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Story Ideas – Mining Your Childhood Memories
By Deb Gallardo
From School Library Journal comes an interview with author Kimberly Willis Holt, who has been called “one of the most original, exciting writers for young people to come along in years.” In this exchange you will likely become so captivated by her responses that you won’t be able to resist picking up her books and reading them. I know I will be visiting my library soon to do just that. Many of us, like Kimberly, have never “gotten over” being 12, that pivotal, in-between age which can be so awkward, and during which adult thinking really begins to emerge. Below is an excerpt, but be sure to follow the link to read the whole interview. It’s so well-done and provides a great portrait of this young author.
You write so convincingly in the voice of a 12- or 13-year-old. Are most of the voices that come to you that age?
They are. The story ideas that I have are usually coming-of-age stories, I’d say anywhere from 10- to 15-year-olds. And I always joke, but I think it’s true when I say it, that I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over being 12. Maybe most of us haven’t. I think that’s why adults still like to read coming-of-age stories.
…[My book "My Louisiana Sky"] came from a moment in my life when I was nine years old. I was in the car with my mother in the Louisiana piney woods, where both my parents had grown up… We passed a lady on a country road with grocery sacks in her hands. This lady looked strange to me. She just had a different look about her on her face and I mentioned her to my mom and my mom said, “That lady’s mentally retarded and her husband is mentally retarded and they have a lot of kids.” It haunted me for the rest of my life. And when I first started writing, I’d get all sorts of ideas but none of them were coming from my heart. That was the first story that came from my heart. …I kept thinking about it and thought..that would make an interesting book about a child who had parents who were mentally slow.
Read the entire article (opens in new window)
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