Heidi at my juicy little universe is hosting today.
It's Earth Day weekend and such a great reason to celebrate besides all the poetry goodness.
Have you checked in with the 2024 Progressive Poem?  For Friday, April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core.
Today I have an encore interview for Double Feature Friday (in fact the other interview is also an encore interview.  In  2021, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joanne Rossmassler Fritz with her debut book, Everywhere Blue. Today I am interviewing her about her new book, Ruptured. It is a very personal story as Joanne took her real life experience to create a story about a father, a mother and a daughter, a medical emergency, and a secret that could impact their lives

JRM: I remember in your previous interview that you shared how you were working on Ruptured. Would you like to expand more on how you came to write this book?
JRF: It took me quite a while, Jone. As you know, I'm a survivor of two ruptured brain aneurysms, twelve years apart. I knew I needed to write about it, but when I first tried, years ago, it wasn't working for me. I had attempted two different approaches, both from the POV of a high-school student who has a brain aneurysm rupture (and of course it would have been a YA novel). One was prose and one was verse. But I found it hard to write either one because I was still too close to the experience emotionally. In the spring of 2021, I had a "eureka" moment and realized I needed to take a step back and write about a girl whose mother has a brain aneurysm rupture. Once I tried that, it all fell into place.

JRM: I felt the tension between Claire and her mom. I sensed the discomfort between the two adults and how Claire was experiencing it. How did you create these characters that are so real and the situation so heartbreaking?
JRF: Thank you for saying that! I spent a lot of time thinking about the characters, and taking notes in a red notebook. I knew I had to make them different from myself and my husband, because this isn't an autobiography. And I don't have a daughter in real life. I have two grown sons. So Claire was completely invented. Of course, there's a bit of me in Claire. I suppose there's a bit of me in each of my characters. You need to get inside the character's head and imagine what they would do in each situation.
As for the situation being so heartbreaking, thank you for saying that! I knew I needed more tension than just the Mom's rupture. A rupture happens suddenly, and then it's over, so to keep the tension going, I came up with the idea of Mom telling her daughter a secret. I worried about it at first. Would a Mom really tell her 13 year old daughter something this personal? Would this make the character less likable? But my editor accepted it and we worked together to make the Mom more relatable.

JRM: I was expecting a character to have a ruptured brain aneurysm, I was not expecting the secret Mom shared with Claire.  What a weight to carry especially as an only child. In your plotting and writing did you start with “I will have a character with a ruptured brain aneurysm and build  around it? Or did you have an idea of a teen with discontented parents and build around it? (I guess I’m asking about process)
JRF: Great question! As I said above, I started with the idea of the Mom having the rupture, so everything had to progress from there. And by inventing Claire, it gave me the distance I needed to write the story.
JRM:  What led you to set the story in Maine?
JRF: This one is easy! Both of my ruptures coincidentally occurred in Maine, each time while we were on vacation. I never considered any other setting. In fact, in the beginning, I expected the entire story to take place in Maine. But as I worked on it more, I realized the timeline meant Claire needed to go to school, and Aunt Bobbi was the perfect person to take her home to Pennsylvania, and stay with her.  

JRM: Would you have a draft example and its final poem to share the changes?
JRF: Yes! Here are two versions of Fever Memory from p.39-40:
From Draft 2 (the first time the poem appeared):

Fever Memory
Staring at Mom’s face,
I remember
when I was three or four
and woke up in the night,
hot,
confused,
scared.
My fingers had grown
to huge fat sausages.
I couldn't do anything
with them.
They were far too big
and awkward,
the rest of me
far too small.
 
I whimpered,
crawled out of bed.
needing my mother.
 
But my parents’ closed bedroom door
looked impossibly far away
down a too-long hallway.
And tiny,
that door,
so tiny.
 
I cried louder.
And then
Mom appeared
far away and small.
Too small.
Impossible to reach.
 
