Rachelle Burk writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for children which has appeared in national magazines such as Highlights, Scholastic Scope, and Pockets. She visits schools and libraries as an author and storyteller. She is also a popular children's entertainer, performing as Tickles the Clown and other characters for parties, schools, and other events.
To other children's writers, she offers critique and editing services. In a parallel universe, Rachelle is a licensed clinical social worker, specializing in crisis intervention, and a member of the East Brunswick Rescue Squad.
Welcome to Suite101, Rachelle. Tell us a little about how you started writing.
I grew up loving to write poems and stories. Like so many writers, I began writing for children after I had my own kids. After making up stories at bedtime, I started putting them on paper. Looking back, those original ones were quite awful, but my enthusiasm did send me searching for a critique group (thank you, SCBWI!) and my writing improved over the years. My first publication was a children’s poem in a lovely online magazine called Dragonfly Spirit, followed by magazines such as Highlights, Scholastic Scope, and Pockets. Finally I landed a book contract with a small independent publisher.
Your children's book, Tree House in a Storm, was just released by Stemmer House. I understand the story is based on a real experience you had as a child growing up in New Orleans. Would you tell us about it?
People often assume that I wrote the story in response to Hurricane Katrina, but in fact I had completed the manuscript about a year prior. My inspiration actually was the vivid memory of personal loss in the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy in 1965. My big brother had single-handedly built a play house in our side yard. He was only 7, so you can imagine what it looked like (you can see the photo history my web page. Still, it was his pride and joy, and as a 6-year-old-girl, it was my dream house. Then Hurricane Betsy barreled through our city and destroyed it. I remember my brother crying over this loss, which released my own flood of tears as well.
What do you hope your book will teach young readers?
Tree House in a Storm is about loss, grief, and hope after a disaster. Although the event in the story was a hurricane, it could have as easily been a flood, or a house fire, or any such event that shakes up one’s life. During Hurricane Betsy, I was too young to understand the enormity of the disaster, but in my world, and that of my brother, our loss was important to us.
I want to teach young readers that each person’s loss is significant to him or her; it needs to be acknowledged and it’s okay to grieve. It’s also important to look to the future for hope and renewal, and to recognize and be grateful for what we have. Because these universal themes could serve as effective discussion tools in the classroom, I developed a teacher’s guide and several activities related to the book. These are available as free downloads on my website: Rachelleburk.com.
Would you tell us a bit about your publisher and how the publishing process was for you?
Like many others, I had dreamed of landing a contract with a big publishing house. I had a lot of rejections by the Big Guys before signing with a small, independent publisher. Stemmer House has been around for over 35 years, and they have been wonderful to work with. When I asked if we might partner with disaster relief organizations and donate a portion of the proceeds, my publisher readily agreed. Now my book will benefit Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, and the Red Cross of New Jersey. Another benefit to my small publisher is that they encouraged my illustrator and me to communicate. I understand that this is relatively unheard of with large publishers.
The artwork in the book is beautiful and has a traditional feeling to it. How was your experience working with the illustrator? Who decided on the style?
The publisher chose the illustrator, and although I had initially imagined a different style, I am very happy with the results. I think he did a wonderful job capturing the spirit of New Orleans in the 1960's. Although I was careful not to interfere with Rex’s vision, we did have a degree of collaboration. For instance, I contacted the Corps of Engineers archive department in New Orleans and was able to get a number of photos of the city after Hurricane Betsy, as well as the interior of the shelters. This enabled Rex to create realistic scenes of these events from 1965. He consulted old Sears’s catalogs and newspaper ads, so that the clothing, furniture, and cars from that era were accurate. Rex and I discovered that we have a mutual love of frogs, and as a little inside joke, he hid frogs in nearly every illustration. I hope readers have fun trying to find them!
Anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
I owe so much of my writing success to my awesome critique partners, and I love every one of them. I encourage anyone who is serious about writing to join a critique group. Mayra, thank you very much for this interview, and for your delightful blog!
Thanks for the interview, Rachelle!
Mayra Calvani - Multi-genre author and reviewer Mayra Calvani has penned 10 books for children and adults. She's a regular contributor to Blogcritics ...
