"Stead said she did several interviews that day, and her mother “swung into action,” planning an open house for that evening so that family and friends could come by and celebrate. Tuesday morning, she said, “I made my kids lunch and put my eight-year-old on the school bus and got in a car that took me to the Today Show.”
She met Jerry Pinkney, her fellow medalist, in the green room, and they exchanged books. And then it was time to go on the air. “We were told we would each be asked one question, and that the segment would be two minutes. I was thinking ‘talk short,’ and trying not to look scared. They said it will feel really fast, but it was just right from my point of view.”
Stead said she’s gotten “a ton” of phone calls and e-mail and notes on Facebook. “It’s been this constant love shower. I haven’t even begun to figure out how to answer them.”
Here's how she describes the process of writing the book:"Stead credits her editor for much of her success, saying she’d never have written a children’s book if it weren’t for [Wendy] Lamb. When You Reach Me is Stead’s second novel; she began the first one, First Light, while in between law jobs. “I was full of doubt,” she said. When she finished her first draft (“it was unwieldy and too complicated”), she contacted Lamb, whom she had met at a short story workshop several years before. “I told her I had this big mess of a draft, what do I do? She said, ‘Send it to me.’ She read it and really encouraged me. She told me, ‘This is not ready but there is a lot here. You need to find a writing community to help you.’ ”
Through connections made on a listserv, she and others founded a critique group, where she reworked the draft for two years. Then she sent it back to Lamb, and they revised the book further, for another year. “If she hadn’t done all that,” Stead said, “I would have taken a different path.”
Isn't it great to hear there are still editors around who will go that extra mile?
(Whatever kind of book you want to write, you'll get help in my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online and offline retailers. You might also want to sign up for my free monthly Brainstorm ebulletin--it contains tips for being more creative and productive.)
IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT'S IN "YOUR WRITING COACH", WATCH THIS:
Want to Write? This is the book for you. from jurgen Wolff on Vimeo.
