An Interview with Maribeth Boelts

Maribeth Boelts, author of more than 40 children’s books including Kaia and the Bees and A Bike Like Sergio’s, will be the featured reader at the Final Thursday Reading Series on October 28 where she will read from several of her publications. One of her most recent stories stems from a memory of her son, Will, while the characters were created out of her grandson’s want for a story with a stickbug and a beetle—and so the Stickbug and Beetle story in The Purple Puffy Coat begins. 

The event takes place in the Mae Latta room in the Hearst Center for the Arts. A creative writing open mic starts at 7:00 p.m. (sign up to read your best five minutes of original work), and Boelts's featured reading will begin at 7:30 p.m. The featured reading will be Zoomcast live at 7:30 Central time. You can register for that HERE. 

The following interview with Maribeth Boelts, detailing her work in children's literature and her approach to writing, was conducted by Alexus Williams.

Alexus Williams: You have mentioned that you got involved in writing children’s stories after having your own kids, and now grandkids, but did you ever feel a calling towards children’s stories prior to that? If so, how did starting your own family change your feelings/motivation, if at all, for writing children’s stories?

Maribeth Boelts: I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was in second grade, and I lived for the creative writing blocks of time with zero instruction we were given in grade school. During high school, I wrote a little series of stories for children, and showed it to the old Catholic nun I had as an English teacher. She was enthusiastic, and that encouraged me. Once I graduated from college, and was teaching, I was constantly coming up with little stories and poems for the children I taught, and began to submit things to publishers here and there. My passion grew as we started having children, and we read countless stacks of picture books to them. That's when I quit my teaching job, and started exploring writing for children as a career. The motivation has always been there, really. I love children, and I've always been so curious about the stories that keep them turning the page or requesting multiple readings.

AW: Looking at the books you have written, you have certainly covered a wide variety of topics, settings, and characters. With that being said, where do you draw your inspiration from for these stories? Do you find your stories come from a place of necessity? (i.e. trying to explain certain concepts to your grandkids (or your kids when they were younger).

MB: For me, most of my stories begin with an "ache" of some sort-- a remembering of a childhood experience or emotion, that I sense has a universal thread in it. For example, a want that is out of reach. Or a common fear that requires some courage. Or a feeling of security and love that must have words wrapped around it. Or a friendship that asks for a selfless act. I try to be careful about teaching anything overtly, as children can sniff out a "good for you" book a mile away, but I do really like to get some discussion going with my books. 

AW: What is the writing process like for you? Also, when do you begin to consider what kind of illustrations should be included in the books?

MB: I try to write at least something every day, but when I have an idea that seems to hold some promise, I will let it simmer for a while. I tend to write a first draft quickly and with as little self-consciousness or inner critic as possible. Just write fast and get the bare bones story down. If it appears that it has enough substance to continue, I will begin to flesh it out. This is my favorite stage of writing... with the pressure of the first draft under my belt, and the luxury of having something concrete to work with as I continue. 

        In terms of illustration, I leave that in the hands of the editors and art department at the publishers. While I imagine what the illustrations could look like, and I "see" the story in my head as it unfolds, I have little to do with the illustration of my stories. The illustrator has the freedom to interpret my text just as I had the freedom to create it. 

AW: Have you considered writing other literature, like young adult literature? If so, what kind of literature crosses your mind? If not, could you explain why you would rather focus on children’s literature?

MB: I'm most intrigued by children's books, and though I do have a middle grade novel and will write more of those in the future, I haven't explored young adult literature beyond reading it. I find childhood infinitely interesting, and it remains a good challenge to write for this audience. 

AW: Looking back at when you first started writing children’s stories, what is one thing you would tell your younger self?

MB: Expect to be surprised by the stories that "catch" and the stories that go unnoticed, and keep writing.

Zoomcast of Hoing & Hileman

 If you didn't get to attend last month's FTRS reading with Dave Hoing & Roger Hileman (and musical guests), you can now watch the Zoomcast.

An Interview with Dave Hoing & Roger Hileman

Dave Hoing and Roger Hileman will be the featured readers at the Final Thursday Reading Series on Sept. 30 where they will read from their novel about the jazz scene in a fictionalized 1940s Waterloo, In the Blood. They will also be performing music with some guest musicians. 

The creative writing open mic starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Hearst Center for the Arts. Hoing and Hileman take the stage at 7:30. The 7:30 featured reading will also be live Zoomcast. Click HERE to register for the live Zoomcast.

As with their co-written novels, Hoing and Hileman's responses here are written collaboratively. 

This interview was conducted by Alexus Williams.

Starting off, how would you describe this novel and what led you to write it? 

Dave Hoing and Roger Hileman: First of all, here’s a variation of the blurb on the back, which explains what In the Blood is about:

    Nineteen-year-old K.C. Brown dreams of playing jazz with the best, and where she’s from, the best is a band called the Bluenotes. A prodigy on sax and piano, K.C. defies the wishes of her family by pursuing a career in music. If their disapproval isn’t enough, the year is 1948, the band is comprised of middle-aged black men, and K.C. is a white girl living in a racially divided city in Iowa. To succeed, she and the band must overcome resistance from both sides of the color barrier, and accept that ambition often comes with loss. 

