01 Nov Ronni Diamondstein and JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED Plus a GIVEAWAY!

EL:  I’m excited to welcome a new friend, Ronni Diamondstein, to the blog. I can’t wait to get my hands on her debut picture book, JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED, which comes out on Nov. 7.  I clearly remember when Jackie Kennedy was first lady. The most vivid picture in my mind of Jackie is of her in her iconic pink suit when her husband, JFK was assassinated. I thought I knew about Jackie Kennedy as I followed her in the news for the rest of her life. Obviously, I had more to learn, and as is often the case, I learned it from a picture book.

 In JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED, we learn how books guided Jackie’s life. It is a type of celebration of reading. Ronni’s writing style pulled me into this book immediately, as did the illustrations. I feel sure that children will love it as well. 

Ronni, before we get into your book too deeply, will you tell us a little about yourself?  We’d love to know where you live, what you do when you’re not writing, and anything else you’d like to tell us.  

RD: First, I want to thank you so much for having me on your blog, Ellen. I’m truly honored. I have lived in Westchester County just outside of New York City for the past 32 years. Prior to that, I lived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands where I worked at the American International School of Rotterdam as a school librarian and teacher of the gifted and talented. I’m originally from Long Island, NY.  For 34 years I was a school library media specialist. I have been writing forever. Another passion of mine is photography. I picked up a Brownie Starmite camera when I was a child and have had a camera with me ever since. I walk my dog, Maggie Mae a lot. On one of my walks with Maggie Mae, I got the idea for a column for her in a local magazine. For many years Maggie Mae Pup Reporter interviewed lots of people including beloved author Jean Craighead George who lived in our town. She wrote many wonderful books including How to Talk to Your Dog which was the focus of the interview.

EL: That is wonderful! And now you can add “Children’s book author” to your resume. Will you please talk about your road to publication with this book? 

RD: JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED is my debut picture book biography, and it truly was a labor of love. I was eight years old when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated. I remember Jackie, especially how she led the country in mourning her husband. I was always interested in her style and admired her for becoming a book editor. After she passed away, I had an idea for a novel about her and started researching her and talking to people who knew her. I started to interview people who knew her. When I was talking to Margot Datz, the illustrator of Carly Simon’s children’s books that Jackie edited, she suggested that I write a children’s book. I have an extensive library of books about Jackie and the Kennedys. I first wrote a long chapter book that got no traction and then about five years ago I thought a book about how reading and writing were a thread through her life. I knew that picture book bios were a great genre and began to work on this book.  At first, I sent it to editors and agents I knew and got rejections. Finally, in 2021, I signed with Lary Rosenblatt and Barbara Stewart of 22 Media Works. I did lots of revisions of it before it was sent out and it didn’t take long for Sky Pony Press to acquire it. I was thrilled. It was a pleasure to work with my editor Nicole Frail. We were very much in sync during this process. I always felt I had a voice and that it was heard.

EL: I love the illustrations. Will you tell us about your wonderful illustrator? Was there any communication between you? Anything else you’d like us to know?

RD: I was very lucky to have a say in the illustrator. I was shown samples of Bats Langley’s work. In addition to giving illustration notes, because I have so many books about Jackie with lots of pictures, Bats and I collaborated a lot. I attended the Sotheby’s auction preview of Jackie’s possessions and have the catalog which has photographs of the interior of her Fifth Avenue apartment. For example, on the cover of JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED there is a horse statute. Jackie had a statue like that on her piano. There are many details throughout the book like that. One day Bats wanted to know about Jackie’s favorite birthday cake. I had a book called Cooking with Madam in my collection, so I sent him pictures of Jackie’s birthday cake that you’ll find in our book. It was a marvelous collaboration! I also had a say in the endpaper design. I love quotes and had many of Jackie’s quotes about books that I wanted included in the book so I suggested we use them on the endpapers. And I also knew her personal stationery was Smythson powder blue, which was the color we chose for the endpapers.

EL: That’s amazing. I’m sure most of our readers know that such strong collaboration between author and illustrator doesn’t always happen. Do you have any words of advice for aspiring kidlit writers or illustrators?

RD: Two words: read and write!

Read lots and lots of books. I was fortunate to have spent my life reading children’s books, starting with my job in college in the children’s room of the library to becoming a teacher and school librarian.

And write! Join writing groups, take writing workshops, find a writing community. My mentor Elizabeth Hall said you need to write every day and she was right about writing.  There’s a great quote about writing from Jane Yolen: “Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

I also think it’s a good idea to go to the library and see what librarians are buying. Talk to them too!

Another suggestion I have is to read like a writer. Find mentor texts and analyze how they are constructed and why they are successful.

And read your writing aloud.

EL: Great advice! Thank you so much for sharing! 

And now  a

Ronni is generously offering a signed book (U.S. only) or a 20-30 minute Ask Me Anything call. Winner’s choice! All you need to do to get in the running to win is comment on this post. Let me know if you are a subscriber or if you shared the post in order to get an extra chance. 

You can purchase JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED wherever books are sold. For signed copies contact The Village Bookstore: https://thevillagebookstore.net/item/l6LL-GFCSTZforxQDLUqyg

https://tinyurl.com/2vrbdn47

Find out more about Ronni Diamondstein at these Social Media sites. 

Website www.ronnidiamondstein.com

Facebook- Ronni Diamondstein

Instagram @maggiemaepupreporter

Twitter @MaggieMae10514

Thread @ maggiemaepupreporter

Post @ronnidiamondstein

Bluesky @ronnidiamondstein.bsky.social

Until next time, be well,

Ellen 

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