Interview with Ann Haywood Leal

www.annhaywoodleal.com

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I can’t remember a time when I haven’t written stories. I was a real tattle-tale with my brothers, growing up. But I didn’t always tell on them out loud; I’d write long, tattling notes and leave them for my parents! Then when I got in trouble for something, I’d write extensive (not always heartfelt!) apology notes. My mom saved a lot of them, and they are really funny to look at now! The actual stories started when I was about six. I got a little red stapler for Christmas, and I used to staple books together for my stories. Sometimes my brother (who is now a graphic designer) would illustrate them for me. When I was in sixth grade, I wrote my first 100 page novel. It was written mostly on colored notebook paper. I was so proud of it. I told all my friends I was going to have it published!

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

Needless to say, I didn’t get that sixth grade novel published, which is a good thing for any readers out there! But I did keep writing. It’s also a very good thing that no one published my first manuscripts because they definitely weren’t ready. I got a ton of rejections at first, until I learned how to really revise. Then I started getting letters from editors that weren’t the usual type of form rejection. I knew (hoped!) I was getting close, because the letters were encouraging, and some people asked to see other my other work.

I think things really started to change for me a couple of years ago. I had written a first draft of ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER, and I knew that no matter what happened with it, I loved to write so much, I was never going to stop, even if I never got published. It was right about then that I ran across an interview with Dan Lazar, an agent at Writers House. I loved his honesty and his candor and I sent him HARPER. I was absolutely thrilled when he offered to represent me. Shortly after that, he sold my book to Reka Simonsen at Henry Holt. They are definitely a dream agent and editor.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

Harper Lee Morgan is an aspiring poet, named after her mama’s favorite writer, Harper Lee. When Daddy walks out, leaving them broke and eventually evicted from their home, life gives her a lot to write about.

With Mama scrambling to find work, Harper has to skip school to care for her little brother, Hemingway. Their lives have been turned upside down, which Harper could just about handle—if it wasn’t for the writing contest at school. Harper wants desperately to get back to school and read her poems out loud.

The story is about a real life situation; Harper brings hope to the stark reality of homelessness.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

I have volunteered at my local soup kitchen for the last four years. Harper is a fictitious character, but some of who she is came from how I felt when I saw the faces of the children who stand in line with their families.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

My family is really excited. They are a great PR group! My daughter, Holly, is in eighth grade. We just got our second degree black belts together! My daughter, Jessica, is an artist and lives in New York. I think my biggest thrill was seeing ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER in their hands! My husband, Andy, is an engineer and is mainly a non-fiction reader, so it has been really fun to see him talk up my book to his friends. My dad is flying out from Seattle in a few days for my book launch. I am going to wrap up a copy of the book for his 76th birthday; he has no idea that I dedicated the book to him.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

That’s easy—chocolate with chocolate covered chocolate!

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

I am originally from Seattle, so I immediately get some espresso flowing through my veins, I grab my computer, and I read and revise what I wrote the day before.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

I still have all my old Barbies.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Definitely purple, because it has character.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

The Charlie Brown character, Pigpen, because he is what he is and he doesn’t care what any one else thinks of him!

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I guess maybe Roadrunner, because I’m always on the go.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I’d love to go back to the thirties and talk to my grandma as a young woman. She was an amazing person, and I think I only started to appreciate that well after she died. She had such strength. The local small-town sheriff used to deputize her so she could take home the town vagrants from the jail and feed them a holiday dinner. She also taught school in North Dakota in a one-room schoolhouse. She had to spend the night there in the winter, to keep the coals going. Two of her children died of whooping cough before the age of four, but she had to wait out the winter to bury them, because the ground was frozen. I would love to go back and ask her how she kept going through all of this with such hope and such an incredible attitude toward life.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I listen to a little bit of everything, but jazz is my absolute favorite. My dad has one of the most extensive music collections of anyone I know, and he always had something wonderful on the stereo as I was growing up. He played the saxophone and his parents had a vaudeville act in the twenties called “Haywood’s Hawaiian Players”.

I love Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, and David Sanborn. I also like Indie Rock and more current artists like The Killers and Maroon 5.

I don’t usually listen to music when I write, because I end up losing my writing groove and paying more attention to the music!

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

I love Gray’s Anatomy and American Idol! Some of my favorite movies are Napoleon Dynamite, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bull Durham, and Almost Famous. I always have good intentions of going to the movies, but by the time I get around to it, they are out on video! I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Ghost Town with Greg Kinnear.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

If you have something you love, never give up on it. Also, look for the hope and humor in all situations.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I just sent my editor the revisions for my second book, which is due out in 2010, also with Henry Holt. It is about two sisters who are dealing with a situation and a mother who I hope will bring out many conflicting emotions in the reader!

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!

Thank you so much! I have enjoyed every minute of it!