One of the best things about writing has been the friendships that I have made along my journey. Several years ago, I met Cindy through a SCBWI critique group. She is amazing! I really admire and respect her writing, and deeply value her thoughts and comments on my developing manuscripts. I invited her to stop in for an interview. I think you will LOVE her thoughtful answers to my questions.
1. Cindy, thanks for joining us! My first question is about ideas. As a non-fiction picture book writer, where do you get your ideas and inspiration?
So many places! Ideas really are everywhere. Often, I get ideas from what I’m reading. One of my current works-in-progress stemmed from a single sentence in an article in Smithsonian magazine. It mentioned a woman from Indiana whom I’d never heard of before. My curiosity led me to investigate, and I was excited about what I discovered, so I’m writing about it! Another picture book idea came from a speech given by a NASA administrator who was visiting my college. She mentioned a woman with a fascinating past whom I decided to write about. Other times, I draw inspiration from what I see in the natural world. I love to take walks without my phone or any other device and simply watch all the activity humming around me—the trees, wind, clouds, and animals. Probably the other main source of ideas for me is my memory. I like to remember what I was fascinated by as a child and build on that.
2. Very interesting! Also, do you have any tips on research? How do you keep your research organized?
I’ve noticed that most nonfiction writers love research. So, one of my tips involves something I continue to work on—which is knowing when to stop doing research and start writing. Until the book is done, the research never truly ends. But I reach a point when I realize I have enough facts and historical context, as well as an emerging sense of theme and voice, to envision or “feel” what I want the book to be. At that point, it’s time to write!
I keep my research organized in computer files and paper files. There are often dozens of sources for each project’s bibliography (including books, articles, interviews, videos, etc.). I keep track of them using tools like EasyBib. As I read for research, I take notes, sometimes on paper and sometimes on my computer. When I read sources online, I print out the most important pages. I file the notes and pages by topic—I have multiple file boxes per book sometimes!
For most projects, I footnote my early drafts as I go so that I know the source of each statement or quotation. I omit the footnotes as I edit and revise, but I can always go back to a saved version of that early draft if I need to check a source.
3. Sounds like a good system to try! Also, I’m curious, was your recent book STEAM Jobs in Cypersecurity a work-for-hire project? How did you discover this opportunity? What did you enjoy about this type of project?
STEAM Jobs in Cybersecurity was a work-for-hire project. I’m in a few online writers groups, and one day last summer I saw a well-known author post that she had met an editor at a conference who wanted to expand her pool of authors for nonfiction books. I submitted a cover letter, resume, and writing samples to that editor right away. A year later, I received an email from the publisher asking whether I’d like to write this book. I was thrilled!
I wanted to accept this project for a couple reasons. One, I had recently read Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter. I was already intrigued by the concept of cyber-war and the need for national as well as personal cybersecurity, so I was happy to research this further. Two, I have a good deal of experience writing to a specific age range and word length with the journalism I’ve done, and I was eager to apply those skills to a longer work. It’s like a puzzle, really. You have all this information and all these ideas and you have to prioritize and choose and fit them into a set number of chapters and sidebars and photo captions. I found that challenge to be fun.
4. Very fascinating! Finally, what advice do you have for authors trying to break into publication?
Persevere, and enjoy each step of the journey. One of the joys of publication is knowing that readers will actually read what you’ve spent weeks, months, or years writing. That is fulfilling. And before that happens, there is a lot of work. There will be rejections. There will be bad first drafts. There will be moments when you wonder if you should be spending your time doing something else. So what makes this worthwhile during the waiting and hoping? For me, it boils down to three things:
· The joy of discovery—being engrossed in learning deeply about what I want to share.
· The joy of community—writing is often solitary, but I have made WONDERFUL friends through critique groups and conferences.
· The joy of creating—which is at the heart of this for me. When I think about gathering what I’ve learned, all the things about a topic that have angered or saddened or inspired me, or made me laugh—and I take all of that and shape it into something new, to share with others, using words and the sounds of language—that’s magical to me.
Thank you so much, Cindy. Your passion for your writing really shines through. I wish you all the best on your future projects!!
Thanks, Mindy, for interviewing me. I hope this is helpful to your readers!
You can find out more about Cindy and her writing by visiting her website at www.cynthiaargentine.com
You can purchase her latest release STEAM Jobs in Cypersecurity on Amazon at this link.
