Kid Literature, #102

Maria Padian:

This is all part of the mix here, and that doesn't necessarily make people good or bad or right or wrong. And what I hoped to do in the story was to bring in a variety of characters who were expressing that point of view. And I hope I didn't demonize anybody or take anyone else and elevate them. I wanted to just throw them out there in as realistic way as possible to spark conversation, particularly among young people, because that's who the book is for. Read out loud to them and get them books on tape. Oh, yes. If you're not finding that they're picking up books on their own, all that time you're spending in the car taking them to whatever sports activity or the long vacation, books on tape is a great way. Hook them on a good story, help them to learn to love a good story. Because I think that's just part of human nature, is to want to hear a good story.

Kate Egan:

One thing that sets a book apart from a different work of art is that with a book you have a chance to truly walk in somebody else's shoes. I think reading is something that breeds compassion in people. I feel that if people read a lot, they will have had many experiences that they will never actually have themselves, but experiences that are really important and powerful anyway. The whole object is to make sure that the reader can entirely suspend her disbelief and just be absorbed into this other world.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 102, Kid Literature, airing for the first time on Sunday, August 25, 2013. Who cares what kids are reading? We do. Great books set the stage for a lifelong love of literature. Today's guests include Charlotte Agel, children's author and illustrator and author of the Accidental Adventures of India McAllister, Maria Padian, author of out of Nowhere, and Kate Egan, author of Kate and Nate are running late and editor of the Hunger Games trilogy. I've been an avid reader for decades. My mother, noting my love of books, introduced me to the EB White classics Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and Trumpet of the Swan when I was a first grader at Lakeside Elementary School. By then, I'd been reading for a while. Or more accurately, I had been devouring books for a while. By the time I entered junior high school, I had read every single book in the children and young adult sections of our local library. I read some of these books repeatedly. Thus I have great respect for the individuals who bring books into the world, especially those who bring children's books into the world. Books make it possible for us to explore the world without ever leaving our living room. They give us insights into other cultures. They entertain us. They inspire us to learn more, to keep growing as individuals. In the Accidental Adventures of India McAllister, Charlotte Agel describes a quirky fourth grader's experiences in a small Maine town. Maria Pedian describes the integration of Somalian immigrants into a Maine community through the eyes of a high school soccer player in her book out of Nowhere. Also, the editor of the best selling Hunger Games trilogy on author Kate Egan amuses us with a common motherhood experience in Kate and Nate are running late. Each of these authors bestows a gift upon the children who read their books, children who are now very likely the same way I once was, voracious consumers of the written word, children who are getting ready to take the world by storm. We hope you enjoy our interviews with Charlotte Aguel, Maria Pedean and Kate Egan. Thank you for joining us. I've been a reader since I was, oh, I don't know, five or so. My parents couldn't keep me away from books. I always thought perhaps I would become a writer. And so it's a pleasure for me to sit in the presence of people who did become writers and to know that they were writing the types of books that I was scouring the Merrill Memorial Library for as a young child. I'm so appreciative that you are bringing the words of wonder into the world and sharing them with the children of Maine and across the country. Thank you for coming in. We're talking to Charlotte Aguel, who is an author and illustrator and teacher of my own children, but most recently of the book the Accidental Adventures of India McAllister and also author Maria Padian, who has most recently written the book out of Nowhere. Thanks for coming in.

Maria Padian:

Thank you.

Charlotte Agell:

Yeah, it's great to be here Charlotte,

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

you were recently profiled on the back page of Maine Magazine. So people who have seen that know that you are a very interesting person. You have this background that most Maine authors don't have. Where are you from?

Charlotte Agell:

It is quite a story. I actually marveled how Sophie was able to boil it down because we chatted for quite a while. But the thumbnail is that I am from northern Sweden, quite far north. My parents emigrated when I was basically a toddler. We moved to Canada, always Trotta Svenskem Mafe Wy was so Swedish at home, but I learned English and French. We moved back to Sweden, where we had actually gone many summers, the summer after fifth grade, but didn't stay there very long because my father was posted to Open up the Far east for Volvo. So I moved to Hong Kong and came from there because why not to Bowdoin College, where I had never been before. In fact, the sort of sum total of my US experience up until that point was three days in New York City when I was 11. And what I remember most was writing a report because I was a very serious fifth grader on what we used to call Eskimo transportation, Inuit transportation, and something about the Empire State Building. But I've been here really almost ever since, with the exception of grad school. And I feel like it's my adopted home. Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you live still in Brunswick?

Charlotte Agell:

Well, we moved back there, my husband and I, when the kids were little. We sort of lived, I joke, in every smaller Maine town kind of from Portland to Gardner. Maybe not every single one. But yeah, we've been there now a long enough time to call it almost forever. Since the early 90s. 94. We moved back there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Is that how you got to know our other guest, Maria Kadian?

