WBBT Interview With Laura Amy Schlitz (School Librarian/Author) – Part One

I had the honor of interviewing Ms. Schlitz for the second time.  You can find the first interview on the Cybils website, after "A Drowned Maiden’s Hair" took the highest honor in the category of 2006 Middle Grade Fiction.  In this interview we learn about a book that Ms. Schlitz has just finished for future "wild women of America", why complicated people are more fun to write about, and why drag racing may not be next on the agenda.

Fuse #8: Aside from your everyday talents you seem to have the ability to bridge the gap between fiction and non-fiction with enviable aplomb.  In 2006 your books were a non-fiction title and a fictional melodrama.  In 2007 you’ve melded the two with the fact-infused series of monologues “Good Masters!  Sweet Ladies!”  When it comes right down to it, do you have a preference between fiction and non-fiction?

I do love research, though.  Research stokes the imagination, and provides the best possible excuse for not writing.

Fuse #8: Though “A Drowned Maiden’s Hair” is not technically a fantasy, it did have some fantastical elements to it.  Have you ever felt an inclination to go whole hog and create an entirely alternate world, or does the one we currently inhabit have more than enough charms for you?

LAS: I think I like blending the fantastic with the real.  When I want a touch of exoticism, I like to change cultures or time periods.  I have no plans to write a story set in an alternative world, but if I were going to write one, I know what that world would look like.  

Fuse #8: What encouraged you to start writing at this particular time in your life?  Was there an instigating factor of some sort?  Something that caused you to sit down and write as you had never written before?

LAS: I’ve always written.  I wrote two novels and about a dozen plays before Candlewick Press decided to publish “Good Masters!  Sweet Ladies”* I’ve always written, but I’d pretty much given up on being published.

I’m not going to go into why I was on the point of giving up, because it’s a long story, and I can’t tell it without weeping copiously.  Suffice to say I was thoroughly discouraged and I even thought of giving up writing, but I never got around to it.  Luckily, I had two guardian angels.  One was the Park School, which has been extraordinarily supportive of my writing, providing me with inspiration, encouragement, and grant money.  The other was Candlewick Press.

I’ll tell you how I feel about Candlewick Press.  I had a friend who found a puppy in the street one New Year’s Eve.  It was sleeting, and she heard the puppy whimpering, so she scooped it up and took it to a New Year’s Eve party.  One minute the puppy was outside shivering, and the next minute it was sitting in front of the fire, licking champagne and Beef Wellington off the fingers of the party guests.  That’s me and Candlewick Press.