This blog tour began in Australia and has now gone international.
Thank you,
Linda Shute, for tagging me!
1) What is the working title of your next book?
The Eye of the Whale - A Rescue Story
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
In early 2006, my uncle emailed me from California about an amazing whale rescue off the coast of San Francisco. A humpback whale had been tangled in hundreds of yards of crab-trap lines and was struggling to stay at the surface to breathe. Four divers risked their lives to rescue the enormous animal and what followed was a rare display of animal behavior. The whale swam in joyous circles and then swam to each diver, nudged them and looked at them. The article gave me goose bumps. I wanted to capture and impart that feeling in a picture book.
3) In what genre does your book fall?
It is a non-fiction picture book.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
For the Captain, I would cast George Clooney. For James, the main diver, I might pick Keanu Reeves. For Kathi Koontz, the crew member from the Marine Mammal Center, I’d like Helen Hunt.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When an entangled humpback whale is freed by four divers, her remarkable behavior toward them reflects a profound connection.
6) Who is publishing your book?
Tilbury House Publishers
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
About a year. There were so many facts, descriptions and details from my interviews and research that it was a challenge to figure out how to structure the book, what point of view and what tense, how to pare it down. Revisions of the sketches and text took several years. 1000 words became 388 words. “Showing” (in the illustrations) won out over “telling” (as it always does).
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
There are other picture books about animals that have touched my heart:
Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again, by Craig Hatkoff, Juliana Hatcoff, and Isabella Hatcoff
Owen and Mzee: The True Story of A Remarkable Friendship, by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatcoff, Paula Kahumu and Peter Greste
Stay - The True Story of Ten Dogs, by Michaela Munteen, KC Bailey and Steve Kazmierski
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Until I read the email about this event, I had no idea that new evidence suggests that some of the larger whales may have the ability to experience emotions. All four divers felt that the whale was thanking them and this amazed and excited me.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
One of the biggest challenges of creating the illustrations for this book was to portray how the whale looked, tangled in crab trap lines under the water. Photos of the event were all from above the surface. Diver James Moskito was kind enough to make a small clay model of the whale for me (above) showing how the humpback looked. As he wrapped embroidery thread around the small clay whale, I began to understand how badly she had been tangled and how I would depict her in my illustrations.
The Next Big Thing - Blog Tour continues on Thursday, April 11,
with the following authors:
