WILL WRITE AND PUBLISH FOR COOKIES

INSIGHT – INFORMATION – INSPIRATION

FOR WRITERS, ILLUSTRATORS, PARENTS, TEACHERS, LIBRARIANS,
AND BOOK LOVERS EVERYWHERE

TODAY’S GUEST

Today’s guest is a bright light in our kidlit community – a fabulous author and editor, she support authors and illustrators by publishing beautiful books and supports the wider community with the popular GIRL POWER HOUR every October.

Michele McAvoy is a multi-award-winning author, attorney, educator, and publisher from New Jersey. Her publishing company, The Little Press, publishes picture books through YA. She is also the host of the popular kidlit podcast, My Messy Muse, and the creator of #GirlPowerHour, an annual event celebrating strong women and diversity in children’s literature. Michele’s titles include Buckingham Gets A New Shell, (Pigman Books), multi-award winning Cookie & Milk (Cardinal Rule Press), The Gorilla Picked Me! (The Little Press), and the award-winning My Superhero Grandpa (The Little Press.) You can find Michele on social media @michele_mcavoy (Twitter) and @michelemcavoy (Instagram.)www.MicheleMcAvoy.comwww.littlepresspublishing.com

ME: Welcome, Michelle. I’m so excited for you to visit Picture Book Help Kids Soar. Your bio mentions several books but it doesn’t mention the first in a new chapter book series that launched earlier this week: WILLY THE WEREWOLF! And know everyone is excited to learn more about you, so let’s get started.

ME: Who were your favorite authors/illustrators when you were a child?

MICHELE: I loved Garfield! I would read all the Garfield comics and also draw Garfields. I was a quiet kid, so I did a lot of quiet play which involved drawing.  I wish I would have pursued my love of drawing a bit more. Judy Blume’s, Are You There God It’s Me Margaret, was an important novel for me when I was a kid. I remember buying it at the Barnes & Noble on 6th Ave in NYC, when visiting my grandmother.  My uncle used to take me there and allow me to pick out 1 book. I remember the experience of getting lost in the books searching for that one perfect book. That feeling has led me to do what I do now as a writer and publisher of children’s literature. 

ME: What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started writing?

MIICHELE: I wish I knew that I could write in any genre, that I didn’t need to pick one to write.  When I realized that folks write all different types of stories, it inspired me even more.  I could write a picture book, and in middle-grade, I could write something dark and something uplifting.  I also wish I knew that being a writer could be a career.  I may have started earlier! 

ME: Where do you like to write – inside, outside, special room, laptop, pen and paper? 

MICHELE: It takes me a while to get into something. I think about it constantly, I turn it around in my head and in my sleep.  I’ll often write snippets and notes on sticky notes (that are all over my office.)  When I feel like I have the opening or a good chunk, I usually write it on my phone using google docs. This was another eye opener for me. I once heard a woman writer say during a podcast how she writes her novels on her phone while on the treadmill (she had 4 kids) and I was like, “wait? I’m allowed to do that?”  For some reason I needed permission to write in all the messy ways that I now write as a mom of two, who works full time and runs her own company.  Anyone reading this has permission to get the words down however and wherever you can. It can still be a great story. It can still be a beautiful book. It doesn’t need to be written in a quiet room, on a computer, with a pumpkin spice candle burning.  If I waited for that moments I would have no book credits (at all!)

ME: When do you write – early morning, late in the day, middle of the night, on schedule, as the muse strikes?

MIICHELE: Whenever the muse strikes!  My life is super hectic, so finding a quiet moment is never going to happen.  And sometimes ideas itch and I just need to get the story down.  That’s when I write.  (Like right now I’m writing these answers as my husband is calling for dinner and my son has snuck into my office to sit and play some music on his phone- never a quiet moment!)

ME: Why do you write for children? 

MICHELE: While there are many reasons why I write for children, the main reason (which is really selfish) is because it brings me back to that time at the Barnes & Noble, on 6th Avenue in NYC when I was 12 and looking for that one perfect book. It brings me back to times before life got difficult and adulting reared its ugly head. It allows me to go back to “the good old days” reminding me of where I came from, my loved ones who aren’t around like they once were, and who I am deep down in my gut.- that quiet little girl who could spend hours looking for that one perfect book. I say, whatever your reason for writing, embrace it.  It will make your experience with your writing more authentic. 

Such great insights from Michele! And now, because Michele is super sweet, she’s sharing a super sweet cookie recipe!

MICHELE: I have a recipe for a great sugar coconut cookie that is super simple!

One package of sugar cookie dough (can get the Pillsbury premade roll)
One bag of coconut 
One bag of chocolate chips (splurge for the 
ghirardelli chocolate). 

Mix ingredients all together. Separate out onto cookie sheet, bake as directed on the pillsbury dough package. 
Remove when done and quickly use the back of a small spoon or small scooper to make an indent in the center of the cookie. Let them stand to cool. Once cooled, scoop and insert cherry jam into the small indent. (your choice of jam but I highly recommend Bonn Maman, cherry preserve. Can get at your grocery store. I actually won a prize for these in a cookie exchange. Lol. 

YUM! This looks delicious! It sounds like the perfect cookie for holidays or any days.
But before we all start baking, let’s remember how we can help our favorite authors and illustrators and publishers. We can:
Buy their books
Review their books
Tell friends about their books (Please SHARE this post on social media)
Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection

And before we say goodbye, I want to mention an event that is coming up next month: #GIRLPOWERHOUR. Michele has been hosting this for several years and I hope you will check it out – a full day of awesome kid-lit presentations (with one by yours truly) to celebrate and promote the representation of all girls in kidlit as well as support diversity. Sign up here: https://girlpowerhour.weebly.com/

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!