Student Success Story and Book Giveaway: Vincent X. Kirsch: Illustrator-Poet-Author-Puppeteer-Amazingness

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (an original poem, the link to PF, and instructions on how to enter our drawing for an autographed picture book are below)

Look! Someone's climbed our ladder and is knocking at the door of the TeachingAuthors tree house right now!

Campers, I'm proud to introduce you to a dear friend.

But first, a confession: I feel a bit sheepish posting this interview as part of our continuing series, Student Success Stories, since he tiptoed into my Picture Book class undercover, without revealing he'd written and illustrated many wonderful picture books before landing in my class. But...he was my student...and man, oh, man, is he a success! So...he qualifies, right?

Welcome, Vincent X. Kirsch and Ogbert! (I'm sorry that the utterly adorable Scout Pippins, Vincent's other pup, couldn't join us today)

Author-Illustrator Vincent X. Kirsch and Ogbert
photo courtesy of the author

Have a glass of fresh lemonade and take a load off, Vincent, then please tell us how you found your way into writing and illustrating children's books.

One of my favorite behind the scenes story is how my first book came to be. I had been pursuing work in picture books for over fifteen years without any success. I had given up at a point in my life when a lot of my friends were getting book assignments without any effort at all. Over the same fifteen years, I had been doing a monthly illustration for The New York Times Book Review. I was told in August that the art director was leaving and the new art director wanted to start with his own team of illustrators. It was rather sad because I had been doing it so long and I hated to see that door shut. For my very last illustration, I drew two young Italian brothers on a scooter going in opposite directions. The illustration was published one Sunday in October, 2006 and the following Thursday, an editor at Bloomsbury USA called to say that she loved the illustration in The Times and wondered if I was interested in doing picture books? A new door was suddenly thrown wide open! She was thinking of me as an illustrator but was delighted to discover that I was also a writer. The result was my first book NATALIE &NAUGHTILY. So, all of that work over all those years paid off somehow. 

So, based on your experience, how would you encourage someone banging her head against writer’s block...or someone who's depressed about ever getting anything published?

Things never happen when we think they will happen. The greatest reward for working in any creative area is the work itself. To sit down and create is a treasure that nothing else in life can match. 

I often say: The greatest reward in life is to put a part of yourself down on paper. Enjoy the work. Be in the present moment.  Don’t compare and don’t compete. No one has the same life story or superpower. It’s what makes you who you are. Also, don’t forget to love as much as you can, it is all really take with you when you leave this world.

For Writer’s Block: Take a break. Take a vacation. Stand on your head. Look at the world from a new perspective. Read BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott. Then, go back to work and look at your own work with new eyes.

Vincent's inspiration cork board
photo courtesy of the author

The cork board in your studio is filled with images that encourage you to dream. If you could be anything in the world except an author/illustrator, what would you dream of becoming?

An urban planner. A film director. A playwright. A scenic designer. A puppeteer. Or a job that I actually had and loved, a visual merchandiser for a line of luxury food shoppes.

(Campers...the thing about Vincent is that he will probably actually DO all these things--stay tuned!)

I know the story of how you wrote your newest book ~ could you share it with our readers, please?

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I was enrolled in your class at UCLA Extension. One week you asked us to rethink an existing project that we had worked on in the past. One of my favorite books titled FORSYTHIA & ME had recently gone out of print. I loved the book but thought I could do a better job if I gave it a bit more of an emotional tug at the heart.

I went back to a list I had made of remembered things from my childhood that stood out. Two that jumped out at me were: my fear of climbing trees and the memory of how heartbroken I was when my childhood friends would move away. So, I blended the two, addressing both of these feelings that had bedeviled me and somehow comforted myself in dealing with those memories. Since the class was a poetry driven class, I first wrote the book as a poem. I surprised myself at the end, since I really didn’t know how I would end it until inspiration wrote the final sentence for me.

The book came out exactly two years after my first draft in class. It is called HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES by Abrams Books for Young Readers.

I love that story (of course I do!) and also way you so beautifully intertwine two different ideas, both in words and illustrations...and so do critics!  "A primer on both getting up into the leaves and coping with the loss of someone you're attached to. Kirsch elegantly makes the connection with affirmations that work both ways: 'Hang on tight with both hands'; 'take it one branch at a time'; and, inevitably, 'letting go will be the hardest part!' . . . A well-cultivated story that plants a seed about the value of friends and what they leave with us, even when they're gone" ~ Kirkus Reviews

How can teachers and parents use HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES?

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I imagine it will be a very useful book to share with listeners and readers if they have lately experienced a loss of some sort, (such as when a friend/fellow student/relative moves away, dies or in no longer near). This book shows that even though someone might not be there anymore, they have left you with something of value that can be held on to. What might that be?

