Here is the description of Snowmallows from Amazon: Twelve-year-old, David
Griffin, is a baseball fanatic and a sixth-grade student. The weather in
coastal Connecticut is unseasonably warm at the beginning of March, so David is
distracted by his daydreams of being a star baseball pitcher. But then David learns
that he has to pass Monday’s test on weather in order to pass science and live
out his dream. David’s parents are doctors and his Grandpa is a weather
scientist, so there will be no baseball season or season tickets to see his
favorite baseball team play if David fails. David and his best friend, Jon,
decide to search Grandpa’s lab in the family basement for something to help him
pass his test. In the process, they discover the Snowmallows – marshmallows
shaped like snowflakes that were scientifically altered by Grandpa to make it
snow when they are put into mugs of hot cocoa. Unfortunately, David and Jon
don’t read all the instructions on the bag and use too many Snowmallows. They
set off a snowstorm that doesn’t stop – where snow piles reach 6 feet high in
some places. David and Jon work with David's little sister, Emily, to stop the
Snowmallows, but their solution, called Lemonthaw, causes a time shift. No one
remembers the snow except the three of them. David fails science, is grounded,
and will miss out on baseball season. Grandpa's the only person left who can
help David stop the Snowmallows. Unfortunately, Grandpa's the last person he
wants to ask. Snowmallows is a story for young people ages 8-12. Subjects
included in the book are weather, blizzards, meteorology, family relationships,
baseball, friendship, and faith.
Carol, heartiest congratulations! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me about Snowmallows. I loved it so much and am delighted that we can talk about it. I
only wish this were happening in person, as we drink a cup of iced tea on my
porch. Sorry, no hot cocoa in our 80 deg weather!
Hi, Vijaya. Thank you very much for your interest in
Snowmallows. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I’m excited for this – my first ever
author interview – with you! I would love it to be in person, too. Not only
because I’d love to see you, but also because 80 degrees on a porch with
lemonade would be a lovely change. Although Emily’s favorite purple crocuses
are blooming, we’re still having some cold days up here.
I’m a sucker for the story behind the story, so please tell me
how you came about the idea and how it developed over the years. I want to know
your background. Were you a dreamer like David or a nature-lover like Jonathan
(love that they are friends, just like in the Bible) or like Emily, smart, or
all of the above?
To be honest, I’ve been working on Snowmallows for so long
(since the late 1990’s) that some of the details are a bit blurry now. The
original story was written as an assignment for a course I took at the
Institute for Children’s Literature in West Redding, CT and the original
manuscript was about 4,000 words. It was the longest creative piece I’d ever
written. It included only the portion of the story about the children
developing the Lemonthaw. I love these whimsical names.
The original idea for the Snowmallows themselves came
from my friend, Sharon. It seemed that whenever she drank hot cocoa with
marshmallows, we would get snow. “The power of the cocoa” became a joke between
us and Snowmallows emerged from that.
Another friend of mine, Cay, was so kind about
reading the story through its various versions and changes. After one reading,
she mentioned that she thought we needed to meet Grandpa. Grandpa was a great addition! And I like seeing multi-generational families in fiction.
Having him as a real
character in the story and not just a subplot was an idea I’d tossed around
myself before that, so with that encouragement, I decided to go with it. The
rest of the story – now about 40,000 words – developed. At first, I couldn’t
imagine writing anything that long. But, as we both know, with God all things
are possible. Amen!
As for my background, I would say that there is
some of my personality in each character.
I was a good student like Emily, but I’m nowhere near as neat as her! I
do have my head in the clouds at times, like David, but I’m not as brave at
chasing my dreams. That’s why my college degree is in Accounting rather than
writing – something with more stability – and why it took me so long to finish
Snowmallows. I do love a good zoo, so in that way I’m like Jon. I also used to
belong to an astronomy club.
It’s funny that you mention the biblical
connection in the names. That was not done intentionally. I heard those
readings of King David and his friend Jonathan one day many years into the
writing of the story and realized that happened. It was a “God Moment” for me.
It is amazing, isn't it, how much your soul knows! I do so love these "God Moments."
I never thought weather was all that interesting until I moved
to the South—we have hurricanes here (far more exciting than the incessant rain
of WA). I even shared David’s lack of interest, yet I was hooked from the
beginning and you kept reeling me in. I loved how you wove all the elements,
including Griffin’s Greatest Fastball. They all fit neatly like a puzzle. I’m
curious—was it easy? Everything came about so naturally.
Thank you for that. I love puzzles and I’m glad everything
worked for you in the story. I tried to be careful with the plot because I was
worried about things being believable for the reader. I’m glad it looked easy
because it wasn’t all the time. I backed myself into many corners during the
writing where I’d be stuck for a while. Then something would eventually pop up
that would solve the exact problem I was having. Again, many “God Moments” with
the production of the book.
