The Kids at St. Pat's

Andy, my niece, wasn't the only middle-grade student to help with my manuscript. Way back at the time I was writing the very first draft, I workshopped my chapters with the middle-grade kids at St. Patrick School in Parnell, Michigan.

Some of you might wonder where Parnell, Michigan is. It's the intersection of Parnell Avenue and Five Mile Road in Kent County, Michigan consisting of St. Patrick Church and its magnificent steeple, St. Patrick School, the St. Patrick cemetery, and a little convenience store. Back in its prime when it was being settled by many Irish families, it was considerably more lively even boasting of its own post office. The church is the oldest one in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Check out this link for more information: http://www.migenweb.net/kent/churches/catholic/stpatsparnell/history.html.

When I workshopped the chapters of my draft there, we met on Friday afternoons. I'd read my chapters aloud and then would ask questions about particular scenes that were giving me trouble. The students would ask their own questions and would bluntly provide their comments. All of it was extremely helpful. I had a great time, probably an even better time than the kids did. I would leave full of ideas, feeling re-energized for writing the next chapter.

What's cool about these kids who are now in college is that I still hear about them. Some of them are fans of my book on Facebook. Their families still live in the area. I hope that they are happy and well.

Andy's Big Surprise--Part Two

After Andy returned to her seat, Ms. Jaquays announced that they were all to line up and head for the multi-purpose room. When Andy and her classmates came parading in, I was waiting for them. Earlier in the week the students had been told that an author was coming in for a talk, but in their excitement and anticipation for their Christmas break, they had mostly forgotten about it. So in came Andy with her classmates and when she saw me, the look on her face was that of utter astonishment.

"What are you doing here, Aunt Noel?" she asked, giving me a huge hug.

Hugging her back, I felt tears welling up. We had done it, Andy's teacher, Andy's mother, and I. We had managed to surprise her after weeks of planning.

If Andy felt a little embarrassed before, she probably felt even more embarrassed during my presentation. I like to think, though, that she was also secretly very pleased. I read a chapter from the book and explained how Andy helped with my manuscript. I also talked about the creative process, the steps I took in the writing of the book, and then the magical hour was over. Another hug and Andy went back to class with her teacher, and Andy's mother and I left to go back to work.

Andy's Big Surprise --Part One

Andy's language arts teacher (the former Ms. Jaquays) called Andy up to her desk one winter morning at the start of class. There on the edge of her desk was the book and when Andy saw it, she threw her hands to her mouth and squealed. Ms. Jaquays directed her to the book-marked page so she could read the dedication. When Andy returned to her seat book in hand, I like to think she was happy. Stunned and maybe even a little embarrassed but happy. The first part of the surprise was over, and the second part was about to begin.

Planning Andy's Big Surprise

I thought long and hard about how to surprise Andy. I envisioned her tearing off the ribbon and paper at Christmas and seeing her face when she saw the cover. I imagined her eyes widening and her jaw dropping and then her shrieking a little when she went to the book-marked dedication page to read what was written there. She is wonderfully expressive that way--good and bad register grandly in equal measure. She had no idea that the book would be published or even dedicated to her. I didn't tell many people just in case things didn't work out. So just seeing her expression would be my payback for all those months of reading, and I was really looking forward to it. When the moment came, however, I wasn't there to see it. But an even bigger surprise was in store for her, and that time I was there.

Who is Andy? The "Dedication" Story

Andy is my niece and a very attentive reader. A year and a half ago when she was in 6th grade, she was feeling a bit lonely on school mornings waiting for her ride to come. So I started reading to her over the phone. (I lived too far away to visit and keep her company.) So I read a few books to her before I thought to read from my own manuscript, The Second Navigon. She was part of my target audience of middle-grade students, she loved books, and I was interested in getting her opinion of the story.

Our routine went something like this. She'd get up, eat breakfast, get dressed and organize her stuff for school and then she'd call me. In the meantime I would do the same thing except I'd be getting ready to write. (I wrote in the mornings and then headed to work in the afternoon.) It was usually 8:20 a.m. when the phone would ring. I had marked the passage where we had left off the day before and we'd quickly discuss what had happened and then I'd start reading. Chapter beginnings were always fun because I got to describe John's thumbnail so she could get some idea of what was coming next. She always had questions which I wouldn't answer so as not to give anything away. But her questions were always enthusiastic and urgent and sometimes even pleading: "Oh come on, Aunt Noel, tell me--I won't tell anyone, I promise." This led me to believe that I had something exciting and enjoyable for kids her age to read. Sometimes she caught mistakes that I had overlooked. (An example of this was when I referred to Jules's blond hair when he was, in face, brown-haired.) So she also became my "workshop of one" and together we were both benefiting from and enjoying the process. Usually at 8:40 a.m. she'd interrupt me, sometimes mid-sentence to announce that her ride had come and that would end our session until the next morning.

