Author Roxanne Troup on Leaping from WFH to Trade- PLUS a GIVEAWAY!

Hello world!!

Welcome to my blog, Blissfully Bookish! I’m excited to introduce my next guest because she’s one of my CPs!!! I also relate to her because, like me, she has worked for educational publishers for many years. Please welcome Roxanne Troup, here to discuss her latest informational fiction picture book My Grandpa, My Tree, and Me, illustrated by Kendra Binney, and published by Yeehoo Press.

BUT first- YAY! Roxanne is generously giving away a FREE a signed copy of the book OR a manuscript critique. To be eligible to win, please enter the Rafflecopter contest by clicking HERE. Contest ends March 31, 2023, US only.

Please describe the journey to publication for My Grandpa, My Tree, and Me.

I’d been writing for the education market for several years when I first drafted what would become MY GRANDPA, MY TREE, AND ME. But it took me awhile to figure out the craft differences between the trade and education market. After several submissions without a response, an editor at a small press saw enough potential in the work to request an R&R (revise and resubmit). I didn’t agree with the direction they wanted me to take but tried to figure out what underlying issue they were pointing out (it was the ed-market voice). I dove into revisions and later had the opportunity to submit to Katie Heit at Scholastic. The story was too quiet for Scholastic, but Katie was so complimentary I knew I’d hit the right note with my revisions. I finally found my publisher, Yeehoo Press, in May of ’21, two years after that initial draft.

Where did you draw the book’s inspiration? Was it inspired by your own relationship to your grandfather?

Like most books, this idea came from several different places.

1) Pecan farming: I ran across a YouTube video of a farmer harvesting pecans and was thunderstruck by the method they used. Growing up in a farming community, I had some experience with agriculture and pecans. But we gathered pecans in buckets like the wild products they were. No one I knew—including my farming grandfather—harvested pecans by tractor.

2) Inciting incident: My parents planted trees for each of their children in Israel during one of their visits.

3) Relational aspect: Was probably inspired more by my brother’s relationship with his grandkids than my own relationship with my grandfather.

What is your writing process and does it vary depending on the project?

When I’m working on my own stories, I do a lot of initial drafting in my head. Sometimes a stunning first line, title, or refrain will present itself and I scribble it on paper so I don’t forget. But typically, I only sit down to write once I have a sold beginning, middle, and end to work with. Of course, then I have to figure out how to connect those dots—which sometimes takes awhile. When I’m ghostwriting or working on a contracted piece, I do a lot more prep work. I research, outline, draft the first couple pages to make sure I’m hitting the right tone and reading level, and send all that for approval. Once the client signs off, I put everything else aside and write.

Please paste a short and compelling excerpt from your book.

Every winter, while the trees stand silent under a sleepy sun, Grandpa prunes his orchard until each branch feels the sunlight.

But not my tree.

My tree has lots of space to spread its branches. Grandpa only trims limbs that split in the wind.

When it comes to nonfiction, what are some strategies writers can use to make their texts engaging?

Experiment with structure. (The right structure solves so many manuscript problems!) And focus on language—whether it be fun or lyrical. Nonfiction writers can try adding a refrain to their manuscripts; or formatting their text as if it were a poem (which will highlight unnecessary phrases and weak verbs).

Please share your favorite books from 2022 that have inspired you.

ICEBERG: A Life In Seasons by Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft

A beautiful, Australian title brought to North America by Groundwood books that highlights Antarctica’s ecosystem through poetic, nonfiction text and gorgeously luminous illustrations. ICEBERG explains the effects of climate change without being moralistic.

WISHES by Muon Thi Van and Victo Ngai

It actually came out in 2021, but I didn’t discover it until last year. A powerful story about immigration; the text is poetic and moving, the art, expressive. This one literally gave me chills.

GOOD EATING: The Life of Krill by Matt Lilley and Dan Tavis

This one’s just fun. Who would have thought to make a nonfiction book about krill?

What is the best piece of advice you would give to other writers?

Find authors who are doing the thing you want to do and follow their careers. Watch how they conduct themselves in the industry. Check out/buy their books, connect on social media, attend their classes and read interviews by them. “Stalk” them in the nicest and least obtrusive way possible. Don’t expect them to mentor you, but learn all you can from them and apply what you learn to your own writing journey.

And a bonus question just for kicks! If you could meet a fictional character from one of your favorite books, who would it be?

Arrietty from THE BORROWERS

BIO

With a background in education, Roxanne Troup is the author of over a dozen books for kids. She is also a professional ghostwriter who has worked with both publishers and individuals to write numerous picture books, chapter books, and adult nonfiction over the last ten years. Her debut trade picture book, My Grandpa, My Tree, and Me (Yeehoo Press, 2023) is a lyrical look at the life-and-harvest cycle of pecan trees. Her second trade deal, a rhyming picture book about space, has yet to be announced. Roxanne regularly reviews picture books at Goodreads with Ronna, is a volunteer judge at Rate Your Story and author mentor for the Michele Begley Mentorship program, as well as the co-facilitator of her local SCBWI Connect. She loves visiting schools to water seeds of literacy and teach about writing—and sometimes remembers to water the plants in her own garden. Learn more about her at https://www.roxannetroup.com/.

LINKS

• Website: https://www.roxannetroup.com/ ; all socials @roxannetroup
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoxanneTroup
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxanne-troup/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roxanne.troup
• Book Purchases: https://www.yeehoopress.com/product/my-grandpa-my-tree-and-me/