Meet Authors of Children Books

Chatroom - Second Animal Diaries Chat
 
31 March 2000

mary1 = Mary Casanova, author and illustrator of many (child)books
wadden = students of De Wadden (The Netherlands)
rene and rene1 = Mr. Rene de Vries, teacher of De Wadden 
And the following names belong to teachers (including mrs. Joan Goble) and students of Cannelton Elementary (Indiana-USA):
Goble, Hardman, Lawalin, Lawalin5th

wadden has joined channel #tenan
The topic is: (No topic set)
wadden> hello rene
[rene] hello
wadden> .
>> Goble has joined channel #tenan
[rene] Hello Cannelton
[Goble] hoi
wadden> Hello Goble
[Goble] have you heard from Mary?
[rene] She confirmed she got the new URL
[rene] so she will be here soon, I guess
>> Hardman has joined channel #tenan
[rene] Hello Hardman, welcome
wadden> hoi
[Hardman] Hello to all!
[Hardman] This is Jesse
wadden> hoi jesse, this is frank
[Goble] Hello Mrs. Hardman
[Hardman] Hi Mr.Rene
[Goble] we are waiting for Mary Casanova to come
[rene] Hi Jesse
[Goble] she should be here soon
[Hardman] Hi Frank
wadden> how old are you? i am 12
[Hardman] Hi Mrs.Goble
[Hardman] I am 10
>> Lawalin has joined channel #tenan
>> mary1 has joined channel #tenan
[Hardman] Hi Lawalin
[Goble] Hello!
[rene] Hello Lawalin, Hello Mary
[Lawalin] Hey
wadden> hallo evrybody
[Goble] We are glad that you are here Ms. Casanova
[Lawalin] Hey
[Hardman] Hi Mary
[Lawalin] Hi Mary
[mary1] Hi everyone!
[rene] Nice to meet you all inhere
[mary1] To make things easier, you can all call me "Mary," okay?
[Hardman] We are glad you all decided to chat with us!!!!!!!!!!
[rene] OK, and you can call me "MR. Rene de Vries from Holland"
[mary1] I consider this a wonderful opportunity to meet all of you!
wadden> hahaha, he is funny
[rene] sorry, just kidding
[Hardman] How is everyone?
wadden> I am good
[mary1] So . . . has anyone read any of my books yet?
[rene] Fine, thank you
[Hardman] Great!!
[Hardman] Sorry we haven't
wadden> Mary... we cannot read english very well
[Hardman] We can't either!!
[rene] Sorry, the students of the Wadden only learn English for second year now
[mary1] Then tell me what some of your favorite books are, okay?
[Goble] We think we have not yet
[Hardman] HaHaHa!!!!
[Goble] but we want to
[rene] so it is hard to read English books
[Lawalin] We are all fine. How are you Mary?
[Goble] We will check in the library next time we go
[rene] But maybe you can tell us a little about one of your own favorite books?
[Hardman] Fish Face
[Goble] Cody says he has read the book about the moose
[Goble] Goble is 3rd grade
wadden> yes, can you tell us a little about your book?
[Goble] Lawalin is 5th grade
[Goble] Hardman is 4th grade
[Hardman] Hardman is 4th Grade
[Goble] we are Cannelton Elementary
[rene] wadden is grade 6 (but only starters in English)
[mary1] I'll tell you a bit about my books. MOOSE TRACKS is about a boy named Seth who struggles to rescue an orphaned moose calf from poachers.
wadden> ok
[Lawalin] Mary what book are you writing now?
[mary1] My other books (WOLF SHADOWS, RIOT, and STEALING THUNDER) are also action-adventure, can't-put-down-kind of books.
[Hardman] How many books have you wrote
[Goble] Yes! Cody says that is the book he read!!!
[Lawalin] We have a kid named Seth in our class?
[mary1] Right now I'm working on a novel that will come out next fall. It is set in France during a time when people truly believed in werewolves. Scary time period! They burned people at the stake.
wadden> for which age you write for?
[mary1] Hey Cody, I'm glad to hear you read MOOSE TRACKS!
[Goble] 'How do you come up with your character names?
[mary1] I write mostly for kids about your age, around 8 to 14 years old. I have a few picture books for younger readers coming out soon, too.
[Hardman] What is your favorite book that you wrote?
wadden> ok, i am 12
[Lawalin] How many books have you written?
[mary1] Character names are challenging. Sometimes a name like Seth or Matt drops into my head. But in STEALING THUNDER, I changed the main characters name many times and finally settled on Libby. She struggles to save a horse from mistreatment. A real heroine!
[mary1] I can't say which book is my favorite. It's like asking your parent which child she loves best. Each book is a favorite.
[rene] are there true stories? or just fiction?
[mary1] My stories are fiction in that I create characters and families out of thin air. These books are all based on events that can/have/and do happen. RIOT is based on events that happened right in my town several years ago.
[Hardman] When did you start writing chidrens' books?
[rene] can you tell us a little bit more about RIOT?
[rene] oops, two questions to answer now
>> rene has left channel #tenan