Until a second later
she was there
next to me,
helping me back
into bed,
smoothing a cool hand
across my forehead,
whispering calm quiet words,
soothing me.
Loving me.
 
My mother.
 
Now,
looking at her,
pain stabs my heart.
She loves me.
She’s always loved me.
 
Get better, Mom.
I need you.
 
We need you.
 
And here's the final version, from Draft 4 (much shorter, as you can see, thanks to my editor's suggestions!): 
Fever Memory
 Staring at Mom’s face,
I remember when I was
three or four
and woke in the night,
hot,
confused,
scared.
 
My fingers felt like
huge sausages.
I couldn't do anything
with them.
 
I whimpered,
crawled out of bed,
needing my mom.

But my parents’ closed bedroom door
looked impossibly far away.

I cried louder.
 
Then Mom appeared,
​helping me back into bed.
She pressed a cool hand
to my forehead,
whispering quiet words,
calming me.
 
Loving me.
 
Get better, Mom.

JRM: How did you come up with the lighthouse as an image?
JRF: This is also easy. Maine has many lighthouses, and I've always loved them, mostly for what they symbolize, but also because of the majestic look of them. I'm fascinated that, before modern technologies existed, in order to avoid treacherous rocks along the coast, the only thing sailors or boat captains had to go by was the bright light from a lighthouse. And a real person had to live there and keep the lanterns lit.  Do you remember Keep The Lights Burning, Abbie by Connie Roop? I've always loved that book! In today's world, any active lighthouses are now automatic and no one lives in them. In fact, most of them aren't used at all anymore. But they're still beautiful. And they still symbolize hope to me.

JRM: I love how the book ended, hopeful and yet not totally wrapped up with a pretty bow. Have you had readers speculate about what happens next? JRF: Thank you! And yes, I have! It always surprises me. It's kind of cool that once we write a book, it doesn't belong to us anymore, and readers take what they want from it. (And I like to end all my books that way. Everywhere Blue ended that way too, not totally wrapped up.)
JRM: The theme of family dynamics is apparent as it was in Everywhere Blue. I love the incorporation of Aunt Bobbi. I had an aunt that my teen self really related to. Who were your mentors?
JRF: I had two aunts, who never married or had children, so in a way it was like having two extra parents! They took me traveling to places like New York City, for Broadway plays and museums. It was a lot of fun.

JRM: Do you have a favorite scene or quote from the book? If you were to give a reading, what might you read to the audience? Was there a surprise for you in writing this novel?
JRF:  A surprise? I think all of my books surprise me a bit, because I'm not a plotter. I'm a pantser. So as I work my way toward my end goal, something inevitably surprises me. There are poems in this book that I had no plan to write, but as I struggled my way through the first draft, I knew it needed more. And the poems popped into my head. 
It's hard to pick one favorite scene, but I do have a personal reason to love the poem Stairs on p. 242, because that's exactly what my devoted husband did for me. My memory was beginning to return then, and I can still remember climbing the stairs sideways, one step at a time, with my husband a few steps below me in case I stumbled.  
And my favorite quote is still the tagline: "Is it wrong to grieve for someone who is still alive?" Originally, that was the first line of the opening poem.  
If I were to give a reading, I'd probably read the first five poems or else I'd read Trompe L' Oeil on page 61. 

JRM: What are you currently working on?
JRF: Another Middle Grade verse novel. It's not very far along yet, so I don't want to say too much! I can only say that it returns to an environmental theme, in the woods. And this time, it's a middle child, feeling squeezed in a large family.

Thank you so much for this interview, Joanne.  I hope others get a chance to read this book.  And PF Friends, if you would like to win a signed copy, just drop a comment.  Joanne is graciously donating a copy to readers of this blog.

There is still time to share your favorite poem or poet by filling out this form. We all have more than one poem or poet we love, probably we have many mentor poems. Don’t overthink it, just share one.

