GRACE BANKER AND HER HELLO GIRLS ANSWER THE CALL- Part II. Author & Illustrator Interviews + Giveaway

 Last week I introduced you to Claudia Friddell's book, Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls. Today you're going behind the scenes on the story as well as learn interesting tidbits about the illustration process from the illustrator, Elizabeth Baddeley.  There is one thing that all of the nonfiction authors I have interviewed have in common: curiosity. Claudia's backstory is a great example of that!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

CAROL: I understand that reading the book, The Hello Girls, was what prompted you to write this picture book. But what led you to that book? 

CLAUDIA: I found Elizabeth Cobb’s book when I was researching the story of Thomas Edison making up the word ‘hello’ to use as a telephone greeting. Elizabeth’s book The Hello Girls popped up and the blurb intrigued me so I preordered it. As soon as I got it, I read it in two sittings and was completely captivated by these remarkable women and their pioneering contributions to the military and our country which were unrecognized for 60 years. I thought Grace Banker was an inspiring leader and role model for kids today, so I decided to make her the subject of my kid-friendly version of the Hello Girls’ story. 

CAROL: Was it difficult tracking down Elizabeth Cobbs?

CLAUDIA: I thought it might be tricky to connect with Elizabeth, but I very much wanted her to be my expert if she was willing. It was not difficult to find her academic email address so I wrote her. She was incredibly gracious and helpful. When I spoke to her on the phone she invited me to join her in Washington DC for the screening of Jim Theres’ award-winning documentary, also called The Hello Girls. (I recommend everyone see it.  It’s fabulous!) There, I did not only meet Elizabeth and Jim, but I connected with Grace Banker’s niece, Carolyn Timbie, who was an invaluable contributor for my book. She shared Grace’s treasure chest of WWI mementos as well as Grace’s personal diary which I incorporated into my text. 

Carolyn invited me to her family’s lake cabin that her grandmother Grace and her grandfather built before Carolyn was born. There, at the same table where Grace sat, I found so many treasures—one of which was the faded handwritten Soldier’s Poem that is included in the back matter. I think that’s proof enough that the male soldiers considered these female telephone operators who enabled battlefield communications to be US soldiers as well!

As an aside and shout out to the importance of research—a nonfiction author’s treasure hunt—while I was researching Edison’s ‘hello’ story, I not only found the Hello Girls’ story, but I also learned about the camping trips of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford that pioneered recreational camping. You never know what treasures you’ll find when you dig into history!

CAROL: That is so amazing and so true!

By the way, Claudia's next book from Calkins Creek (releasing in October) is Road Trip: Camping with the Four Vagabonds: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs!

ILLUSTRATOR INTERVIEW

CAROL: What medium did you use?

ELIZABETH: The medium is a combination of acrylic paint and ink drawings that I composited in Photoshop and added more color to.

CAROL: It seemed like there is a patriotic color theme going on. Am I right?

ELIZABETH: The red-white-blue theme was not intentional. I did intentionally use blue because the uniforms were a dark navy. As for the red, I just like it and tend to use it a lot! 

Here are some notes about Elizabeth's research from the Artist's Note which is part of the Back Matter.

As it so happens, I live in Kansas City, Missouri--the home of the National World War I Museum and Memorial. When I first began working on this book, I paid a visit to the museum. They have everything you could possibly want to see related to WWI, but most importantly for me, Grace Banker's actual uniform and helmet! I was able to sit and draw her uniform standing right in front of me...I looked at photographs, postcards, and even diary entries before ever putting pencil to paper. I love to be creative and have fun getting messy with ink and paint, but the real work always starts with the research.

GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment by June 20 to enter this giveaway. If you haven't already left a comment on the first blog, do so now and you'll have two chances! If you prefer, email me at cbaldwin6@me.com. U.S. addresses only. 

Jenn Bower: Process Makes Perfect-- "Authorstrator" Part II

In last week's blog, I promised a glimpse into Jenn Bower's artistic process. True to my word, Jenn takes us inside her uber-creative brain.

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CAROL: Once you have an idea, what's your next step? How many sketches do you do before you know if an idea is working or not? Do you do the sketches digitally? Do you write the text first or draw the images first?

JENN: My process is still evolving.  99% percent of the time I’ve no clue what I am doing.  I simply have this urge to do something!  It’s unbearable if I don’t.  I generate many of my ideas through Tara Lazar’s November PiBoIdMo, as I mentioned last week.  I also like using Scholastic’s Story Starter’s website. 

When I am extremely lucky I’ll have a light bulb moment, typically while walking the dog.  Sometimes an idea will spring forth from a sketch especially if I find myself sketching the same character.  The biggest key to a successful idea is making sure it’s a person, place, thing, idea that you love.  I love nature, I love horses, dogs, cats, cows, frogs and birds, I love quirky and slightly subversive kids, I love little towns, barn, and farms.  When you love deeply you know intimately and I believe that translates to the words you write and the pictures you draw.  I will likely never write about monsters, clowns, snakes or life in the big, big city.  I’ve no desire to have a long-term relationship with those characters.

Much of my process depends on my mood and energy level.  As a single parent working ‘normal’ 8-5 hours, some days I may only have 20 minutes to an hour to work on my craft.    I am a very linear thinker and process most of my information internally before I ever commit to anything on paper.  It drives most people I know crazy.  I know an idea is worth developing if I clearly see the characters and images in my head and I can sense the story arc. My personality needs clear direction in order to move forward.  The book out on submission right now with my agent, Danielle Smith – Red Fox Literary, was that way.  It started with a PiBoIdMo 2012 idea. Then a single sketch.  It percolated in my synapses for another year before I grabbed a legal pad and began writing the story out long hand.

Once I have the bones of the story I then move to my laptop and begin the arduous revision journey.  Namely, cutting down the word count.  Then it goes to my agent for her thumbs-up before I move to thumbnail sketches.  During this part of the process I will pretty quickly pick up any flaws in the pacing or story-arc, so the manuscript keeps evolving.  All my sketches are analog – pencil to paper.  The number of sketches I do often depends on how well formed the images are in my mind.  Some pages I see clearly.  Others are literally blanks so I will do a lot of loose, sloppy copy, gesture drawing to shake out the image.  

I also employ an old Interior Design tactic: tracing paper.

This allows me to layer elements on a sketch and move things around.  I love this phase.  The story really comes to life with the pictures.  I know the image is right when there is magic on the page and I feel this tremendous sense of gratitude. I am pretty spiritual so if I find myself saying, “YES! Thank you God.” then I know I’ve gotten it right.  I also check for action, reaction, and interaction occurring on the page.

CAROL How do you know when to take an idea all the way to a book?

JENN Once I’ve completed all the sketches and firmed up the manuscript I scan everything into Photoshop and lay in the text.  Hopefully I’ve allotted room for the words in my images and allowed for white space and some quiet pages.  All sketches are then shared with Danielle for her review, comments, edit requests and approval.  She typically shares with me which sketches she’d like to see in color comps for the Picture Book Dummy.  Then I begin the painting phase.  For my current submission we went through about five rounds of color edits before she said we were ready to submit.

Join us next week when Jenn discusses and demonstrates the digital tools she uses to paint these wonderful drawings!