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A Few Interviews

Coshocton Natives Find Common Ground with Writing
7:21 AM, Dec. 1, 2011

Coshocton Tribune
Coshocton, Ohio 43812

Written by
Leonard Hayhurst
Staff Writer

COSHOCTON -- Two childhood friends from Coshocton now are sharing their lives and their literary talents with the world.
Coshocton natives Catherine Parrish, who writes as C.J. Heck, and Robert Cosmar got reacquainted two years ago during a multi-class reunion for
graduates of Coshocton High School that Cosmar organized. Although they were two years apart in school, they said they can't really remember talking
or seeing each other since they were young kids, almost 50 years before.
"We were often thrown together as a group of kids," Parrish said. "(Cosmar) said he didn't remember me at all in high school, although I'm sure we
passed in the halls, but he said 'my last memory of you as a child is you sitting beside me in the back seat of my parents' car. I was about 9 years old,
and you were about 11. I remember looking over and seeing those blues eyes and thinking 'oh my God, it's a girl.'" He said he never forgot those blues
eyes.

Parrish received an email from Cosmar sent by another classmate about the reunion and from there, they began writing back and forth. A rekindled
friendship flamed into love, and Cosmar eventually moved from Coshocton to be with Parrish in DuBois, Pa.

"We're motivating and stimulating each other to grow and more fully express who we are," Cosmar said. "We do what we love to do, which is basically
write and share stories."

Cosmar knew Parrish was a children's author, and the two often would talk about writing and literature. Shortly after getting together, Cosmar
mentioned he had written three short unpublished stories about 20 years ago. Parrish said she asked to read them and was impressed immediately
by their quality.

"I demanded, 'Why haven't you published these? They're wonderful!'  He answered, 'Who'd want to read those? They're so old,'" Parrish recalled.  
Parrish offered encouragement and editing, which resulted in Cosmar publishing his first book, "Trilogy of Awareness" in September, 2011.

Cosmar describes the book as one meant to inspire imaginations. One story deals with a banished alien prince; another tells of a middle-aged man,
lost in life, who is whisked to a parallel dimension, and the final tale is about the ghost of Jimi Hendrix aiding young guitarists at a music camp near
Woodstock.

"My stories are allegories. On one level, they're like your 'Twilight Zone,' Rod Serling-type stories. They present a platform that's very obvious and
understandable that applies to life in general, maybe your situation or someone else's situation, but somewhere in it, it takes you to a place of
awareness and that's why it's called 'Trilogy of Awareness,'" he said.

Parrish has published four books since 2000, the most recent being a collection of short stories and flash fiction entitled "Bits and Pieces from a
Writer's Soul" and "Me Too! Preschool Poetry," both in September. Her newest book "Barking Spiders 2," a sequel to her "Barking Spiders and Other
Such Stuff (2000)," has been nominated for the 2011 Cybils Children's Book Award in the poetry category.

Parrish said much of what she writes about comes from her children or from her childhood in Coshocton. Although she can't remember her teacher's
name, Parrish never will forget how a fourth-grade teacher at Washington Elementary School encouraged her to write poetry as part of the class. She
said she and Cosmar still have friends and family in the Coshocton area and visit often.

"We had such a wonderful childhood living (in Coshocton)," Parrish said. "We could go anywhere. It's not like today where (parents) are afraid to let their
kids go out alone. I remember walking down Main Street up to Elm Street by the hospital and (Cosmar) remembers the same thing. We'd play outside
until dark, and nobody worried about us. We loved Coshocton growing up. It's such a wonderful, wonderful town."

llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com; (740) 295-3417





November 2011, Interview with Katie Matthews:


Hello CJ,
My name is Katie and I am writing and illustrating a children's book for a school project. I would like to have a short 6 question interview with you about
writing children's literature through email or over the phone. If you are interested please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your
time.

