Today, Poetry Friday is hosted Downunder at Kat at Kathryn Apel.   And she's shares her interesting pets.

This week I received this gorgeous painting and poem from Mary Iphigene. 
Do you know her work? She's an incredible artist and poet. 
And from the sounds of it life has been particularly challenging in the Philippines.
I love how she used mourning/morning in her poem.
I also love 'crows feet/gathering'.
Thank you for this treasure, Mary.

This is my response to Mary's poem.  I used the phrase "Waking Up to Sunlight" for a sort of Golden Shovel (added an extra line).
Waking Up to Sunlight
Dream clouds fade with songbirds waking
me. The dog jumps up
tail wagging, nose nudging me to
rise and greet the morning sunlight.
This is joy.

©jone rush macculloch(2021, draft)

Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone has the Poetry Friday this week. She's thinking about summer using the mento text from Pat Schneider’s The Moon, Ten Times.  It sparked a a poem for me.

Welcome to Poetry Friday. Today, Margaret at Reflections on the Teche, is sharing a fabulous project  as a result of COVID and writing through the Ethical ELA.  Go check it our along with all the other fabulous poetry in our world.

BTW, #poetryeverywhere is from a Naomi Shihab Nye quote, "See poetry everywhere." 
​

I almost didn't post this week. Sometimes I take July off from blogging.  This little haiku has bee rumbling in my head since the photo last Sunday.  I am in love with this sky and sunset.  So many textures.

Welcome to Poetry Friday.  We are so close to half way through the year.  Does anyone know how to slow down time? This week Buffy at Buffy Silverman is sharing observations and thoughts about spring time.  I love her photos and what she has cerated with the word 'time'.

Summer means swapping poetry with others.  This past week, I had poetry mail from Tabatha. She has a teaser in her post for Mary Lee a couple weeks ago. Blessings. They are rather fun to write.  This blessing from Tabatha speaks to anyone cultivating words. Yesterday I started collecting the poems that have lived on my blogs since 2006 and it indeed felt like I was a standing in a poem garden,

A blessing for those who cultivate words
by Tabatha Yeatts 
for Jone
 
May the sun find your seeds 
and rain settle on your sprouts 
and may you pick the weeds
of distraction and fear 
from around your precious seedlings.
 
May you invite birds to sing 
on your branches, bees to 
circle your blossoms, and 
praying mantises to stoutly 
guard your growth.
 
May your fingers be nimble
as you stand before rows of bushes,
ripe with the fruit of your imagination.
 
May your feet tread 
gently but firmly as you walk 
the dirt paths between these overflowing bushes,
​holding your words in your hands, 
your pockets, and cradled 
in the bottom of your shirt.
 
May you find the few you need
on the sparse bush that holds words
for hard times, for times when silence
and togetherness
are most necessary.
 
May you stand before 
the one you never 
thought would bear fruit 
and feel the joyous
bewilderment 
of seeing more than you can hold.

My response:
seeds of sprouts
nimble with imagination-
your blossoms

walk dirty paths
hold words in silence
feel joyous

~jone rush macculloch, 2021 draft

Welcome to Poetry Friday.  It is being hosted by Carol at Carol's Corner.  She's introducing us to poet, Jeannette Encinias.  
I was clearing out an old computer and discovered the following poem.  I am not exactly sure of the date it was written but I suspect in 2008 or 2009. I don't really remember writing it. I decided to revise it for sharing today.
​UPDATE:  Apparently the original poem was in this post in 2010.

Just Two Kids
just two kids, sister and brother
who played hide n’ seek
as we rambled down the street
me afraid of quicksand, you collected blue bellied lizards.

played hide n’ seek
until dusk’s blanket hid us all
me afraid of quicksand, you collected blue bellied lizards
I escaped inside a book while you looked through a telescope

 until dusk’s blanket hid us all
nightly routines: dishes, homework, practice the violin
I escaped inside a book while you looked through a telescope
parents sat at the kitchen table, drinks in hand
​
nightly routines: dishes, homework, practice the violin
television droned on and on, with the body counts
parents sat at the kitchen table, drinks in hand
I plotted my escape to college

television droned on and on, with the body counts
as we rambled down the street
I plotted my escape to college
just two kids, sister and brother

©jone rush macculloch, draft 2008, 2009?