Charlotte Agell:

Yes, I think it would be. We have a lot of friends. I think it was a lot of friends in common. First, my kids are little. Youngest is just a bit older than your oldest. So our kids didn't exactly overlap. But in Brunswick, like in any town, there are a lot of sort of Venn diagrams of people, you know.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, Brunswick does seem to be kind of a hot spot of creative sorts. And especially writers.

Maria Padian:

There are a lot of writers. We're wondering if there's something in the water.

Charlotte Agell:

It's almost insanely so. I was at my school library, Harrison Middle School, and I brought in a Lisa Yan Clow book. Her new release, Nothing but Blue, I think it's called. And the librarian jokingly said, oh, is she from Brunswick, too? And actually she lives out of State does live in Portland sometimes. And I thought about it and I said, oh, well, no, but you grew up in Brunswick. I started to laugh because maybe you could say it of every Maine town because I think it's a very creative state in general. But something about writers in Brunswick, you could fill up the entire interview with listing them and that would probably get pretty silly.

Kate Egan:

Exactly.

Charlotte Agell:

Could probably do that.

Maria Padian:

And supportive group too. I think that's what's been so amazing about Brunswick. Not just the community in Brunswick, but also the kid lit community is really supportive, helpful, kind.

Charlotte Agell:

We're colleagues.

Maria Padian:

Yeah. Not competitors. Colleagues.

Charlotte Agell:

Absolutely.

Maria Padian:

It's really neat.

Charlotte Agell:

Yeah. The way it should be. And also, of course, grounded by not just the college, but the best. I mean, there are more of these shout out to Longfellow Books too, but the best independent bookstore in the world, Gulf of Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's just.

Charlotte Agell:

If you ever want any literary conversation, you know, anytime during the day, just saunter in there and you can find it.

Maria Padian:

Good point. I mean, literally, you can just walk right up to the register and start to engage with Gary Lawless, the owner, and he'll take you right on. Talk about everything.

Charlotte Agell:

You never know who's going to turn up in there too. It's great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm interested by. Your books are very different. The books that you write and they describe and actually even amongst your books, they're very different. This most recent one that you've written, Maria, is about something that's actually happening here in Maine, which is sort of the integration of people from Somalia into our towns. I'm just going to read from the book jacket. Some guys have all the luck. At least high school senior Tom Bouchard does. Top of his class, currently number three on top of his game, soccer. He's the guy with the hot girlfriend and even hotter college prospects if he ever gets his applications done. But here's the thing about luck. It changes. And Tom's idyllic life quickly gets turned upside down when he least expects it. His hometown becomes a secondary migration location for Somali refugees fleeing their war ravaged homeland. Refugees Tom hasn't thought about much until four of his new Somali classmates join the soccer team. I'm not. I doubt that you wrote your own book jacket. Is that true?

Maria Padian:

That's true.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Okay, good. So these are not your words, but I thought it was a good summary of something that I think a lot of people, a lot of teenagers in Maine are actually dealing with. It is interesting because Maine is a fairly white state and a fairly cold

Charlotte Agell:

state, also known as I Think the whitest state.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The whitest state, right. And you've chosen to write about the integration of people from somewhere very far away and warm, right. In a very sort of hit the ground kind of way.

Maria Padian:

Well, you know, if you go into cities like, you know, right here in Portland and then certainly up in Lewiston, we have plenty of diversity. There's all sorts of people from all over the world who have landed on our shores, partly because of the refugee program and partly because this is a wonderful place to live. And the word spreads, which is really what has taken place in Lewiston. As you know, we had sort of a housing crunch in Portland. Folks in Lewiston let everybody know, hey, we've got some available housing. So some of the Somali refugees in particular who were spillovers from Portland ended up in Lewiston. But what really brought in the big numbers was that the Somali community is very closely knit. And word went out as far away as Atlanta, Georgia and Southern California. Hey, this is a wonderful place. And they began to show up in great numbers. The book is fiction, the characters are fictional, but of course the story arc is based on some real events which have taken place in Lewiston over the last 10 years.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you yourself have children, I think

Maria Padian:

high school, college at this point, college age. Right now I've got a junior and a freshman in college. But my kids were real little when this all came to a head in Lewiston. So when we brought them, there had been the big support rally in the community. When we brought them to that, they were real little kids playing out on the snow banks. But then as they got older and they were playing high school sports, I was privileged to attend soccer games and various cross country meets. And I would see the wonderful diversity reflected just in the students who were competing against each other. And in particular, I saw these Somali athletes who were playing soccer and just changing the nature of the game, particularly in a town like Lewiston. And I was wondering, particularly because my grandparents are all immigrants. And at first I just thought, oh, you know, it's the immigrant story all over again, but with a whole bunch of twists, because not only are these not immigrants, but refugees. And there's a real difference between an immigrant and a refugee in terms of the resources you come with and, and the mindset you come with. But also they were black in a very white state and they are Muslim in a post 911 world. So I really wanted to know, wow, what is their experience like? And particularly what is the experience of the children in school? And that's where the story began.

Charlotte Agell:

And you did a lot of research.

