Linda Ashman
Author
How does one go from a life as
a real estate market analyst with a Master's degree in
Urban Planning to a life of rhyme, rhythm and repetition? If you're Linda Ashman, you simply follow your heart.
Ashman, 43, is an author of endless ahhhhh's. She's a rhyme wrangler. A poetry plucker. Someone amused with the muses of life.
Her books -- including Babies on the Go, Rub-a-Dub-Sub, and Castles, Caves and Honeycombs -- are poetry manuals in the petite. She writes the kind of books (ten published, nine on their way) that make even longtime writers shake their head and wonder because they know how exceedingly hard it is to make it look that easy. An excerpt from Castles, Caves and Honeycombs (Harcourt, 2001):
Many places make a home --I'd love to include the entire text, but it's better you seek out this book -- with lovely art by Lauren Stringer -- to see what I mean. (Hint: like most of Ashman's books, it only gets better with each page turn.)
A heap of twigs.
A honeycomb.
A castle with
A tower or two.
An aerie with a bird's-eye view.
A silky web.
A sandy dune.
A room inside a warm cocoon.
A chamber in a snowy mound.
A busy town beneath the ground…
Ashman, who lives with her lawyer husband, Jack, and son, Jackson, in Denver, Colorado, also has been fortunate enough to have her words illustrated by Caldecott-winner David Small (The Worldwide Monster Guide) and the always-popular Jane Dyer (Babies on the Go).
Not a bad career move in the least.
Ashman, represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary, spoke with Barb Odanaka about her latest (and greatest) career, via e-mail.
BARB ODANAKA: Ten books published with nine more coming out in the next five years. Didn't anyone tell you it's not supposed to be that easy?
LINDA ASHMAN: Oh, if ONLY it were that easy! I started writing nine years ago, and didn't sell anything for the first two years. I'd quit my job to write children's books, and as the time went by and the rejections piled up, I became seriously depressed about my prospects of ever getting published. At various points, I decided to give up and get a "normal" job, but got rejected from the jobs I applied for, too (thank goodness, in retrospect). It was tough. Finally, I sold Babies on the Go to Allyn Johnston at Harcourt in 1997. I was absolutely elated that I would at last have a book published... then learned the book wouldn't come out for 6 years! Although I was thrilled Jane Dyer would illustrate it, I secretly wondered if I'd live long enough to ever see a book in print. Things have gotten easier since then, and I went through a few years where I sold a lot of books, which made it seem a bit TOO easy. But I still get rejections, still get books postponed for years and years, still have editors move to other houses, so it still feels like a long haul.
ODANAKA: I'm guessing you're not much of a procrastinator. What's your writing routine like?
ASHMAN: When I first started writing, my husband worked long hours as a lawyer and we had no kids, so I had a very long, quiet, and uninterrupted day to write. I initially treated writing like a regular workday, sitting down at the computer at 7:30 am and working till 5 or longer, just writing and revising. I soon realized this was a counterproductive way for me to work because my brain shut down at a certain point. So I set aside part of the day for research, reading, going to libraries and bookstores, etc. Then, as the rejections poured in, I realized I needed some sort of therapy. That's when I started gardening. I discovered I could mull over stories while planting, and that it was very therapeutic to dig holes and throw rocks around. And -- compared to the pace of the publishing industry -- the rewards were quick in coming.
Although I love the idea of a writing routine, I have trouble developing one these days. We relocated from Los Angeles to Denver almost two years ago, which was a major time investment. And we moved from one old house to another, which means there's always something that needs attention. Jack left his law firm and works at home now, so I no longer have a quiet space all to myself. We work while our son, Jackson, is in school, so the workday ends by 3:30 pm or so. And, of course, once you start having books come out, there are other projects that demand your attention -- reviewing sketches, visiting schools, doing promotional stuff. And I still need to dig holes and throw rocks around. I used to consider my morning writing time sacred, but I've learned not to cling too tightly to ideas of "sacred" because life has a way of intervening. So I write as much as I can whenever I can, which varies from day to day.
ODANAKA: You've been compared favorably to Ogden Nash, Jack Prelutsky, Douglas Florian, and J. Patrick Lewis. Did you read a lot of poetry prior to your start in children's books? What else influences your work?
ASHMAN: I loved poetry as a kid. One of my favorite books was a wonderful illustrated poetry collection that included "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, "The Duel" by Eugene Field, and many other poems that have stayed with me through the years. I also loved Dr. Seuss (and, in fact, wrote my first book report ever on Horton Hears a Who in first grade). Sadly, I loved him so much that the first book I wrote was a very Seussian ode to garbage and the benefits of reducing, reusing and recycling. Not surprisingly, it never sold. Among other obvious problems, my rhyme and rhythm were off -- just the sort of story to make an editor cringe and swear off stories in verse forever. It took a lot of reading and a lot of practice before I could write poetry well. Although I never took her class, I found Myra Cohn Livingston's book Poem-Making particularly helpful in learning the basics of writing poetry.
As for what else influences my work ... Certainly the music of the words themselves -- the rhythm, the beat, the sudden pop or the smooth flow of certain sounds. The natural world -- I find animals and their habitats fascinating. And imagination -- I had a vivid fantasy life as a kid, as does my son. I think most children do, but so many parents keep their kids busy in the name of "enrichment" these days that they don't have time to daydream, which is a huge loss to children, I believe. I'm a big fan of daydreaming.
By the way, I've never met Douglas Florian and I'm sure he is a very nice man, but for a while I considered him the bane of my existence. Way back when I was starting out, I wrote a collection of poems about magic and monsters. I'd met Allyn Johnston at an SCBWI conference (in a manuscript critique), and she encouraged me to send them more stuff, so I sent her the poetry collection. Some months later, Allyn's assistant called to tell me that they loved the poems, but feared they were a bit too similar to Doug Florian's Monster Motel, which they'd recently published. She encouraged me to send more poems, so I got right to work on a new collection, this one about sea creatures. I sent it off, feeling very hopeful. I got a letter this time saying you won't believe this, but we're about to publish a poetry collection called In the Swim by... Douglas Florian. I was devastated, and naturally blamed this nasty man for standing between me and publication. Eventually, I rethought both poetry collections, and many of the poems wound up in The Essential Worldwide Monster Guide, which Simon & Schuster published and the fabulous David Small illustrated. And I hold no grudges against Douglas, who is a terrifically talented guy whom I hope to actually meet some day.
ODANAKA: You've garnered lots of praise for your picture books. Any desire to write a novel?
ASHMAN: Oh, sure, plenty of desire. Now that Jackson's older and not so interested in picture books, I'd love to write the sort of books we enjoy reading together -- old favorites by Roald Dahl and Beverly Cleary, as well as more recent ones by Louis Sacher, Sharon Creech, the Lemony Snicket series, the fabulous Karen Cushman, and, of course, J.K. Rowling (we've been reading our way through Harry Potter over the last few months and I'm sad to be nearing the end of the fifth book). But COULD I write one? That's another question. Picture books and poetry have a certain structure. I can get bogged down when I have too many choices, so I LIKE having to work within the limits of format, length, rhyme, and rhythm. By comparison, the freedom and open-endedness of a novel seem very intimidating. Not to mention keeping track of all those characters, plot twists and details. But probably the biggest obstacle is that I just haven't come up with any great ideas. Since Jackson has inspired so many of my picture books, maybe I'll get inspired to write a novel as he gets older. We'll see.
ODANAKA: Besides lots of poetry, what else in your childhood formed you into the writer you are today?
ASHMAN: Well, shoot, that's a tough one. Lots of reading, I suppose. Lots of daydreaming. Lots of time spent poring over book illustrations. I loved the ones from the early 1900s, particularly Arthur Rackham's dark and somewhat menacing depictions of enchanted forests and the "little folk" who lived in them. I used to search the woods behind our house for such creatures, but never found any (just plenty of ticks and tent worms and spiders, which were interesting in their own creepy sort of way). I loved the Bronte sisters, and dreamed of walking the windswept moors. As the youngest of four children, I frequently felt misunderstood, picked-on and ignored, so I identified very strongly with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. And Louisa May Alcott's Jo Marsh and Beverly Cleary's Ramona. I was pretty shy and quiet, and needed lots of solitude. Does that explain anything? Who knows? I also watched too many episodes of the Brady Bunch and ate a lot of peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches.
ODANAKA: Beginner writers are often overwhelmed by the many "rules" of our trade (rhyme doesn't sell, always write a query just-so, etc.). Looking back, was there anything from Children's Writing 101 that you wished you had ignored? Or anything else you learned along the way that you wish you knew when you first started out?
ASHMAN: When I first started writing, I joined SCBWI, bought several "how-to" books on writing for children, spent hours and hours at the library, called for publishers' catalogs and submission guidelines, and basically tried to learn everything I could about the industry. These days, with access to the Internet, it's a lot easier to get information -- and even easier to get completely overwhelmed by it. It's important to do the research, but it's also important to use common sense. Be brief, be courteous, be thoughtful about where you send your story, and, most of all, make sure your story is as good as it can be before you send it out.
I've heard the "don't write stories in verse" rule since I began writing. Although there may be editors who truly despise stories in rhyme, I think most simply don't want BAD verse -- jarringly inconsistent rhythms, obvious rhymes, sentences mangled to make the rhyme. For those who want to write in rhyme, be sure to read lots of good poetry and rhyming picture books and keep track of who's publishing them. And read books about writing poetry and/or take classes. Then really work to make sure your story is told well, and that the rhyme adds to it -- never sacrifice the story for the rhyme.
As for anything else I've learned along the way, I'll borrow a favorite phrase of Joseph Campbell's: follow your bliss. Don't pay too much attention to what happens to be selling at the moment, or whether your story could be made into a movie, or your main character into a stuffed animal, ice cream flavor, or plastic action figure. Write about what fascinates you. You'll enjoy the writing process more, and your story will be far better for it.
For more on Linda, visit her website at www.lindaashman.com.
