This week, I’m happy to introduce a new guest blogger! I know sometimes you, loyal readers (aka Mom), need a change of pace. I’m happy to introduce Laurie-Anne Vazquez, a newcomer to CMA! Laurie is a graduate of NYU’s Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing and an aspiring kids’ TV writer for ages 6-11. If her Jackie Chan Adventures spec could have gotten her on that show she would have died happy; as is, it was submitted for a Humanitas Award and wrangled her a spec-writing gig for Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, so she’s still pretty happy. She bides her time at Popular Science magazine, pitching geeky science articles while she figures out how to write smart kids and fun fight scenes for a living — or The Legend of Korra. Whichever comes first. Laurie’s taking over while I sun and fun in the Sunshine State. Take it away, Laurie-Anne!
I am not, what you would call, a history buff. I am bad with dates, I mix up country borders, and I assume everything ends badly. The only things I can relate to about history are the stories – and the people who lived them.
That’s why I really appreciated Bianca Turetsky’s chat at CMA’s “Bringing History to Life” Writers Workshop on June 11.
Bianca wasn’t a history person, either. She was just a girl obsessed with vintage fashion. One day, she got invited to a traveling vintage fashion show and tried on a dress that previously belonged to a Mrs. Baxter. As she looked at the tag on the sleeve Bianca found herself wondering about Mrs. Baxter. What was she like? Was she happy? What did she eat that day?
That dress, and those questions, were the genesis of the first Time Traveling Fashionista book. She’s written 2 more since, and found that having a fashion-forward 12-year-old dress shop with Marie Antoinette is a pretty fun way to teach history. She never intended to do that, but she fell into it. Because of the stories.
“Story has to come first,” Bianca told us eager CMA folks. “Always.” Kids want to read fun things on their own time, “they don’t want to feel like they’re having a lesson,” she explained. In order to tell those kinds of stories, it’s important to do the research first. Not too much (she sets a strict deadline for herself or the writing would never get done), but enough to get a base. Read lots of biographies, visit the places you’re writing about if possible (she went to Versailles with her research assistant: grandma), and – most importantly – ask an expert. “I definitely recommend reaching out to experts,” she advised. “People are really generous with their time… I wish I’d done it for my first 2 books!”
Once that’s done, and you’re sure your readers feel like they’re there (“Authenticity is in the details,” she confirmed), it’s time to check facts. “The burden is on the author to have your facts straight,” she said. We didn’t know that. Neither did she… at first. “It was a lot of pressure,” she admitted. She felt a real responsibility to honor the memories of real people she worked into her fictional narrative, and encouraged us to do the same.
That said, Bianca admitted she struggles with how much of her stories are fact versus fiction. We discussed different methods of sharing her research with her audience to provide clarity (supplemental materials like “The Magic Tree House” series, posting it on the book’s website, creating a dress-up app), but realized that adults were the only ones asking those kinds of questions. Kids were just enjoying the stories – and researching on their own.
Bianca gave us an overview of what to expect when trying to publish historical fiction (agents are important!), as well as a list of historical fiction agents and a reading list, making us all very happy. While the market is fairly saturated, she told us there’s room as long as the story has a good hook.
Then she warned us that authors need to do their own promotion, making us all slightly less happy. Promotion is the author’s second job. She does it mostly with school visits, partly to interact directly with her readers (and hear how they really speak so she can write their voices well), and partly because, “librarians and teachers are the best marketers I have.” Educators are desperate for ways to make curriculum fun and accessible, and when Bianca shows up with the dress the kids are hooked. She brings that dress to every visit: “I did it for one and thought—oh! I should always do it like this!”
Bianca compiles her own list of schools, but mentioned that teaching history is another way to get into classrooms in New York State. So are Skype book tours, and reading school curriculum. That’s how she got the idea to write about Cleopatra for the third book, even though she probably would have done it anyway. “The lack of [first-person] historical information makes her interesting to a writer like me,” she shared.
While Bianca still has a day job (“I have 3 books and I’m still trying to figure out how to do it as a full-time thing”), she reminded us that historical fiction is more important than ever now. Citing a New York Times stat so scary I had to triple check it with her, she said that 35% of people don’t know when the American Revolution took place—but over 80% of people can name a Kardashian. Pop culture knowledge is replacing historical knowledge, and it’s up to writers to turn the tide.
Speaking of writing, and since it was a Writers Workshop, Bianca guided us through a writing exercise. “The best practice for writing is writing,” she chimed, and had us close our eyes and imagine being whisked away in our own time machines. We stepped outside the machine for just a minute, long enough to look around and take in the sights and smells and people. We struggled to get it all down fast enough.
Maybe one of those time travel adventures will become the next big work of historical fiction. Only time will tell.
Children's Media Association 