29 Feb Karen Greenwald talks about MUD ANGELS plus a GIVEAWAY!

Happy LEAP DAY, everyone! We are one day closer to April 4, when another wonderful book by the talented Karen M. Greenwald will hit the shelves and hopefully your home. I am over the moon excited about this book and this author. Karen is one of those people who find little-known events or people and brilliantly write about them. You’ve heard of Snow Angels, but today, we’re sharing Karen’s newest book, MUD ANGELS. And no, it is not about people lying down in the mud and spreading their arms and legs. It’s something much more interesting.  Karen will tell you more about the book, but I want to say that it’s not enough to find a story; how it’s written is what pulls a reader in, and between Karen’s words and Olga Lee’s illustrations, this book is one that both children and adults will not want to put down. Welcome, Karen!

EL: Can you tell us in your words about the MUD ANGELS? What brought you to this story?

KG: The Mud Angels tells the story of the November 1966 Arno River flood that devastated cities along its banks—and, specifically, the immediate aftermath in the city of Florence. The flood was a surprise, leaving residents completely unprepared. The river rose up as high as 22 feet, crashing through apartment buildings, places of worship, museums, and the Central Library of Florence. In its wake, it left behind hundreds of thousands of tons of extremely odorous mud. With so much damage, danger, and Italian antiquities at risk, the city needed heroes—enter a band of students studying in Florence who braved the conditions to help rescue Italian treasures from their muddy demise.

As we all know, you should write about things that relate to you. So, in a conversation with my college roommate who is my (encyclopedic) critique partner, I said “I want to find a topic that is international in scope, deals with people coming together peacefully, deals with art and history, and that has an environmental bent.” All these elements are important parts of my education and work/life experience, from a year in art school during high school to studying in law school under my mentor, international human rights activist Father Robert Drinan. So, my cp said, “How about the Arno Flood of 1966?” (Note: this is why she shares the book’s dedication with my parents😊) I knew immediately this was the story I wanted to tell.

EL: I’m so happy you wrote it! As an aside,  readers, you won’t want to miss Karen’s other book, A VOTE FOR SUSANNA: THE FIRST WOMAN MAYOR. This too ticks off all the boxes of a well-written book about a little known event. OK, back to the interview. Karen, do you have a writing routine? If so, will you tell us about it?

KG: I do! When I get an idea, I think about it for a week or more, without writing it down. If I write it down right away, there is a huge chance I won’t pursue it (I’m not sure why this happens, but it does). So, after it is mostly worked out in my mind, including the drafting of some of the content, I begin typing. I also have music playing in the background—certain pieces are for different modes of the process. Right now, I’m strictly listening to Italian covers of songs sung originally in English. When editing, I mostly erase and rewrite instead of re-working sentences, paragraphs, or more.

EL:  So now we know how you got the idea for MUD ANGELS, but you always seem to find interesting topics. Can you tell us a little about that? 

KG: I love telling little-known stories about unlikely people coming together to instigate an important change for the better. Both of my books have that aspect. I wish there was a secret to this issue—ugh! Where do ideas come from? In my case, I read a single comment when researching something else that led me to Susanna Salter. It gelled so much with my background in politics, so it was an instant “Yes, I have to write this.” For me, the key is to find topics that I am passionate about, but inspiration can come from anywhere. The only challenge is that not all interesting topics can fit the genre, so I do have a list of ideas I’m especially interested in that are on the backburner for when and if I choose to go the MG route.

EL: What inspires you?

KG: Everything?! I can be inspired by a word, an image, a one-line comment (as in what led me to Susanna Salter’s story) …even memes sometimes send me on an Internet spelunking trip!

EL: I am now picturing you spelunking around the internet. But sometimes, as we all know, the right words don’t come. What do you do when that happens?

KG: I take a break and usually read something for pleasure that has nothing to do with what I should be hard at work doing…or I make a Canva IG post, search for a new font, etc. I have the same process for creating art that I do for writing—I get an idea and keep working it out in my mind (for weeks, sometimes) until I feel that it’s ready to be created. Doing anything art-oriented is how I meditate.

EL: Thank you so much for being with us today, Karen. I hope you all check Karen’s wonderful website out at https://Karengreenwald.com. It is chock full of great info!

And now, of course now a…

Karen has agreed to offer a PB critique to one lucky winner. All you have to do is comment on this blog. Please let me know if you’ve shared or are a subscriber to get an extra chance to win.

Until next time,

Ellen