I am delighted to be able to share with you this interview I did with Sandra Nickel about her new non-fiction picture book, The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe. Let's get to it. Tell us about your new book. The Stuff Between the Stars is about Vera Rubin, who revolutionized the worlds of physics and astronomy with her discovery of dark matter. In the words of the New York Times, she ushered in a "Copernican-scale change in cosmic consciousness." The jacket flap copy describes The Stuff Between the Stars this way: Before Vera Rubin discovered most of the universe, she was a girl who loved the night sky. She watched the Big Dipper circle the North Star. And when her eyelids grew heavy, she dreamed not about what she had seen, but about what she had not seen. She dreamed about the mysteries between the stars. As Vera grew older, she tried to uncover those mysteries. At her first conference, the male astronomers said her ideas were “outlandish.” They said they were “ridiculous.” Vera didn’t like their harsh words, pushing her away. So she started studying far away galaxies no one else was interested in. The youngest wheeled like pinwheels. The oldest spun with their arms closed tight. And every single one showed that between the stars, there is stuff we cannot see. Scientists before Vera had suspected this “dark matter” made up most of the universe. But no one had been able to show it was there. No one, until Vera. What inspired you when working on this project? Vera Rubin, at every turn. Here was a woman who changed the way we see the universe. Yet, she delighted in each small discovery. She still joined students and family to look at stars from telescopes set up in yards. She raised a happy family. She made time for young scientists, especially female scientists trying to find their way through a male-dominated field. Vera Rubin was exceptional in that she embodied immense achievement as well as immense generosity of spirit. She did all this, even though her own path was fraught. She was one of very few women in astronomy at the time and was not treated well by the male astronomers. Nevertheless, she trailblazed her own path, and by a beautiful twist of fate, it was that path that led to the discovery of dark matter. Tell us about the creative process for this book. I started off by reading things Vera herself had written--articles, speeches, her book. I then read transcripts of oral histories she gave. Next, I moved on to what others wrote about her, dark matter and gravity. After I had finished all that, I started putting words on paper and sharing with my SCBWI critique group. There was a lot of revising and simplifying, some even after the first round of submissions. The part that I enjoyed the most was developing the parallel imagery between Vera's work and Vera's life. The language of stars and galaxies is rich, and I loved working with it. Oh, and I almost forgot, my very last step was to ask Megan Donahue, the President of the American Astronomical Society, if she would read to make sure that my science was right. She very generously agreed--because of Vera, I'm sure. Vera is hugely respected among astronomers. Did you encounter anything unexpected while working on this project? My favorite discovery was that Vera put her children on her CV. Before her awards and impressive degrees, she listed her three sons and one daughter, all of whom had PhDs in mathematics or science. It was also fun discovering a polaroid photo of Vera at the White House with First Lady Hillary Clinton. Vera went there on several occasions to talk about science. Hillary had autographed the photo: To Vera Rubin with best wishes--and "cosmic" respect. Now for something completely different! A large hold-all sling bag or a small purse plus a backpack for your day-to-day travels, Why? Ha! I've gone both routes. I used to be a hold-all sling bag type. But then I had a frozen shoulder a couple of years back and decided it was time to be kinder to my body. Enter: a super nifty retro-looking black leather backpack my husband gave me for my birthday. I'm in love with it, and it goes everywhere with me. The small purse? I never use it. For me, it's either a bit of cash stuffed in a pocket or the backpack. Nothing in between. Wow, it's so wonderful to hear about how much Vera Rubin discovered about our universe and all in the face of ridicule from her peers. Thank you, Sandra for letting us in on a bit of your creative journey. We wish you all the best for the launch of this remarkable new book. Sandra Yoong-Chia Bio - Sandra Nickel I have three picture books coming out in 2020 and 2021: Nacho’s Nachos: The Story Behind the World’s Favorite Snack, The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe, and Breaking Through the Clouds: The Sometimes Turbulent Life of Meteorologist Joanne Simpson. More stories are coming, but I can’t tell you about them quite yet. I hold an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and have presented workshops on writing for children and young adults throughout Europe and the United States. My poetry can be found in SCOOP magazine. I am honored to be the two-time winner of the Katherine Paterson Prize for picture books and a finalist for the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction for Younger Readers.
