A prolific writer, with over 350 books published, Dandi Daley Mackall seems to possess the gift of non-stop creativity. Dandi has published in many genres and for many age groups. She has written for magazines, been a freelance editor, columnist a radio talk show host, and has managed to find time to teach at conferences and workshops across the country.

You have had the good fortune to publish many books. Does waiting for publishers to respond to submitted manuscripts get any easier? Do you have any tips to get over the waiting jitters?
No! I think it may get harder because you know some of these people and even consider them friends (until they reject your latest masterpiece, of course). So you think they'd get right to your stuff, right? Not always the case.

There's only one remedy to the waiting jitters: move on! The idea is to have so many irons in that publishing fire that you forget what's out there (although you have it all safely recorded somewhere).

Can you share a difficult rejection story and how you got past it?
I could share about a zillion, but space is limited. Some have unhappy endings-like a murder mystery I wrote that racked up so many rejections I stopped counting, and eventually stopped submitting. (It's probably on one of those 5-inch floppy disks out in the shed, if anyone's interested...).

Others have happy endings-like the sequel I wrote to ART LINKLETTER’S KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS. Art told me no half-a-dozen times before I got a yes. And of course, there's my current, multiply-rejected picture-book manuscript, ROCKIN' GRANNY, which surely must get a happy ending one of these days, don't you think? I do obsess, but usually have so many things going that I eventually get over it.

How do book ideas come to you?
Thank heavens, they come in many, many ways (one of which, thankfully, is heaven). LOVE RULES, my new YA novel, started in my mind when I was reminiscing about my own university days. THE EVE OF POLAND, coming out before too long from Harcourt, is historical fiction, with all details coming from the time I spent in Poland as a missionary behind the Iron Curtain (yes, my life is now historical fiction). But I get more ideas that have no apparent link to my checkered past (except perhaps in the subconscious?). I just sold a middle-grade novel to Dutton/Penguin-Putnam, called LARGER-THAN-LIFE LARA. And hopefully, a YA to Dutton, THE VOICES OF MARY JANE. Both books had main characters who woke me in the middle of the night to tell me their stories. It was like I could hear them talking. Wish they all came like that! Other books come from ideas that just seem like they'd make cute books. I wrote A GAGGLE OF GEESE when I heard that a group of crows was called a "murder." And sometimes publishers I've worked with will encourage me to write a certain book-a Christmas picture book or a middle-grade series or an Easter book. So it's a bit more calculated. But don't you feel like your book already exists somewhere, and you're trying to unravel it onto paper? That's where we get our surprises: Ah, so that's it! She really doesn't like him. Or, Now I get it. She refuses to go to Kalamazoo. That book and those characters have lives of their own.

What draws you to write religious material for children?
I guess it's kind of the same thing that draws me to write non-religious material for children. The stories either show up one way or the other. I have found that children are a lot more open about God and spiritual things than most adults. They don't know that God talk is supposed to make them nervous. I doubt that my readers think much about the difference between my Tyndale House "religious" books and my Simon and Schuster books, for example. I refuse to preach in any book. But if my point of view character wrestles with God stuff and makes discoveries, then good for her! (Or him.) I think we write out of our own souls, and I spend a good deal of time with God; so it's natural that God is part of my writing, I guess.

Do you have separate approaches to writing spiritual and secular material?
Ah-Well, it may look like I answered that one already. But there's more. I'd like to leave it that I just write and see what it turns out. And most of the time, that's the way it is. But the truth is that certain religious publishing houses may want more, and certain mainstream houses may want none at all. I wrote OFF TO BETHLEHEM! for HarperCollins. It's a fast-paced rhyming story of the first Christmas, the whole story of the birth of Jesus. I received no complaints... except that they made me change my dedication, which was "To Jesus, because it's your birthday."

Which do you find it easier to develop: plot or characters? Why?
The first 10 or 15 years of my writing career, I would have said that characters were harder. I was plotting juvenile mysteries and writing series fiction. So I had to have well-developed plots. The last 10 years, and maybe especially, the last 5 years, I've fallen in love with characters. If a great character comes to live in my head, I tend not to care where he or she takes me. Then when I'm almost done, I start worrying whether I've built in enough plot. We all know it takes lots of both!