Just Two Kids

just two kids, sister and brother
who played hide n’ seek and rambled down the street
orange blossoms permeated the air
one afraid of quicksand, the other collected blue bellied lizards.

who played hide n’ seek and rambled down the street
until dusk’s blanket hid us all
one afraid of quicksand, the other collected blue bellied lizards.
one escaped inside a book while the other looked through a telescope

until dusk’s blanket hid us all
nightly routines: dishes, homework, practice the violin
one escaped inside a book while the other looked through a telescope
parents sat at the kitchen table table , drinks in hand

nightly routines: dishes, homework, practice the violin
television droned on and on, with the body counts
parents sat at the kitchen table, drinks in hand
one plotted an escape to college, the other joined the service

television droned on and on, with the body counts
orange blossoms permeated the air
one plotted an escape to college, the other joined the service
just two kids, sister and brother

©jone rush macculloch, revised-probably still a draft, 2021

Today Margaret at Reflections on the Teche is hosting Poetry Friday.  And we are sharing collaborative posts.I decided to once again participate in SPARK, organized by Amy Souza. ( participated in SPARK 27 with an Inspiration piece and a Response piece).

If you are not familiar with this creative community, please check it out.  For times a year, writers, musicians, and visual artists are invited to participate in a 10-day project round.  As a participant
​you create a new work by using someone’s art, writing or music as inspiration.  And you have work with someone you know if you wish.  

I put the call out to the group of friends and Margaret responded. She sent me today’s poem and I created a mixed media response. I sent Margaret a photo from the California Redwoods and she wrote a poem for it.  She's sharing her response on her blog today.

This is the inspiration from Margaret:
Notes in a Locker
I forgot
    who she wanted to become.
    A note dropped into a locker
     scribbled in cursive,
     curly letters to sign her name.
I forgot
     who she was.
     When notes became soggy
     tissue floating in the river
      buried beneath the flood,
      we climbed out on Easter morning.
I forgot
      who she wanted to be.
      Her blonde Dorothy Hamill haircut
      flirted with the boys
       just wanting to be loved.
I become
     who she is
      daily walking from
      cocoon of sleep
       into full moon rising,
       
​      being fine
      being she
       being me.
 ©Margaret Simon

This was great fun. I will admit to some anxiety of getting it perfect. But I went with my heart and gut. The funny thing is that after reading Margaret’s poem, an image of a red locker came to me.  It surprised me upon re-reading her poem that while it said ‘locker’, the word red was nowhere in the poem. I noted these words in Margaret’s poem:
Locker
Note scribbled in cursive
Floating on the river
Dorothy Hamill haircut (those of us of a certain age had this haircut, “The Wedge”)
Full moon rising
Cocoon
My process for the mixed media was to create some painted papers. I have my great-grandfather’s letters from the Civil War, 1863 in cursive.  I printed them and added paint.  The red frame is from a gardening book. While I didn’t have a magazine photo of Dorothy Hamill, I was able to find an image and hide it in the painted papers. 

Thank you, Michelle at Michelle Kogan for hosting.  Your artwork is such a joy to look at.
​

Well, today is the final day of April. End of National Poetry Month. I have loved every interview this month. Our Poetry Friday host is Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme and he has winners for books.  I will have winners next week so be sure to comment on this or any of my posts for the month by Tuesday, May 4 (May the 4th be with you).

I LOVE trees!  And I was so excited to get this new book by Lita Judge. But first, not only is it Lita's interview and National Arbor Day, a little bird told me it was our guest's birthday!

Before you sat under that magnificent thousand year old oak, were there other experiences with trees that helped you form such a bond with them?
LJ: I was born on an island off the coast of Alaska under the giant Douglas fir of the Tongass National Forest. So I grew up surrounded with trees. My dad was a soil scientist with the Forest Service and we spent much of my childhood living in some pretty remote areas. So from an early age I’ve had a great appreciation of nature, and especially trees!

What led you to decide to write THE WISDOM OF TREES? 
LJ: I’ve always loved trees, and could identify different species, but I really didn’t know a lot of the recent science about them until I read a research paper talking about how trees communicated, how they fed one another, and even helped each other to fight against attacking insects. I began to realize that the stories trees had to tell were as startling and important as the stories I was creating. I knew I had to learn more about trees and write this book.

Besides the research for the tree facts, what other research did you do? 
LJ: I read a lot of the latest research papers and talked to scientists but the most important thing was I traveled extensively to visit different forests both in America and Europe. In order to create the illustrations, I really needed to see different kinds of tree species than what I can find where I live, in New England. I needed to find ancient trees as well. I traveled to visit a yew tree in Northern Wales (UK) estimated to be nearly 4000 years old, and woodland preserves where the forest haven’t been logged and allowed to become old growth. I’ve been fortunate enough to see the bristlecone pines in Nevada which are some of the oldest trees alive. This all helped me to gain the understanding I needed to write the book as well as to illustrate it.

In the process of writing the book, did the poems or the fact paragraphs come first?
LJ: That’s hard to answer. When writing a book I don’t really follow a pattern. I just keep exploring in and around and through an idea. A thought occurs to me and I will tackle a poem. Or I will gain some knowledge to allow me to write the fact paragraphs. It is a lot of back-and-forth. I didn’t know from the beginning I wanted to use both poetry and expository nonfiction. I wanted to give the trees a voice through the poetry because the whole book is about the idea that trees have a language and can communicate. But I definitely wanted this book to be nonfiction and to cover a lot of interesting facts.

Were there facts you wanted in the book but couldn’t put them in?
LJ: Oh, there are always a mountain of facts that fall onto the cutting room floor when you write for children! I think you have to be really curious to write this kind of book, which means you are always diving into material you’ll never possibly be able to fit into the format. Sometimes I feel like I cut more than I keep, but it all goes into creating a book that presents material in a way that is approachable for children. I find people often think writing for children is easier than writing for adults. The particular challenge with writing for children is to understand the topic well enough that you can organize it in a clear and succinct manner. That always takes a huge amount of research and then the ability to find the focus which makes the topic clear.

I think it is so fascinating that trees save one third of their food for fungi. 
What was your favorite or most surprising  fact?
LJ: I’m fascinated by how much goes on below the surface of the earth. We all love trees for their majestic beauty, and what we can see above the ground, but below ground, they are super organisms, connected to each other, communicating with one another, feeding one another, and helping each other. They have a cooperative wisdom. Their survival depends on the whole community working together.

I am quite fond of all trees but the Oregon White Oak is one of my favorites. Do you have a favorite tree?
LJ: I spent most of my school years in Oregon so I have a particular fondness for the Douglas fir. In the coastal rainforest of the Northwest they grow to be giants, with their gnarled branches covered in moss and lichen. I was married under these giant trees too. And during my ceremony we called in a pair of wild Spotted owls that lived and nested within their limbs. 
But I also love aspen. As I mention in the back matter of my book, these trees send up shoots from their roots that grow into genetically identical clones of the original tree. A colony of quaking aspen in Utah contains forty-seven thousand identical trees and is estimated to be around twelve thousand years old!

As not only the author but also the illustrator, could you tell readers a bit about your process?
LJ: My process always begins with a journal. I always carry my journal when I go out to observe and sketch. Working from life is a key part of my creativity and inspiration. All my books begin that way, even my fiction. When I begin each project, I draw long before I ever put a word to paper. I wish drawing was taught in school with subjects like science, and writing, not just for the purpose of creating art. Drawing is learning to see the world well enough to write about it as well as illustrated it. Drawing is a way for me to think about a topic, to understand it, to organize it. I begin with sketches drawn from nature. Then I go back into the studio and begin rough sketches on a storyboard that maps out the book. Only then do I really start putting words to paper. Eventually I do small color studies to get a vision of how the color will tie into the book. A book takes me three or four years to create but it’s only in the last few months that I start creating the watercolors that will eventually become the illustrations for the book.

Was the written material completed before the illustrations? 
LJ: I’m always asked that, and to be honest it kind of startles me. I think there is an assumption that words come first. Perhaps because so many books are illustrated by somebody other than the author, in which case the drawings do come second. But as an author/illustrator I don’t see such a clear divide between the two parts. As I mentioned in the previous question I always begin by drawing. But once I start putting words to the paper I often will go back and change drawings. And then go back to the words. It’s a fluid process for me where I’m constantly shifting between the two forms to tell the story. It’s what I love about being able to do both. I can build up a book organically around the words and illustrations. It feels like such a natural fit for a picture book.