One example of this was finding the information
about the Chinook. I had no idea there was actually a weather pattern that
could make winter weather turn to spring quickly. One day I ran across it in a
book. It was just what I needed. I can also credit my ICL teacher with pointing
out the term “fanning” in baseball. Lots of little things managed to fit
together in the end.
The Chinook! When I read it in the book, I wondered how a woman from the NE would know about this! I lived in Eastern WA for many years and experienced the Chinook!
I'm surprised you experienced an actual Chinook. I hope the book lived up to your experience of it.
Oh yes. It's really amazing how much snow disappears overnight with the Chinook. I was most disappointed the year my snowman disappeared instead of him getting smaller and smaller.
I think the biggest obstacle in the writing,
though, was the voice. They talk a lot about voice in writing classes, but I
never fully understood what they meant. Snowmallows was originally written in
third person and I really liked the story, but something was missing. I finally
talked myself into trying a re-write to first person and it gave the story the
piece that was missing – David’s voice.
As much as I love the traditional third person/past tense, first person so much easier precisely for staying in character. Did you have any trouble keeping it consistent over the years?
I only made the change from third to first person a couple of years ago. I started by just changing the "He did" statements to "I did", so to speak, to test if the first person would work better. It did, so I continued. Initially, it was a bit tough to check that I'd gotten all of those changes because I was so used to hearing it in third person in my mind. But after that, when I could hear David's voice and personality, it was very easy to work on the manuscript in first person.
I love time travel stories and they’re so hard to do well.
Yet, you blithely threw in a time anomaly and I was breathless reading how the
kids would get out of that pickle! I love what Grandpa says, “…there are some
things like time and weather that we should deal with carefully. Playing around
with either is dangerous enough, but combining the two—that could be a recipe
for disaster. Time is too fragile and important a gift to be used for something
selfish.” Wow! So true. Yet, he was busy messing with Snowmallows year after
year. How would he explain that?
Grandpa would probably look toward the ceiling for a
moment and rub his chin to think about that question. Then, he’d answer as
follows:
“I have used the Snowmallows for two basic
reasons. One was to woo the woman who became my wonderful wife. The other was
to study winter weather patterns to try and make winter storms less dangerous
so accidents like Marie’s wouldn’t happen in the future.”
Then he would look at you over the top of his
glasses and give you a sly smile. “Yes, the first one might have been a bit on
the selfish side, but the second isn’t – and that has taken more of my time. I
just never thought to approach the issue from the warm weather side. I needed my
resourceful grandson for that!” Haha! But I'd still keep a close eye on him.
I love how you wove in what prayer is and how faith and reason
are not incompatible. In fact, they go together! Do you teach Sunday school by
any chance? You explain these things really well.
Thank you for that compliment. I do teach a fourth grade
faith formation class at my church, but I’m sure by the looks on the student’s
faces that they don’t find me that interesting! 😊 Ah, you don't give yourself enough credit. My kids attended an adult Bible study with us the first year we moved to SC and they'd often slouch or have a bored expression, but they learned a lot and were often eager to share the juicy bits in Genesis!
I revised the prayer scenes in spots because I
didn’t want them to be too preachy. In the pre-edit document, in fact, I didn’t
directly make the connection between faith and science. I wasn’t sure if I
should. Then one of the wonderful people who helped me with editing, Kate, said
that she wanted to see me make that connection more directly. That gave me the
confidence to do it and I’m happy it worked well for you.
I treasure our time at the Highlights Barn where we met. Since
you are within driving distance, have you made more retreats there?
I loved the Sharing Our Hope Workshop weekend, too, and I
often pray for the friends we made there. I’ve attended a few more workshops
there since then. The Indie Publishing Course was the most recent one I
attended and that was invaluable to me in the process of publishing
Snowmallows. I took so many notes in that class that my hand was cramped by the
end of the weekend. That was a couple of years ago and I haven’t been back
since then.
In addition to the Highlights workshops, I’ve
taken two correspondence courses with the Institute of Children’s Literature in
West Redding, CT and I’ve taken some webinars through Writer’s Digest. I also
found the Self-Publishing Blueprint from Children’s Book Insider to be very
helpful in explaining the self-publishing process.
I did try for a long time to submit my stories to
traditional publishers. Most took a long time to answer and wanted exclusive
submissions. After taking the Indie course at Highlights, I knew I could do it
professionally myself, so I took a chance and started my own company called
Shepherd’s Companion Press, LLC. It’s been a challenge getting everything up
and running, but I’m excited with the work and I know it was the right
direction for me.
It is really wonderful that we have the option of self-publishing. I've read many independently published books that are well-made. Freelance editors and artists rock!
Yes, I couldn't have done it without great freelance help.
