WILL WRITE FOR COOKIES

INSIGHT – INSPIRATION – INFORMATION

FOR WRITERS

TODAY’S GUEST

DARCY PATTISON

When I first entered the blogging world, Darcy Pattison was already a mover and a shaker. I quickly followed her website and learned a ton!

Storyteller, writing teacher, Queen of Revisions, and founder of Mims House (mimshouse.com) publisher, Darcy Pattison has been published in nine languages. Her books, published with Harcourt, Philomel/Penguin, Harpercollins, Arbordale, and Mims House have received recognition for excellence with starred reviews in Kirkus, BCCB and PW. Three nonfiction nature books have been honored as National Science Teacher’s Association Outstanding Science Trade books. The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman (Harcourt) received an Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature Honor Book award, and has been published in a Houghton Mifflin textbook.  She’s the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor’s Arts Award for Individual Artist for her work in children’s literature.

Wow…so, dear readers, you can see why I wanted to have Darcy stop by to chat with us.

Welcome, Darcy! 

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

DARCY: My family always had a story time at night. We lived in a remote mountain town in New Mexico. With seven kids and tight budgets, my mother wrote to the state library and asked them to mail her books, listing out the ages of her kids. We grew up with the best of children’s literature. I particularly remember Winnie the Pooh. But there was one Babar book that totally fascinated me. During the midst of a war, the elephants disguise themselves by painting huge eyes on their rumps, letting the tail serve as a nose. I remember being scared of that image, but slowly coming to understand that it was a disguise, and then finally admiring the elephants for pulling such a trick.

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

DARCY: How much fun the writing and publishing process can be.

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

DARCY:My husband and I own a three-story Victorian house in a historic district, and we use it as an office. The bottom two floors are his real estate appraisal offices. But the attic is mine. I go to work—arriving at the office about 9 pm and leaving about 4pm. That means, I write every day. There’s no waiting for the muse to strike for me.

ME: Why do you write for children?

Katherine Paterson once commented that books for adults are like a full orchestra playing beautifully. But when she writes, she only hears a flute solo. In other words, we write and are surprised by what comes out! I wish that I had more control, but writing is tied to your personality on a deep level. I can direct the writing some, but if you want me to follow my passions, then children’s literature is what comes out.

ME: Any advice to aspiring writers?

DARCY: Write. When I first started writing, I told myself that I should write 15 minutes a day. I carried around a special ink pen to remind me to do that. The visual and tactile cue of an ink pen was necessary to help me carve out those 15 minutes. Of course, that time grew until I’m writing most of a day. But don’t discount the importance of those first steps. The habit of writing begins with a simple commitment to write 15 minutes a day.

ME: And how about some words for parents, educators and librarians?

DARCY: I’m very excited about THE NANTUCKET SEA MONSTER: A Fake New Story, which is the true story of a fake news story. I think the most important thing you can do for kids is discuss such stories with them. Our American democracy is built on the idea that an educated citizen is crucial to the success of our form of government. This book can be read just for fun! It’s a sea monster story! However, if you choose to take it further, enjoy the quick wit and deep understanding of your kids!

ME: WOW! This has been awesome, Darcy! I love the idea of helping kids recognize fake news! I’ll bet a great school exercise would be to ask the kids to write a fake news story. I’ll bet there would be some doozies in the bunch! Thank you so much for stopping by…but before you leave, I know you’ve got a super cookie recipe for all of us.
Darcy’s Gluten-Free Peanut Butter cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Mix all ingredients. Roll into 1″ balls. Optional: Roll balls in sugar. Place balls on cookie sheet and use a fork to criss-cross the balls and smash them flat. Cook at 350 for about 8-10 minutes.

Yup…that is definitely simple enough! Great for the kiddos to help with!

Darcy has generously provided a copy of NANTUCKET SEA MONSTER as a giveaway. Please leave a comment and don’t forget that reviews are like gold to authors.

And thank you so much for stopping by to visit with me today, dear friends. I hope everyone has a safe and joyous Thanksgiving.