NF PB KidLit ALERT!
L.E. Carmichael
Welcome, Readers, Writers, and Artists,
I’m beyond excited to have L.E. Carmichael—aka Lindsey—on Teazurs Blog today! Not only are her nonfiction children's books award-winning and absolutely fantastic, but she’s also a new writer friend.
L.E. Carmichael is a force of curiosity—a scientist-storyteller who weaves together the wonders of the natural world with the depth of mythology and folklore. I had the pleasure of meeting Lindsey during our first residency at VCFA, where her generosity, wisdom, and kindness—especially her willingness to share her knowledge—quickly became a steady presence in our cohort. Whether she’s demystifying DNA fingerprinting, exploring Arctic ecosystems, or unearthing forgotten histories, Lindsey brings an infectious enthusiasm to everything she touches.
In this interview, we dive into her journey as a science writer, her transition into fiction, and the powerful intersection of fact and story.
Hello, Lindsey!
Welcome, and thank you for being on Teazurs Blog!
We met during our first wild, intense, and fun residency at VCFA. What was your favorite experience there?
Sitting on the shuttle to campus one morning, listening to the people around me talk about art and ideas, and suddenly knowing that I was in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. That click of rightness has been a rare thing in my life, and I’m so incredibly grateful to have found it with you, my fellow “firsties,” and the wider VCFA community.
VCFA is known for its intense but transformative mentorships. What’s the best advice you’ve received from your advisor so far? Anything else you want to share about your experience in this program?
My advisor is Mary Quattlebaum, and in her first batch of notes on my work, she encouraged me to be open and vulnerable on the page. That’s not easy for me: I was that kid who was always told to “stop being so sensitive,” so I’ve gotten pretty good at keeping a lid on my emotions. And so far, all my books are nonfiction, which means I’m sharing facts, not my deep dark secrets!
But emotional vulnerability is how humans connect with each other, so if I want to become a better writer, I have to learn how to open up. It’s scary, but the best things always are.
Aw, thank you! Many years ago, Andy Boyles—science editor at Highlights for Children—gave me a piece of advice I’ve never forgotten.
Any topic can be made accessible for kids, he said, but
accessible is not the same as interesting.
So that’s the first thing I do—look for a topic that makes the kid inside of me go “Wow, that’s cool!” Then it’s just a question of figuring out what kids in my target age group already know, and what new context and connections I will need to provide for them.
How did you know you could write in a way kids would respond to, and did you take any classes that helped you polish your writing for kids?
I didn’t know! In fact, my early attempts at children’s writing were dry and dreadful. I have a PhD in wildlife genetics, which meant I spent 11 years in university learning how to write for experts. It took me a long time to retrain my voice and rediscover what kids are interested in.
Spoiler: it’s not the stuff that academics are interested in!
Early on, I took correspondence courses through the Institute of Children’s Literature, where my advisor, Paula Morrow, helped me find my way. I also read a LOT of kid lit, which anyone can do at the library for free (go, libraries!).
I’m fortunate enough to have my own home office, with a giant U-shaped desk, a fainting couch that only my husband ever sits on, and an entire case of unread books. Sidenote: I once tried to finish every unread book in my house before buying new ones—I got the pile down to ten, panicked, and immediately started buying more. VCFA homework has not helped my book dragon tendencies!
What does your writing/research organization look like? Lots of sticky notes? A research application? Are you a plotter? A pantser? A mixture? Or do you have your own way of formatting and writing your ideas?
Have you ever found yourself, at midnight the night before the paper was due, frantically searching through the indexes of all your research texts because you were positive you’d read a thing somewhere but couldn’t remember where?
That feeling is why I no longer research and write on paper. That, plus the fact that my current nonfiction project includes 469 sources (and counting), and it would be absolutely impossible to track that much information without software.
I use two database programs: Endnote, which holds all my sources and also formats my bibliographies for me; and Scrivener, which holds all of my notes, my outlines, and my drafts. Both programs can be customized for any type of project, and both are fully searchable. For any authors who want to learn my software secrets, I’m developing an on-demand webinar that will teach you how to do this, too. Contact me through my website, and I’ll email you when it drops!