I don't remember how long this process continued exactly but I do know it went on for months. By the time I'd finished reading her the book, she was no longer so afraid of being home alone on school mornings, and I had come to believe that my manuscript had merit and should be published.

So I dedicated the story to her, thinking to surprise her with a copy when the book came out. Somehow though a simple dedication didn't seem enough for our work together so I hit upon an even better idea . . . . Stay tuned for that story.

Illustrator's Bio

John was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved to Kentwood when he was a boy. He always enjoyed art as a hobby. He remembers creating elaborate sock puppets as a kid, using buttons, yarn, fabric and anything else he found around the house. Then as he grew older, he took art classes in elementary school which he continued to do throughout high school. He'd get completely consumed in his art projects, tuning everything else out. He was lucky to have the same art teacher, Donna Lyle, during his school years, and she continues to be a huge influence. He credits her for the fact that he's an artist. After high school, he spent some time working jobs that he hated and doing a lot of soul searching. He decided that he was going to pursue what he loved--art--and enrolled in Kendall College of Art and Design. There he received his BFA in illustration with a minor in graphic design. He is currently the art director at Chaser Apparel while freelancing in his spare time. He is married to Kelly, and they live in Kentwood with their two children, Caleb and Kendall-Aubrey.

Author's Bio

I was born in Detroit but grew up in the Eastown area of Grand Rapids, Michigan back when there was still a large clock, an Old Kent Bank on the corner of Lake Drive and Wealthy and a fire station two doors down from Wolfgang's. I attended St. Thomas for grades 1-8 and then went on to graduate from Ottawa Hills High School. I have always loved books, my childhood favorites being Miss Bianca, The Rescuers, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase among many others. I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember. My parents told me that my first story was called "The Witch Who Blew Out the Moon." It was my high school creative writing teacher, Sharon Babcock (Grand Rapids Ed Park), who really sparked my interest in writing. I went on to major in English at Aquinas College and after a five-year hiatus I went onto Michigan State to pursue a master's in creative writing. I'm married to Bob and we have two grown sons, Nate and Duncan.

Who did the cool illustrations?

John R. Fritsch did the illustrations plus a whole bunch of preliminary sketches for the chapter thumbnails. At the time we started working together, the book was still a website project, and he was a student at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'd give him a chapter that I had recently finished, he'd read it, and then he would show me a series of five or six sketches taken from different scenes. I got to choose my favorite one, and then John would finalize it before it got posted to the website. One of the coolest things that John illustrated for that forum couldn't be used with the book: that of a little boy carrying a lighted candle, walking down a stone staircase. In the website illustration, the candle flickered. One of my favorite thumbnails of the book is the one for chapter fourteen--a snake having its venom captured.

Where did you get your idea for the book?

I was teaching a composition class at Grand Valley and using a textbook that included a collection of essays by different writers. One of them was Alan Moorehead who had been a celebrated war correspondent during the Second World War. His essay was taken from his book called The Blue Nile. In it he described life in Cairo, Egypt at the time of Napoleon’s invasion in 1798. Like a lot of Americans, I was very ignorant on matters Egyptian. I knew about the pharaohs, and my husband and I had even spent the first night of our honeymoon sleeping on the steps of the Field Museum in Chicago in order to get in the next morning to the see the King Tut exhibit. But I was clueless about the Mamelukes and Napoleon and the Battle of the Pyramids and found Mr. Moorehead’s essay absolutely fascinating. So part of my story came from that.

I know what you must be thinking. What does a sci-fi novel have to do with the Mamelukes and Napoleon?

Well, I like to call my book a sci-fi, historical novel and will stop there so I don’t give anything more away.

What’s a navigon?

Several students have asked me this during readings. On the planet, Iperia, there are navigons and then there are navigons. Ordinary navigons are both the “brains” and the “muscle” of complex flying vehicles such as space stations, space ships, and sky taxis. Today on an aircraft, for instance, we have engines that interface with computer hardware and software in order to fly. On Iperia, the navigons are all these things combined, only they’re much smaller and faster and smarter.

The second navigon is an Iperian government “test” prototype, made specifically for a project to research the origins of the planet. The first navigon is the “design” prototype.

Jules, one of Mr. Waldermulder’s three indents, needs a navigon to finish restoring Mr. Waldermulder’s hobby ship.