The Local Authors Book Fair is almost here! We’re so excited about our fabulous list of guests and hope all of you will come out to support our vibrant local writing community. We’re so fortunate to live in a place with so many talented locals!
To whet your appetite for the readings and book fair, we’ll be offering interviews with some of our guests across the next few days. Let’s meet Clay Carmichael!
FOCPL: What should readers know before they pick up one of your books?
That I’m an artist too. That, as children instinctively know, pictures have a powerful visual, visceral and emotional language all their own. A good bit of my work tells stories without more words than a title, and doesn’t require a book at all.
FOCPL: What part of writing brings you joy? What part do you struggle with?
Truth is, sometimes I enjoy writing, but mostly I love having written.
FOCPL: Have you had any important mentors in your writing life?
I’m a great reader. Every good book is a mentor, and the really good ones make me mad to write something that good myself.
FOCPL: If you came with a warning label, what would it say?
May explode if asked, “How do I get my children’s book agented/published/illustrated?” I say this (mostly) in jest, but here’s the thing: I hear it too often from folks who haven’t gotten past a first or second draft or done much research and have no idea that becoming a good writer or artist, especially for children, takes as much time and effort as becoming a good plumber or surgeon or expert practitioner of anything.
FOCPL: What made you a lover of libraries?
Librarians are special people. I meet with a particularly lively group once a month to talk about children’s books we love. As a child, my favorite room was the library in my grandmother’s house, next door to my own. The library was everyone’s favorite room, the center or the house; small, book-lined with a working fireplace, where everyone liked to gather. No one sat in “the parlor”—a large formal room with a grand piano at one end—unless someone had died. The library was where we did our living.