You write both nonfiction and fiction—does your process differ between the two? Which comes more naturally to you?
Nonfiction is definitely easier for me, due to both personality and practice. I’m a linear thinker who loves research, and after trial and error on 23 books, I’ve developed a pretty solid process for nonfiction. Though every book does offer its own unique challenges!
Fiction is a new genre for me, so I’m still feeling my way into that process. I do know one thing, though: every book I write, no matter how fantastical, will be grounded in fact. For me, information is inspiration, and I want my books to feel real, even when I’m making stuff up.
What’s the wildest or most surprising fact you’ve ever uncovered in your research that completely changed how you saw something?
I have always had trouble with this question because...
I collect weird facts like
a crow collects shiny things
—and every fact is my favourite! But recently, I read a book on women’s medicine that was originally written in the 12th century. More than one “remedy” in that Medieval manuscript is being actively promoted by the modern wellness industry. In many ways, Western society has made a lot less progress than we like to think.
How much say do you have about what your NF books look like? Do you get to choose the photographer or the illustrator? Do you supply photos or artwork? In other words, what does that process look like for those out here wanting to get into the NF Kids book market?
Unless the author is also an illustrator (and I’m not), illustrators—and book titles—are chosen by the publishing house. Authors can make suggestions, but the experts get the final say.
That said, in a nonfiction book, it’s important that the images be just as accurate as the text. As the researcher, I often supply photo references or scientific names of animals so we can make sure that the illustrator draws the right species of fox! And I get to review the rough illustrations to make sure they are accurate. For example, in Polar, Byron Eggenschwiler had drawn puffin chicks with colorful beaks, but when I double-checked, I found out that birds of that age still have grey beaks! So, Byron updated the art to match.
Science and folklore are both ways of understanding how the world works and why people do what they do. Both approaches seek order in the chaos, make meaning out of data, and provide access to awe and wonder. After all, the more we know our world, the more enchanted it appears—there’s a reason David Attenborough’s documentaries are so popular!
Another example: When I was small, I occasionally woke up in the middle of the night feeling a weight on my chest that made it impossible to breathe. Cultures around the world attribute this sensation to malevolent supernatural creatures or even alien abduction! To a scientist, that same sensation is caused by medical conditions like sleep paralysis. Those are two kinds stories we’ve created in response to the same experience: one that’s factual, and one that feels true to the person having the experience. Isn’t that the coolest thing?
Ooh, interesting question! A lot of my favourite fairy tales include animals, and that’s a natural point of connection with science. Ask me again after I’ve been at VCFA for a while…
If you could travel through time and talk with any scientist or storyteller in history, who would it be, and what would you ask them?
The very first writer whose name we still know is Enheduanna: a woman who was born more than 4000 years ago. I’d probably be too intimidated to ask her anything!
You recently won The Lane Anderson Award—congrats! What was that moment like, and how did it feel to have your work recognized in such a big way?
Thank you so much! In 2015, I was lucky enough to win the award for my book Fuzzy Forensics
I’m so incredibly grateful that people are finding something in Polar that they connect with.
You’re incredibly supportive of your VCFA cohort on Discord. What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received, and what advice do you find yourself giving the most?
Every writer needs a community that can offer cheerleading and reality checks, as required! As for advice?
Persistence matters more than talent.
You will get knocked down, and you will have to figure out how to get back up and keep getting better at what you do.
It also really helps if your spouse has health insurance. Just saying.
I want to learn everything I can about writing fiction. My original goal was YA novels, but so far, I’ve written three picture book manuscripts, and to my total astonishment, I’m about to attempt poetry! I’m really interested in the intersections of folklore and children’s literature: fairy tale retellings, urban legends, supernatural critters, and even just customs like carving Jack-o’-Lanters on Halloween!
What is the overall theme in your writing for kids?
I’m always striving to go beyond “what”
and deeper into “how” and “why.”
When kids read my books, I want them to feel seen: I want them to know that whatever weird thing they’ve been teased for liking, someone else cared enough about it to write a whole book. Speaking from experience, that kind of validation can be life-changing.
You've been on the published-author side of writing for a while. Is there anything that you wish the industry would change or do better?
Publishing is made of people, and people are never perfect. The need for diverse books, for critical thinking over AI, and for courage in the face of censorship is greater than it’s ever been. And the process of publishing a book takes for-ev-er, especially as people in the industry (like the rest of us) grapple with the ongoing strain of everything that’s happened over the last few years.
But children’s book people are the very best people, and the work we do matters. It changes us, and our readers, and the world. I remind myself of that when everything starts to feel a little too hard.
In your experience, how do children use the back end information in a book? How do teachers use them for classes? And what is the best information to add to non-fiction books to help both students and teachers?
Readers engage with nonfiction very differently than we do with fiction. Sure, some of us (raises hand!) read the book from front to back. But sometimes we use the table of contents or the index to zero in on a specific piece of info we’re looking for. And sometimes we flip through the book until an image catches our eye and pulls us in.
As a professional researcher, I HATE nonfiction that doesn’t include an index, so that’s the bare minimum requirement for any book I publish! Glossaries help young readers absorb new vocabulary. And for teachers, I always include something that explains how the book was researched. Factual accuracy is everything, and if teachers know I’m doing my due diligence, they’ll feel more confident using my books to support their work in the classroom.
Oh, so many, but I’ll limit myself to two! First, science is not a collection of facts: it’s a system for discovering new facts.
Second, it’s not true that scientists can’t make up their minds; it’s true that science is self-correcting. We learn something new, we realize where we’d previously gone wrong, and we get one step closer to the truth.
As humans, we all love simple answers,
but reality is really complicated.
Science helps us sort through that complexity, finding the patterns among apparent contradictions.
If a young reader came up to you and said, ‘I want to be a scientist AND a writer like you,’ what would you tell them?
DO IT. We need more of both!
In fact, scientists ARE writers. The last step in the scientific method is sharing your discoveries with other people, and writing is one of the ways we do that!
Plus, if you know about science, you will never run out of things to write about.
Where will you be next so readers can meet you and support you? A conference? A book signing? A Zoom meetup? What's the best way my readers can support you?
Check whether your local school and public libraries carries my books, and if not—ask them to! If you’d like to buy your own copies, they’re available online or, even better, from your local independent bookstore.
And if you’re an educator looking for a guest speaker, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me through my website, www.lecarmichael.ca where I also post news about events that are open to the public.
If I gave you a megaphone and the whole world would listen, what is the one sentence you would shout?
Be open to new ideas,
because there is always more to learn!
Is there anything else you'd love us to know about you? Any books coming out? Any news?
My first nonfiction history book for kids is coming out in 2026!! It’s a true passion project, and I cannot wait until it’s out in the world. Stay tuned for updates on that.
Thank you so much for introducing me to your readers, Angie, and I’ll see you at the next VCFA residency!
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Ahhhh…I'm so happy to have met you, Lindsey! It’s an honor to have you on Teazurs Blog, and I’m so grateful for your wisdom, humor, and the incredible insights you’ve shared with my readers.
Your writing reminds us all that knowledge and wonder go hand in hand. Whether you're uncovering the mysteries of the natural world or crafting stories that challenge us to think deeper, your work is a testament to the power of curiosity.
And when you shared how you want kids to feel seen through your books, it hit home for me. My 21-year-old son has always been fascinated by bugs—he spent his childhood saving insects from kids who saw them as nothing more than something to crush. This fall, he's heading to Appalachian State, and when he discovered they have a Bug Club, his excitement was palpable. That club, just like your books, is proof that someone out there cares enough about the things that make us unique to celebrate them. Knowing that made me, as his mom, incredibly happy.
Thank you, Lindsey, for your generosity and brilliance and for inspiring writers, scientists, and dreamers!
And to you readers, keep an eye out for Lindsey's upcoming nonfiction history book in 2026, and in the meantime, explore her incredible collection of books that bring science to life in the most engaging ways.
And if you’d like to support Lindsey on her writing journey, you can find her here: https://www.lecarmichael.ca/
Find me on Instagram.
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