Yes. I can see myself giving it to an adult friend who's going through loss. You recently spoke to my class right after your beloved mother died...and choked up as you began reading it aloud. A student continued reading the book for you. It was a very touching moment.

Tell us about your mother.

I come from a rather large family of five children. I was second and am very much a second child. I was very close to my Mom. She was my greatest fan. Everything I did amazed and delighted her. I used to love to call her with good or bad news. She was always a voice of confidence. I have a terrific family by birth and another marvelous family of close friends. They now take turns being my Mom’s voice when I need to hear encouraging words.

Dapper, young Vincent X. Kirsch. photo courtesy of the author

Did your family celebrate holidays? What's your favorite?

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I adore everything about Christmas. I always have. I was Santa Claus’s greatest fan. At a very early age, my parents discovered that I was very good at wrapping packages. So, one holiday season when I was still very young, they sat me down and explained that Santa was not a real person but a very good idea. There were no elves. I needed to help. Then, they put me to work wrapping presents for my siblings and relatives. I remember crying my eyes out, that first day.

Years later, when I started as the window designer at Bergdorf Goodman, the store did very little for the holidays. No special windows. No fancy interior elements. Just a few cursory holiday touches. I was aghast and offered to take on the assignment and direction of holiday decorations. It meant much more work and planning for an already busy me. But I believed in festive holidays. I started the traditions of holiday windows, ornate interior decorations and wreaths hung on all of the windows outside the store. I did it for Santa Claus, not the person, but the idea.

You are always willing do extra work, and you're endlessly curious and multi-talented, Vincent. So, where will your abundant energy and enthusiasm take you next?

I have just begun artwork on my next picture book as author and illustrator. Hopefully it will be called FROM A. TO Z. It is about two little boys who can’t find the perfect words to express how they feel about each other. It is a very upbeat celebration of love and friendship. It will be out in Fall of 2020 from Abrams.

Then, I have started work on my second early reader/search-and-find book with Holiday House to be titled CAN PUP FIND THE PUPS? It is a sequel of sorts to the first book in the series, a Junior Library Guild selection for very young readers, CAN YOU FIND PUP?  about a little artist and his fun-loving, dare-devil pup. 

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Wow~ I can't wait to read FROM A. TO Z. It sounds like a life-changing picture book. 

And finally, do you have a poem to share for Poetry Friday? 

Years ago, I wrote a fairy tale about a little girl on an island who is given the gift of a dragon as her teacher. At the start of the story, I wrote this poem. It expresses something that I truly believe.

Each person changes the world.

Some for the better.

Some for the worse.

Someone might build a wall

to keep others out.

Someone else might build a house

for others to come home to.

Someone may step upon a flower.

Someone may plant a garden.

A cruel word might be spoken.

A poem might be written.

Someone might start a war.

Someone else might start to sing

a song that passes

from person

to person

to person.

by Vincent X. Kirsch

poem (c) 1998 Vincent X. Kirsch. All rights reserved.

illustrations and photos (c)2019 Vincent X. Kirsch. All rights reserved.

Vincent, thank you--I needed to be reminded that each person does change the world. And thank you for passing your inspiring song on to all of us. I hope you'll come back when FROM A. TO Z. comes out. (Campers! I urge you to read more about Vincent--or at least feast your eyes on oodles of his illustrations--in this 2016 interview)
And thank you for offering to sign and send a personally autographed copy of HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES to one of our lucky Readers! (to enter the drawing, see directions below)

Campers ~ checkout Vincent's short and sweet Wednesday Writers' Workout!

And don't forget Poetry Friday! 

This week's roundup is hosted by Jone at DeoWriter  Thanks, Jone! 

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PS: Campers ~ there's still a seat for you in the one-day class, WRITING A PICTURE BOOK AND GETTING IT PUBLISHED I'm again teaching on Saturday, July 13, 2019 with illustrator and author Barney Saltzberg, from 9:30am-4:30pm, through the UCLA Extension Writers Program

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TO ENTER THE DRAWING for a chance to win an autographed copy of  HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES written and illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsh, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment* on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthorsFacebook page. (If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today!)

*In your comment, tell us what you'd do with the book if you win our giveaway--keep it for yourself or give it to a young reader or a teacher (...or?) ?

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA THE WIDGET BELOW. The giveaway ends July 26th and is open to U.S. residents only.

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address. 

A Rafflecopter giveaway

posted with affection by April Halprin Wayland, and Eli (who loves every breathing being he meets.)

Learning from Friends

In honor of the start of another school year, we TeachingAuthors have been writing about various ways we “school” ourselves.  As usual, my fellow TAs have written eloquent blogs on this topic in a wide variety of ways.   I’m taking a different direction.  One of the ways I believe we as writers continue to learn is to talk to other writers.   Most of our families don’t quite “get” what we do, or why we do it.  Sometimes I don’t understand it myself.   That is why developing friendships with other writers are critical.  They understand.   

