SAVING LADY LIBERTY: An Author Interview with Claudia Friddell - Part I

 Last week I reviewed Claudia Friddell's picture book biography, Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty.  I promised you an author interview and not only are you going to receive one post revealing Claudia's writing and researching process--but two! I hope you enjoy learning about Claudia's passion to share Pulitzer's fight and how she communicates that passion to her readers--both young and old. 

INSPIRATION

 

CAROL: What was your inspiration for Saving Lady Liberty? 

CLAUDIA: When I visited Liberty Island with friends six years ago, I was surprised to see Joseph Pulitzer’s statue in the sculpture garden that honors the five founders of the Statue of Liberty. When I went home and started to dig for treasure—that’s code for research! — I learned that if not for Joseph Pulitzer’s first crowd funding effort to raise money for the pedestal, Lady Liberty would not be standing in New York’s harbor. I felt like this was an important, patriotic American story that kids should know. Adults should know it, too!

 

 

Claudia (on the far right) at the Statue of Liberty in 2015
with a fellow teacher
and a former student's family.
. 

CAROL: Can you speak about your writing process? I would also love to hear about the different versions you created and how your editor, Carolyn Yoder, helped you pull them together. 

 

WRITING PROCESS

 

CLAUDIA: My writing process can vary depending on the subject, but I do have a few constants. 

 

The journey of writing a book can take years, so for me I need to answer yes to the following questions before heading out on that long and winding road: 

·      Can this real-life event read like a kid-friendly story? 

·      Is there something familiar and historically significant (the Statue of Liberty) combined with something virtually unknown, historically significant, and interesting to kids (Pulitzer’s crowd funding campaign to save the Statue of Liberty)?

·      Is the story timely and relevant for kids today?

 

Once I’m all in, I read everything I can about my subject from adult biographies, articles, diaries, and interviews to every children’s book I can find relating to the subject.

I take tons of handwritten notes. I often organize my content and sources in a notecard file box. This is especially helpful when writing nonfiction to keep track of sources and quotes. I am also big on writing outlines— I start broad and add layers of detail.

Finding the voice and my literary style is the hardest part for me. Once I have a plan, I get on the computer and start writing…thousands of drafts! I find it helpful to make dummies with sticky notes for my picture books.

 

Frequently I try writing my books a few different ways. I initially struggled to find the best way to weave together Pulitzer’s story with Lady Liberty’s journey. I wrote many different versions and finally showed my editor two of my favorite beginnings. She pointed out sections of each version that she liked, and I went back to work. Her invaluable input helped me find my voice and my story.

 

CAROL: Please expound on the “treasure chest” of documents you found while researching—and the people who helped you. How did you know when your research was done? 

 

CLAUDIA: I know it sounds corny, but I really do consider the research process to be a treasure hunt. Hidden in old documents, letters, newspapers, articles, journals, and diaries there are fascinating nuggets of information that help bring true stories from long ago to life.

 

While I was reading another book about the Statue of Liberty, I saw a wonderful quote from a child’s donation letter in response to Pulitzer’s plea for pedestal contributions. I headed to the New York Public Library where a few amazingly helpful librarians guided me to some very fuzzy, hard to read 135-year-old microfilm copies of The World newspapers. That’s where I found the wonderful children’s letters that I included in my book.

 

I have found that with nonfiction projects with extensive back matter information, I’m never really finished with the research until everyone has signed off on the last pass of the book. It’s important to continue to keep up with pertinent information throughout the entire writing and editing journey. For example, in the final copy-editing stages of Saving Lady Liberty, I learned that one of the smaller statues had been moved to another location, so I needed to update that information in the back matter. 

 

As I scrolled through days, weeks, and months of papers, I found the hidden gems I was searching for— children’s letters sprinkled among thousands of names and messages from a broad swath of patriotic Americans. Whenever possible, I like to feature the actual words of my subjects, so it was wonderful to not only find some of Pulitzer’s most passionate editorials about saving Lady Liberty in his newspaper, but it was a special treat to highlight the patriotic letters from American children!

