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There are two reasons we’re pleased that author Gail Gauthier<\/strong><\/a> has stopped by 7-Imp for a cyber-chat today: First, she’s in the midst of a blog tour for her second early chapter book about Hannah, Brandon, and one monster cat named Buttercup. A Girl, a Boy, and Three Robbers<\/strong><\/a><\/em>—the sequel to 2007’s A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat<\/strong><\/a><\/em>—hits the bookshelves this month and continues the story of Brandon, reluctantly sent to neighbor Hannah’s house for after-school care. Hannah, to put it mildly, has quite the<\/em> imagination, not to mention a ginormous, over-sized cat. In these new adventures of Hannah and Brandon, Hannah’s neighbors, the Sunderland triplets, try to steal the cat, Brandon and Hannah then setting out to save Buttercup. Just like the first book, A Girl, a Boy, and Three Robbers<\/em> is high-energy, packed with adventure, and told with spot-on humor to the elementary students at which it’s aimed, those just becoming interested in chapter books. The books, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, are illustrated by Joe Cepeda<\/strong><\/a>; some of the interior art from the new book is included below in this interview. <\/p>\nThe second reason we’re happy to host Gail today is that she is a formidable presence in the kidlitosphere corner of Blogistan and has been since 2002. We are chatting with her today as not only an author but also as a blogger — one I’ve wanted to interview for a long while now. (And, no, we haven’t forgotten our blogger interviews. It just so happens that the last three people we’ve asked to interview are terribly multi-faceted and in-demand and . . . well, busy. We’ve stalled on that interview series for a bit out of necessity. But we’re patient. And I digress.) <\/p>\n
Where was I? Over at Gail’s blog, Original Content<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, Gail talks a little bit about Everything Kidlit — her writing, trends, other books, publishing, blogging, etc. And what I love in particular is that she tells it like it is and isn’t afraid to pose questions — whether she’s talking about her thoughts on award-winning books<\/strong><\/a>, authors blogging<\/strong><\/a>, celebrity authors<\/strong><\/a>, or why blog reviews are important<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We’d like to thank Gail for taking the time to chat with us about her new book, blogging, and her thoughts on those books that fall somewhere between picture books and YA titles, the ones that fall under so many names: Intermediate-aged readers, beginning readers, emerging readers, chapter books, early chapter books, and more. Without further ado, here’s Ms. Gauthier: <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: The first book<\/strong><\/a> was written as a series of short stories with a story arc\u2014starting with the second story, they all related to a neighbor\u2019s dog. I wanted to use the same structure in the second book. Coming up with a new arc was the hardest part. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What made you want to write for a slightly younger audience with A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat<\/strong><\/a><\/em> -\u2013 to write early chapter books, that is?<\/font> <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: I speak to middle grade students at elementary schools. I met some teachers of younger students who said they wished I could talk to their kids. I felt that in order to talk to younger kids I needed to have a book to talk to them about. That meant I had to write one. I originally tried for a picture book, but a couple of people suggested that the material I was working with would be more appropriate for a chapter book. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Have you found that it\u2019s more difficult, by chance, to get publicity for what are considered chapter books than it is for middle-grade novels? And is that even what you call them -\u2013 \u201cchapter books\u201d? As you know from this post<\/strong><\/a> I did recently, I think there can be some confusion out there as to the differences between \u201cemerging readers,\u201d \u201cchapter books,\u201d \u201cearly chapter books,\u201d \u201cearly reader chapter books,\u201d etc. Do you agree that there\u2019s some confusion as to how they\u2019re classified?<\/font><\/p>\n As far as getting publicity is concerned, two years ago my book Happy Kid!<\/strong><\/em><\/a> was published. Reviews appeared right on time, and there was a satisfactory number of them. A year later, A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat<\/a><\/em><\/strong> was published. It was picked up by the Junior Library Guild before publication, but it received a little less than half as many print and on-line reviews as Happy Kid!<\/em> did. I have been told that that has been the case with other books for that age group\u2014there isn\u2019t that big a response. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Tell us how writing a chapter book is different from writing a middle-grade novel.<\/font> <\/p>\n The length of the stories became a problem. Aliens<\/strong><\/em><\/a> was published as a middle grade book, though it would probably be considered for the younger end of middle grade. Nonetheless, middle grade students could be expected to read the length of the stories. The stories I wrote for Monster Cat<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, I realized after the fact, were too long for newer, less experienced readers. The first story was okay, but the other four had to be broken into two chapters each to give the readers a break. So I wrote the second book with the same structure. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Do you have strong opinions about what you think some of the more high-quality early chapter books are? Any recommendations, in other words?<\/font> <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Have you ever considered writing a sequel for a book other than the first Hannah\/Brandon tales? Do students\u2019 and other readers\u2019 emails and letters about their love for your books ever tempt you to do so?<\/font> <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: I did write a sequel (Club Earth<\/strong><\/em><\/a>) to my first book, My Life Among the Aliens<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. This was back in the late \u201890s. While there were certainly children\u2019s series back then, they weren\u2019t quite as all over the place as they are now. Fans of the first book didn\u2019t seem to find the second one. It wasn\u2019t exactly a warm and fuzzy experience. <\/p>\n A lot of readers asked for a sequel to A Year with Butch and Spike<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. That book was loved. But I was afraid a second book wouldn\u2019t live up to the first one. I didn\u2019t want anything to taint that book. <\/p>\n {Ed. Note: Here’s one fan who DID find <\/em>Club Earth — eventually. Click on the image to read Sam’s post} . . . <\/em><\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019m always dwelling on how long I\u2019ve been blogging, but I\u2019ve had a website<\/strong><\/a> for a long time, too, probably since \u201996 or \u201997. We started with the website so long ago that while we were in the process of creating it, my publisher made the decision to allow its authors to use the covers of their books on their sites. Websites were so new that that decision had to be made. So I\u2019d had the website for a few years by the time I started the blog. My blog is part of my website. I created the blog to bring traffic to the website. Websites are very important, but they\u2019re quite static. We only update mine every couple of months or so. Visitors come to a website to get whatever information they\u2019re looking for, and then there\u2019s not much reason for them to come back. I had heard about author blogs while I was still a member of the Readerville community<\/strong><\/a>. I thought a blog would provide new material at the website on a much more frequent basis so that people would come back. They would come back, they would remember my name, they would read about my new books. They would read about me, me, me, me! <\/p>\n I consider my blog part of my marketing, so I don\u2019t feel the time I give to it interferes with my writing. Marketing needs to be done. <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: Oh, it is so very, very true. I got a lot worse after I started publishing. Before that point, I was ignorant and thought every word I spewed out was magic. After that point, I think I became discouraged about the number of drafts I ended up doing for each project. I lock up over the threat of writing crap and rather than work through it, I head off to a news site to see if anything weird is going on in the world that I really need to be informed about. <\/p>\n In the past, I would have an idea, maybe for years, and finally start working with it. I would work for a while, not like what I was doing, and start again. You\u2019re absolutely not supposed to do that. All your best writer advisors say, write right through to the end and then revise. I wish I could. I tend to think in terms of metaphor and analogy. I think of writing a book as like building a house. (As if I\u2019ve built a house.) I need a really good first chapter for my foundation. Many times when I\u2019m starting over again, it\u2019s because I can\u2019t go forward until I have that foundation. I might do a little outlining so that I have a plan for the next few pages. I use freewriting to help when I\u2019m stuck. I think freewriting is wonderful for that. <\/p>\n Last year I was working on a new project that I talked about a lot at my blog. I haven\u2019t sold the book yet and need to do another draft before I try again. But I think I learned a lot of new things about writing process while working on it. I started freewriting on the word processor instead of in a writing journal, which is so much better. I was always losing the journal and then staring off into space while I was stuck. I did freewriting around the basic elements\u2014characters, setting, plot\u2014to help generate material before I even started writing. I tried to meet word goals each day. I used a spread sheet to help me keep track of where I was. No matter what happens with that book, I think the experience of writing it has given me a much more coherent process. <\/p>\n Though, of course, will a coherent writing process result in a publishable book? Only time will tell.