Sincerely,
Katie

Dear Katie,
I would be honored to do an interview for your school project. Thank you for asking me.
Warmest regards,
CJ

Thank you CJ. Feel free to answer these questions at your convenience:

Interview:

First of all, I want to thank you for thinking of me for your interview. I will answer your questions as completely and honestly as I can. I hope it helps with
your assignment.

1. What are the essential components of a children's book?

The essential components of a children's book depend primarily on what kind of book it is. From my experience, with three poetry books for children, I've
learned never to talk down to them and, above all else, to be honest and straightforward. A child can spot a phony a mile away. They're just smaller
versions of us, the grownups, with a few more years on top.

To write for children, the most important thing to do first is get back in touch with our own inner child. We can't write what we, as grownups, think
children want to read. We have to ask ourselves, what did my inner child fear, love, or hate? What did my inner child wish she could do or be more than
anything in the world? Write what you know and who knows YOU best, but that inner child, long buried, but still there down inside? Once you tap into that
inner child, you've found a valuable resource -- unique writing ideas that belong to no one else.

2. Do you try to incorporate life lessons into your children's stories. Why or why not?

In a subtle way, yes, I suppose I do, but only because I learned a valuable lesson myself -- remember, we're writing about things we know. Everything
that happens to us teaches us something -- something we'll do again because it made us feel good, or something we'll never do again, because it
didn't. I'm very against the lessons some writers put in a story which are blatant, in your face, and only serve to turn a child off so completely, they don't
even finish reading the book. Not everything I write has a lesson, but if I learned a lesson from it, it will show up in the poem. I'll give you an example of a
subtle lesson:

Children of the Rainbow - (from "Barking Spiders 2")

I talked to grammy yesterday
about a girl I know.
Her skin's a different color,
but I like her, even though

the other children tease her
and it makes her run away,
because she looks so different
and they won't let her play.

I think she looks just beautiful.
Her skin is chocolate brown.
She's the nicest girl I've ever met.
I'm sad to see her frown.

Grammy held me on her lap
and told me she was proud.
She said that's what's important
and then my gram allowed

that children are God's rainbow,
black and yellow, red and white.
The colors aren't what matter,
what does, is down inside.

I asked her if that's what it means
when we say we're colorblind ...
She told me that it should mean that
in all hearts and in all minds.

3. Do you alter your writing style to fit specific age groups, if so how?

Yes, I think I do. Again, I tap into the memory of my inner child at different ages. When I write for preschool age children, for example, I ask, what was
important to me at that age? What frightened me? What was so scary that I couldn't sleep at night? What caused me to roll on the floor holding my sides
because it was so funny? It's pretty much the same when I write for older children -- I ask that inner child what was important to me, as a sixth grader?

I also write from a child's point of view, sometimes male, sometimes female, depending on who I got the idea for the poem from. From things children
say during my school visits, I've found that it allows them to identify more easily with my poetry. A couple of examples again. "Caterpillar" is a poem for a
preschooler, "Mama, Am I Pretty?" is one for the 5th-6th grade child.

Mama, Am I Pretty? - (from "Barking Spiders 2")

Mama, am I pretty?
"Why do you ask?" She said.
She held me gently to her
and kissed me lightly on my head.

"Your clothes are neatly ironed,
your face and hands are clean.
You're such a sweet child, little one,
what does your question mean?

Mama, am I pretty?
I really need to know.
Am I pretty like the other girls
at school where we all go?

"You have a very loving heart.
You're gentle, kind and good.
Your friends all think the world of you,
anybody would."

But Mama, am I pretty?
Sometimes kids point or stare.
I've got these real thick glasses
that I wish I didn't wear.

Mama said my time would come,
be patient and I'd see.
The things that really matter
were there, inside of me.

Mama! AM I PRETTY?
I didn't mean to shout ...
Then mama smiled and told me,
"Sweetheart, yes, inside and out."

With each, I tried to address things particular to each age I was writing for.

