Advice from an Ancient
And now, here's Michelle, responding to three simple prompts about LEAFY LANDMARKS!
Fresh: Layers are important in a children’s poetry collection. I know this. As I worked on Leafy Landmarks, I tried to incorporate intriguing layers. Poetry: I wrote the poems in a variety of different forms. Nature: I celebrated the importance of trees to our planet. History: I shared each tree’s connection to a historical moment. Yes, my collection had layers. But something was missing: the fresh story that would propel the poems forward and give the collection heart. Then, as I was looking over some photographs of the trees taken during my on-site research, I recalled the fun my family and I had while trekking to find these landmarks. Our “tree travels” had brought us closer together, as family adventures often do. And there was my final layer, the one with momentum and heart, the fresh angle I needed to set this collection apart: a family road trip across the country to discover Leafy Landmarks: Travels with Trees.
Difficult: Speaking of road trips, Leafy Landmarks has had a long, winding journey with many roadblocks and detours. I first started working on Leafy Landmarks in 2007, when I visited my local arboretum and noticed a plaque beneath a stately oak. The plaque explained that the oak had once been a gathering place for the Potawatomi people. I began researching the histories of other trees. I collected these tree stories in a nonfiction, prose manuscript and send it out. Eventually, after several rejections, a publisher expressed interest. They wanted to publish the book with photographs of the trees to accompany my text. While I was eager to be published, the direction of the project didn’t feel right. I envisioned the story with vibrant illustrations. After some difficult soul searching, I put on my turn signal and exited. My “tree book,” gathered dust in my manuscript garage for several years. In the meantime, I started writing poetry and honing my poetic voice. I decided to revisit the “tree book” as a poetry collection. Lots of rejection. A few nibbles. One publishing house offered a contract and then didn’t follow through. (This was the lowest valley on the book’s journey.) Detour: I re-mapped the collection as a road trip. More rejections. I was just about to cut the ignition for good when I signed with my current agent, Lisa Amstutz. Lisa really liked my “tree book” and wanted to take it for a submission spin. The book caught the eye of Barb McNally at Sleeping Bear, who made an offer. Leafy Landmarks’ 18-year ride has reinforced what I’ve heard so often on my publishing journey: the race does not go to the swift, but those with patience and persistence to endure.
Delicious: Anne Lambelet’s illustrations are simple scrumptious! I love how she weaves together the modern story of the family on a road trip with the historical events surrounding the trees. On each spread, Anne captures the vibrant personality of these leafy landmarks. Through Anne’s art, their stories nearly jump off the page.
I wake before dawn sometimes,
pull out my paints and brush. When
my hand starts moving, I
simply follow it. Sometimes I sit
all day, never setting the brush down,
coaxing colors, asking my memories to
swirl and twirl into shapes made of paint.
If you call and I don't answer, it's because I
am spilling stories onto the page. Don't
worry, I'm not lost or found. Do you know
what that feels like? If you're nodding, yes, exactly,
then you should stop reading this poem, get to what's
really important: creating! Doesn't matter who's coming
or how dirty the floor. Get those stories out!
- Irene Latham