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Welcome! I know it’s nowhere near springtime, but it’s that time to think about giving, especially books. This month, I interviewed my good friend and long-time critique partner, Carol Munro. Join me as we learn about the inspiration for Springtime Storks, A Love Story, a picture book for kids ages 4-8 that has captured the hearts of many. Come along as we learn more about this talented writer!

Nice to have you here, Carol. Carol and I have been friends for quite a few years now. She and I met through SCBWI and became critique partners when she formed a critique group outside of Springfield, MA. I’m forever indebted to her for her keen eye!

*Tell us a little about yourself, Carol. Where you grew up, how long you’ve been writing, and what you primarily write. 

CM: Aww…the feeling is mutual, Kate, and thanks so much for hosting me on your blog. It’s always so lovely to chat with you.

I think you may know I grew up in a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, where the outdoors held so much adventure, I only came home for meals or when it got dark. There were so many kids living on my short street (the elementary school sent a school bus just for us!) that there was always someone to play with, and we were always up to something.

I started writing when I was seven or eight. I looked forward to the perennial “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” essays at the beginning of school years and dove deeply into poetry in high school. (Oh, that teenage angst. It had to come out somehow!) I began writing for kids in the mid-nineties, and I’ve been at it ever since. In 2012, I began to focus more seriously on picture books when I joined Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge (more about the challenge later).

*What writers have influenced your writing? And why?

CM: Jane Yolen, for sure. I read Piggins and fell in love with Jane’s writing. When I returned the book to our town library, the staff told me she lived nearby (I was thrilled!) and that she led a critique group for writers. I joined that very month and learned so much from her and others in the group about craft and the publishing industry. I vowed to read every book she’d ever publish, but I think she’s surpassed 400, and I’m waaaaay behind. I recommend writers to get her books (she writes for all ages), read them, and live in them for a while. Each one is a master class.

Another influential author to me is Mac Barnett. I think I’ve read – studied – most of his books. I’m amazed at how zeroed in he is on childhood experiences and feelings, and how he uses them in his books. For example, Frank, in Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem, always smells like corn chips. It was an instant flashback for me to the smell of my dog’s paws and my little brother’s socks. In his book The Magic Word, the main character can wish things into reality, like a pool inside his house (that’s still my wish!), among other things, all of which are so kidlike. I’ve written many manuscripts where, during the revision process, I’ve asked myself, “What would Mac do?” It reminds me to try to get into the head of my inner child and bring that out in the text.

Speaking of revisions, two other people who influenced my writing are not authors. Harold Underdown and Eileen Robinson, with their fabulous editor brains, taught me a great deal about picture book revision through their workshops and webinars they’ve presented. I’m forever grateful to them, and I use their tips and advice on every manuscript I write.

*Tell us a bit about your debut picture book, Springtime Storks: A Migration Love Story, illustrated by Chelsea O’Byrne, published by Minerva / Astra Publishing House. What inspired you to write this story?

CM: I love that I wrote this story. Getting it published was just a bonus, and I so appreciate Maria Russo and Leonard Marcus for loving it just as much and offering me a contract.

The story was inspired by two storks in Croatia and the man who cared for them, Stjepan Vokic. Stjepan rescued Malena when she was shot and wounded by a poacher. He nursed her back to health, fished or bought food (chicken) for her every day, built a nest on his house for her, brought her inside to watch stork documentaries in the winter so she wouldn’t be lonely for other storks, and when she attracted a mate, Klepetan, he cared for him, too. He did this for 28 years until Malena’s death and continues to care for Klepetan and his new mate. Can you imagine the devotion? Just wow!

So, of course, I had to write about it. Originally, it was a free verse poem I wrote one morning when I met with my writing group. Eventually, I realized it could be a picture book, so I did more research to be sure things I mentioned in the poem were accurate – the birds returning in spring, the seasonal changes, especially when the magnolia trees bloomed when Luka (the male stork in my story) returned in spring.

I had written the poem in first person, imagining what Malena (Katerina in my fictional version) must have felt to have been shot, to spend winters without her mate, and to yearn for his return each spring. I decided to keep it in first person for the picture book because it heightens the emotional response of the reader.

My editor, Millie von Platen (whose picture book, Zohran Walks New York, came out on October 28) was great to work with, and Chelsea O’Byrne was the perfect illustrator for this book. I love what she did to bring Katerina and Luka’s story to life in the book.

*Do you have any other picture books in the works? Or anything you’d like to share about your writing life?

CM: I have two other picture book manuscripts about birds, both written in free verse. One is about a girl who befriends a crow and a new boy in the neighborhood, then loses both when she must move. It ends happily, but it’s long and complicated, so I’m rewriting it for about the twelfth time. The other is about a boy who rescues a hawk, inspired by our family’s experience doing the same. But birds aren’t all I write about. I have a magical tale about a boy blacksmith and dragons, a dark humor cat-and-dog story where the main character is oblivious and the reader is in the know, and a spooky-funny story inspired by a prank my brothers pulled on me when I was five. (Did I mention I had six brothers?) Oh, and a post-Goldilocks story. Plus, about 60 others in various states of disrepair.

*Is there any advice you can give to aspiring writers?

CM: Here are four bits:

#1 If you write picture books, there’s no better place to be than Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge. Membership opens each year around mid-January and closes mid-February. Visit 12x12challenge.com for more information. I’m also a member of Bethany Hegedus’s Courage to Create community (all genres). Awesome place for motivation, confidence, understanding the hidden corners of the industry, and getting to know individual agents and editors in Zoom events. Visit thewritingbarn.com/courage-to-create/ to learn more. Both these groups have been so meaningful to me that I dedicated Springtime Storks to Julie and Bethany – and to Jane Yolen as well.

#2 Stop saying, “I wish I had more time to write.” If you want to be a writer, you have to make the time. Talk to family members so they understand and share your aspirations and respect your time to write. Book regularly scheduled “meetings” with yourself and hide out at the library to write. Find other writers and become accountability buddies. You don’t have an infinite amount of time in this world, so don’t put it off! Writers gotta write!

#3 Learning about the craft of writing and the publishing industry can get expensive, but it isn’t impossible if you’re on a budget. Search the internet! There’s free info out there in the form of interviews, blogs, podcasts, and free or low-cost workshops. Take advantage of it all.

#4 Find a critique group. You may need to try a few before you connect with the right one. Some meet online, some in person. Some submit and critique manuscripts before meetings, and others critique on the spot. They may meet weekly, monthly, or only when a member puts out a call for help. Your critique partners can be invaluable -- and can become your friends for life, right, Kate?

Right!! I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for Carol Joy Munro and her keen eye for things everyone else missed in our critique group. Thank you, Carol, for taking the time to be a guest on my blog. Please read more about Carol Munro on her website: https://caroljoymunro.com/

You can order her book, Springtime Storks: A Migration Love Story at Amazon.com, B&N, and your favorite indie booksellers.