<\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Tell us about your school visits<\/strong><\/a>. Do they inform your work as a writer in specific ways?<\/font> <\/p>\n Several years ago, I started eating lunch in the cafeteria with the kids while I\u2019m in schools. I try to dip into kid culture. Some info I picked up at lunch made its way into the first Hannah and Brandon book, so, yes, there is a very specific way that the school visits inform my work. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: How often do you write for Literary Mama<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and have you ever considered longer nonfiction\/essay pieces (for either adults or children) for publication?<\/font> <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: As book lovers, it interests us: What books or authors influenced you as an early reader?<\/font> <\/p>\n Christie impressed upon me the significance of the everyday, and Alcott suggested there is something spiritual about it. Jackson opened my mind to the darkness in those same everyday situations. I liked the way Twain used humor as social commentary about\u2026wait for it\u2026 everyday life. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: If you could have three (living) authors—who you\u2019ve yet to meet—over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?<\/font> <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Are you working on any new books or any other writing projects you can tell us about?<\/font> <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: I want to fix up last year\u2019s book, revise some short stories, and work on some black belt essays. Plus I\u2019ve been thinking about this bizarre project that would involve many, many very short stories for kids. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What\u2019s one thing that most people don\u2019t know about you?<\/font> <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: If you\u2019ve read a selection of my work, you probably know as much about me as you want to. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Is there something you wish interviewers would ask you — but never do? Feel free to ask and respond here.<\/font> <\/p>\n Gail<\/font><\/strong>: My wish is always that they ask me things I can answer without sounding boring or ignorant. <\/p>\nIf you need a Gail Gauthier 101, her web site<\/strong><\/a> lays everything out pretty clearly. Her current work (other than the aforementioned early chapter books) includes 2006’s Happy Kid!<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (Putnam’s)—what Kirkus Reviews<\/em> called an “amiable, malice-free send-up of self-help” and Booklist<\/em> described as a “rewarding novel of adolescent angst and growth”—and 2001’s The Hero of Ticonderoga<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (also published by Putnam’s). The latter, set in rural Vermont in 1966, tells the story of sassy The\u0301re\u0300se, who learns a great deal about Vermont hero Ethan Allen when writing a report on him for school. The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books<\/em> wrote, “{b}ackground issues of sixth-grade squabbles, jealousies, and busted friendships are right on the mark, and it’s thoroughly refreshing to find a protagonist who is a perfectly average student with parents who love her just the way she is.” Gail’s web site also includes a page for each book she labels “not-so-current,” including books she touches on below. <\/p>\n
7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What were some of the challenges, if any, in writing a second story about Hannah and Brandon?<\/font> <\/p>\n
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Gail<\/font><\/strong>: At my blog I tend to just refer to them as \u201cbooks for younger kids,\u201d trying to avoid dealing with the very thing you\u2019re talking about. I definitely agree there\u2019s some confusion. I\u2019ve always thought that categorizing children\u2019s books is a lot like sizing clothes\u2014there doesn\u2019t seem to be an industry-wide standard. Company A\u2019s early chapter book may be comparable to Company B\u2019s emerging reader. I\u2019ve also seen chapter books lumped in with middle grade books, as if that category covers anything that\u2019s not a picture book or YA. Determining reading level may be an art rather than a science. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/aliens2.jpg\")
Gail<\/font><\/strong>: This sounds really simplistic, but the biggest factor I had to deal with was the expected attention span of my readers. I tried to model the structure of The Hannah and Brandon Stories on my first book, My Life Among the Aliens<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, which was a book of short stories, all related and with a culminating story. (The structure of that book, by the way, was inspired by the Soup books by Robert Newton Peck<\/strong><\/a>, though I can\u2019t remember whether or not he had a climactic story in his books.) So with Hannah and Brandon I wasn\u2019t trying to write a true novel the way I was when I wrote A Year with Butch and Spike<\/strong><\/a><\/em> or The Hero of Ticonderoga<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n