wadden> ooh
wadden> reneleft but will come back
[Lawalin] How many books have you wrote?
[Hardman] What happened to Mr.Rene?
[mary1] People were fighting over jobs in International Falls, Minnesota (where I live) and the anger spilled over into violence. It was a scary time. The main character, Bryan, has to make sense out of his town falling apart around him.  To make matters worse, he "falls for" a girl from a non-union family.
[Goble] He will be back
[Goble] sometimes his computer goes like that
[Goble] then it comes back
[Hardman] Good!!
wadden> looks a good story for me, is it also in dutch?
>> Lawalin has left channel #tenan
[mary1] I have written books for children since l990. Ten years ago. But I have been writing since high school, always keeping a journal, always dreaming of becoming an author. Do any of you dream of becoming authors someday?
[Goble] same thing happened to lawalin
[mary1] Sorry, RIOT is not in Dutch. I wish!
wadden> oh ;-((
wadden> you only write for 10 years now? are you so young?
[Hardman] how many languages of book are there?
>> rene1 has joined channel #tenan
[rene1] I am back ;'-)
[mary1] Oh, if you don't have it, I hope some of you will look up my website and e-mail me from there sometime. It's http://www.marycasanova.com 
wadden> yes, I will
[mary1] I think I'm young. I'm 43. Lots of time left to write lots of books!
>> Lawalin5th has joined channel #tenan
[mary1] The only translation of my books so far is MOOSE TRACKS in Japanese. I expect my next novel, CURSE OF A WINTER MOON, which comes out this fall, will be in French (and I will request Dutch, too!).
[Hardman] do you have any questions for us?
[Lawalin5th] The problem with being kicked out of this is we cannot see the questions any more
[mary1] Are you doing any writing these days? Do any of you keep a journal?
[Lawalin5th] so, we hope we do not repeat
[rene1] yes, that would be great, tohave it in Dutch too
[mary1] What do you do for fun after school?
[Goble] this is megan e. may i have read wolf shado, stealing thunder
wadden> i like to bike or to play with friends
wadden> and to make drawings or to work on pc
[mary1] Great, Megan. I hoped you liked those books!
>> Lawalin has joined channel #tenan
[Lawalin5th] yes we keep journals
[rene1] some of my students do, yes
[Goble] we know some Japanese
[Lawalin] We got kicked out so we can not see all the Q's
[mary1] Do you think writing is hard or easy? I think it's both. I love to have written something, but often, right in the middle of writing I think--my gosh, this is tough work! Anyone else feel like that sometimes?
[Hardman] yes we do writting every week in fact we just got done writing What A Wonderful World!
[Goble] konichi-wa!
[mary1] Konichi-wa! to you, too!
wadden> what is that?
[Lawalin5th] i do
[mary1] How do you say hello in Dutch?
[Hardman] konichi-wa! back
[rene1] I think it is food from japan
[Lawalin] We have to write a story every day! We think writing can be hard and easy!
[rene1] hello in Dutch is Hallo or goedendag
[Lawalin] Hoi is like hi in Dutch
[mary1] Goedendag! What a great word! I'm glad to hear that some of you have been writing today. What did you write in "What a Wonderful World"?
[Hardman] Hoi
[Goble] Mary-san gen-ki des ka ?
[Hardman] Song verses
[rene1] How are you means: Hoe gaat het met je?
[mary1] Hmmm. Lost me on that last bit of Japanese. sorry.
[Lawalin] How many books have you wrote?
[rene1] Joa, are you ordering pizza's in Japanese?
[Lawalin] we will very soon!
[Goble] we said how are you.
[Lawalin5th] we have looked at your books on www.marycasanova.com
[mary1] Do you know that I live where there are lots of wolves? And moose? And other wildlife? What kind of wildlife do you have nearby?
[rene1] ;-)
[Lawalin] ha ha
[rene1] wildlife here in Haarlem? we have ducks
[rene1] and some birds
[mary1] Ducks are fine. :)
[rene1] and across the canal some cows
wadden> and chicken too
[mary1] The wolves here would like to come visit there, I'm sure!
[Hardman] Tell us about some of your books
[Lawalin] We have deer, rabits,squirrel
[Lawalin5th] do you ever get close to the wolfs
[rene1] the most dangerous animal in Holland will be the fox, we suppose
[Goble] deer,rabbits,and other things
[rene1] ok, back to the books of Mary
[Lawalin] HA HA HA
[Goble] Mary, do you ever get to hear the wolves howl?
[mary1] I once came across a fresh wolf kill. Only a bit of bone and hoof remained from the deer. That experience found its way into the opening chapter of WOLF SHADOWS.
[Hardman] Birds, Racoon, frogs, Cyotes
[Goble] Is that why you like to write about wolves and moose...you live near them?
[mary1] I hear wolves howl once in awhile. It's wonderful and haunting, too.
