Photos and story by Lena Hensley
The Georgia Writers Museum (GWM) in downtown Eatonton hosted a workshop Aug. 20, on writing children’s books. Four speakers—Andrea Cassell, Dr. Surishtha Sehgal, JoAnn Dotson, and Andy Zunton— shared stories of their lives, what inspired them to start writing and what the process of writing children's books involves, as well as tips on how to illustrate and publish chilldren’s books.
“This is our first children’s book writing workshop, and we are pleased with the number of the turnout,” GWM Executive Director Melissa Swindell said of 17 people who attended. “It’s our biggest workshop so far. And these are really adorable stories. People are getting excited about writing their stories, inviting illustrators. We are having a lot of fun.”
She added it was GWM Manager Amanda Vining who had the idea for the writing children’s books workshop. “Most of our workshops have always been centered around writing books for adults. We wanted to include the idea of writing for the children because we feel that it’s an area that was being underrepresented,” Swindell said.
Vining explained the workshop was for people interested in writing children's books, whether already in the process and needing guidance, or who just have an interest in writing. She said while organizing it, museum staff considered authors writing in different genres, targeting children of different ages, and that’s how they came up with the writers invited to speak at the event.
Cassell has a professional background in special education and child psychology and is passionate about special needs children. She lives in Georgia with her husband and miniature labradoodle dog, Kibby, who inspired her to write her children's book series that teach life lessons as seen through the eyes of her dog.
Sehgal was a university professor and a founder of a nonprofit organization to promote social responsibility among students. She serves on the boards of two universities and a national arts center, and is a New York Times bestselling author. She lives in Atlanta and writes some of her books in cooperation with her son, Kabir.
A native Georgian from Sandersville, Dotson is a retired educator with degrees in early childhood education and psychology and counseling. She received several awards throughout a 32-year teaching career and her books lean toward teaching young readers problem-solving skills.
Runton is the creator of a graphic novel series named Owly, which earned him multiple awards, including the Eisner Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience. He lives in the greater Atlanta area, where he works full-time as a writer and illustrator, and presented his GWM talk remotely over the internet.
Each author presented approximately an hour-long talk, then answered attendees’ questions.
“We want kids to love books. For children's literature to grow readers, the children need to be introduced to books at a young age. Reading creates creativity in a child to read and use their imagination,” Vining said.
Attendee Ellie Cowen owns The Firefly, a bed-and-breakfast in Madison, and said she’s already started writing a children's book. “I have it almost ready for the publisher, so I wanted to see what kind of ideas I can get from here and how I can use them within my work,” she said.
With a background as a pastor, aspiring writer Michelle Testman said she has several stories in mind that would speak mostly to people in need. Having gone through the experience of losing loved ones, she has the ambition to start a ministry named Grace and Grief, as well as to write a book about dealing with loss from a child’s perspective.
“This would be my first experience,” Testman said. “I have (stories) in my mind, but this is a great time in my life to put them on paper, so I wanted to come and learn from the best.
“I've really enjoyed this workshop,” she added. “Wonderful pieces of advice, and it actually encouraged some creative ideas for books. And it's just nice being in this environment with other writers. One of the takeaways today for me has been to write about something that you have a passion for or an experience that can provide hope and a positive message for others.”
Mary Loftus, editor of Emory Medicine Magazine at Emory University, said that having two jobs and being super busy, it was hard for her to find time and start writing children’s books, but the GWM workshop helped her to “put it front and center.”
“If I don't prioritize it, don't talk and think about it and give shape to it, it's never going to happen,” Loftus said. She said the source of her inspiration was her father, who told her about his work as an electrical engineer helping to develop the first transistor.
“They've connected us globally, but every 20-something person I talk to doesn't know what a transistor is. So, my idea was to write a children's book about the transistors and do kind of a multimedia component. I'm just pretty excited about bringing that knowledge to people because I don't think that we should use a cell phone, a computer, a smartphone or a TV without knowing the basics of how they work.”
Vining said GWM organizes writing workshops every quarter.
“We do have a couple of books that we sell in our retail space about the writing process,” she said. “On October 1st, we have a cookbook workshop that will be about people gathering family recipes and family stories and how to merge those into a book. We're doing it in October with the idea that then people may able to take that information and create something for their family for the holiday season.”
Anyone interested in writing or becoming a writer is encouraged to visit GWM (109 S. Jefferson Ave, Eatonton), go online to www.georgiawritersmuseum. org, or call 706-991-5119.