MG KidLit ALERT!
WORDS MATTER: The Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl and The White Rose Resistance releases September 3, 2025. (Pre-order here) It’s a 2025 Junior Library Guild choice, and it will also be released in Korean. As a non-fiction, fully illustrated novel in free verse, young people get a glimpse of what it was like to be in a society where the freedom of speech had been revoked. It also shows them that words truly do matter and live on long after we are gone.
My background.
I’m a bit of a late bloomer. Even though I started my writing career in college while getting a journalism degree, I subsequently worked as a writer, photographer, and eventually an editor for regional magazines and newspapers.
Then I had kids—four of them.
I put my career on hold until they were safely launched. I used that time to gather as much wisdom about life, people, and places as I possibly could. Most of all, I enjoyed being with these incredible humans I helped create. I often felt a little Dr. Frankenstein’ish watching them grow and change, sometimes into monsters and then back again. They taught me so much more than I ever taught them. They are the main reason I write for young people.
Prior to 1933, Berlin was the most liberal gay city in the world. Voting rights for women began in 1918. That’s two years before women in the U.S. could vote. And then—through propaganda, control of the media, and intentional divisiveness everything changed.
Where will you be next? Book signings, teaching, or attending a conference?
I’m planning a theatrical book launch for WORDS MATTER: THE STORY OF HANS AND SOPHIE SCHOLL on September 14, 2025. Anyone is welcome. I intend to honor educators and librarians with an author visit raffle, free swag and an opportunity to enjoy a couple of hours talking about history and the importance of words. I’m also featuring other authors who have written books about young people living in authoritarian regimes, racist societies, and books about kindness. Each attendee will receive one free raffle ticket to win these author-signed books. There will be food and beverages served as well. I’m grateful to have received a grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to cover the expenses of this book launch.
You're also a co-regional advisor for SCBWI. Tell us about this role. What do you do? Why did you take it on? How has it helped your writing and writer connections?
I am—for the state of Michigan. I had been asked to be one prior to attending the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) but declined. I hadn’t been published, and there was too much I didn’t yet know about the craft of writing. I had been a long-time volunteer, and I really loved planning and organizing conferences.
Several years after graduating and having my first book traditionally published, I was approached again. This time, I said yes, and I joined the brilliant Jodi McKay in sharing the role. A great deal has changed since I first joined SCBWI. Due to the pandemic, our capacity to hold multi-day conferences has diminished. Our one-day in-person Spring conference required us to set up a waitlist. People were that excited to attend an in-person event again. Don’t get me wrong, the webinars we hold are fabulous, but there is something energetic about being in the same room with other creators. I’m sure you’ve felt it when you are on campus for your VCFA residencies.
I love this idea.
It would have to be a garden mobile made of living plant material like the bricks manufactured in the Netherlands. There would be plastic-eating mushrooms—also currently being studied. But that’s just the beginning. It would be a vehicle celebrating science and the magic in our imaginations. I believe it was Albert Einstein that said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
I wish I could take credit for The Topsy-Turvy Bus, but it’s a real bus that runs on veggie oil. There are two of them in existence that I know of. The first was created by Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream fame. He commissioned the first one to drive around the country to protest the amount of money spent on military versus social programs in government spending. He donated the bus to a sustainability non-profit. The Detroit chapter of the organization soon commissioned their own bus. Wren Beaulier-Hack, the former Michigan Director of Hazon, used the bus to deliver food to food banks and soil and seeds to anyone interested in a home garden. That’s when I got involved. She picked me up in the bus to make deliveries with her during the pandemic.
I wasn’t thrilled. I’ve always been sensitive to diesel bus fumes, and I feared this experience wasn’t going to be any different. When I noticed the scent of French fries rather than the stinky bus smell coming from the exhaust, I was sold. The Topsy-Turvy Bus had turned my opinion of riding on buses on its head. I couldn’t wait to write about it. The bus had also been used as a classroom on wheels, teaching kids about sustainability.
You care about our planet and conservation. If you could give every kid on the planet one magical tool to help heal, what would it be and why?
I would give them the power to use their imaginations and come up with ways to provide the things we need without destroying and polluting the world we live in, and the power to bring those ideas into existence. I recently sent out a picture book where the main character is forced to do exactly that.
What is your greatest wish for the people living on the Earth?
Given the current state of affairs, my greatest wish is to live in a world where truth and words matters. Where people can trust their elected officials to work on their behalf rather than to fill their own pockets. I wish for a world where there are no wars. A world where the need of the masses outweighs the whims of the few. A world where religion and skin color add to the fabric of existence.
