Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Who put together this pathetic excuse for a website?

A. My son, the webmaster.  And he says that if he wanted to, he could probably learn how to program useless flashy-glowy icons and give you seizures, but he decided to put together a site that is "navigatable."  That's his word, which I'm transcribing verbatim.  The real word is "navigable."

Q: When did you start writing children's books?
A: I wrote my first manuscript in 1989 when my daughter was 8 months old.  It was a picture-book called Whose Face is This?  I illustrated it and made a bound mock-up of it.  I was supposed to be writing my dissertation and studying for exams, but soon I was secretly writing and illustrating lots of picture books, because it was more fun.  I felt guilty that I wasn't doing my schoolwork.  Over time, the picture-book manuscripts got longer and my ideas got more complicated, so I started writing a novel and I stopped illustrating. Finally I had to force myself to put it all away for six months to finish my dissertation. When I graduated I told my husband I didn't want to go on the job market and have a real (read: paying) job, I wanted to try to write children's books instead.  I still can't believe he said "Fine, honey."  He's the best.

Q: Where did you get the idea for Overboard?
A: I saw a news segment about people who had survived a ferry accident off the coast of Indonesia.  Over the next several weeks I couldn't get it out of my mind.  I wondered what I would have done in that situation; I wondered if I would have survived.  I started reading up on ferries, and I discovered that in many parts of the world ferry travel is a daily part of life, and that in most countries it's poorly regulated.  Accidents are common, often due to overloading and disrepair as in Overboard.  I knew I wanted to write about a teenage girl who is in a ferry accident, but I had to figure out what her real story was.  I decided that she was feeling out of place in a foreign country, she was homesick, and she wouldn't open herself to the people around her.  I wanted her to find friendship in an unexpected person and place.

Q: How long did it take you to write Overboard?
A: It took me only about two months to write the first draft, but it was hardly a book at all.  As my writing friend Franny Billingsley said, "You’ve got a great adventure here, but no story."  It took two more years for me to make it a manuscript with character change, which is the essence of a good story.

Q: Have you lived in Indonesia?  Do you speak Bahasa Indonesia?
A: I've never been to Indonesia.  I had to research all the foreign details in books, photographs, and videos, and I consulted with a professor named Mark Woodward, who had lived there for many years.  He also checked the accuracy of the sections that deal with Islam, because that's his academic area of expertise.  I used a tourist phrasebook to find the Indonesian words, and I looked up the transliterations of the Koran on the Internet.  So much for writing what you know.  But I did feel qualified to write about swimming, because I was on my high school swim team and I had lifeguard training.  I also know what it feels like to be a stranger in a different country; when I was ten years old my family and I lived in Brussels, Belgium for eighteen months.

Q: What happens to Emily and Isman after the book ends?
A: At the end of the book I felt I had told Emily's story completely.  Her character has changed as a result of her experience in the water, and there is a subdued joy in that change.  Some readers have written letters and e-mails to tell me their imagined endings of the book, and those are fun to read.  The head editor at Cricket (Marc Aronson) wanted me to write an epilogue for him, which I did, and then we agreed not to use it.  I have a strong feeling about what happens after the book ends, but there was no way to tell it in a short space without verging on melodrama.  Even more than that, I wanted the reader to close the book in the same frame of mind as Emily, who is concentrating on the moment and making do with what she has got, not trying to anticipate or solve the next problem.  Emily has spent so much of her mental energy in Banda Aceh trying to leave, I like the fact that for once she's at peace with the present.  To me it felt like an emotionally restful moment to stop.

Q: Will you write a sequel to Overboard?
A: Alas, no.  My interests wander so much that I already have a couple of other book ideas waiting to be fleshed out.  And sequels make me nervous: it would be difficult to find a plot for Emily that's as powerful as the first story.  I believe a sequel should be strong enough to stand on its own as a book.  As my webmaster says, "The choices are Emily Lost in the Tundra or Emily Stranded in the Desert."

Q: Who thought of the title?
A: The editorial staff at Cricket Books.  They thought that my first title, Emily, Unsinkable, sounded too much like The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  For a long while the working title was A Ferry to Weh, but then they discovered during a conference call with an out-of-town editor that she thought they were saying, A Fairy to Weigh.  That cracked me up so much I drew this cartoon:

After that, my preferred title was Swimming to Isman, to convey the notion that Emily was growing and changing and reaching out to Isman, but it didn't have enough oomph for the marketing department.  In retrospect I agree that the title Overboard has more impact and is easier to remember.

Q: How do you pronounce "Isman?"
A: I pronounce it "EES-mahn."

Q: Why does Emily call her parents by their first names?
A: Emily's parents are clinical in their approach to life, including parenting.  They are clearly intellectuals, a fact that has both helped and hurt Emily.  She has been forced to develop a too-early independence as a result of being the only child of working parents, not having roots, and basically homeschooling herself.  On the positive side, she has had access to swimming lessons, ski trips, and world travel, and she can fend for herself quite well in a pinch.  I imagine that Emily's mother once said, "Olivia is my name, and mom is my function. Please call me by my name."

Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm working on two novels at once.  The one I'm about to finish is a teen love story that I describe as a reverse Pride and Prejudice.  The characters start out happily in love and gradually grow apart.  The other manuscript is a bigger project: it follows multiple generations of young women in one Italian-American family.  It's The Godfather, only kinder and gentler...and about women, and dealing with food instead of power, and covering four generations, not two.  OK, it's totally different, except that it's based on an Italian-American family.

Q: Who made the cover for Overboard?
A: In truth, this is only an OAQ (occasionally asked question), but I'm dying to tell you that it was my daughter, and she was only twelve years old at the time.  Isn't that amazing?  She took a picture of our friend in a hot tub during the day, and photoshopped it to look like the ocean at night.  She also changed the model's eyes from brown to green.

Q: What's your favorite children's book?
A: I wish I had a pat answer, but instead I put together an eclectic list of ten great books, and a brief reason each one sings to me:

1) Charlotte's Web -- flawed and oh, so perfect at the same time.  The Japanese would say it’s Wabi-Sabi.

2) The Wolves of Willoughby Chase -- as far as transporting you to another world (an old, British one) goes, this one is tops.  I could smell, feel, and see the woods and hills as if I was there, and my heart pounded at the sound of the wolves.

3) The Snowy Day -- has there ever been a more seamless marriage of words and illustrations?  Children who have never seen snow would know its essence from this book.

4) Holes -- three story lines, three time periods, beautifully intertwined.

5) The Golden Compass -- I actually brought this to my brother's wedding reception and had to force myself to leave it in the car.  Mrs. Coulter = best villain ever.  Golden monkey = best daemon ever.

6) Fantastic Mr. Fox -- it's nearly impossible to find an easy chapter book like this that appeals to the hip and sophisticated early reader.  Someday I want to write one.

7) Island of the Blue Dolphins -- Karana has an absolutely fully-formed internal character.

8) Coraline -- dark and creepy in a delicious, old-fashioned way.  Only a graphic novelist would dare.

9) A Year Down Yonder -- a gorgeously crafted time period and setting.

10) Because of Winn-Dixie -- sweet and simple, but with rich character growth.

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