What do you find is the most exciting part of writing for children?
I love my job (except for that rejection part... and deadlines... and if sales are disappointing... or reviews are bad). I love the early stages when a story could go anywhere or nowhere. I often begin novels by convincing myself that it's just a "play day" and I won't finish anything I start today. I love when you're writing as fast as you can because you see the story unfolding in your head and can't wait to see if it's going to work to climax. I love rewriting, probably as much as writing. What a cool thing that you can only make it better. I love picture books and playing with the sounds of words and their rhythm. And I love, love, love getting fan mail from kids who are actually reading things I wrote. If you get a minute, check out www.winniethehorsegentler.com and you'll see one of the most exciting parts of writing. I get so much mail from horse-loving kids who read WINNIE THE HORSE GENTLER books. What a treat! Oh-and I love when you get that call (or email) from your agent or editor-and it's a real, live sale! Kinda like winning the lottery.

Which children's author has influenced your writing?
I've always loved C.S. Lewis. As a kid, I read all the MISTY and FLICKA and horse books too, plus mysteries. I read so many wonderful children's authors now that I'm afraid to mention any and leave others out. But every book you read influences you in some way, I think.

What is the story behind your most recently published book? Where did your idea come from and how did it develop as you wrote?
This has been a great year. I'm so grateful. Several books came out at the same time-Jan/Feb. I already mentioned LOVE RULES, a YA from Tyndale House, which was reviewed as an adult book by ROMANTIC TIMES and got their "Top Pick" for this Feb.-go figure. [www.areuthirsty.com/loverules]. I love working with point of view, and this book was kind of an experiment. I tell the story through the eyes of Mattie Mays... except when she goes on dates (and she goes on quite a string of them!). Then I switch and let readers inside the head of Mattie's date. The poor guy usually believes he's doing quite well. But when we go back inside Mattie's head, the reader sees the truth.

Also just out: MY FIRST VERSES Series-3 titles for Standard Publishing. 20 years ago (let's see-I must have been 9 at the time...) they published my first children's book, and I've stayed in touch. A year ago, the idea for this series of picture books came during a discussion I had with the editor there. Each book takes one Bible verse or passage (the love chapter, fruit of the spirit, Psalm 23) and puts it into fun, child experiences that explain the verse on a deep level, but in rhyme and whimsy. If my brain's as big as a basketball/ The computer breaks-I'm the one you call/ Without love, I am nothing but a know-it-all. Love. The very best thing is love!

BLESSINGS COME IN SHAPES and MANY-COLORED BLESSINGS, Tyndale House-I'd done several LITTLE BLESSINGS books with them (32-page board books). Elena Kucharik, the creator of the CARE BEARS, is my illustrator on the series. THE LEGEND OF OHIO - Sleeping Bear Press, not quite out. I trolled the Internet for an original Ohio Native American legend and couldn't find one. But I did discover a "Keeper of Old Things" for the Algonquin, and I was given the outline of an oral tradition, which I turned into a legend.

Do you have any sage advice about breaking into the business for those of us who are yet unpublished?
I don't know how sage anything I say is. But I do think you need to write more. (I think I can say that to all because we all need to write more.) Don't rush anything you're working on, but don't stop once you've finished something. Move on. Write more. Besides increasing your odds of publication, you'll improve as a writer. The best school of writing is to write, right? I apologize if I haven't said anything you don't already know, guys. But John 13:17 says, "You know these things. Blessed are you if you do it." So, do it!

You can find more information about Dandi on her website: www.dandibooks.com. More details about her books can be found on her publishers’ websites: www.winniethehorsegentler.com; www.degreesofguilt.com; www.degreesofbetrayal.com www.areuthirsty.com/loverules.

Barbara S. Huff writes picture books and middle grade fiction. She teaches private cello lessons and is an assistant school librarian in Oberlin, Ohio. She can be contacted at: bhuff@oberlin.k12.oh.us

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