A Chat with Laurie Wallmark

We are extremely lucky to have the talented Laurie Wallmark on our blog! She has wowed us with her books, ADA BYRON LOVELACE AND THE THINKING MACHINE and GRACE HOPPER: QUEEN OF COMPUTER CODE, and now she has another must-read. Thank you, Laurie, for giving us an inside look into your writing life and your most recent book.

How long have you been an author?
I’ve been writing for about twenty years now. My first book wasn’t published until 2015, though.

What made you want to become an author?
Unlike many of my kidlit author friends, I wasn’t interested in writing as a child. I was a math and science kid all the way. Other than a few poems and songs, the only writing I did was for school assignments. One day, I had an idea for a middle grade novel, so I decided to see if I could transform that idea into an actual book. I did, and that book became the first step on my path to being a writer. It’s now one of my trunk novels, hidden away, never again to see the light of day.

Tell us about your newest book, HEDY LAMARR’S DOUBLE LIFE: HOLLYWOOD LEGEND AND BRILLIANT INVENTOR (PEOPLE WHO SHAPED OUR WORLD). Where did you get the idea?
I’m always on the lookout for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) whose achievements have been overlooked. In fact, I keep a list of possible subjects for future biographies. Hedy co-invented a vital piece of technology that helps keep our electronic communications safe from hacking, yet most people only know her as a movie star with a pretty face. I wanted to share the achievements of this amazing inventor with the world.

Authors get rejected a lot. What do you do when you get rejected?
It’s hard to have your work rejected, but I try to tell myself that a rejection is only one person’s opinion. Somewhere out there is an editor who will love my book as much as I do. She just hasn’t met my book yet.

All of your published books are about women. Do you have more women-centered books yet to be written?
I have two more women in STEM books coming out in the next two years. The first, Numbers in Motion: Sophie Kowalevski, Mathematician, tells about the life and achievements whose work solves problems as different as calculating the path of a planet or a spinning football. The second book hasn’t been announced yet, so all I can say is it’s another unsung woman in STEM.

What do you do when you’re not writing?
Read. Read. Read.

Describe what it’s like to hear the news that you’ve just gotten a book contract.
It’s incredibly exciting to receive a call that says an editor has fallen in love with your book. (See my previous answer about rejection). Together, you will work to bring out a book that hopefully kids will love, too.

What advice would you give someone who wants to become an author?
A writer writes. You need to work at your craft if you want to become an author. In addition, it helps to develop a thick skin to cope with those inevitable rejections.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the pages from HEDY LAMARR’S DOUBLE LIFE: HOLLYWOOD LEGEND AND BRILLIANT INVENTOR (PEOPLE WHO SHAPED OUR WORLD):

Award-winning author Laurie Wallmark’s debut picture book, ADA BYRON LOVELACE AND THE THINKING MACHINE (Creston Books, 2015), received four starred trade reviews (Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal) and many national awards including Outstanding Science Trade Book and Cook Prize Honor Book. Her picture book biography, GRACE HOPPER: QUEEN OF COMPUTER CODE (Sterling Children’s Books, 2017), earned a Kirkus star, is a Parents’ Choice Gold Medal winner, and is on several public libraries’ “best of” lists, including New York. Her recently released book is HEDY LAMARR’S DOUBLE LIFE (Sterling Children’s Books, 2019). Laurie has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from VCFA. You can find Laurie on the Web at www.lauriewallmark.com and @lauriewallmark.

Staff Valentines: An Act of Kindness

Valentines Day is quickly approaching. I love the little notes and cards my students make for me. I’ve had one in particular hanging by wardrobe for seven years now. This year, my class will be spreading kindness across the school by making valentines for the entire staff! It’s been a few years since I’ve done this, and I’m excited to revisit the idea.

First, I get a current staff list from the office to make sure I don’t leave anyone out! From specialists to custodians, cafeteria helpers to gen. ed. classroom teachers, everyone goes on the list! Then I make a Word Doc for the SMARTBoard so that we can all read it easily from around the room. I make sure there’s enough space next to each staff member’s name for me to write the name of the student who chooses to make a valentine for that person. (This helps kids with spelling and provides me with a way to keep track of who’s working on what.) As students pick various teachers, I try to look for connections (She was my sister’s fourth grade teacher! I go to his classroom for reading!) to make the valentines as meaningful as possible. Students trace and cut out hearts using construction paper, write a message and decorate the valentines. Then it’s time to deliver some smiles!

Do You Want to be a Ninja?

Sue Fliess (http://www.suefliess.com) has done it again! She’s written another can’t-resist, must-have, children’s book called, Ninja Camp. Her talented illustrator, Jen Taylor, has created the perfect pictures to take every reader on an authentic ninja camping experience. We wrote a Book Bite to help you and the kids in your life, can become “ninjas of the night” too!

Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins

We are in the final stretch to Winter Break and desperately trying to hold the attention of our excited students. Thank you, Sue Fliess for coming to the rescue with your new book, Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins!

If you have kids in your life, put on your Santa hat, grab your boots, and go get your copy today. Then try our activities to go along with the story. This book and these ideas are our survival kit for the next couple of days! Ho, ho, go Mrs Claus!

Boring Sentence Repair Shop

How many times have you looked at your students’ sentences and thought, “These sentences are too short,” or “They don’t give any details?” We experience this quite often in first grade where we constantly see sentences such as, “I like ___” or “___ is nice.” BOR-ING! This is why we created the Boring Sentence Repair Shop.

Just like a car that needs repairing, our boring sentences can go in the shop in shambles and come out like new! The repair shop itself is simply a piece of poster board with a clip-art picture of a repair shop glued to it. Then the entire poster is laminated to last longer. The repair shop process works best when done as a whole group or in small groups. As a class, we brainstorm a simple sentence such as, “I like to eat cookies.” Then we write the boring sentence on a sentence strip and cut off the blank space left at the end to highlight how short it really is. We read it together, shout “BOR-ING!” and we get another strip. (Make sure it’s long!)

