I’m happy to welcome my dear friend Lynne Marie back to the blog. Last year we had an interesting conversation regarding her picture book The Palace Rat, which released on September 2023. This time we’ll be discussing her upcoming book Henny Penny’s Weather Worries and we’ll also get to know more about March On With Mentor Texts (MOWMT), a wonderful free resource for writers which focuses on studying mentor texts through the month of March.
About March On With Mentor Texts:
March On With Mentor Texts was created by multi-published Author Lynne Marie in 2021 and continues as a yearly event. Along with other authors who share a love of Mentor Texts, she hopes to inspire aspiring authors on their path to success. Join here for fun, fundamentals, and lots of wonderful prizes. www.rateyourstory.org/march-on
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Now, on to our interview:
M. Lynne Marie, thanks so much for coming back to the blog to share about March On With Mentor Texts and your soon to be released book. Can you tell us how and when did MOWMT start?
LM. Mentor texts have always been something that I believe to be the cornerstone of my success. So years later, when Carrie Charley Brown and Kristi Call founded ReFoReMo (based upon mentor texts), I thought: Now, why didn’t I think of that! I carried around the wish for a while, and then one day…
Carrie and Kristi decided to close it down. When they did, they graciously passed the torch to me to keep lit. I decided to do so under the name March On With Mentor Texts.
M. I’m so glad that you were able to keep this wonderful project going on! What has been the most rewarding part of MOWMT?
LM. The most rewarding is that I get to inspire others to use mentor texts to pave their path to publishing success! Mentor texts can be used in so many ways – to make sure you are writing something that’s new and different, fills a hole, or stands out above the rest, to name just a few examples. But there’s also so much to be learned as far as style, structure, format, and story conventions.
M. I agree, mentor texts are an excellent tool for writers and I love this project so much. Can you now share how do you decide which authors/illustrators to invite for the posts and how do you select the topics?
LM. The first options always go to our Rate Your Story Judges as we want to be able to promote them in exchange for the time and dedication. But that still leaves many spots. So basically they are filled with a combination of authors asking to participate, and me asking authors if they would like to participate. This gives us a good mix of tried and true and new authors!
For the topics, I pretty much let them choose what they want to share with our readers. It will usually tie in to their latest book. However, when they sign on for their topic, they get to review what topic the others have grabbed, so they may tweak their topic to make sure it’s different.
M. That’s wonderful! Lynne Marie, what would you tell someone who is getting into MOWMT for the first time?
LM. I would recommend trying to order the books from the booklist from the library so they are familiar with them. Then, I would tell them to sit down each morning with a cup of coffee or juice or tea, and just read and enjoy the posts and the reviews of the books. They should take note of any books that make good mentor texts for their own work and keep lists. And of course, I recommend adding any books you love to your own library! An important aspect of this event is promoting authors and their books, as well.
M. I love those recommendations, thank you for sharing! Finally, please tell us what plans do you have for MOWMT?
LM. I hope to keep this as an annual event for many years to come! Even though I am the creator of MOWMT, I truly enjoy reading everyone’s posts, getting inspired, and benefitting from the takeaways. I’m only sad (LOL) that I can’t win any of the fabulous prizes!
Lynne Marie thanks so much for your time and for sharing this valuable information about March On With Mentor texts. I hope readers will be encouraged to follow the daily posts during the month and that they will find it useful for their own journeys.
Now, let’s talk about your upcoming picture book, Henny Penny’s Weather Worries, which by the way sounds adorable.
About the book:
When Henny Penny receives a plop on the head, she jumps to conclusions. “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” One by one, classmates join in until it’s classroom chaos. Finally, Little and friends learn that a deep breath and a little thought might save the “sky” from falling. Or will it?
M. What inspired you to write this story?
LM. I’ve always loved farm animals and have wanted to write fractured tales featuring all of the favorites. My first was The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project which even has an associated coloring book. In this picture book, I mashed components of the pigs’ tale with STEM and bullying, which produced an entirely fresh and new version! I had so much fun with this that the idea for the Fairy Tale Elementary Series was born.
While I searched for my next idea, I tapped into my love for mentor texts and read as many Henny Penny and Chicken Little picture books and stories as I could get my hands on. I noticed that no one had explored the SEL component of the story. I was also inspired to incorporate animal weather myths – something I have always been intrigued with!
M. How was the process of working together with Wendy on a second book?
LM. Working with Wendy is always a pleasure! She’s so talented and really gets my vision for these stories. We’ve won quite a few awards for both the story and art in the first book and I feel confident that we will win many more with this book! I feel like we make a great team!
M. That’s wonderful! Can you tell what was the most challenging part of writing this book?
LM. Because fairy tales and folktales can be quite overdone, the challenge was to come up with something no one ever thought of before. And that’s how mining mentor texts has served me well. Perhaps there is nothing new under the sun – unless you mash up two things that aren’t fresh and new to make something that is!
M. What message do you hope children will take away from this book?
LM. I hope that it inspires little ones to pause and think before giving in to excessive worry and/or anxiety. And, especially in the lower grades, including preschool and kindergarten, if one kid’s emotions go south, it usually incites a ripple effect. So teaching skills to pause and reflect first will likely go a long way!
M. I agree that teaching kids how to navigate anxiety is very important today. Now, can you share any new projects you’re currently working on? What comes next for you as an author?
LM. I have two additional books coming out this year – the first is American Pie (illustrated by Dea Lenihan) and the second is BroomMates: A Brewing Boundary Battle (co-written with Brenda Reeves Sturgis and illustrated by Nico Ecenarro). While the links for American Pie are not yet live, readers can follow the blog on my website for more information.
Pre-order Broommates HERE
Lynne Marie, congratulations on not just one but two upcoming books! 🎉 Wow! 2024 is surely going to be an exciting year for you. I hope you’ll be very successful and I look forward to chatting again in the fall. Cheers!
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LYNNE MARIE’S BIO
Lynne Marie is the award-winning author of Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten — art by Anne Kennedy (Scholastic 2011), Hedgehog’s 100th Day of School — art by Lorna Hussey (Scholastic 2017), The Star of the Christmas Play — art by Lorna Hussey (Beaming Books 2018), Moldilocks and the 3 Scares — art by David Rodriguez Lorenzo (Sterling / Scholastic 2019) and Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World — art by Parwinder Singh (Beaming Books 2019), The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project and The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project Coloring Book — art by Wendy Fedan (Mac and Cheese Press 2022), The Palace Rat — art by Eva Santana (Yeehoo Press 2023), Broommates co-written with Brenda Reeves Sturgis – art by Nico Ecenarro (The Little Press 2024) and more, forthcoming. She’s formerly an editor for a small press and and agent mentee at The Seymour Agency. In addition, she’s the Owner/Director of RateYourStory.org, ThePictureBookMechanic.com, the Creator/Host of March On With Mentor Texts (www.rateyourstory.org/march-on) and Mentor Text Talk by Rate Your Story), a Co-Host of #SeasonsOfKidLit (www.seasonsofkidlit.com) along with Heather Macht, a Cybils Judge since 2016 (www.cybils.org) and a Feature Columnist at Children’s Book Insider (www.writeforkids.org).
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Thanks for reading,
M
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Cover photo by Pixabay.