CARRIE PEARSON: CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR AND PRESENTER
  • Home
  • Books
    • Stretch to the Sun: From A Tiny Sprout to the Tallest Tree On Earth
    • A Cool Summer Tail
    • A Warm Winter Tail
  • School, Library, and Bookstore Visits
  • Presentations
  • Blog
  • Contact and Connect
  • News and Calendar
  • Educational Resources
  • Creator Resources
  • Media Kit
  • Children's Book Connections Consulting

Blog

Mentor Monday: Newbery Award Winner and New York Times Bestselling Author, INGRID LAW

2/13/2012

11 Comments

 
I've wanted to interview writers at all stages of their careers for this series because I find every viewpoint insightful. When I asked Ingrid Law (a writer at the top of her game) if she would be interested in participating in the discussion, her answer was a speedy, "yes."  But because she hadn't been a formal mentor or a mentee, she wasn't sure if she was the right woman for the job. I am completely sure she is. Visit her at www.ingridlaw.com to learn more about her and her books.
*****************************************************************************
Please share a brief bio of you and your work.

2009 Newbery honor recipient, Ingrid Law, is the New York Times Bestselling author of the middle grade novel Savvy, and its companion, Scumble. A fan of words and stories, small towns and big ideas, Ingrid lives in Colorado with a horde of imaginary pets and a very real and very interesting family. Currently, Ingrid is working on a new ‘savvy’ novel while trying her hardest to keep at least one plant alive.

Have you been a part of a formal mentoring program through SCBWI or any other organization?

Having always been a rather shy and private writer, I’ve never really been involved with any specific mentoring programs. Many, many years ago, I attended a four-day writing workshop at BYU. There, the attendees were split into small groups every morning in order to work closely with a published author. My group was fortunate enough to work with Tim Wynne-Jones. Except for the writing that came out of the exercises Tim had us do, I never showed him any of my work, even after he invited those of us in his group to do so. I was simply too nervous. Back then, just thinking about sharing my writing with someone who was already published made my heart feel like it was going to hammer its way out of my chest and fall thumping to the floor for everyone to see. I was certain it would kill me dead. Do I regret it now? I honestly don’t know.

Do you agree or disagree with distinguished author Margaret Atwood’s statement about writing: “Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you’re on your own?”

Hmm. Yes and no. I’ve found that writing is very solitary work that becomes very public once actual publication becomes involved. At the heart of it, when a writer sits down to get those first ideas and words out of her head and onto paper, she is very much on her own. Though even at that stage a trusted friend or colleague can help talk things out of the imagination and into being, if a person is open to it. Then, of course, once an editor gets involved, a writer starts getting pages and pages of feedback… yet still, when sitting down to absorb that feedback and then deciding what to do about it, we are still ultimately on our own.

In what ways have you been “helped a bit?”

I have a lovely agreement with another author right now. Not a mentor, per se . . . more like a peer “encourager.” The agreement is that I must send this other author no less than five hundred words every Friday, no matter what. Then I get an email back a few days later that says: “Hooray! Keep going!” Five hundred words doesn’t sound like much, I know, but it’s amazing how quickly a week can slip by without anything worthwhile getting written. But the best, most unexpected result I’m finding from this agreement is that it is helping me conquer my anxieties around sharing my work before it is polished and ‘perfect.’ It is also showing me that I can keep writing while I’m waiting for that “Keep going!” email to come. I don’t have to sit and fret and chew my nails, wondering what someone else thinks of the work I just shared… I just go back to writing. I’m hoping this experience will help me feel the same the next time I need to send writing to my editor (which is soon).

If you were a mentor, what strengths would you bring to a struggling author?

I would try to find ways to encourage the person I was mentoring to let go of their fears and write the thing inside of them that demands most to be written. This is a very difficult thing to do. And—as with so many things—is far easier said than done.

If you could be mentored by any writer throughout time, who would it be and why?

Such vast possibilities! But ultimately I’d probably choose a poet, even though I write novels. Perhaps I’d want my mentor to be one of my favorite living poets... Mary Oliver or Billy Collins. Why? Because I am incessantly wordy, and poets like Oliver and Collins are able to create such vivid, potent moments in time with so few words. To move people with less than a page of text—that is genius.

Thank you!

11 Comments

    Welcome!

    This blog shares insights on the craft of writing children's books and the publishing industry, and supports creators and educators on their journeys. 

    Click here to subscribe to Carrie's Blog Posts by Email
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Available now at your favorite bookseller!