Now you’ve gotten me standing on my soapbox and wanting to scream at the top of my lungs. I know my wishes aren’t original, but I never thought we would be in this place again. I watched the Berlin Wall come down in 1989 and couldn’t help but be inspired, only to see the world plummet into division once again.
You love to walk amongst the trees. What's one unforgettable memory you have from those walks?
There are so many great memories. It’s where I met my husband, some of my closest friends, and where I spent a great part of the pandemic with Finn and the kindest group of women (and a couple of men) and their dogs. We affectionately called ourselves the Drinks with Dogs group. We met nearly every day, celebrated birthdays, complained about everything, and laughed a great deal.
The most magical moment I experienced was while sitting on a deck in Northern Michigan one spring morning. I was staring out at the barren trees, drinking coffee, lost in thought. When suddenly, the trees bestowed a magical gift on me. All the buds opened at once. It was surreal. If I hadn’t had a friend experiencing it with me, I would have thought I was hallucinating.
I’ve always been a bit of a tree hugger. There is something about being under the great green canopy that infuses everything with a gentle calm. One of my favorite places to write is a screened-in gazebo in the forest. I’m surrounded by trees, birds and even a few deer that terrorize Finn, my enormous Portuguese Water Dog, when he’s traipsing around outside. He loves being in the gazebo with me, sitting in a chair taunting the deer nearby.
There is never a shortage of Finn stories. I recently walked into the kitchen to find him fully standing on my kitchen table—all 85 pounds of him. He had found the honey pot. He shamelessly popped the lid and took the entire thing into the dining room and scurried under the table to lick it clean in privacy. I had visions of Winnie the Pooh from my childhood books.
Kids often tell me that they want to be writers when they grow up, but it's scary to try. You are not a great swimmer, and yet you put on a snorkel and head into the deep blue waters. How did you get over the fear of water and push through to be able to snorkel?
Using a snorkeling mask allows me to feel safe in the water. At first, I was still afraid, but after trying it many, many times, I found I could work through my fear.
It’s the same for writing. I have a group of trusted writer friends, and I’ve acquired the tools I need to feel safe putting my words on paper. It wasn’t always that way for me. I was afraid of exposing who I was. Afraid of being judged and condemned for my thoughts. And to be honest, I was afraid my words weren’t good enough.
How might kids do this with their words?
My advice would be to go for it. Jump in as if there are no mistakes and keep rewriting and learning. I’m still learning every single day, and I’m old. Trust yourself and find your people. That includes teachers, writing programs, and like-minded writers. People love to help others succeed. Sometimes asking for help makes all the difference. It has for me.
Punctuation is tricky, and you say you have a comma problem. Why did this comma problem not stop you from becoming a writer?
Oh, the dreaded comma! Nothing stops me when I make up my mind to do something. That’s especially true when dealing with something new or perceived as difficult. Nothing seems hard when you compare it to brain surgery.
What do you use to double-check your work? How did you overcome comma mistakes?
I started watching Comma Queen videos created by Mary Norris of the New Yorker. I also read everything I’ve written out loud. Then I let someone else read it out loud. This helps me test the rhythm and readability. I do this with picture books as well as novels.
What's the most surprising thing a student or one of your children has ever said about writing or your picture-book workshops?
My favorite surprise is when a young girl who looked exactly like one of the main characters approached me at a book signing. When we discovered she also had the same name as the main character, we both began squealing with joy. It was the best day ever!
You love to garden. If you could plant one magical seed that would grow into anything in your writing life, what would it sprout?
I would love a garden sprouting stories and characters that could easily be harvested. The garden would be guarded by gnomes. I do so love gnomes.
In fact, I have a lovely gnome picture book out on my submission list.
You love to stay in castles because you have always wished to be a Queen. What is the most magical experience you've had in a castle? What about the scariest one? Did you find anything hidden behind those giant stone walls?
I’ve been to many castles and stayed overnight in a few. It’s much easier than you may think and reasonably priced. Small castles exist all over Europe. One of my favorites is a famous castle in Bavaria called Neuschwanstein, where King Ludwig II briefly lived beginning in 1884. You can’t stay there, but it’s fascinating to visit. There were actual telephones installed in 1884, and there is a man-made Gratto and lake created by a set designer named August Dirigl. It’s where the king enjoyed being rowed in a gold canoe surrounded by colored lights and a waterfall.
I’ve never had anything scary happen to me in a castle, yet. But the castles have sparked many a story I have yet to tell.