I’ve had the blessing in my life of having a fellow writer in my local area.  Darcy Pattison is a nationally known author, writing teacher, and independent publisher.   Click here for Mims House Books.  We met for the first time many years ago when her first book came out (a picture book), and mine (an adult inspirational) was about to be released.  We got to know each other slowly through our local SCBWI chapter—which Darcy started in our state.   

I was beginning to write my first nonfiction book for young readers in those days.  I bought stacks and stacks of how-to books, which are still in my bookshelf.  I devoured books about character and setting and formatting manuscripts and on and on.  Learning all these things was necessary.  But at some point there comes a time in a writer’s life when you have learned enough about how to write and you need to actually do it.  The next step is what I call: Put your seat in a seat and work.   In some ways that is when your real education as a writer begins. 

As the friendship between Darcy and I grew over the years, so did each of our published books.  (Her list is far longer than mine!)  Our writing styles and the types of books we each write are very different but we have been able to help each other.   The main way I believe we help each other is not in the form of manuscript critique—although we do that for each other.  It is in the way we discuss our work—over countless cups of coffee, phone conversations, emails and texts.  We bounce ideas off each other.  We brainstorm together.  We discuss how to handle various situations that come up in publishing.  We support each other.  We are sad for each other when disappointments come.  And we rejoice with each other when good things happen.   

In the words of E. B. White in Charlotte’s Web:

“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.  Charlotte was both.”

My friend Darcy is both.  I look forward to a friendship that lasts for many more years as we learn from each other.  

I hope each writer who reads this blog will find a writing buddy-or maybe a whole group of friends to support them.   

Carla Killough McClafferty

Darcy Pattison and I with our books at the Arkansas Reading Association conference.  

CONGRATULATIONS TO COLLEEN K, the winner of our TA giveaway!! She will receive a copy of Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders and Read Aloudby Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.  Enjoy the book Colleen K.     

Ten Days of Thanks-Giving Wrap-Up...and Poetry Friday!

Howdy Campers!

Carmela did a fine job of wrapping up our First Annual Ten Days of Thanks-Giving this week.  Yay, Carmela!

Today was my monthly hike with the women I've fallen in love with as we leaped from rock to rock to cross creeks, dripped sweat up impossible hills, walked quietly under arched tree ceilings, and been photographed with in front of waterfalls, oceans and boulders.  So today I write a thanku to the universe for giving me my hiking buds:

THANK YOU...
...for hard trails up to

egg-blue skies, for red leaves, for

six sweaty friends.

~ April Halprin Wayland

Here the last few thankus or simple thank yous:

From Joyce Ray:
I'm pretty late, but want to share my Thanku to my granddaughter Lindsay for terrific help in revising a poem recently.~
you oiled mired wheels
pushed my poem from its rut
your words, my words - WOW  

BEAUTIFUL, Joyce.

And Jan Godown Annino is the last in with this fitting contribution to our First Annual Ten Days of Thanks-Giving:
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Grateful to the 10 Days (catching it at the tail end. was in a cave of 

thesis-writing.)
Grateful to be able to try to learn to say Thank You in many languages.
This includes some of the 560 ways of Thank You in First Languages of Peoples here before arrival of the Spanish, French & other beautiful languages that came from over the big water. Often, thanks were so extensively prayed that it was a challenge to isolate one or two words to represent the concept.

And so I thank all of you, but especially the brave young creative writing students mentioned. 

photo credit: Chris Gregory

Fellow TeachingAuthor blogger Esther Hershenhorn (not the inventor of thankus, but the one who brought them so lovingly to our attention) writes:

I'm thinking our Ten Days of Thanks-Giving offering proved the Kent State University social scientists I referenced in my original October 20 Thanku post right: people who compose short letters of gratitude do indeed experience a significant increase in their overall happiness! I followed every link, I read each and every Thanku, I can't wait to share with my Young Writers the 465 ways to say Thanks that Jan shared this morning. ThankU, TeachingAuthors readers. for taking and making the time to put some Good back in our World.  

Amen, Esther ~

Some pretty amazing Poetry Friday poems are at Carol's Corner today!

And speaking of amazing poetry,  Poet Janet Wong and Professor Sylvia Vardell have teamed up to create a whole new way to read and write poetry: www.PoetryTagTime.com ~featuring three amazing poetry anthologies. The third book in the series, Gift Tag, is out just in time for the holidays, and is already one of the best-selling children’s poetry eBooks on Amazon.com.

Check it out!