We start brainstorming ways to “repair” our sentence. For instance, we might ask, “What are some synonyms for like?” Then we choose or vote on one of those words. We ask questions relevant to our boring sentence topic. “Why do you like to eat cookies?” “What kind of cookies do you eat?” “What is a stronger or better word for ‘eat’?” “Where do you like to eat your cookies?” We go back and forth with ideas eventually settling on the best verbs, adjectives, and nouns we can conjure up. An example might be, “I adore devouring gooey, warm, chocolate chip cookies.” We write our repaired sentence on the long strip; sometimes we even have to tape two strips together.

Here comes the hokey part, but we swear they eat it up every time. We put the new sentence behind the repair shop poster board. Then we say something such as, “Let’s reread our boring sentence.” Afterwards, slide it behind the poster board. Then say, “So we repaired out boring sentence and now it’s ready.” Slide the new sentence out from the other side of the repair shop with a “Ta-da!” and read it together.

After reading, compare the two sentences by getting oral feedback from the students. Create a bulletin board to display your sentences no matter how often you do them. Make sure to organize them with a clear before and after connection. Then sit back, eat a gooey, warm, chocolate chip cookie, and watch the improvement on individual sentence writing.

Haunted Halloween- A Book Bite

Check out our latest Book Bite. We’ve taken HAUNTED HALLOWEEN, by Sue Fliess, and created activities for educators and parents. Download our ideas and have a spooktacular time!

A Haunted Halloween with Sue Fliess

The poetically prolific author Sue Fliess has a new book just perfect for young Halloween lovers. We thought this would be the perfect time for another interview with her!

Since this is our second interview with you we are going to dive a little deeper into your life as a writer! What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you as an author?
Once I was doing a reading at a bookstore, and when I was done and taking questions from the kids, this one 7-yr old boy asked me if I wrote the book. I said “Yes,” and he looked very puzzled. Then he said, “But, are you alive?” Turns out, he was under the impression that authors are usually dead. So, lucky me, I was the first ‘alive’ author he’d ever met!

Do you prefer to create your stories on paper or on the computer?
Well, actually, I create them in my head first! If they seem like they actually make sense, then depending on where I am, I either type them on my computer, or I might send myself an email with the idea or just jot it down on a small notebook I keep in my purse, for exactly that reason.

You have written two books about Halloween. Why?
I absolutely love Halloween! I own several wigs and costumes and usually go all out on Halloween with decorations. My first Halloween book, Goblin Hood was inspired by my son, who at the time, could not pronounce bow and arrow – he said ‘bone and arrow.’ I immediately asked the question: What type of creature would use that? My brain made a Robin Hood connection, and a creature/goblin character came to mind, and it just fit! For Haunted Halloween, which is my new board book, I wanted to write a very young Halloween story, and I remember trying to challenge myself to use as few words as possible. Believe it or not, I wrote it before I wrote Goblin Hood, which came out in 2016. Sometimes that’s just how it happens. I thought it would be fun to add a counting element to the story of 5 trick-or-treaters, and thankfully it worked!

We love your board book, HAUNTED HALLOWEEN. What’s your favorite page and why?
My favorite page is for the number 8. Eight gargoyles. Cauldron boils. I think I should get a ribbon for getting ‘gargoyle’ in a rhyming picture book, ha!

Tell us about one of your Halloween costumes from your childhood.
I was Casper, the friendly ghost and my sister was Minnie Mouse!

What’s your next book to be released?
My next book is already out, so I’ll tell you about both that one and the one coming in January. Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins (another holiday book!), illustrated by Mark Chambers and published by Amazon/Two Lions Press, came out September 18. It’s about Santa getting a sniffle and deciding to call off Christmas. But Mrs. Claus says she’ll take over the job for the night. It’s fun and funny, and the illustrations are adorable.

Santa says,
“I’m stuffy. I’m sneezy. I’m slow as a yeti.
My big ho-ho-ho isn’t holiday-ready.
We must cancel Christmas, oh what a disgrace.”

Mrs. Claus answers:
“I have a solution. I’ll go in your place!”

And in January, I have a rhyming picture book coming from Running Press Kids called Ninja Camp, illustrated by Jen Taylor. In Ninja Camp, a diverse group of girls and boys attend a ninja camp, where they hope to become Ninjas of the Night. As they learn new skills, they are challenged by the rival camp, Ninjas of the Dawn, and must defend their camp’s Shadow Blade. I’m happy to tell you that even though they lose the Shadow Blade briefly, they get it back and become official ninjas as a team.

Do you have a special snack or drink you like to have while writing?
Coffee. Oh, and coffee.

What are you working on right now?
I am working on two stories. A build-upon picture book based on a famous nursery rhyme, and a new—wait for it—holiday book that I’m under contract for that will be out fall of 2019.

How does your dog, Charlie, play a role in your daily writing routine?
He’s my rock. My support system. Okay, that’s not totally true. But he is my faithful housemate while I’m writing. Sometimes I will bounce ideas off of him, and he wags in approval. That said, he did inspire a book that I wrote earlier this year about a boy and his dog as they grow up together, that I’m really hoping will find the right home. It’s like nothing I’ve ever written before.

Out of all of your books, which one do you like the best? Why?
Oh, gosh, this is a tough question! Right now I have 2 favorites, but if you ask me next year, it will likely change: Mary Had a Little Lab and Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins. I think all the women-empowerment activity going on has catapulted them into the lead, and also inspired my writing.

Thank you so much for "hanging out" with us today!!!