What was the research like for the illustrations?
LJ: Research for illustrations isn’t that much different than for writing. To draw something well for a non-fiction book you really have to understand it. So you learn everything you can about the topic. Whenever possible I work from life. Even for a book that covers historical topics, I will travel on location to find the right architecture, or to go to a museum where I can find examples of clothes that people wore, or the carriages they rode in. If there are people in the book, I will find models to draw from. That can be a lot of fun. I’ve had kids from our town frequently pose for the stories I create. In the case of the trees I go outside and draw them. I spend a lot of time at zoos and in nature to observe animals. Often when I’m drawing I’ll notice something that will make the written part of the book richer, because of the time I took observing and drawing. I love doing both for that reason. They just feed each other, the words and illustrations.

I loved the two poems, “We are the Lofty” and “We are the Ancient”. If you  were doing a reading, what poems might you read from this book?
LJ: I would read "Song of Hunger". The concept that an injured tree can send out a message to her fellow trees, and they will answer by sending food along their roots — it’s just so beautiful. It’s what made me fall in love with this topic. And it was my favorite poem to write.

What is your current writing project?
LJ: I have several projects in the works. I am working on a nonfiction book about the evolution of dogs which involves even more research than the trees, perhaps. I also have a fiction book about friendship that is young and whimsical and has been a very joyful piece to work on. And I have another book that is, so far, wordless and hard to describe because it explores creativity and imagination, but in a visual way. So I guess that’s not a writing project. But that’s the nature of the work I do, sometimes my books are almost purely visual. Sometimes words come late in the stage. Who knows what will happen with this one. That is part of the wonderful mystery of creating.

What is one of the best things that readers can do to help the future of forests?
LJ: Think about the products we use every day, the piles of paper we write on, toilet paper, food packaging, etc, and just try to use less. We consume so much in our daily lives. And sadly so much of it isn’t something we really need. We do things out of convenience and that can be thoughtless for the planet. Reuse containers and recycle paper. And with the trees themselves we need to protect the older trees and snags (dead trees). These make the best homes for wildlife. So often people will cut down a dead tree because they think it is unsightly or dangerous. When in fact it is home and food to countless animals and insects. Make informed food choices — every year forested land is cleared for grazing livestock. Also educate your friends and family about how trees help our planet, and how our actions affect forests around the world. Plant native trees in your yard. Trees native to your region will promote healthy insect and wildlife diversity.

Thank you, Lita for a wonderful interview.  I hope it's filled with trees, poetry and cake.

You might want to read these pervious interviews if you haven't yet.  Next week I will announce winners for some of these books.  
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.

Welcome to 2021 National Poetry Month. It's my fifteenth year of participating (some years better than others).  
Today Poetry Friday is held at Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup and she has quite the alphabet soup feast for us.
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.
​
Today, I am thrilled to be hosting Chris Baron as he answers questions about his second book, THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT.  This book will be available June 2021.
THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT was just what I needed to read now.  I remembered that 1989 quake and where I was (In Vancouver, WA, watching the World Series).  The story of Etan and Malia shows readers the power of friendship as well as the strength of compassion.  And I love the bond between Eta and his father and Grandfather as well as Malia and her family. 
I wish that when I was a K5 Teacher Librarian, that I had had a copy of the book.  I had one student who had extreme eczema and there were days I could see her discomfort and pain.  It would have been so cool to have a book that she could see herself in.

My questions:
When did you know that this is the story you would write for your next book? (were you still working on ALL OF ME?) What was the spark that started you writing it?
Baron: Love this question:  I think the quiet voices were stirring for a long time. Having lived in the Bay Area, the magic of that place is present in almost all of my stories. It was really when I started thinking about my grandfather who was a jeweler in Brooklyn that the story started taking shape. I had some great conversations with my agent about my ideas for this story--about two unlikely friends--kids-helping one another, and it grew from there. 