Maria Padian:

I did a lot of research. I did a lot of research that proved fairly, frankly, a lot of conversations, particularly when I started with adults, because the topic was so charged and so much had happened. And a lot of times people were not talking to me necessarily about their experience, but about what agenda they were bringing to it. And then I got real lucky and I stumbled on a couple of high school kids. And that's when it changed. They were so genuine and generous and open and so grateful that somebody just wanted to hear their story. And suddenly what I just realized is kids just want to be kids. They just want to fit in, they want to make friends, they want to go to the prom, they want to be invited over to the party. And so suddenly I had this wonderful window into what sort of relationships were really possible and what was really happening in school. Because it wasn't as if the folks at the schools were going to let me in. I had to meet the kids outside of school and meet them in. In downtown Lewiston and go out and eat their food and go to their soccer games and just spend a lot of time with them and get them to tell me their stories.

Charlotte Agell:

And now the schools, and I can speak from experience being a public school teacher here in Maine, are inviting the book in. And I think it's going to provoke some excellent conversations.

Maria Padian:

I hope so. I hope so. And I would love to hear those conversations because what's been so interesting for me now that the book is out, I was in Lewiston last week and read portions of the book to a largely Somali audience. And when I was done, I said to them, you do understand that you've been my scariest audience. And they looked at me and said, why? And I said, because I've. This is you. This is your story. I said, did I get it right? And the best moment I've had in a long time was all their little started nodding. I thought, oh, what a relief.

Kate Egan:

What a relief.

Charlotte Agell:

This inhabiting of other people's stories can be scary. It's a privilege, an affliction, and a dream come true.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The reason I came to know about this most recent book, Maria, was because my daughter Sophie, we were at the local bookstore, and we have our own local bookstore in Yarmouthon, Royal Ripper Books. It's Rainbow, sure. Yes. And so she came up to me and she said, I really think that we should get this book. And I looked down, I said, I know that authority. So it was this interesting, roundabout way of being introduced to something really important because Then of course, as soon as she was finished reading the book, I started reading the book myself. Which is exactly what happened with your book, Charlotte.

Charlotte Agell:

Oh, great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Sophie was done reading and I went back and read your book. And there is a funny thing that happens when you read about the way that adults come across to kids in books that are for kids, because you realize that that's absolutely true. And yet we've kind of forgotten this as we've aged.

Maria Padian:

We.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And I think the uncle in this book comes across as really having some very strong opinions about the Somalis and about immigration. And it was really, it kind of like stopped me for a minute to think that this is how kids might actually perceive adults.

Maria Padian:

It's interesting you bring up the uncle. I was at one of my son's tennis matches, which was being played in Lewiston, and I was heading out toward the tennis courts and all the buses were parked outside. And in the distance there were a group of Somali girls who were going into a building. And the bus driver caught sight of them. And I heard him very angrily speak to another bus driver. And he was expressing just his dismay with these folks in the community and saying things like, I've got a daughter who's been on a waiting list for housing and, and she can't get in. And these folks just show up and they get in. And there was just this pent up anger and frustration that he felt. And I thought this is all part of the mix here. And that doesn't necessarily make people good or bad or right or wrong. It's what's part of the mix. And what I hoped to do in the strike was to bring in a variety of characters who were expressing that point of view. And I hope I didn't demonize anybody or take anyone else and elevate them. I wanted to just throw them out there in as realistic way as possible to spark conversation, particularly among young people, because that's who the book is for.

Charlotte Agell:

It feels so authentic to me. I think probably I recommend a lot of books, being a teacher and a crazed reader. And I think seriously, out of nowhere, since it has come out, has been the one I really have been recommending most. Not just because you're a friend of mine, but because it is that. I think everyone in Maine should read it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We'll return to our program in a Moment on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. We've long understood the important link between health and wealth. Here to speak more on the subject is Tom Shepard of Shepherd Financial.

[Unidentified voice]:

I have a reoccurring dream in which I, a high school student, am sent off to an island to live out the evolution of our monetary system in a week's time. Unlike the Hunger Games or other post apocalyptic stories, this experience starts with a solo and ends by building an increasingly complex and integrated system of relationships. Day one gives me the experience of loneliness and the lack of support that must have existed at one time. I learned that I am completely devoid of the instincts needed to survive. Unlike a wild animal, I have no idea what to eat or where to sleep that is safe. I crave the end of day one and the opportunity to partner and share the experience of survival with at least one other person. As the week moves on, my dream becomes first pleasant and then tragically chaotic. Like the dream of trying to punch someone or run away, I find it difficult to do what I want or even to choose. By day, I live out the end of this dream and I hope that at least one person at a time, we're able to help dreamers punch hard and run fast. Money in all its forms is supposed to be the leverage we need to make life easier. If it doesn't feel that way, please send us an email to infoepherdfinancialmain.com securities

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We had an author on the show who said it's hard to have an author in the family. It's hard to have a writer in

Charlotte Agell:

the family because they're always leaping up from the dinner table saying, wait, I'll be right back, I just have to write this down.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, that or they're always observing things.

