06 Feb Jennifer Bertman: A GOOD DEED CAN GROW and a Giveaway!

EL: Happy Monday, everyone! I’m so happy that I met (at least virtually) the incredible Jennifer Bertman.  Jenn is a multi-award-winning writer, and I’m excited to learn more about her. 

Welcome, Jenn! Thanks for being here. Before discussing your books, will you tell us a little about yourself? 

JB: I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area but now live in Colorado with my husband, son, three cats, and our dog. When I’m not writing, I like to spend time with my family, read, puzzle, and work on crafty things—mainly scrapbooking family memories these days—garden, go on walks, play video games, and listen to music.

EL: Congratulations on your new book, A GOOD DEED CAN GROW! And Happy Book Birthday,  TOMORROW, FEB. 7! I really love this book for so many reasons, but I’ll let you talk about it. Also, this is very different than your other books. What was your inspiration to write this?

JB: Thank you for the congratulations! I have been writing picture books for twenty years, and it is so exciting to finally have one published.

The idea for A Good Deed Can Grow was inspired by a crummy morning I was having. It was one of those days where one thing after another went wrong—nothing life-threatening or super serious, just a series of frustrating events that made me feel grumpier and grumpier. And then the very simple kindness of a stranger turned my mood around. It was literally as simple as a smile and asking me how I was doing. The stranger and I made small talk, and I left our conversation feeling so much better, and I was really struck by that. How could something so small make such a big difference? And not just for me, but for all the other people I would interact with throughout the rest of the day because when I’m in a better mood, I will likely be more patient, considerate, and thoughtful with my words and actions.

It got me thinking about the energy we put into the world, how it can cause a chain reaction in both positive and negative ways, and how the smallest gestures can have an enormous impact. And I thought about how we can never fully know the extent of this. My inspiration began with that stranger, but maybe it started even before her. Maybe she was in the mindset to make a positive connection with me that morning because someone else had just done or said something kind to her. And our positive connection inspired me to write this story, which will now be read by many children and adults, and who knows how the story might inspire them?

It’s a nice way to imagine the world with all this positive energy pinging around, lifting people up, and making them feel hopeful. It’s also an empowering way to imagine the world because we’re all capable of doing and saying kind things. I thought the illustrator, Holly Hatam, captured this idea so beautifully in our book with the floating yellow hearts spreading everywhere.

EL: I totally agree. Did you have any contact with Holly as you were working? I have to say that I love all these illustrations! 

JB: Holly Hatam and I have been fans of each other’s work and connected casually over social media. However, as far as working on this book, everything was communicated through our editor.

EL: You have many award-winning books. Do you feel more comfortable writing in a specific genre?

JB: I love writing middle-grade and picture books. I would say that I feel comfortable with both, but then I feel like “comfortable” might suggest that I find it easy to do, and I don’t. But I don’t think I’d want to do it at all if I found it easy! I think I’d get bored and would look for something else that challenged me more. I’m drawn to middle-grade and picture books because those were the ages when I loved reading the most. I remember being young and how the imaginary and reality blended effortlessly. As I got older, I became much more conscious of what was real and what was make-believe. Reading becomes different then. There is a special kind of magic to books when you believe a mouse really might start driving your toy motorcycle when you are asleep at night.

EL:  Ha ha! Yes, those days are definitely magical. Do you have a writing routine? If so, will you share it?

JB: I was going to skip this question because I don’t really have a routine at this moment in time, but I want other writers and creatives to know that’s okay. I think we all go through different seasons in life, and sometimes establishing a clear-cut routine is what works for a person. Right now, telling myself I should be working at a certain time or in a certain way or producing a certain amount of pages, etc. isn’t motivating me to do better work. It’s not motivating me to get my work done. It only creates feelings of stress and shame, and inadequacy when I don’t live up to my own expectations.

In my latest middle-grade novel, Sisterhood of Sleuths, Maizy imagines what a day-in-the-life for Carolyn Keene* might be like, and she thinks she probably writes a chapter in the morning, takes a break for lunch and walking her dog, then writes another chapter in the afternoon. I love that picture of neat and tidy writing life, and the idea that I could have a neat and tidy routine like that sounds lovely, but I’m not in a neat-and-tidy season of my life right now. Some days I write for several hours, and some days I don’t write anything at all. But my characters and their stories are always living with me. Even if I’m not actively writing, I’m thinking about them and jotting down notes for how I might describe something, or maybe I just realized something about a character’s backstory, or I overhear someone say something that would work well as dialogue in a scene I’m working on.

*Just noting that I do know about Carolyn Keene–learning the history behind the author of the Nancy Drew series is part of the journey Maizy goes on in Sisterhood of Sleuths. In case anyone reading this interview doesn’t know about that history, I won’t spoil it for you. But it’s fascinating!

EL: Ah… I do know, and yes, it’s fascinating. Do you have anything else in the pipeline you can talk about?

JB: I’m currently working on a middle-grade mystery set in 1985 about three children who investigate a strange sighting in their town and then disappear. I’m really enjoying working on this one

EL: I can’t wait to read that one too. In your opinion, what is the best part about writing kidlit?

JB: The kids! There is absolutely nothing better than talking with a young person who is excited about books or something you wrote.

EL: So true! Do you have any words of advice for aspiring kid lit writers?

JB: Read a lot of what has been published in the genre you are writing for. Think about why you are drawn to that genre. Assess what you’ve read and think about why some books worked for you and other books didn’t. I want to emphasize thinking about your own taste in reading, not what other people are saying, although that can be interesting and educational to listen to as well. But I think paying attention to our reader instincts, what we are responding to, and why helps us strengthen our individual writer instincts and helps us figure out how to best tell the stories we want to tell.

EL: Great advice! Jennifer, I am so happy you dropped by today. Thank you so much for all this great info.

NOW comes a fun part. Jennifer is offering a signed copy of A Good Deed Can Grow to one lucky winner. All you have to do is comment on this post. If you subscribe to the blog or share this, let me know, and you will get an extra chance to win. 

Find out more about Jennifer and how you can order her books at http://www.jenniferchamblissbertman.com.

——————————————————————————————————————-