More with Vicky Alvear Shecter

Vicky Alvear Shecter is back with me today. In yesterday's post, Vicky talked about her new nonfiction book, Cleopatra Rules. Today we're switching genres to talk about Vicky's upcoming YA novel, Cleopatra's Moon.

Thanks so much, Vicky, for taking the time to visit.

DoriReads: Your YA fiction book, Cleopatra's Moon, is scheduled for release next year from Scholastic. The subject matter is an easy fit with your other books, but talk about the change from writing nonfiction to fiction. Can you tell us about the narrator? Is it in first person, third? Does your narrator carry that same sassy tone or is there a difference?

Vicky: Good questions! I think people might be surprised just how different my character’s voice is compared to my nonfiction voice. My character is strong but not necessarily sassy. Written it in the first person, my character experiences a lot of loss and pain so, obviously, I needed to be true to those experiences rather than the “fun facts” of history.

The biggest challenge I had in moving from nonfiction to fiction was dealing with a criticism I heard often from my agent and editor: that I was “too enamored” of the history. It took me a while to understand what they meant, which was that sometimes I went off on tangents about a point of history that was not at all related to the arc of the story, the plot, or the character’s growth. I had to be willing to cut those fascinating factoids out. I have what seems like hundreds of pages of scenes related to historical facts that got cut!

DoriReads: Who is your best cheerleader? Who is your best critic?

Vicky: My best cheerleaders are my friends in SCBWI. What a supportive group! In terms of my novel, I am indebted to my writing buds—Elizabeth Dulemba and my writing groups—who encouraged me to keep on writing, no matter what kind of setback I experienced. As for my strongest critic, that’s easy—me!

Cleopatra's Moon will be released in 2011 from Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. I can't wait to read it.

Interview With Vicky Alvear Shecter

I'm delighted to have Vicky Alvear Shecter here today to talk about her new nonfiction book, Cleopatra Rules. Vicky has a knack for giving her readers "history with a twist." Check out her blog when you leave this post. Vicky's conversational style and her irreverent tone has kids asking to read ancient history. That's an accomplishment.

DoriReads: Let's talk about ancient history. Well, maybe not so ancient. Who was Vicky Alvear Shecter before she was a famous children's author?

Vicky: I didn’t know there was another Vicky Alvear Shecter out there who is famous! I’ll have to meet her one day. ;-) As for me, I’ve always been involved with writing one way or another. I wrote for businesses as a hired hack for years.

DoriReads:The tone/voice of your first book, Alexander the Great Who Rocked the World, was distinctly sassy. One reviewer went so far as to label it a "smart-aleck" tone. Another called it "irreverent." Does Cleopatra Rules radiate that same tone?

Vicky: I’m glad you asked about this because I have learned that not everyone is completely comfortable with the tone. The “old guard” especially (Kirkus BCCB, etc.) never fail to make some sort of dig about it—one saying that it sounded like it came straight out of a gossipy blog (which was, of course, the intention!). Thankfully, the research, documentation and vetting process is so thorough, they usually end up praising that instead.

I have found, however, that teachers, librarians and parents often thank me for using a voice that speaks directly to their tweens and teens. I often get comments like, “This is the first history book my kid ever wanted to read.”

DoriReads:Tell us a little about your journey developing that voice. Is it your unique voice or is it a persona narrator you, as an author, created to tell the history of these characters?

Vicky: The development of the voice came from the fact that, when I started researching these characters, I often found myself chuckling at their antics. Really, if you dig far enough, history is hysterical! I knew I couldn’t be the only one who found the funny and absurd so enjoyable. I incorporated the playfulness with which I approach history and the voice just took off from there.

DoriReads: So were you a smart aleck as a teen?

Vicky: Ha, not in the least! I was shy and accommodating (though my parents may have a different view, of course).

DoriReads: Reviewers of Alexander speak highly of your extensive research. I'm sure you've done your work on Cleopatra, as well. How long did it take you to research Cleopatra? On a subject like this, you could probably spend your life researching. How did you limit the research?

Vicky: You’re absolutely right—you could spend your whole life researching these fascinating characters and some academics do! In my case, the boundaries of writing for children is what limited me. After all, I couldn’t go on and on or I would lose my readers. So I stayed focused on the most pertinent facts. But because of the voice, I knew I would have to balance it with research that backed up my assertions.

As a defense mechanism, I find that I don’t continue reading too many books about my subjects after mine come out because I end up driving myself crazy by finding yet another fact or tidbit I could have used. Research never ends but at some point you have enough to back-up/prove your claims and that has to be enough.

My thanks to Vicky for talking with me. And thanks to my readers for stopping in. Come by again tomorrow when Vicky will talk about her upcoming YA novel set in the same time period.