Welcome to Poetry Friday.  There is SO much happening.  And some my fault as I took two weeks away from posting.
First, all the poetry magic is being rounding up by none other than Christie Wyman at Wondering And Wandering.  

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to Christie as she has completed another journey around the sun. Hooray.  And it just so happens I have a little surprise for her in the prize announcements below.
Second, I do have some announcements about giveaways after the MAIN EVENT which is to honor #MarvelousMaryLee.

 In October  2007, I was a lucky person to meet Mary Lee at the first ever Kidlit/YA blogging conference in Chicago, IL.
Her blog, A Year of Reading was one I read each week and looked forward to the book and poetry connection.
Poetry projects each April, poetry swaps, commenting on poems, haiku, and thoughts about social justice to give her students agency, Mary Lee may be retiring but I imagine her legacy is long-lasting. 
I am so excited for your new chapter, Mary Lee. May it be rich with roads that are unexpected and magical. So glad I have gotten to know you through poetry.  Here's to the journey.  The following poem is cubed and found.  I looked through your poems of the past year and gather words to write something in honor of you.  The photo is from last weekend in the Redwoods State and National Forests, norther California

I have four book prize packages to send to four readers from the April Giveaways:
THE SNOW FELL THREE GRAVES DEEP by Allan Wolf:  Linda Mitchell
STARFISH by Lisa Fipps: Heidi Mordhorst
EVERYWHERE BLUE by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
THE WISDOMOF TREES by Lita Judge: Christie Wyman
Please contact me so I have your mailing addresses. 
CONGRATULATIONS.

Welcome, welcome! Today all the poetry goodness of the world will be found at Catherine at Reading to the Core. It's my fifteenth year of participating (some years better than others).  
I have  five great interviews lined up:
April 2 POETRY FRIDAY: ALLAN WOLF
April 9 POETRY FRIDAY: LISA FIPPS
April 16 POETRY FRIDAY: CHRIS BARON
April 23 POETRY FRIDAY:
​JOANNE ROSSMASSLER FRITZ
April 30 POETRY FRIDAY: LITA  JUDGE
I love getting books into the hands of readers so there will be prizes for stopping by and saying hi.

What inspired you to write EVERYWHERE BLUE? 
JRF: EVERYWHERE BLUE was woven together from many different threads. In 2013 and 2014, I had been writing poetry and submitting to literary journals. After one journal accepted two of my prose poems, I started writing a poem about oboe lessons. I played the oboe in junior high and although it had been a long time, I could still remember the crushed-leaf taste of the reed! That was the beginning of what would become EVERYWHERE BLUE. I always knew it would start in November.

 I get the sense that the environment, family,  and music have always been important to you. Can you tell me more about that?
JRF: We were a close family and I grew up the youngest of three siblings, surrounded by books and music. My mother took us to the library every week, and my early memories include following her around the house with a library book tucked under my arm, saying, "Mommy, would you read to me?" My parents were always playing records on the hi-fi, mostly classical but also Broadway show tunes. So music filled our small house. As for the environment, I can remember the first Earth Day in 1970. I was in tenth grade and we had a special assembly. Inspired, I walked home from school that day, instead of taking the bus, and I picked up trash along the highway! Soon after, I wrote a letter to our township commissioners, asking them to start a recycling center. I'm sure I've worried about the environment ever since then. 

Maddie has an undiagnosed anxiety condition, was that a challenge to write?
JRF:I've suffered from mild anxiety most of my life, so it wasn't that much of a challenge to give Maddie some of my own symptoms (the stomach issues, the nervousness, the heart palpitations). But the story needed more, so I did lots of research. I read a lot of books about OCD in kids, and kids who worry.

Did you have characters that were easier or more difficult to write? 
JRF:The kids were easier for me to write than the parents! Both parents were flat characters in the beginning. Even though I'm a parent myself (of two grown sons), I had to work on bringing Maman and Daddy to life. This is why I much prefer revision, because I could see them becoming more real with each draft. Strum was also difficult to write about because we only get to know him through the memories of other characters. My wonderful editor, Sally Morgridge, had me add even more flashbacks. 