Charlotte Agell:

True.

Maria Padian:

I was gonna say it's difficult because they're really moody on the days when the writing goes bad. That's probably what my daughter would say. Or she'll come home and they'll know that the writing went well because it looks like someone came in and ransacked the house, the dishes are done and the dog isn't fed. They become obsessed by it.

Charlotte Agell:

Sometimes it is a funny occupation because it is one of those ones where if it is going well, you can sit down and then look up and it's hours later. It's sort of a grab you. And then of course it can go disaster. There can be days. And I do, even though I have this wonderful middle school teaching job, which I just do want to point out as a three day a week gig. I think if I were back to teaching full time, I would have a harder time being also a writer because teaching is an amazing profession and takes so much energy and this is not the time and place for it. But I'm so saddened by all the vilification of teachers, most of whom are incredibly hardworking people. But anyway, I feel like my policy is I write every day. I think the book dictates that even if it's just two minutes. And sometimes it goes well, but sometimes it goes disastrously awry. And you just have to be at peace with, I just spent three and a half hours straight writing. I call it compost. It's a more dignified way to say it because also something might come out of it, a little sentence or an idea, but it is a profession where you could feel sort of work, work, work and then just have had an utterly unproductive day.

Maria Padian:

Well, I think also too, that comes with time. And you've been doing this for a long time too, so you also understand that there's plenty of stuff you're going to write and it's going to end up on the editing room floor.

Charlotte Agell:

Oh, for sure.

Maria Padian:

Charlotte and I are. We've just formed a critique group and we met just last week and it was really amazing of how much of what I showed Charlotte last week is going to never show up anywhere else again. But having been through this process many times, you know, asked me when I was writing my first book if I was going to be able to do that and it would have been way harder. Now I understand. Wow, I'm going to lose a lot of stuff. But there's more, more that's going to come. It'll be okay. And I think that's part of the process too, is understanding there's a lot you need to write that no one else needs to or should ever read.

Charlotte Agell:

Right.

Maria Padian:

And that's part of the process.

Charlotte Agell:

I try to impart that to kids.

Maria Padian:

Kids.

Charlotte Agell:

There's so much good writing workshop stuff going on in schools and that writing essentially is rewriting not very often where you sit down and suddenly have an opus appear before you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

For parents who worry that maybe their kids don't read enough or that want to know what types of books their kids should be reading or just seem. They just want some tips. I mean, from a teacher and from two writers. What would you say to them?

Maria Padian:

I guess it depends on how old the kids are and where they are in their reading lives. Read out loud to them and get them books on tape. Oh, yes. If you're not finding that they're picking up books on their own, all that time you're spending in the car taking them to whatever sports activity or going the long vacation. Books on tape is a great way because they're enjoying a good. Hook them on a good story. Make them love or help them. Help them to learn to love a good story. Because I think that's just part of human nature, is to want to hear

Charlotte Agell:

a good story and hang out in libraries as much as possible when your kids are little, make them know that that's just a place that we go to. Remarkable thing called the public library.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And your children are older now. Both of your sets of children are older now.

Charlotte Agell:

My youngest is graduating from college in two days as a writer.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Very nice. So I was gonna say, how did that work out? This advice that you're giving on reading to parents who are listening, how did that work out?

Charlotte Agell:

It's funny because both my kids are very artistic and into reading and writing. But John actually wasn't a very big reader. The one who's graduating with a writing degree and all sorts of kind of writing awareness awards and beginnings of publications. Really one of the best writers I know, I have to say. But his main use for a book when he was about four or five was to see how far across the room he could throw it. But we did read a lot. I just remember reading a lot. And kids come to reading, I think, in their own way. My daughter just came downstairs one day. She wasn't even four. She was reading and she'd somehow decoded it. But John the younger had a harder time and kind of needed phonics and to be seven. But like what Maria said, we were always reading stories and telling stories in whatever context. And I hope that still continues. I think car rides are perfect for that. And I worry sometimes that we disappear so individually into our electronic devices that they're, you know, certainly they can deliver story too. But I like the idea of communal story ness. Even telling stories in a round in the car.

Maria Padian:

I would say that before my son's eyes had even begun to properly focus, I think I was holding chicka chicka boom boom in front of him. So that's what we've done as a family. It's just been a huge part of the bedtime routine. And then we all read, and so then we all spend a lot of time talking about what we're reading. I have a son who is probably not much of a writer, but he's an avid, avid reader. And he's at this point, he's very into theater and acting. So that's where he's found his stories and how he's going to express his creativity. My daughter is sort of a science person, but she's one of the best editors I've ever come across. And we talk about books all the time. So it was just, I think, part of the patter in the family. There's always books, stories, storytelling, even if it's just around the table. What did you do? And you tell it as a story. It was interesting.

Charlotte Agell:

Hosting dinner together, that's a good place to start.

