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Blogs by Lisa A Maddock
Writing for Children 10/26/2009 3:51:18 PM
I started my journey as a writer by pounding out a 400-page novel when I was in my twenties. I had lost my job and was in no big hurry to get re-employed, so I spent hours and hours every day working on that story. I didn't even have a computer - if you can imagine that - and had to use my husband's office on the weekend, and then scratch out notes by hand all week. It was a crazy time, but exciting. To be honest, the novel wasn't very good and the rejections that followed were painful. I gave up writing for a long time after that. I decided that I should write about what I knew... but I didn't really know anything. Yet.
Several years later, I became a mom. I had no time or energy for writing, that was for sure. And reading consisted of the same books over and over again, like "Chewy Louie" and this particular Sesame Street book with flaps you turned over... and this other one about Aladdin with buttons to push that made little noises. Anyway... when elementary school rolled around and my little protege started reading above her level, I got to join her in chapter books and that's when I got the idea to write one myself.
The story inspiration, I need to give credit, was the Hank the Cowdog series by John R. Erickson. I found these stories to be very funny. I was looking forward to our nightly reads as much as my daughter, and would be a little bummed out if she 'read ahead' without me.
But there was a second and very important story inspiration: guinea pigs. We are a host family to, at the moment, four guinea pigs. Back then, only two. Maggie and Peanut. I often joked about how they were running the household (which is not far from the truth). It was not much of a stretch to attach human voices to them and make them talk... which led to the idea of Teddy and Pip, the amazing talking guinea pigs and what kind of trouble they could get into.
Teddy and Pip do take center stage in my story with their sassy little comments, love of pop culture, Pip's singing, and their general irresistibleness. I found that they were overshadowing poor Molly, and it took a few rewrites to bring some life into her. Molly Jane Fisher is the nine-year-old girl detective who narrates the story. Molly is smart, has a big heart, has good ideas, and, I think, is a good kid. She isn't perfect, but she has all kinds of good qualities, not the least of which is her love of animals.
What I hope to hear (and have heard!) from my readers is that my story made them laugh. That is the whole point for me. I think perhaps if kids had opportunity to get a good laugh out of a story now and again, they might just learn to love reading a little bit more. Wouldn't that be great?
My next book, The Bridezilla Who Stole Christmas, will be out at the end of November!
