

How To Write A Children’s Book And Get it Published, by Barbara Seuling, and Writing Books For Young People, by James Cross Giblin. Both were instrumental tools of knowledge when I started out, and I still turn to them from time to time for a refresher course. Also when I first began submitting, Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market was very helpful.

Do you have a website for your book? How did you handle setting it up?

I have a website that I put together myself. Nothing fancy, but I am proud of it. (Although it is still under construction.) The best part is checking to see if anyone has signed into my guestbook and who they are and where they’re from, what they want to say. I started it to reach out to my readers, and to have some fun. I hope everyone stops by!

www.kellybingham.net

Did the art director read your entire book to get inspiration for the cover?

I’m actually not sure…but I would have to think YES, since the cover encompasses so many small details mentioned in Shark Girl. For example, I have one line in the whole book about my main character wearing a pink bikini to the beach the day of her attack…and on the cover, she is wearing one. Wow. Also, the photo on the cover is framed so that the right half of the girl’s body is cut out of frame…echoing the loss of my main character so clearly. There is also a film strip motif on the left hand side of the cover with images of disturbed water…also echoing a story element in the book (her attack is caught on tape.) I was apprehensive what my cover would look like, but when I saw it, I was so pleased. Stunned, really…Candlewick did an amazing job designing this cover. I am one hundred percent thrilled!

What drew you to the conflict you created for your main character?

Without getting completely personal and self-indulgent, I will just say that at the time I began SHARK GIRL, I was feeling a great sense of loss, and my little world had been turned upside down. About the same time, I read about the shark attacks sweeping the news. (This was summer of 2001.) When I began to write about a young boy involved in a life-changing shark attack, an older female character kept stepping into my head. She wanted the story to be about her. So I listened, and I wrote, drawn to her pain, her courage, her setbacks, and her journey back to putting her life together. I had no idea how the story would unfold as I wrote it, but that was half the fun; finding out as I went. Writing SHARK GIRL was a wonderful experience.

Do you have different taste in kids’ books as an adult writer than as a kid?

Only my taste in subject matter has changed. I loved to read as a kid…mysteries and fun, sweet, stories…couldn’t bear books where animals suffered, like Black Beauty or Lassie Come Home. I liked to read about animals, mostly, and kids in the twelve-year old range. I couldn’t read scary things. They gave me nightmares.

I still avoid books where anybody suffers unduly, but I do lean more now towards reflective writing. I just love the No. 1 Ladie’s Detective Agency series, for example. So wonderful, so life affirming!

And I have matured enough to where I can handle a little death or a little gore in my mysteries. (But only a little.)

But as far as my tastes….I like well-written, well-crafted books, the kind you don’t want to see end. That hasn’t changed!

Do you have a favorite bookstore?

The Flying Pig, in Vermont, is an awesome bookstore!!

I also love the little bookstore in Wellesly, MA.

But I have to admit, I’m easy as far as bookstores go. Give me a good selection and a friendly environment, and I’m happy.