 What kind of research did you do for the book?
JRF: I've already mentioned the anxiety and OCD research, but i also did lots of research on the climate crisis, much of which didn't even make it into the book. For instance, I spent a long time researching frozen methane hydrates, and then as I revised the novel, that information didn't seem necessary. But all research is fascinating and educational, so I didn't mind. 

How did you come up with the color blue as an image?
JRF:The color blue appeared early on in my rough draft, because I knew from the beginning I wanted a scene with the Butterfly Farm and Maddie and Strum chasing blue morphos inside the screened-in area. From there, it seemed natural to expand the mentions of blue. And blue can symbolize so much. It can be a bright happy color, or a symbol of depression. The poem "Anything With Blue In It", about learning some new music, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, was one of the later additions to the book. 

 I loved that each section of the book is a musical term. How did you come up with this idea, was it a revision thought?
JRF:Thank you for saying that! I always knew that I wanted to start with a diminuendo. That first poem (revised many times) has been the first poem all along. Then, because I'm a pantser, the idea just naturally grew from there. I knew all along I wanted Maddie to be musical, and that there would be plenty of musical terms. It occurred to me one day that I needed four parts, because a symphony has four parts.

I really liked that you addressed a common theme of parent’s expectations of their children.
I think that will resonate with readers. Was that something you experienced?
JRF:My parents never had unreasonable expectations for us. I think that's a consequence of being born a girl in the 1950s! Back then, it was understood that I would grow up and get married. Although I have the impression my parents told us we could be anything we wanted to be. There was no pressure. My mother was a stay-at-home Mom until I was in high school. Then she went back and finished her college degree and continued on to earn a Masters in Library Science.We were in college at the same time! Not the same college, though. She then became the Archivist at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. So in a way, she defied her own generation's expectations. 

 Do you have a favorite scene or quote from the book? If you were to give a reading, what might you read to the audience?
JRF:Not one favorite scene or quote, no. But I do have several favorite poems or even favorite stanzas within poems. One of my favorite scenes has always been the ending scene. I think if I gave a reading, though, I'd probably recite "I Am a Walking Fraction" or "Butterfly Dreams". 

I’ve been taking some classes at the Highlights Foundation with Cordelia Jensen.  We've been discussing what is the definition of a verse novel? What are your thoughts on the definition?
JRF:Oh, how nice for you! Isn't the Highlights Foundation wonderful? I wrote some of my best poems in Cabin 9 in 2016 and again in 2017! I know it's virtual this year because of the pandemic, but I'm sure it's still inspiring. And Cordelia Jensen would be a wonderful teacher.

I suspect every verse novelist would come up with their own definition of a verse novel! It's not just poetry. I'd say it's a novel told in an interconnected series of poems. The story is almost more important than the poetry. But the poetry needs to be beautiful and inspiring too. Novels in verse tend to be more personal and emotional, and are always first person, nearly always present tense. 

Mine started out as nothing but free verse, as most verse novels do. It was my agent, Barbara Krasner (herself a writer) who insisted I add a villanelle at a moment of despair (the poem "Leaving", the most challenging poem I had to write!) and several rhyming couplets and tercets. I also have two haiku in my novel. 

 What is your current writing project?
JRF:My current WIP is nowhere near finished, so I don't want to say too much about it! But I am writing about brain aneurysms. I know, it's a strange topic for a novel in verse, but I've survived two ruptures and it's time I wrote about it!

Thanks for allowing me to interview you,
JRF:Thank you, Jone! I really appreciate you taking the time to interview me, and appreciate your thoughtful questions.

And hold on, dear readers...Joanne has donated a copy as prize when the book is released in June.  It will be for a US reader and will be signed,  SQUEE!!! Thank you, Joanne!