Hi Vivian! Sweet Dreams, Sarah is beautifully written. I love how you show Sarah's passion and grit. All of the THINK QUICK themes below appear in your book. Let’s see which way you lean. Remember, THINK QUICK!I
On emancipation:
Freedom in your
pocket, or hope in your heart?
Hope in your heart. For
me, freedom without hope is a road that goes nowhere, but hope without freedom
contains all the possibilities in the world. So I vote for Hope in your Heart!
On dreams:
Impossible or
necessary?
Necessary. Dreams are
the foundation upon which we build our realities. They are totally necessary
and definitely NOT impossible.
On family:
Privilege or
obligation?
Privilege. Hahaha…I
guess, depending on the moment, they are a privilege if everyone is getting along
and obligation if everyone isn’t. Seriously though, I believe they are
privilege – and I am privileged to have my actual family and my kid-lit family.
On carpentry:
Creative fun or
drudgery?
Creative fun. I’ve
built a few minor items and fixed several others – the feeling of
accomplishment meant a lot to me: so, I’ll say, creative fun!
On furniture stores:
Love to shop or avoid
at all costs?
Love to shop – not
sure I love to buy. It’s fun to look at all the possibilities, but I don’t have
that visual eye that tells me what the room will look like if I buy this or
that. Therefore, I’m a bit indecisive and encourage opinions of my more
creative friends/family when making a purchase.
On invention:
Miraculous or
expected?
Miraculous – because
so many variables go into inventing something – change just one and the
invention won’t work.
On folding beds:
Blessing or curse?
Blessing. Quick story
about my favorite folding bed. Many years ago (1986) when my husband and I
moved into a beautiful 1870 Victorian, we chose a sleeper-sofa from local store
that sold a lot of Thomasville furniture. I loved the lines...so classic…and I
picked a beautiful floral print in the Jacobean style with dusty rose and blue
flowers on a background of cream. It was custom-made…our biggest splurge on
furniture yet (I still remember the price - $1600 which was quite a lot in 1986)
and it took many, many months to build. And then it arrived! And the delivery
people placed it in the living room! And it looked…AWFUL! The colors were so
wrong for the room. ☹ What should we do?
We changed the rug,
the wallpaper, and everything else in the room. And for ten years, until we
moved to Colorado, I loved that room and so did everyone else. We took the
couch with us to Colorado and it served us well there whenever family or
friends stayed (my son and his wife spent their wedding night on it). And when
we moved back to the east coast, we carted it along and it sits in what is now
the guest room/library and still provides a comfortable and welcoming rest for
all who visit.
On patents:
Necessary evil or just
plain necessary?
Just plain necessary…just
like copyrights for books and art. If you create something new, you deserve to
get the credit and hopefully, the profit, if there is any.
On persistence:
Easy or difficult?
Easy. It’s in my DNA
to be persistent…my husband used to say I was the most tenacious person he’d
ever met. For me, persistence is easy because I don’t think I can be anything
but that. In fact, my kids will attest to the fact that I never ever give up
looking for something if someone needs it or working all night long if
something needs to be finished. In my case, I guess I see it as a personal
challenge to do whatever needs to be done.
On books:
Sweet Dreams, Sarah or
Sweet Dreams Sarah?
Good question!
Without a doubt, it is
Sweet Dreams, Sarah. As I dug deeper into the research when I first set out to
write Sarah E. Goode’s story, I felt more and more compelled to honor this
courageous forward-thinking young woman and the title is a bit of a
conversation I’m having with her…I am wishing her an eternity of sweet dreams
because she earned them!
Thank you, Vivian! I wish we could get Sarah's answers to these questions also :)
Writer for children—reader forever…that’s Vivian Kirkfield in five words. Her bucket list contains many more than five words – but she’s already checked off skydiving, parasailing and banana-boat riding. When she isn’t looking for ways to fall from the sky or sink under the water,she can be f ound writing picture books in the quaint village of Amherst, NH where the old stone library is her favorite hangout and her young grandson is her favorite board game partner. A retired kindergarten teacher with a masters in Early Childhood Education, Vivian inspires budding writers during classroom visits and shares insights with aspiring authors at national writers’ conferences. She is the author of Pippa’s Passover Plate (Holiday House); Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book (Pomegranate); Sweet Dreams, Sarah (Creston Books); Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe(Little Bee Books); and From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the WorldMoves (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, or just about any place people with picture books are found.
Fun! Looking forward to buying our first PURCHASED couch after we build. We've always had hand-me-down couches, donations from various family and friends...and they NEVER matched anything!
ReplyDeleteHello Angie...thanks for stopping by. And good luck with the purchase...but first of all, good luck with the build...are you building your own home? That is so cool!!
DeleteGreat story and interview! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Nancy. I loved the questions that Kirsti posed...they really made me think. ;)
DeleteThank you, Vivian and Kirsti, for this inspiring interview. Congrats, Vivian, on your successes :)
ReplyDeleteYou are a sweetheart, Charlotte...happy the interview was helpful!
DeleteFun interview. I know that floral sleeper (it is still comfortable to sleep on!). Vivian is definitely a persistent dreamer! :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad the sleeper sofa is still comfy, Maria...you are welcome here any time!!!
DeleteGreat interview, Vivian. I am loving following your writing career. Congratulations all the way around!!
ReplyDeleteYou are very kind, Lisa! It's definitely been a wild adventure these past few years. :)
DeleteLoved the story of your couch, Vivian. . .and yes, we can’t live without hope! Looking forward to your book!
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved THE HEART CHANGER, Jarm...what a beautiful middle grade novel! I really enjoyed our time together at Maison Marcel...hope we can connect the next time I am in Chicago!
DeleteGreat questions and great answers. Thanks ladies.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by! I loved the questions also...and I'm so happy you like the answers. ;)
DeleteCongrats, Vivian. Look forward to reading Sarah's story.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marty...hope you get to read it soon!
DeleteThanks so much, Kirsti...I loved answering these questions! And if anyone is interested in delving into the story even more, we are dissecting it this month on the Missing Voices Picture Book Discussion Group on Facebook. And I'll be doing a FB chat on May 28 at 8pm Eastern time right there.
ReplyDeleteVivian, I enjoyed reading your responses, especially about the sleeper-sofa. : )
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on all your new books!
Thank you so much for the good wishes, Linda...I'm so glad we still have the sleeper sofa...it has lots of wonderful memories. ;)
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ReplyDelete