Hello Friends,
I grew up loving the book, The Face on the Milk Carton. I even loved the movie. The story of Janie and Reeve, well, it leaves you craving more. They’re the stories that stay with you long after you turn the last page, and you know how much we love those types of books here at The Write Teacher(s). So when Caroline B. Cooney agreed to participate in our School Time Author Q&A Series, I was overjoyed.
Check out our exclusive Q&A:
TWT: Where do you gain the inspiration for your stories?
CBC: Inspiration for stories is everywhere, all the time. Just stay alert! The Face on the Milk Carton was based on a glance at a missing child poster. All of us have seen many of these. But at that moment, I thought, what if you were that child, and recognized yourself in that picture? Inspiration is a matter of looking around you, closely, and thinking, what if…?
TWT: Do you ever regret not staying in college?
CBC: Oh, I went back to college on and off for years. In my fifties, for example, I attended Latin and Greek classes at UConn, Columbia, and Fordham. I never stopped going to college, I just never ended up with a degree. No, I never regretted it. Life played out well. If I had gone to college and gotten my music education degree, perhaps I would never have written a book.
TWT: What advice would you give to reluctant readers and their parents?
CBC: Reluctant readers often do better with nonfiction. A boy who hates reading might find the sports pages of a newspaper (paper or online) to be very satisfying reading. A girl who hates reading, might love horses, say, and find all kinds of books about them, which are more palatable. Ideally, find an author who has written lots of books. Then, when you’ve found one to enjoy, you have a whole slew of safe reading waiting for you. Ask your YA librarian for suggestions, and tell her what you’ve disliked (since reluctant readers generally dislike most books) and the librarian can probably find a better choice than you could, wandering dismally around the shelves.
TWT: The Face on the Milk Carton has sold over 3,000,000 copies and was made into a television movie. It is still talked about today. Did you ever think that this book would be such an overwhelming success?
CBC: I’ve written my fifth book about Janie and Reeve, in The Face on the Milk Carton. It’s called Janie Face to Face and it will be out in January, along with an e-short story, What Janie Saw.
It is amazing to me how successful this series has been. An author loves every book she writes, and yet the reader will love one book above all the rest. One never knows. But I’m glad it’s Janie that my readers love, because it allowed me to go back over and over again and write suspense about these great kids.
TWT: Can you pinpoint the moment of inspiration that you had that led you to write The Face on the Milk Carton?
CBC: I glanced at a missing child poster at La Guardia Airport and thought – what if you were a teenager and recognized yourself on a missing child poster? What a moment of shock and horror! What if it’s impossible, because you have parents who love you; and yet – you are that missing child. It made my hair prickle. I knew it was a great idea!
TWT: Just for fun, what is your favorite movie? Television show? Book? Play?
CBC: I am a book person. I don’t often look at a screen, whether it’s TV or movies. As for books, I read by the armload. I read tons of mystery and suspense, and occasionally historical fiction. I read a lot of history. Right now I am writing about the English children who eventually sail on the Mayflower. I went to England to visit the villages from which their families came, and I went on to Holland to see where they lived prior to going into exile a second time, to America. I gave myself an entire year to read about the backgrounds of these families and their world – kings, countryside, sheep, and of course, their God. I’m so excited about writing this historical fiction. That’s my usual state of being, writing-wise: excitement.
TWT: Do you write at a particular place or time of day?
CBC: I am a morning person. I wake up before dawn, fix my coffee, and write and write. Every afternoon and evening, I plan out what I will work on the next day.
TWT: What advice would you give to young writers?
CBC: Practice. Think of learning to write like learning to play the trumpet or play basketball. Practice, practice. You don’t have to finish anything. You don’t need a fine plot. Just write. 15 minutes a day is plenty. Schoolwork doesn’t count. The goal is to get more fluid and have more fun at it.
TWT: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
CBC: I had a wonderful sixth grade teacher. His name was Mr. Albert. He had us write short stories every week, passing out covers of old New Yorker magazines – colorful and cartoon-like – as the basis for our stories. Each week we had to showcase some part of speech – nouns, or verbs or adverbs. I was the one who never stopped. I’m still in touch with Mr. Albert, fifty years later!
Thank you, Caroline!
Live, Love, Learn,