Happy trails, Campers...and remember to write with joy ~
photo credit: Chris Gregory
hiking thanku (c)2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved

Buddies, Bullies and Blankies

     Roxie and her pals sat in my "possibilities" file while I wrote and sold two more picture books, and researched my next novel. I kept thinking of one of my first editors who told me "There's a story in there somewhere." She was referring to Yankee Girl, which, at that point, I had been writing for over three years. I knew there was a story in Camp K-9. . . somewhere.
    I would like to say that I had one big "Aha!" moment and found that story.
    I didn't. Instead, I had a lot of little "Oh" moments.
    One "oh"came when I realized that most of my camping experience had been as a counselor. I was fourteen when I had my only experience as a camper.  I thought of Roxie as an eight-year-old in "people years." Most of my personal camp memories would have to go.
    Great.  My manuscript was vanishing, not growing.
    Another "oh" moment came while stuck in Atlanta traffic, which happens at least once a day.  I was planning a writing exercise for one of young writers' day camps. I decided I would have them write about their most precious possession.  I needed to give them an example of something or someone you are deeply attached to. I didn't want a lot of essays on X-Boxes or their latest birthday present.  What had been my most precious possession?
    From nowhere (because I wasn't thinking all that hard) I thought "my quilt." When I was born, my Grandmother Rodman made me a quilt from corduroy remnants. It was the size of a twin bed coverlet. I wasn't as bad as Linus and his blankie, but I dragged "the Quilt" everywhere.  I called it "Meemaw's Quilt" after it's creator. After I started school, the Quilt left the house only for road trips and sleepovers.  Since everyone took bedrolls to sleepovers (in the days before pink My Little Pony sleeping bags) no one ever noticed the quilt.
      I had taken it to that 8th grade camp, rubbing on s particular corner, worn velvet soft, comforting myself to sleep.
     I had just enough time to scribble "M'maws quilt" on a Wal-Mart receipt before the traffic on Georgia 400 once again took off like the Indie 500.
     I was actively thinking about Roxie as I was taking the MARTA train to the airport one day. Specifically, the conflict between Roxie and Lacy. Lacy was a bigger dog. Would that be enough to make her so disagreeable?  Would it be enough for Roxie to fear her?
    The answer; no. What if Roxie had a secret she didn't want anyone to know, especially not Lacy?
    I heard the voice of one of the many superstar writers I had listened to over the years.  I don't remember who it was, but the voice said "It isn't enough to get your character into a jam.  You have to put them in as much peril as you can without killing them. And remember, they have to figure it out for themselves. No fairy godmothers, no magic genies coming to the rescue."
    Now the voice didn't say that the Situation (not the one from Jersey Shore) must be life-or-death. The character didn't have to be tied to the train tracks with a locomotive roaring in her direction. "You find  the worst thing to happen to your character. It might not be life-or-death for you, the reader, but you must understand how perilous this is for him/her."
    Not an "aha" moment...just another question I couldn't answer. I scrawled "life or death for Roxie" on a Walgreens receipt before I was shoved out by the crowd at the Airport Station.
    That night I was in an unfamiliar city, trying to sleep in an unfamiliar bed. I always fret over these presentations, no matter how many times I have done them before. A good bed helps. I recall with fondness a room in Miami with one of those cloud-like coverlets and a pillow to support every part of your body, and fabulous Egyptian cotton sheets.
    Well, some schools and organizations have more money than others.  This bed had the scratchiest linen ever and feather pillows.  I am allergic to feather pillows. The TV didn't get Comedy Central.  I can't sleep without Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Oh, and the thermostat was one of those locked ones, and the room temperature hovered in the low 80's. Yeah, I was really going to be on the ball in the morning.  I left The Weather Channel on and wished for something, anything to comfort me to sleep. Like Meemaw's Quilt.
    At that moment, sweaty and half asleep, the Big AHA shot through my brain. Of course, Roxie would not Lacy to know about her blankie, but what if...?  And what was camp really all about anyway? I opened my computer and typed away with The Weather Channel droning in the background. This time I knew I had nailed it, and the good folks at Peachtree agreed and bought it.  And it only took four years.
    Some of my fellow writers never read their reviews.  I do, because quite frequently the reviewer will tell me what my book was really about. For instance, A Tree for Emmy is about the deadly sameness of suburban life, feminism and ecology...none of which crossed my mind while I was writing it.
    So far, the reviewers have told me that Camp K-9 is "a cosy tale of friendship" which, in the end, was what I was aiming for. But another review stopped me short when it mentioned it was a story of how to deal with the growing problem of bullyism. Really? Hmm. I guess it is.  I was just telling a story about dogs having a good time at camp.
    As for Meemaw's quilt, I still have it, as carefully preserved as my wedding dress. Why?  Because I always want to be reminded of that eight-year-old who could soothe away her troubles by stroking a corduroy quilt.

Don't forget our second blogiversary critique giveaway. Details at:
http://teachingauthors.com/2011/04/our-second-blogiversary-critique.html

And if you want to find out more about Roxy and Lacy, enter our book giveaway for Camp K-9. 
See Monday's post for further information.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman