02 Mar Nancy Takes Her Shot! An Interview with Nancy Churnin

A few years ago, I was fortunate to meet fellow Texan, Nancy Churnin, while at Kristen Fulton’s WOW retreat in Georgia. I knew that Nancy had written a book about a Deaf baseball player, and I was intrigued. I couldn’t wait to meet her. The wait was definitely worthwhile because not only is the book, The William Hoy Story, fabulous, but so is Nancy. I am happy to call Nancy a friend now, and I am thrilled that she is visiting us here.

Nancy, you are a journalist. What made you take the leap into children’s books? How did your journalism background help? Or did it?

My work as a journalist led to my children’s book debut! I wrote my first book, THE WILLIAM HOY STORY, HOW A DEAF BASEBALL PLAYER CHANGED THE GAME, because a Deaf man from Ohio named Steve Sandy emailed me to thank me for an article I had written about a play called THE SIGNAL SEASON OF DUMMY HOY by Allen Meyer and Michael Nowak. I learned from our exchanges that Steve is a friend of the Hoy family and has dedicated decades to getting the word out about this great 19th-Century baseball player who was Deaf and taught umpires, teammates and fans signals so he could play the game he loved. I offered to write a children’s book so that kids would know his story and also because I believed the kids would help with another goal for Steve — writing letters to help get Hoy in the National Baseball Hall of Fame so the contributions of the Deaf community to baseball would finally be recognized. So yes, my journalism background helped in getting the idea for the story. My knowledge about how to research and reach out to experts helped ground the story. But my chutzpah from being a journalist — thinking that it would be as easy and fast for me as writing a newspaper article — slowed me down! It took me years to even realize the extent of what I didn’t know about writing a children’s book. Ten years and many online classes, support groups, challenges, rejections, critiques later, I had my wonderful agent, Karen Grencik, and a terrific editor for William Hoy, Wendy McClure of Albert Whitman and Company. And I had a new passion for writing children’s books. I now have three books out and three on their way, with others in various states of progress.

Wow! That’s a lot of work! So far your picture books have been non-fiction. Do you feel like you’ll ever do fiction?

My experience with William Hoy inspired me to find other people who inspired me, and I believed would inspire kids. I wanted to write about people whose names kids didn’t know, but I thought they would like to know. The names came fast and furious: Dashrath Manjhi, the hero of MANJHI MOVES A MOUNTAIN (from Creston Books, edited by the marvelous Marissa Moss) and Charlie Sifford, the hero of CHARLIE TAKES HIS SHOT (from Albert Whitman, and the wonderful Wendy McClure again) are just two. The most famous person I’ve written about so far is Irving Berlin for IRVING BERLIN, THE IMMIGRANT BOY WHO MADE AMERICA SING (coming out June 1 from Creston Books), but when I ask kids if they know the name of the man who wrote “God Bless America” and “White Christmas,” they don’t. So it’s my chance, my privilege, my HONOR to bring Irving Berlin to a new generation. As for fiction, I hope someday to give that an emphatic yes. I love fiction and non-fiction. I am an omnivorous reader and hope someday to be as wide-ranging in my writing.

I love that you highlight lesser-known people. You educate without preaching. 

WILLAM HOY set the table for me. When I experienced the wonder and joy as kids learned about a new person to take into their hearts, someone who helped break down barriers between the Deaf and the hearing, I wanted to find more stories that could break down walls.  MANJHI does this literally, but I hope in my own small way to do this by breaking down the barriers people erect between themselves and those they perceive as “different.” We tend to tell the same stories over and over from different angles. I wanted to bring some new stories into the world — even if they’re not so much “new” as they are forgotten stories that deserve to be revisited. Thank you so much for the words “educate without preaching.” Preaching is telling others what to do and we have been fortunate through time to have people who are good at that. But a writer’s job is not to preach, but to share true stories (and by true I mean true to human nature, which covers fiction and non-fiction). The writer shares those stories in a way that gets readers to think, question and wonder, by showing, not telling, by layering connections that are there like treasures for the reader to find. The writer starts the conversation. A reader completes it. Or even better, extends it.

Your latest book,Charlie Takes His Shot is about Charlie Sifford and how he broke the color barrier in golf. Can you tell us a little about it?

Most kids know the story of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color line in Major League Baseball in 1947, enduring racist threats and taunts in order to open the door for everyone to play the game. But they don’t know the story of Jackie’s friend, Charlie Sifford, who wanted to do for golf what Jackie did for baseball. Charlie talked to Jackie over a game of golf in 1948 to ask his advice. Jackie told him it would be tough, but that if he persevered, he would open doors for others. Charlie did persevere, but it was tough. Unlike baseball, golf is an individual sport and no one could put him on a team. Plus the fans were all white, the sponsors were all white, and the clubs where the tournaments were held were all white. It took Charlie’s determination, advocacy from Jackie — who wrote a newspaper column urging for Charlie’s right to play — and a lawyer, Stanley Mosk, who became Charlie’s friend, to get the PGA Tour to change its policy and let Charlie play in 1961. Charlie went on to win two tournaments on the PGA Tour, many more on the senior circuit and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014. Incredibly, this is the first picture book about this man who opened the door for everyone to play golf.

There’s a free Teachers Guide, created by Marcie Colleen, that not only aligns with Common Core, but includes a civil rights anti-bullying section that talks about how kids can become upstanders rather than bystanders. There’s also a project, We Helped Them Take Their Shots, where I’m encouraging kids to share how they included someone new in their group or activity or how someone included them. Here’s a link:  http://www.thisismarciecolleen.com/uploads/1/7/5/0/17505457/charlietakeshisshot_teachersguide_print.pdf

What is your writing routine? Are you a planner or a pantster?

I’m a mix of both! I can’t start until I feel the heart of the story. I need to feel that this is a living thing, a story that must be told and I have to have at least a general sense of the trajectory. Then I sit down to write it and let it surprise me. Sometimes the story goes where it wants to go, and I let it. When you get it all out, then you can let your inner editor back in the room and shape it into something pretty. Actually, you have to let the inner editor back in at some point, because that first draft is never pretty, but I fend her off as long as I can because can be so illuminating to see what will pour out of you. Really? Those thoughts and feelings were in me? Writing is an amazing journey. Every time I start, I feel like Bilbo Baggins at the start of THE HOBBIT, heading off to adventure.

Can you give us a few hints on marketing our books? You are a pro!

Think of your books as your children and pull out all the stops to help them find their way in the world, just as you do for your kids. Join SCBWI if you haven’t already and get active in your local chapter. Host others on your blog if you have one and they will host you when it’s your turn. This is actually the one thing I can’t do because as a writer for The Dallas Morning News, I can’t have my own separate blog that’s separate from the work I do as a journalist. Visit your local librarians, reach out to local schools, get a Skype handle and do in-person and Skype visits. Reach out to your local newspaper, which may have a weekly column for Author Tours and to radio and television stations to advance your launch or special events and news. Reach out to your alumni magazines and the newspaper, radio and television stations from where you grew up as well as where you live now. If you write biographies, reach out to your subject’s local newspaper, radio and television stations. Consider if your themes align with certain organizations. Do you write about rescue animals? Alert animal rescue shelters and stores that serve people who love animals. Reach out to magazines, websites, Facebook pages that reflect your subject matter and themes. Make sure you have a website where folks can contact you. Create a Facebook page and Twitter handle. Join writing groups where you support each other and don’t be shy to share or ask for advice. Join or create a book launch group the year your book comes out. Get to know the folks in both your small, local independent and big bookstores. I have worked with Barnes & Noble to make my launch parties fundraiser for a worthy non-profit. That’s a win-win that raises money for a worthy cause and gives those who support that cause an incentive to support you. It takes a village to get your book out in the world. Find your village and work together with the same aim — to get as many quality books by as many people as possible in the hands of as many children as possible.

Great advice! Do you have an agent? Do you think it is important?

I have 12X12 to thank for my agent! I joined that group in 2013, eager to take advantage of the opportunity to submit my work for an agent’s consideration each month. I learned a lot the first six months and in the seventh month I sent WILLIAM HOY to the July agent, Karen Grencik, of Red Fox Literary. She took WILLIAM right away and has sold six books to date for me, with more on submission. You don’t have to have an agent to submit to certain publishing houses, and I know fine, award-winning writers who don’t have one. For me, having Karen as my agent means I can focus more on writing and less on business. But what is most important for me is that I have found in her a friend and fellow traveler, who makes submission decisions on the basis of finding the best home for our books because she truly cares about kids having books that will make a positive difference in their lives.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add? 

I LOVE being part of the children’s book tribe. Ellen, the support from you and my fellow writers fills my heart. I want to give a shout-out to my fabulous illustrators (Jez Tuya, Danny Popovici, John Joven, James Rey Sanchez, Luisa Uribe and Yevgenia Nayberg) and to the editors, educators, librarians, parents, bloggers and book organizations that do so much to get books into children’s hands. I have been fortunate to have THE WILLIAM HOY STORY on multiple award lists in multiple states and I am thankful to the judges who read through so many books to make those selections.

My BIG NEWS is that MANJHI MOVES A MOUNTAIN, a Junior Library Guild pick and Silver Eureka Award-winner, was just named a finalist in the 2018 Children’s and Teen Choice Awards, administered by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader. Kids will get a chance to vote online for their favorites March 1-May 6. There are only five in my category of 3rd-4th grade. I hope voting will make the kids feel like Manjhi — that they can make a difference and help him spread the message to #choosekind, #makekindnessspread and #moveyourownmountain.

Thank you, Ellen, for this opportunity to share about CHARLIE TAKES HIS SHOT and all my book babies! I hope your readers will come visit me on Facebook on Nancy Churnin Children’s Books, on my website nancychurnin.com and on Twitter @nchurnin.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/75953-2018-children-s-and-teen-choice-book-awards-finalists-announced.html

Here’s the Move Your Own Mountain project:

http://www.nancychurnin.com/move-your-own-mountain/

Here’s theTeacher Guide: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/68b71d_515070a02f9b496e9281ed433fce05f1.pdf

Thank you, Nancy! I am thrilled for your success and honored that you came “to visit.” You certainly have broken  barriers and brought people together. 

Find Nancy’s books at: 

Manjhi Moves a Mountain: https://www.amazon.com/Manjhi-Moves-Mountain-Nancy-Churnin/dp/1939547342

Charlie Takes His Shot: https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Takes-His-Shot-Sifford/dp/0807511285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518486871&sr=1-1&keywords=charlie+takes+his+shot

Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing: https://www.amazon.com/Irving-Berlin-Immigrant-Made-America/dp/193954744X/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=193954744X&pd_rd_r=MQWRE2V2MZA9E8DHMHQY&pd_rd_w=WLnoC&pd_rd_wg=4qBDm&psc=1&refRID=MQWRE2V2MZA9E8DHMHQY

The William Hoy Story: https://www.amazon.com/William-Hoy-Story-Baseball-Changed/dp/0807591920/ref=pd_sbs_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0807591920&pd_rd_r=FCECQFH3BD6V536BPGMK&pd_rd_w=KWvdk&pd_rd_wg=G5bP2&psc=1&refRID=FCECQFH3BD6V536BPGMK