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 Peggy Tibbetts is Contributing Editor for Writing World.com and WP World Muse ezine. Her stories and articles have appeared in several magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and ezines. She was an associate producer of educational films, contributing editor for Children's Magic Window magazine, and Children's Writing Resource Editor at Inkspot.com. She lives with her family in Silt, Colorado.
Neela Sakaria: Thank you for joining us, Ms. Tibbetts. The sibling rivalry between Jackie and Carly is a central theme in Carly's Ghost - Do you draw these scenarios and feelings from your own experiences? (Perhaps either as a parent or child or both?)
Peggy Tibbetts: Sure, I have two older sisters. But my daughter is an only child. Hmm, maybe we're onto something here. Seriously though, the relationship between Carly and Jackie is mostly my own invention. Having two older sisters certainly gave me a wealth of experiences to draw from, but not everything that happens to Carly happened to me. Sibling relationships are usually quite complex, fascinating to me, and not always easy to write about.
NS: Even before Carly discovers that the ghost is a "friend," she makes comments which express her confidence that the ghost isn't harmful. In considering your audience of young readers, was it important that Carly be un-afraid of the ghost from the outset?
 PT: Yes it was important Carly show little fear of the ghost in order to reveal her courageous side. Bullying, whether from siblings or friends, creates self esteem problems in children at a very young age. In Carly's case, and I think in the case of many children who are bullied, she discovers within herself a resource of courage and bravery, whether it be a vivid imagination, or a healthy curiousity, it becomes a source of strength. My audience of young readers wasn't necessarily a consideration in terms of not scaring them. Briggs, a 7-year old reader, said she thought the scenes where Carly was alone in the cabin were really scary. Evidently I touched on one of her fears. Moreover my goal was to show the pathway Carly took out of the barrage of intimidation, not only from her sister, but from the insecurity of moving to a new place.
NS: What advice would you give to other authors aspiring to write for young audiences?
PT: Read, read, read. I know every author says it. But it's true. Especially read children's books published in the last three years. You'll begin to recognize trends in children's literature, and you'll get an idea which publishers are publishing what types of books. It's a good idea to read award winning books. Children's book publishers pay special attention to the format and subject matter of these books
NS: Do you have a formal background in writing?
PT: Actually I think my background would be described as more on the practical side. I started out 25 years ago writing a children's column, Kids' Korner for a local newspaper. I've been an editorial assistant for a tourism publication, associate editor for a children's history tabloid, associate producer of educational films, associate editor for Children's Magic Window magazine, and ran my own desktop publishing business doing ads, flyers, and newsletters for organizations and businesses. Heavy on the editing side.
NS: Rumors of War, which is set during the Gulf War, is quite different from the story of Carly's Ghost. What inspired you to write each of these very different stories?
PT: Carly's Ghost started with a cabin. Years ago my husband and I lived in a mountain cabin similar to the one described in the book. Slamming doors, loud footsteps and cold drafts were all part of what led us to believe the house was haunted. More than once we searched every cubby hole for an intruder--convinced we were not alone. Curious, I researched the history of the cabin. The person we believed to be our ghost turned out to be sort of a crabby Martha Stewart. She wasn't a suitable character at all. With the mountain cabin as my setting I created a whole new cast of characters, including the ghost.
Rumors of War began with the character, Ilene Singleton. A thirty-something woman who's extremely happy and secure with her life, or so she thinks. But in reality she's sitting on a volcano that's about to erupt and here's what happens when it does. I'm fascinated by conspiracy and the whole notion of nothing is what is seems. I did an enormous amount of research for the book. The real life tour of duty of the 477th Army Reserve unit from Duluth, Minnesota, is portrayed in the book, although Philip Singleton's role is fictional.
Rumors Of War was my 4th novel, I'd written three YA novels before that, Carly's Ghost being my very first novel. I've written seven novels in all--2 adult and 5 YA. It wasn't like I wrote the children's novels and said, now I want to graduate to an adult novel. Writing for children is a lot harder than writing for adults. It just so happened while working on my second novel, the character Ilene came to me. I took notes. She stayed with me through my third novel until I finally decided to write her story.
NS: How long did it take you to complete each of your novels?
PT: I can usually get an entire novel completed in six months. The rewriting and editing takes me forever. No kidding. I'm terrible. I'm Gemini. My own best friend and my own worst enemy. Especially when it comes to editing. I'm never satisfied. I could sit down right now and make editing changes to Rumors of War and Carly's Ghost. Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan said, "Writing's like having homework for the rest of your life," which describes my life to a T. I don't get writer's block because I always have a manuscript I can revise. There's a carmine red Col-Erase pencil sitting on my kitchen counter right now. How compulsive is that?
NS: Do you follow any specific strategy when writing?
PT: Research is the cornerstone of my strategy. I'm a history fanatic, a news junkie, I save articles, I watch X-Files. The Internet has changed my life in terms of research, talk about time saving. As much as I love libraries, I don't miss those endless hours spent on an uncomfortable plastic chair poring over a clunky database, only to wade through the stacks and discover the book/magazine/microfilm missing.
NS: Are you working on any other writing projects now?
PT: Of course! I have five unpublished novels to edit and re-write! At the moment I'm working on an ebook, "A Writers' Survival Kit," which is a compilation of my epublished works, and resource links, sort a primer for writers about online publishing. Many books about online promo and marketing focus on the writer who has a book, or books, to sell. This ebook is geared also to the unpublished writer, how to break into writing online in order to gain experience and self confidence. I also have a one hour speech to write. I've been asked to speak about online promo and marketing at the Rocky Mtn Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers fall conference. "How to Spread the Word-of-Mouse." Have you ever written a one hour speech? Well neither have I. This should be interesting. If the amount of time I've spent procrastinating about it is any indication, I don't have much of a future in speech writing. Nonetheless it's imperative for authors, especially for newcomers like myself, to promote their work to build readership. Besides it's great for boosting self confidence, career enhancing, and you get to meet a whole lot of great people like you!
Neela: Thank you for sharing with us.
PT: Thank you for helping me bring my books to the attention of your readers.
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