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Member of the Nerdy Book Club
    Explore Nonfiction
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing
    A Cool Summer Tail
    Agent Search
    Andy Sherrod
    Arthur A. Levine
    Art Notes
    Austin
    Avante Garde Mentorship Program
    Awards
    A Warm Winter Tail
    A Writing Life
    Be Fearless
    Being Critiqued
    Benefits Of Books
    Blog Tour - Cool Summer
    Blog Touring - How To
    Bologna Children's Book Fair 2018
    Boni Ashburn
    Book Launch
    Books Help Brains
    Book Studies
    Boxing For Cuba
    Bulver-Lytton Fiction Contest
    Butt-in-Chair
    Cbi Clubhouse
    Chasing Home
    Cheryl Klein
    Children
    Children In Exile
    Children's Choice Book Awards 2012
    Christina Wald
    Chuck Wendig
    Coast Redwood Trees
    Conference Success Stories
    Craft
    Creston Books
    Critiquing
    Crits For Water
    Cuban
    Cuban Children Exile
    Cubans
    Curated Content
    Darcy Pattison
    Deborah Halverson
    Dial
    Dos And Don'ts
    Dutton
    Eggstra Crazy Day
    Emerging Voices Award
    Endorsements And Reviews
    Erin Dealey
    Escape From Havana: An American Story
    Exile
    Fall Scbwimi Conference
    Floyd Cooper
    For Book Crafters
    Free Edit
    Frepful
    Gelett Burgess Award
    Goals
    Great Lakes Great Reads
    Guillermo Vincente Vidal
    Holy Family Orphanage Marquette Mi
    Holy Family Orphans Home
    Humor
    Ideas
    Inbound Marketing
    Industry Outlook
    Ingrid Law
    Jacketflap
    Jerry Spinelli
    Jessica Lee Anderson
    Julie Straussgabel672dfe5019
    Katie Davis
    Kickstand Desk
    Kickstarter.com
    Kidsbooklink.org
    Kristen Remenar
    Kristin Wolden Nitz
    Laini Taylor
    Lauri Hornik
    Linda Sue Park
    Lisa Moser
    Lisa Wheeler
    Marketing
    \\\"marquette Boys\\\"
    Mary Kole
    Melissa Shanker
    Mentee
    Mentor
    Mentoring
    Mentor Monday
    Mentor Mondays
    Mentors4rent
    Mentors For Rent
    Mentorship
    Michael Hyatt
    Michigan History Magazine
    Middle Grade Historical Novel
    Milkweed
    Mindy Hardwick
    MINE!
    Mini Labradoodle
    Miss Piggy
    Moosewood
    Motivation
    Must Read
    National Mentor Month
    Networking Day
    New Blog
    Notes From The Road
    Nuggets
    On A Beam Of Light
    Operation Pedro Pan
    Patience
    Patrice Barton
    Pedro Pan
    Personal Mission Statement
    Philomel
    Phrase Frequency Check
    Piboidmo
    Promotion
    Publisher's Weekly
    Puppy Breath
    Rateyourstory.blogspot.com
    Rejection
    Rejections
    Research
    Revisions
    Rhythm
    Ruth Mcnally Barshaw
    Save The Bookstores Day June 16 2012
    Scbwi
    SCBWI-MI
    SCBWI-MI Mentorship Contest
    SCBWI-MI Revision Retreat
    Scbwi National
    SCBWI.org
    Scbwi Wisconsin Mentorship Program
    School Visits
    Second Sight
    Self-growth
    Selfpublishing8081e9eb37
    Selfpublishing8b1f9d6af0
    Show Vs Tell
    Shrunken Manuscript
    Shutta Crum
    Signings
    Sitting Poses Cancer Risk
    Spinster Goose
    Stacy Dekeyser
    Stretch To The Sun Book
    Successful Creatives
    Sylvan Dell Publishing
    Tamra Tuller
    Tara Lazar
    Treadmill Desk
    Twitter
    Unaccompanied Minors
    Underhoured
    Unexpected
    Website Development
    Wild
    Wild Midwest Scbwi Conference
    Word Frequency
    Writing Contests
    Writing In Rhyme
    Wwwdeareditorcomb008ccbbfd
    Www.kidlit.com
    Www.readerkidz

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    May 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009

    Picture


​carrieapear@aol.com
​
906.360.3229 EST
Picture
Photos used under Creative Commons from wuestenigel, Steve A Johnson, dirkjanranzijn, bandita, margory.june, aldenjewell, ell brown, arripay, Edwin Torres Photography, greg westfall., Bill Ward's Brickpile, Peter Blanchard, Enderst07, Karrierebibel.de, Ben Husmann, striatic, plentiful, pdam2, erix!, Parker Knight, autoreverse tiramisù, Chris_J, cheriejoyful, brewbooks, thedailyenglishshow, Maguis & David, Bill Selak, paparutzi, human after all, g23armstrong, Bring on the Photog, hans s, ilovememphis, Enokson, peapodsquadmom, bsabarnowl, photogramma1, bsabarnowl, shawncampbell, KOMUnews, ecksunderscore, Richard Leighton, dvs, xlordashx, tiefkuehlfan, photosteve101, Denise Cross Photography, bluebirdsandteapots, Keoni Cabral, halseike, bovinity, Aaron T. Goodman, Cesari
  • Home
  • Books
    • Stretch to the Sun: From A Tiny Sprout to the Tallest Tree On Earth
    • A Cool Summer Tail
    • A Warm Winter Tail
  • School, Library, and Bookstore Visits
  • Presentations
  • Blog
  • Contact and Connect
  • News and Calendar
  • Educational Resources
  • Creator Resources
  • Media Kit
  • Children's Book Connections Consulting