That’s too easy. Read books, travel the world, and stop fighting with each other—war benefits no one.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring children's book writers, what would it be?
I’m going to be on repeat here.
Read widely,
travel the world and
write everything down.
What projects are you working on now? What inspiration have you had? Where are you in your next project?
I’m working on multiple projects, mostly young adult and middle grade novels. I love science, history, and intrigue, which show up in my work. I recently completed a YA murder mystery/romance, graphic novel set at an alternate school for at-risk kids. I love it, but I’m having a tough time selling it without an agent since I’m not an illustrator.
Fingers crossed on that one.
What would you suggest if my readers could do just one thing to improve the world?
Listen to one another. Not only to the words, but also to the underlying emotions.
“I hear you” is one of the
most powerful
statements
one can make.
It’s also something I work on when faced with people who disagree with what I see from my vantage point.
We met at my first MFA residency for VCFA. You were a GA there and very helpful to all the students, especially us firsties. What's it like being a GA for VCFA? What does that mean and entail?
I thoroughly enjoyed serving as a Grad Assistant for your first residency. I volunteered to be part of VCFA’s recent move to Cal Arts with a bit of skepticism. It had been a decade since I first set foot on the Vermont campus in Montpelier as a student, and I couldn’t imagine my MFA program located anywhere else.
My cohort, The Harried Plotters, connected on what felt like an almost cellular level, having been thrown together in below 20-degree weather in an ancient dorm with inconsistent heat, communal bathrooms, and unpredictable showers.
Our first residency was a bitterly cold and snowy January. Our second was a brutally hot, sweaty mess with no air-conditioning—nothing like the hotel accommodations you had at your first residency. Granted, L.A. was experiencing the worst wildfires it had ever endured, but still. We like to think our experience built character.
What was it like being at residency as a graduate? What did you learn about your writing? What did you learn about community?
Great questions. I’m not sure how to answer the question about my own writing. I mostly focused on the program, the changes, the new faculty, and the students. I was also lucky enough to be with fellow Harried Plotters, JennBailey (yes, her name needs to be written as one word) and Suma Subramaniam. (I also interviewed Suma here.) Both are incredible authors, friends, and advocates for other creators.
What I learned about the new location, administration, and faculty is really what I want to talk about.
Yes, the location is now in sunny California and not in Vermont, where a writer’s fortitude was tested daily. But the excitement and enthusiasm from individual cohorts are the same. I also really enjoyed the presentations from the faculty, many of whom I hadn’t met previously. The interconnection between the different programs was an added bonus. Seeing the graphic design exhibits displayed on campus and hearing the incredible talent from the music composition students inspired so many creative thoughts and storylines in my head. CalArts carries its own inspirations. I sort of loved being at the creative center of Pixar. I even snuck a picture with some friends in front of the infamous A113 room.
One thing I want to note is the post-COVID need for remote access. It would have been a serious struggle at Vermont’s campus.
How has your VCFA MFA helped you with your writing? Has it helped you with publication? If so, how, and do you recommend VCFA?
I applied to VCFA because I did not know what I didn’t know. Don’t get me wrong--I still don’t know everything. But now I’m connected to a brilliant group of people.
I have a little story about my middle-grade novel in verse coming out this Fall that answers your question.
I sent it out to agents and editors and received numerous champagne rejections. I was ready to put it in a drawer. I reached out to a VCFA adviser. One that I had not had during my time at VCFA.
I needed advice.
I took a chance.
What I learned was that a story where the main characters are beheaded in the end is not appropriate for a picture book audience.
Who knew?
The answer to that is easy.
Pretty much everyone, but me!
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Wow, Anita! I'm laughing out loud in my basement as I proofread this for the first time...and then again for the second and third times. Thank you for this fantastic, fun, and heart-forward interview!!!
And writers-- If you’re reading this and wondering if your story is too weird, too hard, too big, or too small—take Anita’s advice: write it anyway. Let the trees speak, let the bus smell like French fries, let your commas wobble. The world needs your voice, your magic, your version of the truth. Anita’s words remind us that writing is resistance, reverence, and joy. May this interview be a spark for your next brave beginning. It's definitely one for mine!!!
If you'd like to support Anita on her writing journey check out her social media accounts and website:
Instagram: anitapazner
Facebook: Anita Fitch Pazner
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if you would like to be interviewed--
reach out @ angazur @ gmail.com
or message me on Instagram @angie_azur_writer
Write~on,
Angie Azur
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