Why Are You the Person to Write This Story? by Gayle C. Krause

Though I’ve been writing for nearly twenty years, it’s not the question that’s foremost in my mind when I create my stories, and yet, the answer is important. Some agents even want the answer when you query them. 

With every author, the answer varies, but not until I really sat down and made myself think of why I wrote my five published books did I realize what my answers were.

 

Let’s take my first book, a rhyming picture book, ROCK STAR SANTA, published by Scholastic. It’s about a little boy who goes to a Christmas Eve concert and is surprised that Santa is the star and is rocking out with his rowdy reindeer band. What inspired that story?

 

A Trans-Siberian Christmas concert. A rock band that plays traditional Christmas carols with a heavy metal/progressive jazz attitude, complete with pyrotechnics and loud, blasting music. The next day I wrote Rock Star Santa. If I hadn’t gone to the Christmas concert, I never would have considered writing a picture book featuring Santa Claus as a Rock Star.

 

My second book, RATGIRL: Song of the Viper was born from my love of fairytales and a man I met at a writer’s conference at Keystone College in Pennsylvania. He was an ethnobotanist and led us on a tour of the college campus, pointing out wild plants, or plants in general, that can be used for food and medicine. My YA retelling of The Pied Piper set in a dystopian future with global warming (and scarce food) was influenced by what I learned that day, and I incorporated that knowledge in my novel.

My third book, TWICE BETRAYED, a MG historical fiction was influenced by three things:

1.  an invitation to celebrate George Washington's Birthday at Christ Church in Philadelphia, PA (the church were he attended each Sunday) complete with a formal celebration with a reenactment of his First Light Brigade.

2. My own sewing skills, as I am a certified Home Economics teacher.

3. And my interest in colonial history (Hello, Betsy Ross!) By the way, her designated pew in Christ Church was right behind George Washington’s.) 

 My fourth book, DADDY, CAN YOU SEE THE MOON? another picture book introduces a serious topic to children, but set in rhyme, so it’s not too scary. (Though it is all too familiar with military children.) Filled with emotion, and family, I had a hard time coming up with what inspired me to write this book. Though both my father and husband served in American warsneither came home wounded. But this story came to me strong and clear, and I believe it may have been triggered by the amputees from the Boston Marathon bombing. Ten percent of royalties from this book is donated to Our Military Kids, an organization that sponsors the children of veterans in group activities while their wounded parent is recovering.

 

And my last published book, ONCE UPON A TWISTED TALE, came solely from my love of rhyme and fairytales and is a MG collection of “fractured fairytales” in various poetic forms. And as a teacher, turned children’s author, I teach Children’s Literature to other educators, and children’s writers. One of my favorite workshops to teach is "Beyond the Fairytale!"

 

Now, as I reflect on my WIPS, I see that I’ve drawn on the lives of my students, and their idiosyncrasies, as well as people I know, again coupled with my favorite genre (fantasy/fairytales). 

 

So, yes, take some time to delve into the reason behind your stories. Where did they come from? Who inspired them? Sometimes, you’ll surprise yourself.

 

Giveaway:

 

For anyone who follows The Storyteller’s Scroll and shares this on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, your name will be put in a random drawing for a signed copy of ROCK STAR SANTA, which is now out of print. 

 

When you comment below, please list the social media link that you used, so it can be verified.

 

Drawing will be held on November 15, 2021. And you should get it just in time for Christmas!

 

 

****(And by the way, Trans-Siberian Orchestra is BACK celebrating 25 years of Christmas Eve and Other Stories this year. Maybe you’ll be inspired too!)

 

 

Kirkus Magazine Mentions DADDY, CAN YOU SEE THE MOON?

 So this just happened yesterday...

INDIE BOOKS THAT TAKE KIDS TO THE MOON

BY DAVID RAPP • YESTERDAY

THE MOON HAS LONG BEEN A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR WRITERS AND READERS, EVER SINCE POETS STARTED RHYMING IT WITH THE WORD JUNE. 

CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHORS ARE NO EXCEPTION; JUST LOOK AT MARGARET WISE BROWN’S CLASSIC, GOODNIGHT MOON, IN WHICH THE NARRATOR TREATS THE SATELLITE AS A GOOD FRIEND. 

HERE ARE THREE MORE MOON-BASED BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS IN KIRKUS INDIE’S ORBIT:

IN MALISA SANTIGUL’S 2019 PICTURE BOOK, THE DOOR TO THE MOON, 

COLORFULLY AND RICHLY ILLUSTRATED BY JUNG SENARAK, A BOY AND HIS DOG FIND A STAIRWAY THAT LEADS DIRECTLY TO THE BRIGHT-YELLOW MOON, WHERE THEY MEET MULTICOLORED ALIENS AND ASTRONAUTS AND EVEN FLY AROUND IN A SPACESHIP. KIRKUS’ REVIEW NOTES THAT THIS “SIMPLE, FANCIFUL NARRATIVE WILL DELIGHT YOUNGSTERS WHO ALREADY DREAM OF THE MOON.”

THE 2020 MIDDLE-GRADE SF NOVEL BOON ON THE MOON BY JOHN HUDDLES TELLS THE STORY OF 9-YEAR-OLD BYRON “BOON” BARNETT, WHO’S EXILED TO A LUNAR COLONY BY A JUDGE AFTER A SPELUNKING MISHAP. FORTUNATELY, HE CAN BRING THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY ALONG, BUT BEFORE LONG A TERRIFYING OUTER-SPACE PHENOMENON CALLED A “WHITE WORM” PUTS THEM ALL IN DANGER. KIRKUS’ REVIEWER CALLS THE BOOK “A COMICAL LUNAR ROMP” FEATURING “A BRISK, DELIGHTFUL STORY.”

DADDY, CAN YOU SEE THE MOON? (2019) BY GAYLE KRAUSE AND ILLUSTRATOR CARLOS DE LA GARZA ESCHEWS SPACE ADVENTURE AND INSTEAD USES THE LUNAR BODY AS A WAY TO HIGHLIGHT A BOY’S STRONG CONNECTION TO HIS FATHER. BEFORE THE DAD DEPLOYED AS A SOLDIER OVERSEAS, HE TOLD HIS CHILD, “AT BEDTIME, LOOK UP AT THE MOON. / AND I WILL TOO. I’LL BE HOME SOON.” LATER, THE STORY DEALS WITH THE FATHER’S RECOVERY FROM CATASTROPHIC INJURIES. KIRKUS’ REVIEWER WRITES THAT THE PICTURE BOOK “ADDRESSES A DIFFICULT TOPIC IN KID-FRIENDLY TERMS DESPITE SOME ADULT-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS.”

DAVID RAPP IS THE SENIOR INDIE EDITOR.

If anyone is interested in purchasing a copy of this book about a boy and his soldier dad, you can contact me on my website : https://www.gayleckrause.com

Thanks!