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It is always exciting when someone has a debut book and today that someone is Louise Gooding. Please help me welcome Louise as she comes to speak to us about her debut, non-fiction, middle grade book, entitled "Just Like Me". Tell us about your new book. The world is full of people who are a little different in one way or another. Our uniqueness is what makes us stand out and makes us who we are. You can't judge someone on something you can see or even on the things you can not see. We are all special. We are all unique. We are all 'different; not less'. A collection of true stories about inspiring people and famous figures from around the world, all with something that makes them physically or neurologically diverse. Reflective of our diverse society, this anthology features figures including Harriet Tubman, Sudha Chandran, Warwick Davies, Greta Thunberg, Stephen Hawking, Usain Bolt and Selena Gomez. What inspired you when working on this project? I was actually at the 2019 Europolitan when I came up with the idea for this book. A speaker at the conference had said something about the importance of making space for own-voice authors. This got me thinking about the seeming lack of authentic disability and neurodivergent representation in children's literature. As a neurodivergent person, with children who also identified as neurodivergent (one who had also lived with chronic pain for 8 years), I had already spent time looking for role models, and stories that my children could relate to, and hopefully help lift their self esteem. Being different, doesn't make you any less of a person. Being different is ok. Maybe this could be something that other children needed too. The more I dived into this project, the more amazing people I found. This book isn't just for people who are neurologically or physically diverse. It's for people from all over the world. People who have faced bullying. People who have overcome obstacles. People who dreamed of becoming a dancer, scientists, inventors, singers, actors and more. People who were interested in finding people who are, in one way or another, just like them. Tell us about the creative process for this book. My style of writing is possibly as chaotic as the rest of me can be at times. I'll be honest, I am not naturally an organised person and I am easily distracted (unmedicated ADHD!). This made my research method rather interesting, and there is a tonne of research to be done when writing a non-fiction book. One minute I'd be reading about Ewoks (Warwick Davies) and the next minute, another exciting snippet of information would pop up and I'd find myself watching a TED talk referring to tap dancing on Broadway (Maysoon Zayid). Lots and lots of note taking, saving information, screen shots, printing and filing was needed to keep a track of everything! (All while my brain was trying to distract me with other new and exciting book ideas - quite a normal occurrence for most writers I'm sure!). Of course, it all came together and in a relatively short space of time too. The offer for my book proposal came in early February 2020, the work started at the end of February and finally, it went to print at the end of October. I worked closely with my editor from Studio Press. It has been a wonderful debut experience. Communication has been great and we openly discussed what we both thought was needed from a book like this. Together we found some fantastic illustrators for Just Like Me. (One from a call for diverse illustrators posted on the SCBWI British Isles Facebook page). Throughout the whole process, putting Just Like Me together, I have been included, given the chance to add my feedback on artwork, layouts, and of course, answering any questions I had about the process. Did you encounter anything unexpected while working on this project? As Just Like Me is my debut, everything is completely new to me. Luckily, as I have said, my publishers were super helpful and great with communication. I expressed early on in the project that I would love if we could try and find illustrators who identified as being neurodivergent or disabled themselves, or came from other diverse and/or marginalised groups. This proved extremely challenging because, of course, there hasn't ever been a need for illustrators to state this to their agents, or on their private profiles. But I'm hopeful that as the call for more diverse representation, from writers and illustrators alike, becomes stronger, this is something that could be addressed. Now for something completely different! A visit to the North Pole or a visit to the Sahara Desert, Why? Ok this is tough, because I am not sure how much there is to see at either place. I imagine both are quite sparse. I would probably have to go with the Sahara Desert because I'm not really a fan of the cold, although I have heard it still gets quite cold there at night but I imagine the North Pole to be even colder. The only way you could convince me to pick the North Pole would be to guarantee me a visit to Santa's Village, but seen as no one really knows where his workshop is, as it's hidden away from regular folk like you and me, it may not be worth the risk. Thank you, Louise, for taking time to give us an insight into your intriguing journey with your debut non-fiction book. It's great to know that you had such a positive experience. We wish you all the best with your book launch! Sandra Yoong-Chia Bio - Louise Gooding Louise Gooding is an English children’s writer who lives in Switzerland with her partner and three children. Always a keen reader and writer with an overactive imagination, it was no surprise that after many years working in children’s entertainment, Louise channelled her energy and creativity into writing children’s books. Louise loves the inquisitive nature of children and wanted to discuss topics such as mental health, neurodiversity and disability. Having a neurodiverse family herself, Louise is keen to help increase the visibility of disabled, and neurologically different people in children’s literature. Just Like Me is Louise’s debut book. |
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