What’s next for you? What are you working on?
What’s next? I’m still trying to let it sink in that
Snowmallows is really in print! And, while I do have my own company for
self-publishing, I also have a regular accounting job, so my time is split.
Yes, self-publishing is a huge venture and you have to celebrate all the steps along the way! Congratulations on getting Snowmallows in print! That's a biggie. And it'll be a perfect gift for the Easter season.
I'd love it if people saw Snowmallows as a great Easter book. That would be a wonderful compliment. hope in the future that I can write something
about the Rosary for children -- I love the Rosary -- maybe a beginner book like praying a decade a
day so it’s not so intimidating or perhaps something where the children delve
into the mysteries. I also have some
characters for another story about a princess running around in my mind, but
I’m not fully sure yet where that story is supposed to go. I guess we’ll see
where the Spirit moves.
The rosary is my favorite prayer, but I remember when I first learned to pray how much I needed to have pictures to help me to focus on the mystery. It took me several years before it became a meditative prayer. I've seen the change in my own children too.
Do
you have any advice for writers? You've had a long and interesting journey.
What do you wish you'd known?
I have had a long journey in regard to the writing, but I believe
that God worked it out for His time and not mine. I would not have been the
same person and Snowmallows would not have been the same book if it had been
published 5, 10, or 20 years ago. I am thankful for how things happened.
This is so true. Sometimes when I wished that I'd not sat on Bound for 5 years after it was ready making the rounds I realized I wasn't ready to take the plunge to publish it myself back then. Everything happens at the appointed time.
What advice would I give? With only one book under my belt, I
don't know that I'm in a position to give much advice! And the list of what I
wish I'd known is probably too long for your blog. But, I can tell you
what I learned. I learned that a writer needs to know enough about his or
herself inside to be able to find the right path for them. When I started
in writing, I wanted to go the traditional route. I had no interest in
trying to publish myself. But, as time went on and I learned more about
myself and the industry, I found that I didn't share the viewpoint of many
traditional publishers in a variety of areas. I didn't want many of them
to publish my book. Then I took the time to learn about the
self-publishing process and found that, as an accountant and a writer, I had
the right skill set to do this myself and to do it pretty well. I'm not
saying my way was better than the traditional route, but it was the right path
for me. I think other writers should consider the available options and
consider their own personality to help them make the best choice about their
own path.
Wise words, Carol. I might have to pick your brain about the business side of things--I've been procrastinating on that front.
Happy to help with the business side. Believe it or not, it took me a while to make the shift for my personal business. It's a strange transition from working in a larger corporation.
Is there anything else you would like to add/share?
I’d like to let people know about the website I’m
developing for Shepherd’s Companion Press, LLC https://shepherdscompanion.com/ There
are free materials on the site related to Snowmallows – a short story about
Emily, a quiz to see which character is most like you, suggestions for snow day
activities (perfect for covid quarantine too!), and a word find puzzle about people of science who believed in God.
I haven’t written a blog yet, but I’m planning for one to show up on the site
in the near future and I’m hoping to put more resources for learning about
weather on there, too.
I also want to thank you for this interview,
Vijaya. You’ve helped me so much with the book so far. And, I’d like to thank
everyone who’s taken the time to read Snowmallows. I truly appreciate the
support.
Thank you so much.
You are welcome, Carol. It's been such a pleasure. I hope many children will get to enjoy the exciting adventures in Snowmallows. And I pray you and all yours have a very blessed Eastertide. I'm sharing an old picture from our time at Highlights--may our writing dreams sprout like these cheerful johnny jump-ups!
Friends, Carol has generously offered to give away one signed copy of Snowmallows to one lucky commenter. We'll do a drawing May 1, 2020. Thank you.
With our parish reopening, I feel so much better. To be present at Mass is no small thing. Yesterday we sang the Dam Busters Hymn (Ps. 46) as a prelude. So grateful for our wonderful organist, Steve Collins, who is a veritable font of information on church matters, history, cars, and of course, music! We are praying now for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a new and big way! I'm asking for all seven gifts (see my pillowcase). The Christian life is all about growing, growing, growing in the devout life. I picked up a little gem of a book from the recycle pile: The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. How strange and wonderful to find it now, just when Michael was thinking about getting a copy. 
With our parish reopening, I feel so much better. To be present at Mass is no small thing. Yesterday we sang the Dam Busters Hymn (Ps. 46) as a prelude. So grateful for our wonderful organist, Steve Collins, who is a veritable font of information on church matters, history, cars, and of course, music! We are praying now for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a new and big way! I'm asking for all seven gifts (see my pillowcase). The Christian life is all about growing, growing, growing in the devout life. I picked up a little gem of a book from the recycle pile: The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. How strange and wonderful to find it now, just when Michael was thinking about getting a copy. 
