Today is a special day. Tracie Vaughn Zimmer stopped by to tell us about her new book, REACHING FOR SUN (please go buy it from your favorite Indie), and to share her writing journey with us. Tracie is famous for her teaching guides (she's written over 200!!!). Her first book is called SKETCHES FROM A SPY TREE and it received many glowing reviews. Yay Tracie!! You can learn more at www.tracievaughnzimmer.com. But you can also learn a bunch right here!

Jo: First of all, I just want to tell you how much I loved this book. I fell in love with Josie and Gran and Jordan as soon as I met them. You wrap us in their world from the moment we meet each character. I could smell and feel and touch their world from the moment I opened the book. Since many of the people who read my journal are aspiring writers, I thought we could focus on your journey with Josie. Can you tell us what writing the first draft was like? Did Josie's voice come naturally to you in the free-verse format?

Tracie: I'm so glad you like them. I'm so nervous realizing that people are actually reading it now! When I wrote the first draft it was maybe 25 poems mostly about the garden. Gran showed up in the first draft and Josie (obviously) but she didn't tell me about her disability until the 3rd major revision! Free verse is definitely my most natural voice, as a writer. Even my journal entries back to when I was ten often take this format. It fits Josie too- she knows how important each word is and she doesn't waste a syllable.

Jo: I love that! Yes, I think this style fits Josie perfectly. That's so cool that you wrote in this style as a kid! Do you belong to a writers group? What's your revision process like?

Tracie: I have two writing partners. Julia Durango and Jessica Swaim. They read it at different stages and are brutally honest about what works and what doesn't. I can't imagine writing without them. This book went through even more readers than that though- an early critique group and very patient friends.

Jo: What would we do without our trusted writing partners? I think it's so important to have 2 or 3 you can really trust to give it to you straight before you send it out. At what point did you share the book with your agent, Barry Goldblatt? And what was his first reaction?

Tracie: Barry took me on with this book. He never once lost faith in it even when my own was flagging. I am so grateful for that.

Jo: Yay Barry!! He's so smart. ;-) How did you and Barry decide who to submit the manuscript to?

Tracie: Many editors saw it. I did lots of revisions but ultimately it would get turned down by "the committee (s)" for being too quiet, too poetic, too whatever.

Jo: I hear you. It's so hard to get SOOOO close. But I think once you hit that stage, it really is just a matter of time before the editor you were meant for comes along. How long did it take you to find the perfect editor for Reaching for Sun?

Tracie: FOUR long years. But Melanie Cecka understood exactly my goals and edits with a gentle hand.

Jo: Hooray! Do you think working on edits on a free-verse novel is different from working on prose? (I am imagining discussions about line-break choices and other nitty gritty things that a writer might not deal with in a prose piece.)

Tracie: Oh, yes! Line breaks are really important and sometimes we traded a few emails over single words.

Jo: Wow. I guess that might be sort of like going back and forth over precise lines in a picture book. It would be cool to see those back and forths. :-) Now that you've clearly mastered this form, have you considered writing a novel in prose?

Tracie: Funny you should ask. I just sold my first historical (prose) novel to Bloomsbury. THE RIVER PALACE (set on a river boat in 1853). It will come out next summer, I think.

Jo: CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's terrific!! Now. I'm one of those people who inspects books I've loved from cover to cover after I read them. I explore the title page, the feel of the paper, the font choices, etc. (I'm such a geek.) Anyway, this book has a wonderful design. I love how small it is, first of all. It feels like you're holding a secret as you read it. I also love the spareness of the text on each page/spread. Was it your idea to include the flip book of the growing flower in the bottom corner? That is BRILLIANT! I just love that SOOOOOO much.

Tracie: I love to look at those things too!! But all the design credits wholly belong to the brilliant Bloomsbury staff- esp. John Candell, Nicole Gastonguay and the flower illios were by Shadra Strickland.

Jo: It's a beautiful book in every way, Tracie. Congratulations all around! Here's to lots and lots of success!! :-) OH! And one last thing before you go. Since we're doing this on a Monday, would you do us the honor of suggesting a Monday Morning Warm-Up??

Tracie: I’d be honored!!!

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Monday Morning warm up (brought to you by TVZ):

Describe your grandparent’s home. Think about meals and holidays to help the memories flood back in. Don’t forget about the smells! Then, if you like, describe your grandparents. This is a nice gift to the next generation too. THANKS so much Jo for having me :0)



THANKS, Tracie!!!!