Ask the Author: Gail Shepherd
Answered Questions (12)
Gail Shepherd
I lived with Lyndie for quite a long time, so I feel like I know her pretty well. And in a lot of ways I wish I could be more like her. I love her passion for ferreting out the truth. I love the way she always digs under the surface and doesn't just accept what people tell her at face value. I love her spunk and spirit, her refusal to be ground down. I love her big heart. Her tenderness and love for her father. And her sense of humor!
Gail Shepherd
Same as last year? Sticking to a writing schedule (I kind of fell down on this one at the end of 2018), which means getting up at 5:30 every morning to write for a few hours while the day is still and quiet, and I'm still feeling halfway dreamy. It's so nice to have that space to write before the busy world intrudes.
Differently? Well, I'm retiring from my day job. So I plan to do more things to spark creativity that aren't actually writing: visiting museums, traveling, going to the beach, performances. There is so much artistic talent in my community that I've been missing out on--I want to soak it all up! And: of course I plan to READ MORE BOOKS. And enjoy every moment of my debut year!
Differently? Well, I'm retiring from my day job. So I plan to do more things to spark creativity that aren't actually writing: visiting museums, traveling, going to the beach, performances. There is so much artistic talent in my community that I've been missing out on--I want to soak it all up! And: of course I plan to READ MORE BOOKS. And enjoy every moment of my debut year!
Gail Shepherd
Oh this one's easy. I hope my readers walk away with the gift of understanding that people are very complicated. What you see on the surface is only a small fraction of what may be going on in any person's heart. Everyone, like Lyndie's Daddy, like D.B., like her grandma Lady, like her Mama, like her nemesis Pee Wee, is fighting battles we may know nothing about. The best gift you can give to or receive from another human being is *empathy*. And you will find your empathy for others by looking deeply and carefully for the truth.
Gail Shepherd
Oh, so many things! But my top three are easy: 1) I'm thankful for my kidlit writing community, a bunch of generous, talented, inspiring people who keep me pushing to be a better writer and a better person. 2) My editor, Kathy Dawson, who is mind-bogglingly wise about storytelling. 3) My spouse, who has believed in me every step of the way -- she's a dream-weaver!
Gail Shepherd
LOL. Well, one of my characters, DB, is a little bit food obsessed. So I think I would have to say treats. When Lyndie first meets DB, he's chowing down on jujubes. "Candy for breakfast, candy for lunch, then a sensible dinner," he tells her, describing his personalized diet plan. His favorite snack is sugar and butter sandwiches. He complains when his dinner is "pie-less." Whe he's decorating Lyndie's birthday cake, most of the whipped cream ends up in his mouth. And he insists on "testing" the peanut butter cookies they're baking to pass out to the homeless for quality control. So, yeah, definitely, treats!
Gail Shepherd
Hi Stephanie, this book has been completely revised and is now titled THE TRUE HISTORY OF LYNDIE B. HAWKINS. It publishes in March of 2019.
Gail Shepherd
Hi Bridget. I think the children I know are all full of questions about themselves, their families, and their worlds--but they don't always feel comfortable asking them. Adults keep secrets (which is of course necessary sometimes, but children always seem to know there's something that isn't being said, or said only obliquely). Kids can become anxious about the disconnect between what they see and what they are told. So I imagined Lyndie as being in this state--wanting to know, but being rebuffed. Feeling that "something is wrong" but not knowing what to do about it. It's a poignant place to be, and so typical of a kid of eleven or twelve, who is grown up enough to sense things and feel things deeply, still open, still a little raw, but not sure yet how to handle life's big challenges. Lyndie's voice grew out of that place.
Gail Shepherd
Hi Amalie--I didn't make this comparison myself (although I adore Kate DiCamillo and can only wish I will someday live up to the comparison), my editor did, but I think I can guess what she might have been thinking. The plot of Lyndie B. Hawkins isn't at all like Winn Dixie, but I think the "feel" of the novel might be similar. It's set in a southern town and imbued with southern voices and homespun wisdom. Lyndie is quirky and passionate and funny, she's a deep thinker and a questioner, much like India Opal, and she is in hot pursuit of knowledge--she wants to know the truth about *everything*--her family, her town, and the world. She has also known pain--while she hasn't lost her mother, her mother is a recluse and her father is emotionally wounded, so like Opal she is also a little lonely and lost at the beginning of the story.
Gail Shepherd
When I was a little kid, I listened to the same opera record over and over--I think it was La Traviata (this must have driven my parents crazy). I dreamed of being an opera singer, but the problem is my voice is terrible. I think now if I had to give up writing for some reason I would try to draw or paint, or failing that, get into some field in the fine arts. I truly *love* looking at paintings. Museum work, maybe?
Gail Shepherd
I come from a journalism background, so I have a lot of respect for the kind of vetting of information that reporters have to do. As a journalist, you're trained to question *everything,* to verify your facts, to double and triple check your sources. Today, more than ever, we need to be very, very careful in sifting through the information we're given--there's a lot of propaganda circulating. Even small kids should begin to think about how to get closer to the truth--it takes an active pursuit to unravel the "real story", and even then the real story can be a slippery thing. In this book, Lyndie is trying to figure out what is true about her family while her grandmother is working just as hard to keep secrets; she's trying to unravel the truth about the town she lives in, which has been rather selective in its telling of history. She also learns that people often conceal their truths, and you have to work hard and be persistent to get to know somebody. And also she's questioning the truth about the world at large. I guess I hope that kids will grow up to be the kinds of citizens who do question and interrogate received wisdom. I hope this book will help them learn to do that.
Gail Shepherd
Hi Stephanie, unfortunately, not yet. I did a huge revision with my editor and the book has had to be rescheduled, possibly for release in 2018. Thanks so much for your interest!
Gail Shepherd
A big part of dealing with writer's block is not worrying too much about writer's block. If I come to a place in my writing where I feel stuck, I try to recognize it as a sign that I need to process, or look at the work in a fresh way, or sleep on it, or experiment wildly until the stuck feeling clears. I often have a couple of writing projects going at a time, so if I get bogged down with one, I can turn to another. That allows me a detour, so I can keep working. In a way, I see temporary blocks as positive and necessary experiences. They're little flags that say: "You're figuring out something important. Let your mind do the work it needs to do, and don't stress it."
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