Donny, congratulations on your first published novel for middle grades, Gone From These Woods (Random House/Delacorte Press)! Can you briefly describe the story for us?
Thanks. Gone From These Woods is the story of Daniel Sartain, an eleven-year-old boy who reluctantly goes hunting and accidentally shoots his beloved Uncle Clay. With the help of others, including his mother and school guidance counselor, Daniel learns to deal with his guilt and survive this family tragedy in the North Georgia woods.
Where did you get the inspiration for Daniel’s story and how long did it take you to write it?
Many years ago, I heard about a tragedy that happened in the family of my second grade teacher, Mrs. Campbell. Her nephew accidentally shot his uncle, who was Mrs. Campbell’s husband. I wondered how I would handle a situation like this if it happened to me. Later, when I became a writer and it was time to start book number ten, I decided to write the story of the boy who shot his uncle. Even though my teacher’s story inspired my story, the stories are not the same. I added hunting and the woods and made up my characters. I used memories of my own uncle, Terry Bailey, as the inspiration for the uncle in my book. I worked on the manuscript for about two years before I showed the first three chapters to Michelle Poploff of Random House. She asked to see the rest and a few weeks later bought my book – on July 13th, 2007. Friday the 13th is usually not thought of as lucky. But for me, it was one of the luckiest days of my life. The editing process took about eight months and then about a year later the book was published. All total, this book took about four years to create, rewrite and publish.
What kinds of reactions to this book have you gotten from young readers?
So far my favorite reaction has been from the granddaughter of the real boy who shot his uncle. Her name is Sydney and she’s a 6th grader in Jefferson, Georgia. She came to my first book signing at Borders in Athens, Georgia, near where I live. After reading Gone From These Woods, Sydney wrote a book summary for her language arts teacher. Her grandmother sent me a copy. Here’s an excerpt:
“Gone From These Woods is an engaging book that once you start reading, you can’t stop…at least I couldn’t! Although the main character is a boy, and the main event happens with a gun, GFTW is written for both boys and girls alike…I couldn’t predict what would happen next…GFTW is not just about a boy shooting guns in the woods, or about a boy running away from his drunken father. It’s about coping with grief and pain because of the death of a loved one…”
Sydney wants to be a writer when she grows up and I think she’s already on her way.
Can you tell us a bit about your roots and how that background has influenced your writing?
I’m a native of Athens, Georgia and a long time resident of the nearby small town of Winterville, Georgia. I can trace my paternal ancestors all the way back to the 1700s in Wilkes County, Georgia, and my mother’s family also has been in this area of Georgia for many generations. Though I’m sure my ancestors hunted, I’ve never hunted and had to actually take a gun lesson and get our former police chief to go out into the Oglethorpe County woods where we recreated the accident with him playing Uncle Clay and me playing Daniel. I created the setting from my local rural Georgia area. The woods, the lake, the small town of Newtonville, are all inspired by Winterville and the surrounding area, where I live. Because of my Southern heritage and my family roots, I wanted to tell a story of this area of Georgia and use the people and place where I live. I think I did that in Gone From These Woods. It’s definitely North Georgia in 1992.
What have been some of the highlights thus far of your experience as a published author?
After writing for many years and having my first nine books rejected, there really is nothing like holding that first published book in your hands. The shine of the dust jacket art, the smell of fresh ink – it’s an amazing feeling, something every aspiring writer dreams about. My first book signing at Borders Books in my hometown of Athens, Georgia also was quite exciting. We sold all the books! And I got to see and catch up with many old friends and family members and even a couple of my former magazine editors (I’ve written magazine articles for many years) and the now retired media specialist, Pat Thruston, who was once my boss in the Winterville Elementary School Library and encouraged me to read middle grade novels (that’s how I developed the desire to write middle grade novels).
What are a few of your favorite children’s books (other than your own!) of 2009?
The first children’s book that I fell in love with was The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. That’s the very first book I can remember curling up with and getting lost in and reading over and over. I still have my copy, too, and reread it from time to time. It’s hard to single out more recent titles because there are so many. Two 2009 books that I’m reading now and admiring and enjoying are Road to Tater Hill by Edith M. Hemingway and Patricia Reilly Giff’s new book, Wild Girl.
What advice would you have for aspiring writers?
Read what you want to write. If it’s middle grade novels, read a ton of them and analyze how they’re constructed and what makes them tick – or not. Also, learn your craft by attending writers’ conferences and workshops and reading books about writing. Two of the most important writers’ conferences I’ve attended were the SCBWI Southern Breeze Region’s Spring Mingle in Atlanta, where I found my editor, and the Harriette Austin Writers Conference in Athens, GA, where I found my agent. A few years ago, I participated in Darcy Pattison’s Novel Rewriting Workshop in Alabama and I highly recommend that. Books aspiring children’s book author should read and study include: Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin; The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman and Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise by Darcy Pattison. Of course the most important thing is never give up if you’re serious about getting published. Quitters never see their names on book covers.
Are you currently working on any children’s books that you can tell us a bit about?
Yes. I’ve gone back and am rewriting the book I wrote right before Gone From These Woods. It’s a story about two kids, Josh Meyers, who is into sports at the beginning of the book, and Tiffany Ash, who lives and breathes spelling words. It’s lighter than GFTW and hopefully humorous.
