Judy Blume Interview Transcript . How do you come up with them? Most of the time the title comes at the end. Blubber and Freckle Juice were exceptions - I had the titles before I wrote these books. I always have trouble with titles for my books. I usually have no title until the editor has to present the book and calls me frantically, ? It's Me, Margaret, I just took the first line. With Then Again, Maybe I Won't, I took the last. With Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, I sent the editor a choice of about six titles. I had a list of 2. Blume In Love TrailerBlume In Love LeadSummer Sisters. The publisher chose, not me. Do you think of the plot first or the characters when you write a story? I almost always think of characters first. How do you come up with such great ideas for plots, like in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing? I'm really quite bad at coming up with plot ideas. I like to create characters and just see what will happen to them when I let them loose! What are some suggestions for good character development? Observe. Listen to how people talk to one another. A good writer is always a people watcher. What character is most like you? Sally J. Freedman is my most autobiographical character. She is the kind of child I was at nine and ten, when I was the most interesting. Where did you get the idea for the characters Fudge, Peter, and Tootsie? Fudge is based on my son, Larry, when he was a toddler. A very interesting child. Watch Pictures of Veronica Blume's Feet on wikiFeet - a free collaborative site featuring Celebrity-Feet pictures. It is Probably the largest celebrity feet database EVER!! In the Unlikely Event has 41,456 ratings and 5,283 reviews. The name brings a warmth to it as memories flood back. In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a. Books 381039851 Review: 'Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece 'The Sun Also Rises,' ' by Lesley M.M. In the Unlikely Event . In her highly anticipated new novel, Judy Blume, the New York Times # 1 best-selling author of Summer Sisters and of young. Hello, my name is Yvonne and I’m a London based photographer who loves photographing people. I specialise in the kind of photographs that have real meaning to the subject and their families, and that become part of their. The saga of Katherine's and Michael's love is a joyous one, filled with all the wonder of 'the first time.' They meet on New Year's Eve and become completely involved with each other. Peter and Tootsie are from my imagination. At least, I think they are. Judi what a cute pattern!!!!!Thanksso much for sharing it with us! I DEFINATELY will be making some of these! Best-selling author Judy Blume began writing books for children when her own children started preschool. Will you be adding books to the Fudge series? I have a seven- year- old grandson who MUST have another Fudge book and it MUST be dedicated to him. So, I am trying really hard to come up with another adventure for the Hatcher family. In fact, that's what I'm thinking about doing next. Have any of your books been made into movies? Fudge was made into a TV movie and then a series. It wasn't good but it wasn't terrible. I keep wanting to see really good adaptations, and this time I'm working with my son, so maybe it will work! How did you come up with characters' names in Freckle Juice and Fudge- a- Mania? Character names pop into my head. I've no idea where they come from. But since I've written so many books, I sometimes use the phone book for names, too. Did you want freckles when you were younger, like in Freckle Juice? No, I got the idea for Freckle Juice from my daughter, Randy. When she was small, she'd get into the bathtub at night and make a mess. She called this concoction Freckle Juice. It consisted of baby powder, shampoo, and anything else she could mix together. So I had to write a book with that title. That time I had a title first! I read your book Summer Sisters,and I wondered if you based Caitlin and Vix on characters from your life. No, the characters are purely fictitious. But I do have a best friend, and she's been my best friend since we were twelve. Are there any books you have written that you can really identify with? Oh, yes! I identify with all my characters while I'm writing about them. Then there are the characters most like me, and of course, I especially identify with them: Margaret, Sheila Tubman, Sally Freedman. Are you ever going to write an autobiography? I don't know. I can't see an autobiography in my future. But who knows what might happen. Why do you like to write about families? What else is there? No, really, I like families. I like all the drama about families, and we all come from families, don't we? What gives you ideas: people, places, things, or all of them? Ideas seem to come from everywhere - my life, everything I see, hear, and read, and most of all, from my imagination. I have a LOT of imagination. What gave you the idea to write Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret? Margaret is fiction, but based on the kind of twelve year old I was. Growing up, we did have a club like The PTKs. And Margaret's interests and concerns were similar to mine. I was small and thin when thin wasn't in. I was a late developer and was anxious to grow like my friends. Margaret was right from my own sixth grade experience. I wanted to tell the truth as I knew it. Are you going to write any more sequels to Just as Long as We're Together? I'd love to write Alison's story. Originally, I thought of a trilogy. But somehow I've been sidetracked. I even spent a month in Paris (not that it was hard!) to get a feel for how it could be if Alison visited her father there. How do you organize your thoughts before you write