Author Spotlight: Claudia Mills
Claudia Mills is the beloved author of more than 60 books. Some of her best-selling books include 7 x 9 = TROUBLE, BEING TEDDY ROOSEVELT, and HOW OLIVER OLSON SAVED THE WORLD. Perhaps best known are her chapter-book series, which include FRANKLIN SCHOOL FRIENDS, THE NORA NOTEBOOKS, and AFTER-SCHOOL SUPERSTARS. School Library Journal has said, “Mills has a knack for creating characters who demand compassion due to a pitch-perfect sense of humor and pathos.”
In 2019, Claudia won the prestigious Kerlan Award, “in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children’s literature.” A graduate of Wellesley College with a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University, she taught philosophy for many years at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is the former president of the Children’s Literature Association.
Q: You have published an impressive 60 books. How has publishing changed over the years?
It’s changed a lot! The biggest and best change has been the new emphasis on diversity with terrific “own voices” authors brilliantly telling stories that young readers desperately need to hear. But the field has also become more competitive, just because there is so much new talent, with authors now needing to assume a much greater share of promotion for their books. In the end, though, the constants endure: everyone involved in the making of books for young readers has a passion to create and share literature that is brave and beautiful and true.
Q: Margaret Ferguson has been your editor for over a decade, first at Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and now with her own imprint at Holiday House, and you were with your previous editor for a full thirty years. What is it like for an author to have such a long relationship with her editors?
In a long-term relationship between author and editor, so much trust develops. If Margaret has a critical comment about one of my manuscripts, I know from confidence born of long experience that she is always right that something needs to be changed, though it may still take me a long time to figure out exactly how to do this. Likewise, if I feel strongly about some feature of the book, Margaret trusts me, too, as she knows everything I write comes from my heart.
Q: Your new novel, THE LOST LANGUAGE, is a verse novel, which is a new format for you. Is this a kind of breakthrough?
The verse novel was indeed a breakthrough for me! I’d long admired the form and yearned to try it, but I needed to find just the right story to be told in that way. But when I did, words just came pouring out of me; I had found my best and truest voice at last, where it was so easy for me to be honest with my reader, and myself, in a deeper way than I ever had before. Also, strangely, the form of the verse novel helped strengthen my plot, as the poems distill and reveal particular crystalline moments, like pearls on a necklace, where I could see clearly which pearls needed to be added or taken away. Writing THE LOST LANGUAGE was bliss!
Q: Are you in touch with your readers? Do they ever offer story ideas? Do you like to visit classrooms?
I love hearing from readers! I think all authors do. Although children offer ideas to me all the time, I’ve never used a story idea from a reader; I always tell them that this is their idea, this is their story to tell. Because so many of my books are school stories, I adore visiting classrooms, and there I get ideas just from osmosis, just from being in that sacred space where learning takes place.
Q: Is there any advice you’d like to give aspiring writers?
Do all you can to find, and hold fast to, joy in your writing. If you love to write, you will end up writing a lot, and the more you write, the better you’ll get, and the more you’ll love it! I cherish writing rituals that add even more joy to this work that is so dear to me. For instance, when I am finally ready to write the very first sentence of a new book, I make a point of writing it somewhere special, not just on my same comfy couch at home. My current favorite spot is at the Denver Botanic Gardens, sitting on a bench surrounded by greenery. So: let yourself write with joy!
To find out more about Claudia and her books, visit www.claudiamillsauthor.com.
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