Clarbojahn Presents! Author Susanna Leonard Hill’s Interview: Part One

Hi Readers,

Today and next week I have a treat for you. Susanna Leonard Hill has agreed to an interview here and because I managed to ask all the right questions and got all the juicy dope I have split it in two parts. The first part you can read today covering her books and writing process and the second part come back for next  Tuesday where you can hear all about the other good stuff.

[Clarike] Susanna, you are a multi-published author. Can you tell us a little about your books and which one is your favorite?

[Susanna]  All my books so far are based on my own experience, or on things my children did, or experienced, or were interested in.  I have 9 published titles in the US and 1 in the Netherlands.  It’s pretty much impossible to pick a favorite!  When kids ask me on school visits, I usually say that my favorite is whatever I’m working on at the moment, because that is what’s in my mind and I’m most enthusiastic about right then.  But I guess I would say I have a soft spot for The House That Mack Built because it was first, for Punxsutawney Phyllis because I love her spunkiness, for Can’t Sleep Without Sheep because I just love that story, and for Not Yet, Rose because that story is about my daughter waiting for my son.  I told you I couldn’t pick one.  You’re just lucky I didn’t list them all 🙂

[Clarike] Can you tell us something about your writing process?

[Susanna]  I tend to get a piece of an idea… a character, a title, a bit of plot.  But it’s not enough to go on.  So I send it to the back of my mind and go about my day… or week… or year… 🙂   Eventually, after it’s been rolling around in there for a while, that little kernel of something starts to grow.  It takes on more mass, or it joins hands with another piece of an idea (that happens a lot) and all of a sudden I have something I can really work with.  Usually at that point, I sit down and write pretty quickly.  I put the draft away for a while (because when you first finish a new idea you think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread and you have no ability to be objectiveJ) then I take it back out.  Sometimes (often) I think it’s awful and should be used for guinea pig bedding.  But I hate to give up.  So I tweak, and polish, and see if I can get that little stone to shine.  This is not to say that I hang about waiting for ideas to strike to write.  Writing is all about showing up and doing the work.  Plenty of days, I just sit down and write something.  Many times those things become the kernels that have to roll around for a while.

[Clarike] Was it hard to go from writing picture books to writing a chapter book?

[Susanna]  Yes!  I still haven’t written a chapter book I would show anyone!

[Clarike] When did you start writing for publication and how long did it take before you were published after you started submitting your work?

[Susanna]  I started writing for children during the last century.  (1995 approximately 🙂 )  I sent out a few things to magazines but didn’t get any bites.  My first book to go to an editor was The House That Mack Built, and it got picked up!  I was lucky 🙂   It went out in 2000, got purchased in January 2001, and was published November 2002.

{Clarike}With nine published titles, that’s almost one a year! Pretty prolific, wouldn’t you say folks?  Next Tuesday we’ll come back and find out what Susanna is reading, why she writes, and what she’s working on now. In the meantime you can find out more about her on her website http://www.susannahill.com and her blog http://susannahill.blogspot.com. She would love a visit from you! And I promise next week promises to be just as much fun as today was. (Ok maybe I’m over promising, ;)). But really, I invite you back to hear all about Susanna. And if you want another treat, in addition to the donuts, head on over here on Friday for Perfect Picture Book Friday with my choice of an anti-bullying book.

Are you intrigued enough to want to come back for the rest of the interview? Yes or why not?

Other interviews I’ve done and you may want to see them again are here. :https://clarbojahn.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/interview-with-author-joni-cole/ and https://clarbojahn.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/interview-with-authordixiane-hallaj/ and https://clarbojahn.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/part-two-in-author-interview-of-dixiane-hallaj/ and https://clarbojahn.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/interview-with-author-bobbi-carducci/ and https://clarbojahn.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/thanks-to-tank-an-interview-with-bobbi-carducci/  OK! Whew! that’s enough Clar! we get the idea! OK. already.