PART II will be about Claudia's research process, the immigration theme, Joseph Pulitzer (with a hint at a book someone else should write!), and relevance to children.

GIVEAWAY

The giveaway list started last week. You can increase your chances to win this book by leaving a comment today and on the next post. Winner will be chosen on July 16. REMEMBER:  Please leave your email address if you are new to my blog so I can enter your name. Continental United States addresses only.

Guest Post by Joyce Hostetter: On Writing a War Series

Congratulations to Michelle Leonard for winning Radioactive! on last week's blog.

If you read my blog regularly, than you are no stranger to my friend Joyce Hostetter who I have featured on my blog many times. It is my privilege to host her today as she shares her reflections on some behind the scenes thoughts on writing a war series. Take it away, Joyce!

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When I wrote BLUE I thought I was writing a book about polio. I had no idea that it would grow into a series that would make a statement about war and its effects on family.   However my hometown’s polio epidemic took place in 1944 so it was a natural for my protagonist’s father to be drafted.

Ann Fay is exceptionally attached to her wise, affectionate Daddy when he leaves home, asking her to be “the man of the house” in his stead.  While Leroy is away at war, she faces multiple challenges while longing for the day he returns. She hopes against hope that he will come out alive and unscathed.

But is it possible to survive the battlefield, emotionally unscarred?  

After publishing BLUE, I did not intend to write a sequel.  However, Ann Fay’s voice kept echoing in my head.  And other things echoed there too—memories of childhood friendships with children whose fathers had served in WWII and The Korean Conflict.  War Trauma and PTSD were not yet identified in the 1960s.  I don’t know all the factors that contributed to these men’s personalities, their alcoholism, and abuse of spouses and children but I knew they all had combat memories in common.  

I suspect they each had war going on inside their heads.  

Later, much later, one of those friends told me what a gentle man her father was before going to war.  “He never wanted to kill people,” she said.  I thought about that man with the soul of a poet who played guitar and composed original music.  I considered the times I’d been in his presence and how gentle he still appeared to be. And I remembered that when his family was growing up he was unable to hold down a job.  My friend told me that, while she was still a child, one morning, in an attempt to motivate him to go to work, she actually took his bed apart with him in it.   

So having published BLUE, I decided to listen to the echoes.  I began to ask myself how Ann Fay’s relationship with her father would be changed by his war experiences. The result was the publication of COMFORT, a story about a girl and her father each on their own post-trauma journeys and how they begin to heal.

Ann Fay is much like the friend I mentioned above.  The one who tried to prod her father into going to work.  You would think such an action would have provoked abuse.  But I don’t know that my friend’s father was abusive to her.  Apparently he saved that for one of her brothers. And I see the devastation in that grown son’s life today. 

I see the pain of war moving down the family lines of my other friends.

When my publisher asked me to write a prequel to BLUE and COMFORT I knew immediately who the story would be about—Junior Bledsoe, Ann Fay’s neighbor.  I would explore his emotional journey after his father’s death. And as I began to listen again to those echoes I discovered the story of four generations of men traumatized by war. That story, AIM, will be released on October 4.

I’m not a sociologist but my reflections on life, my research on wars, and war trauma lead to me believe that war begats war. Trauma gives rise to more trauma and the cycle is in great danger of repeating itself.

How do we stop that cycle?  

I believe stories, historical fiction, in particular, help us to listen to history.  As a historical novelist, my task is to find the universal truth or emotion that will hold a reader and focus attention on history that might otherwise be overlooked. 

Although I don’t set out to write anti-war novels, I hope that my stories encourage readers to reflect on the effects of war and to consider alternatives.  I trust that even in their personal lives they will observe that anger and arguments give rise to more of the same. After all, change begins at home and the ripples spread.  Better that they be ripples of peace than those that lead to war.

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Next week I am reviewing AIM using material from a workshop I took with Jillian Sullivan at Highlights Summer Camp. PLUS I'll be giving away two ARCS.  Stay tuned!