KidLit Alert!
Introducing Jen Steiner
Agented Author
Debut Coming Soon!
Oh, it's exciting to meet Jen - a recently agented author putting finishing touches on her debut middle-grade novel - September Lyles: Activated Coming out...SOON!!!!
Let's cheer her on to success.
Jen, you have a great photo on your website (see above). Did you have them done professionally? Do you recommend this to other writers? If so, Why?
The story behind all my photos is one of marital bliss meets ‘I-told-you-so.’ My husband does freelance photography on the side. He always pushes me to take pictures and...
I always resist like his camera’s a dental drill.
However, in this case, he was right. A good photo offers a glance into its subject’s personality and invites readers in. It works for me, but I recommend writers present their most authentic selves, and that might be a cartoon sketch.
We connected via Instagram. Do you meet many writers and readers this way? How has social media helped you sell books or gained your readership?
I’m a fish flopping around on the shore when it comes to social media, but I’m trying to find my footing. I’ve met a few writers on Instagram and Twitter. My most important takeaway as a pre-published author is the insight social media provides into our industry.
According to your website, you are working on a Middle-Grade novel….what, so far, has been the biggest hurdle you’ve had to climb in writing this book?
The biggest hurdle to my writing is sidelining the practical side of my personality and letting the imaginative side run free. I have to be OK with the wildest things happening to my middle-grade hero. She’s 11, messy, not all her decisions are well thought-out, she steps into pitfalls the size of the Grand Canyon, and I’m okay with that.
So, primarily, I have to get out of my own way in my creative process. Secondly, I have to carve out time to write, which means convincing my kids that imaginary friends talking in my head is more important than the fact that one of them is bludgeoning the other.
Why do you write? Why choose writing over any other creative art?
I love to write.
Always have. When I was young, writing gave me confidence. In 2nd grade, I won $20 in our class’s writing competition for a story about MacGyver and thought, wow, my friends actually liked it. A couple years later, my mom helped me get a story copyrighted to stick it to my 4th-grade teacher, who’d accused me of plagiarism because she didn’t think I was capable of writing it. Can you imagine what that COULD have done to me?
Thankfully, her arrogance fueled instead of deterred me.
Also, I can’t draw, and I’m tone deaf. I do, however, crochet a mean scarf.
What do you eat for breakfast? Do you exercise? How do you stay healthy so you can be creative?
I start most days with exercise and a smoothie my kid's claim tastes like a mash-up of grass and dirt (it’s very beet forward). Athletics have always been a huge part of my identity. I was an All-American athlete in high school and college and still love running. Some of my best ideas hit me during ping pong or hiking.
What is a typical writing day look like for you? Do you have a critique group? Do you write alone or with someone?
A typical day of writing doesn’t start for me until 11:00am, after I’ve got the kids out the door, worked out, and run errands. Then I stare at my computer screen, willing words to appear! When that doesn’t work, I start writing scenes, not necessarily in chronological or story order. Some days are super productive. Others, meh.
I do have a critique group (shout out to Totally Teal), who are a wonderful set of eyes. Day-to-day writing’s very lonely, but Mom, my kids, and my husband are sounding boards every step of the way.
In this order: SCBWI workshops/conferences, Bird by Bird (A. Lamott), and critique groups have been crucial in moving me from I-think-I-can to I’m-actually-doing-it!
Who is your biggest cheerleader? Any mentors in your past who have helped you become a writer?
My mom, husband, and kids are my biggest cheerleaders. Mom encourages the unsure 10-year-old Jennifer, still unsure of herself. My husband cultivates space and opportunity for me to be creative.
Through SCBWI, I’ve met several authors who are so generous with their time and advice. Terry Catasus Jennings (The Little House of Hope) has latched ahold of me and decided, that as long as she has breath in her body, I will not fail in storytelling. She’s been a help at every turn. Michelle Coles’ (Black Was the Ink), a colleague from law school, advice, and transparency about her experience with publication have been invaluable.
What one word best describes you?
Mouthy.
The only guaranteed no is not trying!
Who in your family is the easiest to beat at ping pong?
I plead the Fifth, but they know who they are.
You have kids - what do they think about you writing for kids? How have they helped?
My kids think my writing is as cool as their nine- and ten-year-old psyches allow.
My oldest (I call her my Creative Consultant) is my harshest critic, but she’s read so much middle-grade that I respect her opinion. Both kids keep me honest with pop-culture references and not making my characters sound old. Nothing beats the feeling when reading over my shoulder, my kiddos giggle at something I wrote.
That’s their biggest help – confidence boosting.
What words of advice would you give to your younger self about writing? Editing? Agents?
Keep writing. Be receptive to critique. Read.
You wrote an article about boys being disproportionately disciplined in school titled: Parent Talk: How I'm Building an A-Team for My Child. Why did you write this, and has it helped? What can we do to balance it?
I wrote this article to address head-on the anxiety I feel as a black mom sending my children to school in a country that’s traditionally over-punished black and brown babies. The article maps out how I approach partnering with teachers and administration and being of service to the school community, while simultaneously advocating on my children’s behalf.
If you’ve ever met one, you know children aren’t perfect (neither are their adult counterparts). They make mistakes. Imagine being held to a different standard because of race? It’s stifling, teaching harsh lessons about the eggshells society expects black and brown children to tippytoe around in order to be accepted.
I’m grateful for efforts like those made at my children’s school to be aware of implicit bias, create and enact plans to combat it, and assess results, with a willingness to amend where necessary. Less analytically, they’re intentional about showing and receiving grace.
That level of institutional introspection benefits all our students.
When will your debut novel come out? What’s the premise? Why should we buy it?
Set in small-town Alabama,
September Lyles: Activated,
is the story of September, an 11-year-old biracial black girl from the Virginia suburbs, who finds herself caught in the intersection of superpowers, social justice, and super awkwardness when she gains powers she can’t control, is harassed at a camp she doesn’t want to attend and hunted by the town’s tyrannical villain, who’s set on harvesting her powers. All this happens against the backdrop of September witnessing the impact of systemic racism on the town and her family.
There’s a little September in all of us, trying to understand how we fit in the arc of history. Feeling overwhelmed, underqualified, and insignificant when facing obstacles, old and new, is completely relatable. Through found friends (and an obnoxious older brother), purpose, and courage, September’s story reminds readers that courage, conviction, and a dose of magic can change a whole lot of what hurt us in the past.
As for a publication date, I’m still on the front end of this journey, but I’m hopeful I can share September’s story with the world soon.
My agent, Heather Cashman, is the bomb.com because she believes in my storytelling, is patient with my greenness, and offers just the right balance of you-can-do-it with publishing industry pragmatism. We chose each other because Heather believes in and wants to represent stories like mine, and I trust her experience and commitment to developing a long-term, thriving partnership.
Wow, Jen! I am impressed. Thank you for sharing your road to publication and your amazing family and us. And, even though you beat them all at ping-pong, they are your biggest fans.
We look forward to your debut novel - September Lyles: Activated coming soon.
If you would like to contact Jen and cheer her on to debut...please visit her at:
Until Next Time...
Write~on
Angie
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