17 Jan Bonni Goldberg

EL: Welcome, everyone! I’m thrilled to welcome the talented Bonni Goldberg to Writing Outside the Lines today. Bonni has written a wonderful book, DONA GRACIA SAVED WORLDS which is beautifully illustrated by Alida Masssari.

I’m guessing that most people do not know who Dona Gracia was. But thanks to Bonni, both children and adults will learn about this brave and inspiring woman who helped fellow Jews when it was illegal to do so. This story will stay with you and whatever young person you share it with long after you put the book down.  When I read it, I was excited to know that Bonni would be on the blog and that I’d get to know her a bit. Welcome Bonni! Before we get into the book, please tell us a little about yourself.

BG: I’m a writer with a full-time job as an Academic Advisor at Portland Community College in Oregon and have a role in caretaking for some of my family members. Many years ago, I supported myself in what’s now called the gig economy as a freelance writing teacher. Each has its pros and cons. But I’ve always gone back and forth between carving out regular scheduled writing time and fitting writing in where I can. Either way, it’s usually during weekends. I’ve written two writing advice books. Both promote that there’s no one right way to be a writer and it can change over time.

EL: I love that. There is no one right way to be a writer.  I hope our readers will check out your website at www.bonnigoldberg.com and read about the different projects you’ve done. Dona Gracia was, in my opinion, a woman for whom we should all be thankful, but as I said, very few people know about her. I personally thank you for writing this book and shedding light on this amazing person.  What were the challenges of writing this book? 

BG: Writing GRACIA was a bit risky and included big decisions. There weren’t many primary sources about her and nothing at all that she wrote remains. Sometimes there were differing accounts of events. I also had to choose which events to leave out, as well as how to describe or explain Gracia’s situation and her choices to a young audience. I look forward to more children’s books about her in the future that highlight what mine doesn’t. My vision was to introduce Gracia to young children so they knew who she was and could learn more about her and her circumstances as they got older. As the writer of the first kidlit book about Gracia, I intentionally don’t mention the Inquisition. My goal was to focus on Gracia’s courage, her commitment to her people, and her values and not on why they were necessary. My hope is that Alida and I have told Gracia’s story so that it’s accessible to all children, but especially Sephardic children. It is a celebration of this extraordinary Jewish woman before children learn about the dark time she and other secret Jews lived.

EL: Bonni, you’ve written in several genres. What do you feel is the best part about writing kidlit?

BG: I feel like I should say the reaction of the children that read it. As a debut picture book author, mine hasn’t been out long enough to know what that’s like. But without a doubt, the best part about the writing of picture books is the collaboration with the artist-illustrator. In general, the collaborative part of all writing projects is the most exciting part for me. I love hearing feedback on a piece from my critique group partners, getting an agent’s perspective, adding the editor’s take, and even addressing the copy editor’s questions. To have all these smart, talented, and dedicated professionals choose to help my piece be as strong as possible is deeply satisfying as a creator. Only with a picture book is another creator, working in a different discipline bringing the words to life in imagery. And it’s so much more than depicting the story. An artist adds layers through symbolism, with color, texture, and line. Although GRACIA’s extraordinary illustrator Alida Massari and I weren’t personally in contact during her process, from sketches to the final pages, I offered feedback through our editor, Joni Sussman. However, it was mostly about historical details and never the quality of Alida’s work or her vision of GRACIA.

EL: Do you have any words of advice for aspiring kidlit writers or illustrators?

BG: Yes, here are three invitations for picture book creators. First, work on more than one project at a time. This way, when the words (or the images) don’t come, you can leave that piece alone for a bit and work on one of the others for a while. Second, and this is especially but not exclusively for non-fiction, when you do research for your project keep a list of other kinds of pieces you might use the same research for. It doesn’t necessarily have to be another picture book. Some of your research might make a good article, blog post, calendar, activity, etc. Finally, even when another book comes out that is about the same topic or tells the same story, know there is room for your project. It may be that you have to alter the focus and it may be that you have to wait some years for there to be interest from a traditional publisher, but if your intuition tells you that you must create the story, don’t give up and do be open to discovering a new reason or angle from which to tell it.

EL: Great advice! Do you have anything else you’d like readers to know?

BG: I invite you to download any or all of the activities I created for DONA GRACIA SAVED WORLDS to enrich, educate, and entertain young readers. There’s even a teacher’s curriculum packet aligned with standards.

I’m also excited to connect with groups of children, adults, or families to talk about GRACIA and writing. Please reach out. And thank you, Ellen for inviting me to visit with your community.

EL: Thank YOU for visiting! And now a ….

Bonni is happy to give the winner a choice of the ebook version of The Write Balance or a 30 minute AMA that may also be used to speak to a group. Sounds like great prizes! Just comment on this post and let me know if you are a subscriber or have shared it to get an extra chance to win.

Here are some places to buy the book, but Bonni encourages you to order a copy from your local indie bookstore. Great advice!

LINKS TO BUY
Amazon

Kar-ben (Publisher)

CONNECT
www.facebook.com/bonnigoldbergbooks

www.bonnigoldberg.com

Until next time,

Ellen