4. What tips would you give a first time children's book author?

Wow, that's so subjective! I guess it really depends on what your focus is and what you really want. If you want to be published, you'd better want it so
bad you can taste it! It's a lot of work, takes more patience that you can ever imagine, and you can't take rejection to heart and give up -- unless you're
extremely lucky, you're going to get a lot of rejection letters.

The first thing I would advise a writer to do is go to their local bookstore and pick up a copy of "Children's Authors and Illustrators Market" by Writers
Digest Books. A new one comes out annually in January or February. That's your new Bible. Every publishing company is in there, i.e., what they're
looking for, how to submit your manuscript, where and who to send it, whether you need an agent to submit, whether they take simultaneous
submissions ... I think you get the gist of what I'm saying. If you get a rejection, don't get discouraged. Double your efforts and send five more
manuscripts out! Just remember one very important thing: It only takes one "yes" and you're a published author! Have faith in your work. Believe in
yourself. Be persistent!

5. What have you learned about children's literature from your own writing experiences?

For myself, personally, I've learned, there's a lot, I mean a HUGE amount, of competition in the children's book market. Even if it's a wonderful book,
parents, teachers and children have to know it's "out there". If you want your book to sell, you have to promote yourself and your book, over and above
what any publisher can, or will, do for you. Ask friends, relatives, fellow members of writing communities, to read and review your book (it's customary to
give free review copies to all who agree to write a review). Reviews say to the world, "Look how many people loved this book. You'll love it, too!"

Other things you can do to promote yourself and the book: create a website, do book signings, book fairs, donate books to school libraries, do free
readings for children who are patients in the hospital, do interviews for newspaper and radio stations, put together a press kit with a bio and newspaper
clippings, anything having to do with your book and you. As I said, competition is fierce ... it's a hard market to break into. You have to be different. Make
yourself and your book stand out.

When my first book was published, I created unique things which I included with each book sold: bookmarks, signed bookplates for the inside cover of
my book, special color stickers of the funny spiders on my book for children to wear on their shirt, a doorknob sign which said on one side, "Shhhh,
barking spiders sleeping." On the other side, "Danger! Enter at your own risk!" The last item I created was a small cardboard treasure box for children to
put-together, again with the funny barking spider on it -- all of the items had my name, address, phone, email, website URL, plus the words: "For school
visits, poetry workshops, fees, references, and availability, please contact me."

6. Where do you get your inspiration and what led you to writing children's books?

The biggest influence for me, as a writer of children's books, was my mother. When my three daughters were small, I used to make up stories and
poems for them at bedtime. Some, they wanted to hear over and over again.  I was telling them a bedtime story one evening when my parents were
visiting. Mama said to me, "Honey, you should write children's books. Those stories you tell the girls are wonderful!"

At the time, I was neck-high in preschools, soccer, swimming and dance lessons, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning. I had no time for
children's books!  But I couldn't stop thinking about new stories and poems. I eventually buckled and wrote them down in notebooks.

As to my inspiration, that was easy. I'm from a large family, oldest of six children. Something was always going on in my house and it was magic, a time
of wonderment for me. My inner child never forgot those days. After I had children, the inspiration became a blend of past and present, and then later,
when grandchildren came, the writing field grew even broader! But I can get ideas for writing from children anywhere, even during school visits from the
questions children ask, "CJ, do you have a poem about unicorns? How about skeletons?"

I hope this has helped you. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to write or call. Again, thank you for asking me to be a part of your
assignment.
My very warmest regards,
CJ

Dear CJ,
Great answers! I really like the poems you attached as well. This has been extremely helpful and it was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again.
-Katie
Caterpillar - (from "Me Too! Preschool Poetry")

Fuzzy caterpillar
with your million-jillion feet,
how do you know which foot should go
when you're walking on that leaf?

You make it look so easy,
right-left-right, the way you do.  
Sometimes, MY feet get tangled up
and I have only two ...

A couple of other interviews: