08 Apr Author Cynthia Surrisi

I am thrilled to highlight the versatile, talented, and all around wonderful author, Cynthia Surrisi. I “met” “Cynthia in The Best 2018 Picture Book Release Group Ever”, and I’m glad I did.  Sit down, grab a cup of coffee and a cookie, because Cynthia has a lot of super helpful information to share. Thanks for stopping by, Cynthia.

First of all, would you please give us a little background. You were an attorney for many years. What made you decide to totally change your focus and write children’s books? 

I practiced law for a long time in the employment area. I saw a lot of cases where things that happened at work were going to be visited upon families. Employers do things that affect workers, workers do things that affect their own jobs. I also clerked in the criminal court and would see kids in the courtroom during sentencing. These consequences have always weighed on my mind. This is one reason my middle-grade books all have parents or adult jobs implicated in them. Also, my protagonist’s mom in the mystery series is the sheriff, mayor, real estate agent, and postmaster –it’s a small town. I usually put an adult in extremes and have the kids save them. But I make the solving of the mystery address realities of the adult world. Searching for truth is a big thing in my books, and that is what mysteries are all about—finding the truth.

Even in my picture books, I let Maxine seek her own truth. She resists being told what to do. Who doesn’t? I let her reject her mom in search of a new one and go on a mission to find out the truth about her own situation.

Your first books were middle-grade mysteries. What drew you to picture books?

Actually, my first attempts at writing for kids were picture books and lots of them. This was years ago. I have a BFA and thousands of hours of drawing time.  The problem for me was that at the time, I was raising a baby, and the books available were mostly rhyming. So, I tried to write and illustrate rhyming picture books, which are so tricky. Also, my drawing skills were not well developed and as real illustrators know, you have to do it for years and years—daily. It’s not a fiddling thing. You don’t just pop it off. So, I continued to draft picture books for years, and the drawing fell by the wayside.  But I also drafted middle-grade novels, since I fell in love with reading at that age, that was a natural form for me. When I did my MFA program, I focused on middle grade, but I also reignited my interest in picture books, this time with a more informed approach.  I’ve written seven middle-grade novels and published three. I’ve probably written 150 picture books and finally published one. Dang, they’re challenging!

Yes, picture books are definitely challenging! Please tell us a little bit about your process. How do you come up with ideas? And how do you write your stories? Are you a planner or a pantster? (Fly by the seat of your pants) 

I am both a pantster and a plotter. I first have to have an idea before I can give it any kind of form. Ideas come from allowing myself to be open to them. I see things, hear things, read things, and think, “That’s a possible book idea.” I keep a notebook. My phone is full of jots. Sometimes, I’ll see a random picture in a magazine and three years later, it’s the basis for a novel. These ideas that I allow into my mind are like seeds that I leave alone to germinate. This all goes on in the background. Many at once. Some get stronger and demand more attention. Others fade.

When an idea really wants out, I will try to tell it to myself in story form in one paragraph. “A girl hated to be told what to do so she decided to get a new mother . . .” Then, I’ll expand it from a paragraph to a page. Then to three pages.

If it’s a picture book, I’ll switch to using one of the outlines in Eve Heidi Bine-Stock’s books to get it in good plotline form, with the transitions, and reversals. This helps me keep the word count down. Next, I’ll work on the language.

Here’s a link to Eve’s Vol. II, which I use all the time.  https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Childrens-Picture-Book-ebook/dp/B06XFH19V8/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522688311&sr=8-1&keywords=eve+heidi+binestock

If it’s a novel, I’ll expand the three pages to five, and then to ten. This is the process in which I am pantsing. I’m telling the story to myself and working it out. I “think” it through in my mind, on is dog walks, while baking, while driving, then I revise the story until I have about 5-10 pages of it. I am also paying attention, at this time, to general plotting principles of act changes, midpoint, rising action, climax, etc.  The next thing is to make a chapter summary, with one or two sentences per chapter. As I do this I find problems, decide to make changes, get new ideas, and so on. I then go back and conform the “story” pages. So when I’m done I have a narrative summary and chapter summary that match up. THEN, I start to write.