Did anyone in your family arrive in the states via Angel Island? This place as an entry spot is new to me. I had no idea. 
Baron: It’s fascinating to see the history.  I am familiar with the history, and my family actually arrived through Ellis Island while my wife’s family emigrated from the Philippines in the 1960s, so there is a lot of family history connected with ports of entry and the movement from an entirely different culture into a “new world.”  Angel Island history is lesser known than Ellis Island.  There were many immigrants who came through, Japanese, Filipino, remnants of Jews fleeing Europe. It’s a place of deep pain for so many, and there is much to be written about here--primarily the roughly 175,000 Chinese Immigrants that came through and the countless numbers who were interrogated or detained.  A fantastic resource to learn more about Angel Island and all that happened there is from this book which was a core source of my research: Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America, by Erika Lee and Judy Yung. Also--two other books I highly recommend are: Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist, and Paper Son: Lee's Journey to America by Helen Foster James and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh.

As a child did you experience selective mutism or bullying? What kind of research did you do for the book? 
Baron: So MUCH RESEARCH!  I spent time in our College Library, working with our Mental Health Department to learn all I could.  I also highly recommend After Zero, by Christina Collins, for a really powerful story about selective Mutism. Most of all, I relied on my own experience in dealing with this. As a kid, we moved a lot. One of the ways I dealt with the anxiety of moving was the manifestation of mild selective mutism. It was easier to stay inside my imagination than give my words away.  It never lasted long, and certainly others deal with much more severe cases than this, but I think I have a strong taste of it.  

As for bullying: Not talking often invited some sort of cruelty--but the real bullying for me was almost always about my weight (see ALL OF ME).

Were you living in the San Francisco area in 1989? 
Baron: I lived in the Bay Area before 1989, but I still had family and friends living there during that tumultuous time. 

What led you to the decision to create the fictional town of Ship’s Haven ( I do love the name)?  Wouldn’t it have been just as easy to use a real town? 
Baron: I love this question.  I always draw maps-maps are such a huge part of my writing process.  There were a few towns I considered as candidates, but I always envisioned a small town on the coast bordered by redwoods. The deeper I went into the magic of this town, it’s diverse inhabitants, and the roots of the story--Ship’s haven came alive.

Were there any characters that were more of a challenge to write?
Baron: Yes and no.  But isn’t this true for all writers?  (smile).  I think I always want to create the most authentic characters I can--so each character took a lot of time and “extra” writing to ensure they  came alive in the best way possible.  I think the greatest challenge was to make sure that the rich culture and history of the characters were fully and appropriately represented, so I spent a lot of time, for example, working with my wife on Malia’s character. I also had several sensitivity readers for different aspects of the story.  This really helped me through different characterizations of everyone. 

I loved the bareket scenes. It hit home to have lost and regain a family treasure.  What is the story behind the bareket. The return and the tiny rabbit footprints around it gives it a sense of magical realism.
Baron: I am SO glad to hear this.  The bareket scenes were close to my heart.  I wanted a jewel that had a sacred and symbolic life, a symbol of deep hope.  My grandfather worked in a jewelry shop in Brooklyn--nothing fancy--trophies, watch repair, stuff like that.  But whenever I went to see him he always had a treasure for me--something solid I could hold in my hand. I wanted Etan to have this, too.  

There are so many magical moments in this story: the talking to the trees, the clay, the treasure box.  Again, what are the backstories for them? (I’m a tree talker so I get it).
Baron: Without too many spoilers--I would say that this story is rooted in the idea that magic is all around us--that if we might only stop and listen-pay attention-we will see and hear the trees, or discover the ancient things living right beside us.  But also--I love trees.

Malia’s cape does a lot of work in the story.  I loved the ending image of the cape (I don’t want to give it away). Where did this image come from?
Baron: It does!  So much of the book deals with Malia’s severe skin condition. These images relate to the life I have lived with my wife and her severe eczema--learning to hide and to be brave at different times. It’s a deep well in our lives, and the cape comes from there. 

I wanted to know more about the mother, I almost wondered at the end of the book if there is another book there about her and Etan.  I loved that they both are notebooks.
Baron: Ohhhhhhh, yes.  I like this idea.  She and Etan have a very special connection, and this is part of why it hits him so hard when she has to leave.  The notebook is an extension of herself that she gifts to him.  I think as a parent-writing Etan’s mother and father felt like two sides of a coin.  Parents often express themselves differently even when they both love their child with all of who they are. It felt close writing both--even as they were so different. 