a novel? Do you write an outline? I keep a notebook and jot down everything that comes to mind about characters and places and anything else. That notebook is my security blanket. That way I never feel alone with a blank page or a blank screen. Do you write your books all at once or in fragments as you get ideas? I write one scene at a time. I keep a notebook before I start a book with everything I can think of about my characters, so that I'm never totally alone with a blank screen or page. Once I begin a book, I try to sit at my desk for two or three hours every morning. Do you prefer writing for children or for adults? I have no preference. It's just a question of whose story I'm telling. But if I could only write for one audience, I'd choose kids. Did you want to write when you were young? I never really thought of writing professionally. I never knew it was a possibility. I liked writing in school; I wrote for the school paper. I have always liked to make up stories. When you first started writing, did you have any doubts about whether you could do it? What kept you going? I was filled with doubts. At night I would think, I'll never get anything published. But in the morning I'd wake up and say I CAN do this. It's hard to deal with rejection, but if you write it's a fact of life. What was your first successful children's book? The first success was the first time I let go and just let it happen and that was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. How did you write before there were computers? I started on my old college typewriter. Then I bought my first electric typewriter when I sold my first book. Then I moved to a computer. But if you want to know the truth, I still get my best ideas scribbling with a pencil. How has your writing process changed over the years? In the beginning, I knew less and was more spontaneous. Now I think I understand how my process works, but in a way it's more difficult. What is your favorite part of the writing process? I'm a re- writer. The first draft is torture! Once I've written the first draft, I have the pieces to the puzzle, and I love to put it together and make it into a whole. I rewrite about five times. Though with Summer Sisters, I went through about 2. What do you do when you are not writing? When I'm not writing . I love going to the movies and to the theater and reading. My one regret is that I seem to have less and less time for just sitting and reading! I really miss that time to myself to get lost in a good book. Did you ever have an author that inspired your writing style? Oh, yes! I was so inspired by Beverly Cleary's funny and wonderful books. And also, Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy. Konigsberg's first book, Jennifer Hecate. And my favorite books from when I was young, the Betsy- Tacy books. What do you think makes a book good? Well, when I'm reading, I like to care about the characters. I like to know what's inside their heads. And when I'm writing, the same thing is true. For me, character is everything. I'm interested in people and how they cope and how they relate. Who were your heroes when you were a kid? That's an interesting question. I think, because I didn't know people with very exciting jobs or careers, my heroes - aside from my father, who was definitely my hero - were movie stars. They seemed to lead exciting lives. Also, I wanted to be a detective. Were there any teachers or other adults who inspired and encouraged you to become an author? I had a writing teacher when I was in my twenties and decided to take a course. At school I had an English teacher, Mr. Komishane, who encouraged and supported all of our creative work. But no one thought I should become a writer. That was my idea, and I didn't get it until I was grown. What were you like as a teenager? Oh, I'm not that crazy about the teenager I was. I much prefer the interesting person I was (to me, anyway) before I was a teen. As a teen, well, it was in the fifties, a very boring era. But as a ten year old I had a depth and curiosity that still interests me. Maybe that happens to all of us. We're too into being like everyone else. Too concerned about how we look to our peers when we're teens. What was your favorite childhood book? I loved Madeline when I was very young. Then I loved the Maud Hart Lovelace series about Betsy, Tacy, and Tib. I also liked the Oz series. Basically, I just loved to read. I read whatever I could find. My parents had shelves of books in our living room. What was the first book you ever wrote and/or published? The first book I ever wrote was called You, Mom, You?, which wasn't published. The first published book was The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo. Did you take any special classes before you started writing stories? I don't think writing classes necessarily help you become a writer, but I did take a course in writing at New York University, which was my alma mater. My teacher there gave me what every writer needs, support and encouragement. Did anyone ever try to discourage you from being a writer? Yes. My then- husband had a best friend who was an English major at college. What advice would you give to an aspiring young author? Keep writing! Don't let anyone ever discourage you. Just keep on going, because you can't help yourself. No one chooses to become a writer. You write because you can't not write. Do you like your job a lot? Why or why not? Let's put it this way: I like to make up stories and characters. Sometimes I think I just can't write another book. But then I wait a few months - like now - until I can't stand it anymore, and I really want to get back to my desk and get started on the next one. So, I guess I must like it.
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