Sometimes, I get very excited and jump ahead and start to write. Most of that is just fleshing out or “side writing” pantsing ideas, and eventually it gets revised. This may sound intense and tedious, but for me, it saves multiple revisions of whole drafts. I guess I’d call it guided imagining.

Critique groups are so important. Will tell us a little about yours? 

I have a critique group from my class at Vermont. There are seven of us, and we meet once a month on Google Hangout. We spent about an hour catching up and 2-3 hours on 1-2 critiques of 10-20 pages each. We follow up with written remarks. This group has been together since 2014 when we graduated. We are not just critique partners, we are dear friends.

I was in an in-person critique group in Asheville, NC when I lived there. It met twice a month at a bookstore/champagne bar. Yep. It’s a group of wonderful women that I miss very much. That group has two submitters each session, no more than 15 pages, a week in advance. People bring written comments.

Now that I am in Minnesota, I have one critique partner who I have known for many years. We are just getting started, but it’s great to see her again. We have the same agent, we both have MFAs, and we were both SCBWI Regional Advisors (she still is). We meet once a month. We exchange up to twenty pages a week ahead of time, and we follow-up with written comments.

I think feedback at an early stage is essential, provided you are getting it from the right people in the right form. If a group is making you feel bad, get out. If people are telling you what to write, that’s not the way. Questions, reactions, and suggestions–if you request them, are all good things.

Do you have an agent? Do you think that is an important part of being a professional writer?

Yes, I have a wonderful agent, Linda Pratt of Wernick and Pratt. And yes, I do think it’s part of being a professional writer. Do I think it’s essential to get started? I’m not sure. These days I hear so many stories about how hard it is to get an agent, I cringe at the process. Particularly since so many agents don’t have time to reply to queries. I generally reject the idea that agents should be gatekeepers to the industry, but in large part they are. I would say to anyone who is having endless trouble breaking through finding an agent, consider the open, un-agented submission calls by smaller presses. I don’t know the statistics on making an agent connection at a conference, but certainly, you hear that it is done. Even if you don’t secure an agent at a conference, you can meet them and practice having a professional interaction.

When and where do you do most of your writing?

I mostly write in the morning and early afternoon.  I rarely sit or stand at my up/down desk. I usually sit in a comfy chair. I’m no longer startled when the deer come and look in the window at me. I have a beeper on my Fitbit that prompts me to get up and move around, otherwise, I can get absorbed for quite a while. Today, a couple of geese flew and were surprised the ice was still on the pond.

Can you tell us some specifics that you feel helped you with your journey?

My journey has been helped by my commitment, organization, and drive (honestly, you have to be driven if you want to get good books in kids hands); by getting an MFA (that’s the best way I learn), by being associated with SCBWI (a wonderful organization for all levels), by having good critique groups, by falling into a vast kidlit network of wonderful supportive people in person and on FB and twitter; by continuing to learn; by teaching; by supporting other writers; by having editors who believed in me; by having a supportive family; and by turning off the news when I think my head is going to explode.

Ahh…turning off the news at head explosion stage is a great tip! Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I have had a crazy couple months with two books coming out almost on top of each other. My third mystery A SIDE OF SABOTAGE came out March 1 from Carolrhoda/Lerner, and my picture book THE BEST MOTHER came out April 3 from Abrams. Happily, it is a Junior Library Guild selection. Thanks for the chance to let everyone know about them

Links for THE BEST MOTHER: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Mother-Cynthia-Surrisi-ebook/dp/B078W5T1X7/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522686174&sr=8-3&keywords=the+best+mother;  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-best-mother-cynthia-surrisi/1126906051?ean=9781419725340; https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=The+Best+Mother+Surrisi

Links for A SIDE OF SABOTAGE: https://www.amazon.com/Side-Sabotage-Quinnie-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B076DRLW2T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522686692&sr=8-1&keywords=A+SIDE+OF+SABOTAGE; https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-side-of-sabotage-c-m-surrisi/1127354837?ean=9781512448368; https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=A+SIDE+OF+SABOTAGE;

Here is the photo I gave my daughter for Easter of my granddaughter Ellie with her copy of THE BEST MOTHER. The book is dedicated to my daughter, Magda, who is “the best mother I know.”

Cynthia, thank you so much for sharing this great information, and congratulations on all your success!