Do you keep a notebook? What is your writing routine?
Baron: I have a giant notebook that I draw in, write ideas, and of course, maps.  I confess though that my kids often take it and draw surprise pictures inside (which I love).

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?
Baron: I think there is a scene where Etan first meets Malia that I have read to a few classes at school visits. In these scenes, Malia stays hidden behind her door, but at the very end of their time together, Malia’s irrepressible vitality comes through like a light shining under the door and into Etan’s heart.
Goodbye, Etan the artist.
Please bring me a pumpkin
if you can.
And for a moment
I see half of her face smiling,
as she closes the door.

Finally, 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?

Baron: Cordelia is amazing. I am not sure what more I can add to the definition, but I can say that for me Novels in verse relate to all kinds of readers. There are all the elements of fiction at work, plot, character, setting, theme, conflict, all at work. but it’s delivered in the most careful way possible. There is space on the page, measured breaks, pacing, music,figurative language, and movement of lines that a reader of almost any level can find their way into. The structure of verse creates an intimacy with a reader that allows them to hear the tone and cadence of a character’s voice. This can create even stronger connections for readers.

​Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Chris.  I hope that many will be sure to put this on their lists of "Books-to-Buy-in-June" list. That's when it will be available.

When I decided to interview novel in verse authors, I wanted to feature a couple of debut authors. Thanks to Sylvia Vardell's fabulous 2021 Sneak Peek post for all poetry books, I discovered Author Lisa Fipps.

I read this book in one sitting. I fell in love with the main character, Ellie, and how she grows throughout the book. I felt the sting of some the Mom comments.  

What led you to write STARFISH? Was there a reason for choosing to write in free verse instead of prose? 
FIPPS: I wrote Starfish because it was the book I needed when I was a kid. I was bullied relentlessly for being fat and struggled with so many emotions from all the bullying. Since I was an avid reader, I turned to books, hoping to read a story like mine, hoping to feel less alone, hoping to find help with how to handle it all. But a book like that was nowhere to be found. I ended up feeling even more alone. More different. I’ve always dreamed of writing for children, so it only made sense for my debut novel to be the book I always needed as a kid. I’m really surprised and saddened that from the time I was a kid until now – all those years – a book like Starfish didn’t exist. We need fat- and body-positive books for kids featuring fat protagonists, especially since nearly 75 percent of adult Americans and a great percentage of kids are fat. I’m starting to see more and more children’s books with fat protagonists, so that makes me happy. There’s still a long way to go, though. I wrote Starfish in verse because that’s just how stories come to me. I like it because it allows me to cut to the emotional core of a story quicker than prose. Using fewer words also gives me that staccato effect I love.
 
Were there characters that were easier or more difficult to write? Were they based on anyone?
FIPPS: Ellie is based a lot on me, so that made it easier to write her story, at least when it came to what happened to her and how she felt. What made it hard was digging up, facing, and reliving past hurts. The dad was hard to write. On a personal level, I have no idea what a dad is like or what it’s like to have a dad. My dad died when I was thirteen months old. A lot of readers love the dad. One reader who found out I grew up without a dad said, “Do you think you wrote the dad you wished you’d had?” And it dawned on me that that’s exactly what I did, without making a conscious effort to do so. Ellie’s dad is the dad I literally daydreamed about having when I was a kid.
 
I loved the images of the starfish and the whales throughout the book. What led you to choosing those images?  I loved the poem “Whaling Wall” when Ellie sees the beauty of humpback whales. 
FIPPS: When you’re fat, there always seems to be this one defining moment when everything changes, the moment you go from being a regular kid/person to being the fat kid/person. For Ellie, that came during her under-the-sea-themed birthday party, where she wore a whale swimsuit. She cannonballed into the pool, creating a big splash. From them on she was called Splash or some synonym for whale. That’s why I used the whale image in the book. The starfish image came from the scene where Ellie starts thinking that maybe it’s okay to be herself, to be seen, to be heard, to take up space. When she’s trying to imagine what that would be like, she stretches out in the pool and takes up all the room she wants. She literally looks like a starfish, with her arms and legs stretched out. When she starts to face the bullies and defend herself, she notices she takes the starfish stance: Arms stretched out and feet more than shoulder width apart. I think that the word starfish and the image that pops into your head when you hear or read it, gives you a perfect visual of being free to take up all the space you want in the world. 
 