Maria Padian:

Dinner together and telling stories. Not necessarily reporting, but, you know, just being narrative in your own way. I was chatting with a gal who teaches in Cape Elizabeth where they've, you know, the schools have got plenty of resources, plenty of books. And she was citing electronic distractions as a big problem, particularly for her boys that she's teaching. So I don't know, I think trying to limit electronic distractions and going back to the around the around the fire, telling the story might be a good

Kate Egan:

way to do it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Maria, how can people find out about your book, your latest book, out of Nowhere and also the other books that

Maria Padian:

you've written, they're in the libraries, they're on Amazon, they're in the local independent bricks and mortar bookstores. And out of Nowhere in particular is going to be part of the Portland community read that's going to be beginning this month. The whole I'm your neighbor read, which is a celebration of just diversity and immigrant culture and newcomers to Maine. So that's one way that they can find that book. And the other two, I know. Scholastic book fairs has been carrying Brett McCarthy work in progress so the kids could get it that way. And Jersey tomatoes are the best, which is partially set in Jersey. It's not a main book. That book, again, just bookstores and Amazon, and it's in the schools.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you have a website.

Maria Padian:

I have a website and I have a Facebook page. Maria Patey and Facebook. And I have a Twitter account. All the Social media things. You're everywhere.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, that's good. And Charlotte, how about you? How will people do that?

Charlotte Agell:

Well, I'd say a good central clearinghouse would just be to go to my website, which you will find if you just type in Charlotte a gale, it'll bring you there. And it's a conduit, I guess, a portal. I don't have a Twitter account or too many fancy bells and whistles, but you'll find everything you need to know, I hope there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I am privileged that you took the time out of your busy schedules and out of your writing lives, because I know that's very important if you're going to write, to keep writing.

Charlotte Agell:

You know what, it's amazing that you said that because I think some people may think that writing just happens, that it doesn't take time. I know. I think, I suspect. Well, I teach three days a week, but I suspect that my elderly neighbor thinks I, you know, can always drop everything and have tea and sometimes I can, but he sees me there so he assumes I'm not doing anything.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I know that both of you are taking time out of your writing lives and it's very, it's very impressive to me that you did this and that you came to talk to me and that you take the time to write for people like my daughter Sophie and my other children. And also, thank you for teaching, Charlotte.

Charlotte Agell:

Oh, my pleasure. I feel like I have the best gig in the world. It's a great combo. Those kids are wonderful. Thanks.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And all of my children have enjoyed their interactions with you.

Maria Padian:

Hi.

Charlotte Agell:

Shout out.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And so, as I said, I've been speaking with Charlotte Agel, author and illustrator, and Maria Padian, also an author. And. And I'm sure we'll have you back again sometime to talk more about your future works.

Charlotte Agell:

Thanks, Lisa.

Maria Padian:

Thank you very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast hope that our listeners enjoy their own work lives to the same extent we do and fully embrace every day. As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marcy Booth from Booth Main to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marcy.

[Unidentified voice]:

Have you ever been to the gym and noticed that one person seems to be there all the time? They're dedicated, sweating, face beat red, yet their body never seems to change. They never seem to reach that goal and they still have that extra 10 to 20 pounds they just can't quite shed. Why is it Einstein's ever popular quote, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results rings true. If you always beat yourself up on the treadmill and haven't lost the weight, maybe you need to switch it up. It's no different with your life or in your business. If you are continually frustrated with either one, make some changes happen now. Stop talking about it and just do it. Nothing will change unless you do. I'm Marcie Booth. Let's talk about the changes you need. Boothmain.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Kate Egan is a transplant to our great state of Maine and I believe grateful transplant. She spent many years working in New York and has been in Brunswick for how long now?

Kate Egan:

Kate It'll be 10 years in May.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

10 years in May. Kate has been in children's publishing for almost 20 years, both as an editor and an author. She's edited fiction and nonfiction, paperback and hardcover for kids from preschool through high school. Some of the authors she's worked for include Tamora Pierce, Suzanne Collins, and Maine's own Cynthia Lord. Kate's first original picture book, Kate and Nate Are Running Late, was published by Macmillan last fall. Thanks for coming in and being with us today Kate.

Kate Egan:

Thanks for having me. Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm really interested in the Kate and Nate Are Running Late book because I understand it's a book about your own personal experience.

Kate Egan:

It is a book about every parent's personal experience. It's a book about the difficulty of getting a family out the door for school in the morning morning. And it begins with Nate, the five year old son, going into his mother's room and shaking her awake and saying, we gotta get up, we're running late. And from there the story just tumbles forward. It includes everything that I think every family understands. Get get your breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth, find your backpack, find your homework. And of course, things take a turn for the worse when things get left behind. And there's one point where Kate, the mother, says, there's been a change in plans. We need to drive. We need to drive instead of walk. They get into the car and they squeal down the streets. They barely make it to school. And when they get there, a surprise awaits them.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we'll let people pick up your book at a local bookstore and find out what that surprise is.

Kate Egan:

I'll just leave it a mystery.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Good. Kate, you came to Maine for family reasons. Your husband now works in Augusta. But there must have been something about Maine that brought you here that sort of drew you to the state as an author and an editor, you're somebody who pays attention to things. What was it about Maine?

Kate Egan:

Well, when my husband graduated from law school, we made a quick weekend trip to Maine. We were only here, I want to say, for three nights. We were supposed to stay longer. He had some schoolwork he had to finish, and I crashed our rental car. So we were not able to stay in Maine as long as we liked. And when we went back to New York, I found myself thinking about Maine a lot and thinking, oh, we can't forget. We need to go back there. That was a really special place. We never quite managed it. We stayed in New York. We took other vacations. We never went back to Maine, But I know it was always in the back of my mind. So when my husband kind of randomly interviewed for a job up here, I know that we were both hoping that it would be of interest to him and a possibility for us. So we were just extremely fortunate that it worked out. So I'm not sure what drew me to Maine then on that first visit was it just seemed so peaceful compared to our frantic life. And New York, of course, when we moved here, you know, we had a normal life. We were frantic about getting kids to school and that kind of thing. But I do think that we've been able to slow down here and find focus in a way that we couldn't in New York. I know myself, I'm easily distracted. I found it hard in New York, York to really, like, focus in on things that I really wanted to do that were important to me. And in Maine, somehow I've been able to do that with fewer distractions around.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And how old are your children now, Kate?

Kate Egan:

I have. My daughter is 10, almost 11, and my son is 6, almost 7. They're both about to have their birthdays.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So neither one of them have ever lived anywhere but Maine?

Kate Egan:

No, they love to travel and we have no family connection in Maine. We have no relatives here. So we actually travel all the time visiting our families elsewhere. And they really are eager to see the world and they love to go to other places. I think that what they don't realize that they have that's special is a really firm connection to a place that's home. I feel we've been able to give them that in Maine. I don't think they'll appreciate that till later. But I think that part of what makes traveling so appealing to them is that they know they have a solid place to come back to.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And not only do you live in Maine, but you live in Brunswick, which seems to be quite a hotspot for people who live, love to write and love to read. There are many authors, including Jed Coffin, who we've interviewed on the show here before, and Charlotte Gall, who has been profiled in Maine Magazine. Elizabeth Strout. There's so many authors that have a Brunswick connection. Why do you think that is?

Kate Egan:

I'm not 100% sure. I will say that I feel Brunswick has everything a creative person needs. It has beautiful natural surroundings as well as a thriving center. It's the kind of place where you can walk to where you want to go. I feel that that kind of community is conducive to thinking and letting your imagination roam it. Also, you know, we have a wonderful bookstore and we have a wonderful coffee shop. And just to me as a writer, everything I could possibly want is in Brunswick. We have a college, so there are ways to sort of feed yourself intellectually. There's just a great mix of people in Brunswick, too. I really. We stumbled into Brunswick. We had never been to Brunswick before we moved there. And it's just everything that we could dream of. We love it there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It is interesting because one of the first times that I heard your name was through Susan Grisonti, who is the editor here at Maine Magazine, Maine Home Design. And she had found you on a 48 hours in Brunswick trip at a coffee shop. And she said, you won't believe this. Here's this rock star, Kate Egan, who is the editor of the Hunger Games, sitting in a coffee shop and in Brunswick, Maine. And she is so personable and she is so charming and so low key, you wouldn't even believe it. And it's the kind of thing I think that we in Maine don't even realize how fortunate we are to have because we've never had it any other way.

Kate Egan:

I think that's true. And when, of course, I'm Constantly meeting amazing people in Maine. And I feel that very accomplished people I meet here, and there are so many of them are not necessarily trying to impress you with their accomplishments. They're just quietly accomplishing great things. And I don't know really why that is. I'm not sure if it's a New England culture or Maine itself. I'm not a native New Englander, so I don't know entirely. But what I do know is I like living among people who are not trying to impress others. I just like that people are able to do what they do and do it well. And we don't have a. I don't think we have a culture here of bragging. And so I like that about Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been an editor for Maine, many very well known children's authors, and you've edited the Hunger Games, which of course became very popular. This is something that not every person who loves reading and loves writing thinks about as a job. Was there something about your childhood or your formative years that caused you to go in this direction? Because you're still writing, but you're writing with another person, you're helping their voice kind of shine through?

Kate Egan:

Yeah, well, I didn't know it was a job either when I was growing up. But I do come from a family of huge readers. And I would say probably in my family, I read the least, my father in particular. When we were kids and we would go on vacation, we would go to the. I grew up in New Jersey. We would go to the Jersey shore for a couple of weeks in the summer. And my father hated the beach. He never even went to the ocean. He would go on his so called vacation with a stack of books that was two feet tall. And I'm not exaggerating, and that's what he would do for the entire two weeks, is he would just read his books. My sister also works in publishing. She also loves to read. And our grandmother, I remember when I was very young, I would go visit my grandmother and she would say, well, what are you reading? And sometimes I would say things that she did not approve of, but she would always say to me, oh, she was also very curious about my friends. And she would say, it's important when you grow up to have friends who like to read. It's important to be able to talk about books with your friends. So those were just messages I filed away. And it took me a while to find my way into publishing. I went to graduate school and then I taught English at a high school for a couple of years. But I knew that publishing was out there eventually. I had a friend who did an internship at a publishing company one summer. She didn't stick with it, but I thought, oh, that's something I could do. So anyway, through a series of adventures I made my way into publishing. And as soon as I discovered it, I knew that it was sort of the perfect match for me. I love I write my own books now, but at the time I did when I started working in publishing, I did not write. I really liked the kind of behind the scenes nature of publishing. I wasn't really seeking the spotlight and I liked helping somebody else find their

Charlotte Agell:

way

Kate Egan:

narratively and then sometimes those authors would find their way into the spotlight. And I liked watching from the wings.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The goal of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour is to help make connections between the health of the individual and the health of the community. The goal of Ted Carter Inspired Landscapes is to deepen our appreciation for the natural world. Here to speak with us today is Ted Carter.

[Unidentified voice]:

I've been self employed my entire life, from the time I was a young teenager. I started in the landscaping business and never stopped. As I've gotten older, I thought, well, you know, as I get older, maybe things will get easier and maybe I won't have to work quite as hard. Well, I find myself working even harder. The human spirit is a fascinating thing. I think that the universe gives us just enough that we can bear and just sort of throws it out there and says, okay, so how is my spirit going to handle this in a mature fashion or an immature fashion? What works for me, what doesn't work for me anymore? I always bring things back to nature. My work in landscape design and contracting is a pretty arduous work. It's not a get rich quick type of a thing. It's a long, slow build. And I think that if anything, it's taught me to be patient, to work hard, to be proud of what I do and really watch how others interact and engage with the landscape. I'm Ted Carter and if you'd like to contact me I can be reached@tedcarterdesign.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

and podcast, we believe we are helping to build a better world with the help of many. We like to bring to you people who who are examples of those building a better world in the areas of wellness, health and fitness. To talk to you today about one of these fitness is Jim Greaterix, the president of Premier Sports Health, a division of Black Bear Medical. Here's Jim.

[Unidentified voice]:

Do your feet ache at the end of a busy day? Do you spend a lot of your time on your feet? If so, you should come and check out our complete line of shoe insoles at Black Bear Medical's Premiere Premier Sports Health division. We will measure your foot pressure and put you into a comfortable great pair of insoles from the leading company Atrex at a great price, whether it's for your work shoes, your dress shoes or athletic footwear. Come on down to our Marginal Way showroom in Portland and get fitted for your new insoles today. I'm Jim Greatorex, president of of Black Bear Medical. Come on in and see our trained staff down at 275 Marginal Way and at www.blackbearmedical.com.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This idea of writing and writing a book always seems like a very solitary pursuit, but what you're describing is very much collaborative.

Maria Padian:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Especially when you're talking about the traditional publishing industry. Does that ever create challenges for people who think of themselves as. I am the author of this book, this is my baby almost.

Kate Egan:

I have to say, I've never had a bad experience. I definitely have had authors say, I don't see it that way. I don't want to answer your question. Thank you. I like your suggestions for my book, but I don't want to go there. And ultimately it is the author's book. You know, I work for a publisher or I work for many publishers because I'm freelance. And so, you know, it's within their rights to say, well, we don't, we don't want to publish this book if you can't make it satisfactory to us. But that has never happened in my experience. I mean, publishers, if an author has come to the point where his or her book is signed up by the publisher, that means the publisher already has great respect and interest in the book and obviously they want the book to meet their needs. But, but authors have a fair amount of freedom to do what they like and they do not have to do every single thing that an editor suggests. So I think that part of being an editor is being diplomatic and helping know when to push and know when to hold back. It's definitely something I've learned early and very early in my career. I worked with an author I had loved as a child. Her name was Paula Danziger. She sadly died young about 10 years ago. But I worked on a book with her and I agonized over notes for her and she got them and she didn't do anything and it was humbling for me. But ultimately I think I really learned from her. You know, it she knew what she wanted to do in the book and it was not what I had imagined. And her book had an integrity of its own and she published it as it was.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What about the notion of self publishing and the quality of the book that can emerge from that? I've read some books that I really wanted to like and I know they were self published and it wasn't because they were self published. Often I would read the book and then afterwards would notice it was self published. Do you think that something sometimes is lost when there isn't this collaborative process when you're creating a book?

Kate Egan:

I think that every writer can benefit from an editor and I think that, I mean I've worked with, you know, people who are first time authors and I've worked with people who are very well known and you know, I've worked with my own kids on their writing. I feel everybody can benefit from another reading. I feel that, you know, a professional editor, as a more experienced will give, I don't want to say more experienced reader, but certainly will give a certain kind of feedback that I think can be helpful to any writer. But not everybody can be. Not every aspiring writer is able to be connected with a publisher or a professional editor. And so if those writers are exploring self publishing as an option and can find someone else to read their work, I think that accomplishes many of the same goals. I've read self published books that are really great and I thought, I don't understand why this book isn't published by a young, know, a capital P publisher. And then I've read other self published books that, you know, just feel like they're very meaningful to the author but don't always bridge the gap to a reader. The truth is I don't know a whole lot about self publishing because I work for publishers. But I do know that publishers are very interested in what's happening in the world of self publishing just because that world has exploded and there are so many more options out there for writers than just publishing through traditional channels.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been describing this need to not only read an author's words, but also read the author, him or herself, and know how to respond in a way that you can really achieve the outcome of a whole book that someone will someday want to read. Do you think that this attitude and this sort of. Sort of compassionate embracing of somebody who's trying to do something very personal, this creation of a book, do you think this is something that your children are seeing from you, you're passing down to your own kids?

Kate Egan:

I hope so. I'm not sure. Well, what I do know, I can pass down to my kids. My son is too young for this yet, but I have a daughter who's in fifth grade.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And

Kate Egan:

you probably know what it's like to walk a fifth grader through an assignment. They do it one time and then they think they're done. And I do think that I can model, uniquely, a real understanding of how a piece of writing is not done the first time that you write it. And so my daughter might not want to make edits. And then I mention lots of famous authors, and I say, well, those people had to edit their books. It's so strange that you would not want to go back and look at this again. So I do think. I know that when I was a kid and I thought about people who were writers, I thought of it as a very mysterious, almost magical thing that. And I truly imagined that a writer would just sit down and, you know, sort of a rickety old typewriter, and produce this novel and be done. And I see the messy side of writing now. And I mean, that's just a myth. No writer writes like that. And I think it's instructive for. For me as a writer and also for. As a mother to. I don't. Just to show what a complicated process writing can be. And there's no shame in going back and going back and revising and changing. And that's what the best writers do. So I do try to talk to my own kids about that. I think that probably they have a different understanding of the writing process than other kids have. And they certainly have an idea. You know, I'll get manuscripts that, you know, my house is just everywhere they go, every flat surface, they'll see someone's book sitting there in some stage of the process. And for them, writing is not mysterious at all. It's a very tangible thing. Our cats walk all over the manuscripts. You know, they just have a different understanding.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think about people who write often as being highly intelligent, and not always, but often highly intelligent people think A lot about things and have a very specific idea about how they want things to sound or look. In fact, oftentimes can be somewhat perfectionistic in their approaches. What you're describing is kind of the opposite of that, is this willingness to be imperfect, this willingness to embrace the messiness and to sort of work through it.

Kate Egan:

I think that writing is a really brave act. When I sit down to write something, I've written a lot, but every time I sit down to write something, I think, well, all those other things that I was able to do it then, but I will definitely not be able to do it this time. And so there's that. There's getting past the blank screen, and then there's also the fear, once you have written something, of sharing it with somebody else. Everything I've written is pretty short. Every time I get, you know, a four or five hundred page manuscript from an author, I think, how incredibly brave to do that. I don't really know a lot of writers who are perfectionistic. I have to say, I think that you have to. It's a leap of faith, you know, to start writing words on paper. After you get past the first sentence, you realize, well, I just have to put it out there and then I'll go back and fix it. So in the end, of course, everyone wants their writing to be perfect. But I think that any writer knows that if you're perfectionistic from the beginning, you will never get past that first sentence. So I think the perfect is the enemy of the good when it comes to writing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Kate, how can people find out about your first book?

Kate Egan:

Well, that's a good question. I am working on developing a website, but I don't have one now. I know that it's in a lot of libraries. It's in local bookstores here in Maine and elsewhere. It can be ordered online through Amazon, of course, but also independent booksellers that sell online. And this is where making the transition from editor to writer is a little bit strange, because when you're an editor, you're very behind the scenes. So I'm still working on creating a more public presence, but I have other books coming out, so I know that I will be forced to develop that public presence in a better way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I think you're doing a great job.

Kate Egan:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're very authentic. And I know that people who rush out to the local bookstore and buy Kate and Nate or Running Late will enjoy that. And I know that many, many people have already enjoyed the work you've done editing the Hunger Games. So I'M appreciative of the fact that you've spent time here talking with me today about the writing and editing process and living here in Maine.

Kate Egan:

Thanks for having me, Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast, podcast show number 102, kid literature. Our guests have included Charlotte Aguel, Maria Padian, and Kate Egan. For more information on our guests and extended versions of our interviews, visit drlisabelisle.com the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is downloadable for free on itunes. For a preview of each week's show, sign up for our E. Newsletter and like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page. You can also follow me on Twitter and Pinterest and read my take on health and well being on The Bountiful Blog bountifulpath.com We'd love to hear from you. So please let us know what you think of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour to you each week. THE this is Dr. Lisa Belisle hoping that you have enjoyed our Kid Literature show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

[Unidentified voice]:

Org.