    We are both hugely influenced by music. All of our novels have had music in them, but we hadn’t yet written one specifically about music. That was the motivation for In the Blood. We especially liked one of the secondary characters from our first novel Hammon Falls, a man called Lewis Ross. Our original plan was to write an entire novel about him before and after the events of Hammon Falls. That evolved over time, and the story became more about his son Freddie, although some of Lewis’s backstory still made it into In the Blood. Hammon Falls depicted a nightclub called the New Orleans (AKA Narlins), which was a venue for black performers. That gave us a ready-made setting.

What was the process like for creating the characters and their struggles? 

DH & RH: One of the joys of writing is the chance to create characters who are not like us. Both of us are middle-aged (some would say old) white men. Our two main characters are Freddie Ross, a middle-aged black man, and K.C. Brown, a young white woman. The difference in their age, gender, and race gave us great dynamics to work with. 

Did you set the novel in a fictionalized version of Waterloo to make the story feel more “real” to readers or was there something about Waterloo that made it an appropriate setting? 

DH & RH: Part of the setting, of course, goes back to Hammon Falls, which was based on a screenplay Roger wrote about his ancestors who lived in Waterloo. We changed Waterloo to Waterton so we wouldn’t be constrained by Waterloo’s actual history where it differed from the needs of our story. Waterloo did have a flourishing jazz scene in the early and middle parts of the 20th century, so that fit in nicely. Plus, it occurred to us that when one looks into the history of any place, it becomes fascinating. We know that an Iowa setting may seem mundane to local readers, but to the larger world, Iowa might as well be the far side of the moon. To many it’s an interesting place, unknown but for its farms. (And well, there is a little bit about a farm in the novel, but not much… 😊) 

When writing this story, did you have an ideal audience in mind? 

DH & RH: If so, what were you hoping the story would do for them? The novel uses strong language, including the hated N-word, so our aim was for an adult audience, but other than that, we just wanted to write a story about a growing friendship between very different people. Of course, we also explored themes of racism, sexism, and economic disparities, while paying tribute to the power of music to transcend all that. In the Blood is a book about people, not politics. It tries not to slant too much to either the left or the right, although of course we are aware of our own biases. That said, we’re sure there’ll be plenty of stuff to offend everybody. 😉 

Is there something readers don’t know about this story that they should keep in mind when reading it? 

DH & RH:  On the surface it may appear that In the Blood is offering a solution to racism, which (if possible) was even more pronounced in 1948 than it is today. It isn’t, at least on a macro scale. We are more interested in individuals than in groups. The friendship between Freddie and K.C. won’t change the world, but it does change them. As the saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step... 

Lastly, what is one question that you would have liked to answer that was not asked in this interview? 

DH & RH: “How does collaboration between two authors work?” Don’t worry, we’ll be asked that at the reading, so we’ll explain it then!

Hoing & Hileman next week at FTRS

 

Passion for Beauty Celebrates and Life and Work of Marjorie Nuhn

 

Passion for Beauty:
Marjorie Nuhn, Water Colorist

Passion for Beauty presents the art and biography of Marjorie Nuhn. Nuhn was an accomplished artist who had studied at Grant Wood's Stone City Art Colony and painted watercolors for over forty years. However, she also had undergone personal trauma as a young woman that shaped her experience. Her story is a complex one, and it is told here for the first time in print.

 
Editor Heather Skeens, who also serves as director for the Hearst Center for the Arts, which holds the largest single collection of Nuhn’s work, says of the collection that “The writings that follow tell a complicated story with its beginning in the traditional midwestern community of Cedar Falls, a community that, perhaps urged along by the university it houses and a cast of progressive civic leaders, embraced literature and the arts. This embrace provided support for Marjorie throughout her life. And yet, she struggled against the societal norms of the time.”

 
This collection features the previously unpublished biography written by Marjorie Nuhn's brother, Ferner Nuhn, as well as essays by Robyn Groth and Barbara Lounsberry that provide context for the life and work of Marjorie Nuhn. Also included in the collection is a selection of 19 full-color plates reproducing some of Marjorie Nuhn's most significant watercolors as well as a list of her extant works.

 
Final Thursday Press is an award-winning literary press that focuses on work by Cedar Valley writers. Recent publications include Winsome/Bend of the Sun by Grant Tracey and Circumference by Anne Myles. Support for this publication was provided by the Cedar Falls Community Foundation’s Saul and Joan Diamond Arts & History Fund.

Passion for Beauty: Marjorie Nuhn, Water Colorist can be purchased locally at locations including the Hearst Center for the Arts, UNI Bookstore and the Ragged Edge. It can be purchased online directly from Final Thursday Press or at amazon.com. For more information on Marjorie Nuhn, visit thehearst.org/marjorienuhn.

Season 21

 

20th FTRS Season Concludes with Doug Shaw & Thomas Hockey

The 20th season ended where it began, in the Outdoor Sculpture Garden at the Hearst Center for the Arts. This event featured mathematician Doug Shaw and astronomer Thomas Hockey, and just for good measure it was simulcast on Zoom. If you didn't get to attend in person or online, you can now stream it below.

Thanks to the UNI Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for making the 20th season possible and to the Hearst Center for being onboard for an array of outdoors and Zoomcast events this year. Looking forward to season 21, which will start at the end of August.