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Gail<\/font><\/strong>: I think the far-fetched superhero stories for this age group don\u2019t work very well. They seem very formulaic and trite. The storylines often aren\u2019t very engaging even within the universe in which they\u2019re supposed to take place. The humor is often forced. I haven\u2019t seen a lot of genre stories for younger kids yet, but I did like Jack Bolt and the Highwaymen\u2019s Hideout<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, a time travel story by Richard Hamilton<\/strong><\/a>. Otherwise, so far I\u2019m finding that more realistic stories seem to work better. I\u2019m fond of Ivy + Bean<\/em><\/a><\/strong> by Annie Barrows<\/strong><\/a>. {Ed Note: An interior image from Book 4<\/strong><\/a> is pictured above, used with permission from illustrator Sophie Blackall<\/strong><\/a>.}<\/em> I think the Junie B. Jones<\/em> books are well-written, though I find Junie to be an adult\u2019s idea of an exasperating small child who says childishly amusing things. Nonetheless, I can understand why the books are highly regarded.<\/p>\n
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7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: You\u2019ve been blogging<\/strong><\/a> since 2002 (correct?). Why did you start? How does blog-writing support and\/or interfere with your writing?<\/font> <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/GailGauthier.jpg\")
7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Tell us about your writing process, starting wherever you like: getting the idea, starting to write, under deadline, etc. Do you outline plot before you write or just let your muse lead you on and see where you end up? (You\u2019ve mentioned your \u201cpoor work habits\u201d more than once at your blog. O! Say it isn’t so!)<\/font> <\/p>\n![\"Little](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/buttercup1.jpg\" "\\"Little")
Gail<\/font><\/strong>: When I go into a school. I want to talk about something the kids can go back into their classrooms and use. For years I\u2019ve been talking about using experience in writing. (My own writing draws very, very heavily on my own life and those of my sons.) This spring I created a new program around A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat<\/em><\/strong><\/a> that describes how writers experiment with character, plot, and setting in the early stages of writing. (My new slides have animation! I\u2019m so excited!) <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/gailkarate1.JPG\")
Gail<\/font><\/strong>: I believe I submitted some fiction and maybe another essay to Literary Mama<\/em> before they published “Mom Memory.”<\/strong><\/a> I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve had a chance to finish any nonfiction since then. I\u2019m interested in trying to write a book of essays (not a memoir) about my experiences as an adult martial arts student. I have a number of pieces started. The essays in Literary Mama<\/em> and VerbSap<\/strong><\/a> were both objectives toward that goal. Back in 2002, I had an essay published in English Journal<\/strong><\/a><\/em>. I have an idea for another piece that might be appropriate for a professional journal. <\/p>\nGail<\/font><\/strong>: I cannot say enough about how important Little Men<\/strong><\/em><\/a> was to me. I wanted to be Jo in Little Men<\/em>. In college I did a paper on Louisa May Alcott<\/strong><\/a>, which led me to my superficial interest in the Transcendentalists. In eighth grade I read Mark Twain\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> autobiography. I don\u2019t remember much about it, but I do recall telling my mother after I finished the book that if Twain were still alive, I would write him a letter. I read a lot of Shirley Jackson<\/strong><\/a> in high school, both her mommy books and her dark ones. In high school and college (maybe more so in college) I read a lot of Agatha Christie<\/strong><\/a>. The Miss Marple series<\/strong><\/a> made a particular impression. The whole theory behind those books is that all the different personality types and situations you encounter in the world will be encountered on another level within a small village. <\/p>\n
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Gail<\/font><\/strong>: Rick Riordan<\/strong><\/a>\u2014I heard him speak last fall, and he seems quite charming, plus I\u2019m interested in his adult writing and I like Percy Jackson<\/strong><\/a>; K. M. Grant<\/strong><\/a>\u2014I loved her book, How the Hangman Lost His Heart<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, plus her family has an ancestral home complete with a chapel\u2014what do you suppose that does to your understanding of the past?; and David Sedaris<\/strong><\/a>\u2014Everyone wants to meet David Sedaris. <\/p>\n