Were the images in the first draft or did they appear in later drafts? 
FIPPS: The whale and starfish images were in the story from the beginning, although I added more emphasis to the starfish as I revised. 
 
Do you have a favorite scene or quote from the book? 
FIPPS: I think the scene where Ellie starfishes and says “behold the thing” as she confronts her mom is my favorite. It is the defining moment for Ellie. For their relationship. But it was so emotional for me to think about, let alone write, that I will never read that poem aloud.

​I noticed that use you used the library for some scenes in the book.  How did being a librarian inform you that there needed to be a library in the book? (Being a retired K5 librarian, I notice when books feature a library)
FIPPS: I am the director of marketing for a public library, but I’m not a librarian. I included libraries in Starfish because they were my refuge when I was in school. And, as an avid reader whose family was too poor to buy a lot of books, I visited the school and public libraries all the time when I was growing up. Coming home with a stack of books felt like Christmas.
 
If you were to give a reading, what might you read to the audience?
FIPPS: I always enjoy reading a few poems from the beginning and the poems with Dr. Woodn’t-you-like-to-know. They’re just fun to read.
 
I’ve been taking some classes at the Highlights Foundation with Cordelia Jense. We’ve been discussing what is the definition of a verse novel? What are your thoughts on the definition? (As the once chair of the CYBILS Award Poetry category, we wrestled with where the verse novels belonged in Poetry or in Fiction or their own category.)
FIPPS: To me, anyway, verse is poetry but it’s also its own creature. It’s a living, breathing, changing artform. You can bend and shape it any way you want it. That’s the beauty of it. It really feels like clay in my hands. 
 
What is next up for you?  Do you have any new books in the works?
FIPPS: Like all writers, I’m always writing. Stay tuned to social media for some exciting news in the future.
 
How did you decide on Author Lisa Fipps and not just Lisa Fipps?
FIPPS: Great question! Lisa Fipps is a common name and so is Lisa Phipps. A lot of people spell my name wrong. Fun fact. When I was a journalist, other reporters in the newsroom got sick and tired of hearing me say, “Lisa Fipps. F as in Frank, i, p as in Paul, p as in Paul, S as in Sam” every time I had to leave a message for someone to call me back. I got sick and tired of hearing me say it. You’d think it’d be an easy name to get right. It’s five letters. One syllable. Alas, it is not. I kept track of the misspellings. There were thirty-four, including Slitz, Flips, and Phillips. I thought the most common misspelling would be Phipps. It wasn’t. It was Simpson. I can only guess that people thought of Lisa Simpson from the TV show when I was trying to spell my name. Dunno. Weird. Anyway, I thought if I branded myself as Author Lisa Fipps for my website and social media that it’d help people find me since it is a common name – although, apparently, wretchedly hard to spell. Lol.

Did you read BLUBBER by Judy Blume as a kid?  It's been so long since I've read it, but it came to mind as I read your book.
FIPPS: I didn’t read Blubber when I was a kid. It was a popular book, and I had planned on reading it. But then when we were in line after library time, getting ready to head back to our classroom, a boy saw a girl holding that book and said, “Blubber’s reading Blubber.” The girl wasn’t fat by any stretch. So, I was afraid to be seen reading it, knowing it’d give the other kids another reason to bully me. That’s one reason I chose the title Starfish for my book. It’s not a title that a kid would be embarrassed to be seen carrying or reading. 

Thank you, Lisa, for sharing this book with the world and for allowing me to interview you.  

​Wondering about my National Poetry Month Project?  Here's what I have been up to since April 1, 2021:
April 1: Welcome and Morning Prayer
April 2:  Interview with Allan Wolf
April 5 Redux: "Outside My Window"
April 6: Sun/Grian
April 7: Adelanto/A Day's Journey
April 8: Wings Redux

Stop by, leave a comment and get entered for book giveaways at the end of the month.
Many thanks to Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference who is hosting Poetry Friday.  She has a great project with translating poems into a second language.