[rene1] good question Goble!
[Lawalin] Have you ever illistrated a book that had Bat in it?
[Lawalin] I mean Bats
[Hardman] Where are you from?
[Goble] So, sometimes it scares you and sometimes it makes you feel wonderful to hear them?
[mary1] Yes! The best material for stories comes from around us. I can't write about Denmark or Indiana because I don't know these areas well enough, at least not without visiting.  Write about what you know best.
[Goble] some of us think a wolf howl might be scarey and some of us think it might sound lonely
[rene1] that is a good advise for students, Mary... write about you know best!
[mary1] Yes, a wolf's howl is both. And my reaction to wolves is both to be in awe and to be slightly afraid, even though I know wolves don't attack people.
[rene1] do you have more advice for us?
[Lawalin] Some of us have to go sorry:-( Bye
wadden> bye
[Lawalin] now, more third graders will ask questions
[rene1] ok
[mary1] As to advice: I have lots. Write using the five senses. Try and step inside your character and say, what does this character see, taste, touch, hear, smell- -moment by moment.
[Lawalin5th] Mr. Rene, have you gotten to save any of the chat?
[rene1] yes, we saved the complete chat till now
[rene1] lucky enough we work on two pc's
[Lawalin5th] great
[rene1] Mary, before we forget to ask... is it ok with you to publish this chat on the Animal Diaries website?
[Lawalin] ;-))))))
[mary1] More advice on writing: Write about things that delight you, that you love, and that trouble you or cause you to question things. Write from the heart. Don't worry about being perfect when you write. Explore. See what you can discover about yourself as you write. Have fun!
[rene1] great tips. thanks Mary !
[mary1] Yes, go ahead and publish our chat. Thanks so much for the chance to be part of this "chat" today!
[Hardman] bye
>> Hardman has left channel #tenan
[Lawalin] when did you start
[rene1] well, it is us who needs to thank you ;-)
[Goble] was it scary the first time you started righting your first book?
[Lawalin5th] great advice
wadden> Mrs Mary, was it hard for you to find a publisher for your first book?
[mary1] Even writing my sixth novel, which I just started this week, is scary. Writing requires courage. It's all about taking risk and revealing yourself on paper.
[mary1] I have received hundreds of rejections on short stories, articles, and such. My first book, MOOSE TRACKS, received 8 rejections before it found a publisher. Actually, two publishers were interested in it at once.
[Lawalin] sometimes after we write and it is something others like to read...we feel good...we feel better about it 
[rene1] yep.
[Goble] do you like to write?
[mary1] That's so true. Sometimes we're our own worst critics. If we can learn to ignore that voice that tells us that what we write "isn't good enough," and just write, we usually amaze ourselves at what is possible. And sharing what we write is so important, published or not. Writing IS about communcating.
wadden> Mrs. Mary, did you know that I wrote stories together with kids from Canelton? we did monster story and also about universe/space
[mary1] Yes, I like to write. And sometimes, it feels like having teeth pulled, which I'm glad I've never had to actually experience. But I can imagine!
[rene1] yes, you are so right, MaryQ
[rene1] oops, Mary
[mary1] Wadden, what a great idea to write stories together.  And monster stories and universe/space stories puts you solidly in the science-fiction genre!
[Lawalin5th] how many schools have you visited?
[rene1] students had to finish other student's stories
[mary1] Well, it's about time for me to get back to my work.  I have a novel to write! :)
[rene1] well, before you leave...
[mary1] I've lost count of school visits--way over a hundred. Maybe 200.
[Lawalin] how far away did you go to vistit schools ?
[rene1] we want to thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about writing with us
[Lawalin] Have you been to Indiana?
[rene1] and for your tips
wadden> in nederland too?
[mary1] I have visited schools all around the United States. But I have never been to Indiana! I was in Missouri last week.
[Goble] thank you so munch for chating with us
[rene1] nederland = netherlands
[Lawalin] We sure would like it if you could visit us sometime soon.
[mary1] I wish you all the best with your writing (and reading) and I hope to hear from some of you again! All best to you. Thanks Ms. Rene and Goble fo this opportunity. Signing off. Mary Casanova
wadden> ok, i need to go to bed now
[rene1] bye Mary
[Lawalin] thank you!!!
wadden> dag!
[mary1] Bye!
>> mary1 has left channel #tenan

END OF SECOND ANIMAL DIARIES CHAT