NATIONAL NEWS
September 30, 2009
20 Questions for Author Sharon Creech
TFK meets up with an award-winning author
As a TFK Kid Reporter, I get to do lots of neat things. One of the neatest has been to interview one of my favorite authors, Sharon Creech, in New York City. Her new book, The Unfinished Angel, has just been published. Here is what Creech has to say about why she writes, how she writes and how learning to speak Italian made her English sound confusing!
 |  COURTESY JULIAN FAMILY TFK Kid Reporter Claire Julian with Sharon Creech. |
What inspired you to become an author?
Sharon Creech:A lot of different things. One was that I really like to read. I think most authors feel that way. And when you like to read so much, there comes a point where you say: I'd like to tell my own stories, or I wish I could read a story similar to what I have in my mind.
TFK:Which of your books is your favorite?
Creech:Most people expect me to say Walk Two Moons, because it won a Newbery Medal. It is a favorite for that reason, but each book is a favorite for a different reason. For instance, so many students have written to me about Love That Dog that it is a favorite. And I like the grandmother in Granny Torrelli Makes Soup because she's like my grandmother. And then there's always the new book. The Unfinished Angel is a favorite because it's like the baby. It's like I take care of my baby.
TFK:When did you become interested in writing?
Creech:In about fifth grade I started to write poems, and I was a reporter in the neighborhood. I wasn't an official reporter like you are, but I would just go around and, sort of without permission, spy on people. I got in some trouble because I made up things to make the story more interesting.
TFK:Did you ever want to write factual articles?
Creech:Yes, initially I was more interested in reporting. I only knew there were reporters in the world. I didn't have a sense of who wrote novels. But I knew what a reporter was, so that's what I wanted to be. Then I figured out you had to tell the truth to be a reporter, and I didn't like that so much. That's too hard.
TFK:Are any of your characters based on real people?
Creech:Yes. Not on purpose. But after I finish a story, I look at the characters and [realize they remind me of real people]. If you took me and my daughter and put us together, that would be a lot like Salamanca--the character in Walk Two Moons.
TFK:Who are your favorite authors?
Creech:Katherine Paterson. I like Karen Hesse, Richard Peck, Jerry Spinelli. Lois Lowry is another one of my favorites.
TFK:What are your favorite books?
Creech:I like books similar to what I write--books that have realistic fiction and something funny. It's got to have something light in it so it isn't too dreary. I wish that I would read fantasy, but I've never been able to get into it. I don't like to write scary things.
TFK:What is the best part of writing books?
Creech:Doing the first draft. A lot of writers hate that part, but I like it because I never know what's going to happen. I just sort of know the beginning, and then I wonder what's going to happen. It's like being the reader [and not knowing how the book will end]. I like going to my desk every day and writing five pages. Then, that evening, when I go to look back over it, it's like someone else wrote it.
TFK:Do you ever get stuck in the middle of writing?
Creech:Yes, I think every writer gets stuck, but usually it's because I'm too tired and I should've stopped writing already. So when I get stuck, I do a couple of things. I take a walk, and the ideas get sorted out in my head. Or I take a nap, and the same thing happens. I always wish they would let students take a nap at school.
TFK:Have you written any books for adults?
Creech:That's how I started. I wrote two books when I was living in England, so those books came out there. And then the next book I wrote was a children's book. I had so much fun writing it that I decided to stay with that.
TFK:What was it like winning a Newbery Medal?
Creech:Very exciting and very scary, because I didn't really understand what it meant. I knew something about a gold sticker, but I didn't know much else. The publisher heard the news about the same time I did, and they called right after I won. I asked: "How many people win this every year? Three hundred? Five hundred?" And the publisher told me that only one person wins! They also told me I was going to have to give a speech to accept the award. I had never given a speech, so I was very afraid of that. It wasn't only that I had to get up and give the speech--but I had to give it to 2,000 people!
TFK:What makes you want to continue putting characters into other books? For example, you put Sal, who first appeared in Walk Two Moons, into your book Chasing Redbird.
Creech:I liked the idea that it was kind of connected. When I finished writing Walk Two Moons, I wanted to write more about Bybanks, but I didn't want to write more about Sal. So I thought I would take a different character that lived in the same town, who would know Sal. And then I'd make Sal come in as a minor character. I would still be doing that, but my editor suggested I stop.
TFK:What do you like to do in your free time?
Creech:I have a kayak, and we live on a lake, so I like to go kayaking. I really like to read. I like to walk. I like to play with my grandchildren.
TFK:Out of all the characters you have created, do you have a favorite?
Creech:It would be Jack in Love That Dog, because this kid has got a big heart and is very interested in the world and in people.
TFK:How did you come up with the characters Zola and Angel in your new book, The Unfinished Angel?
Creech:When my granddaughter was 2, she told her first story. "Once upon a time in Spain, there was an angel, and the angel was me. The end."
I wanted to know the rest of the story. And of course my granddaughter didn't know. So I thought about it and I thought about it. Then in 2007, we moved to Switzerland for a year. As soon as I saw the old towers there, I thought, that's where the angel would live if there were an angel. So I'd found the place where she lived, and I figured it would be Switzerland, not Spain.
I was learning Italian at the time, and I was speaking really strangely. Instead of saying, "I'm so glad to be here," I would say, "I'm so gladful to be here!" And people would look at me and I would say, "Aren't you impressified?" I couldn't get the right word out. I thought, why don't I let the angel talk like this? So that's how she happened. As for [the other main character] Zola, I wanted a character a little bit like my granddaughter, except exaggerated. For instance, my granddaughter will put on a skirt and a blouse. Then she'll think, I like that skirt, too. So she'll put another skirt over the one she is wearing. Then she'll put a scarf around her neck and a ribbon around her ankle. She dresses very colorfully, and she's very funny, so I sort of based Zola off her.
TFK:Do you plan to write any more books with the characters Angel and Zola in them?
Creech:Not right now, but you never know. That angel's voice might get stuck in my voice.
TFK:What advice do you have for kids who want to become authors?
Creech:Read a lot and write a lot. If you read a lot, you'll learn without even studying. You'll understand how other authors do things. And if you write a lot, you practice and have fun. Write short things. Write poems. Write plays. It's all just learning how to do it.
TFK:How long did it take you to write The Unfinished Angel?
Creech:The book took a year. Most books take one year to write. The exception was Walk Two Moons, which took me three years to write. That was one of the first long novels I wrote, so I had to really learn everything while I was doing it.
TFK:Why did you decide to write Love That Dog, Hate That Cat and Heartbeat in poem form?
Creech:They just came out that way. Sometimes that's just the way the voice comes in my head: This needs to be a poem.
TFK:When you were younger, did you ever want to be someone other than a writer?
Creech:I wanted to be everything for about six months. Wouldn't it be cool if I could be an ice skater for six months, and a professional singer for six months, work in a diner for six months, be a painter and a writer? I really wanted to be a rock star for about six months. But then I realized that in order to be any one of those things, I'd really have to work at it for a long time. It took me most of my life to learn how to write stories, and once you really learn how to do something well, you don't want to say, Enough of that; I'll learn how to be a painter. But I think people could learn how to do those other things just for hobbies.
