Shelley Pearsall was born in Ohio and has worked as a public school teacher and museum historian. She has written several collections of stories about Ohio history and lore, a resource book on the Underground Railroad, scripts and short stories for Cleveland area museums, and was the Playwright in Residence for Cleveland’s Bicentennial celebration. Shelley won the 2003 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and was nominated for many other awards for her first book, Trouble Don't Last. Her second novel, Crooked River, came out in August. Both novels were published by Random House (Alfred A. Knopf). See more about Shelley at: http://www.shelleypearsall.com.

1. You have worked in many different historical settings including Colonial Williamsburg. What kinds of insights for your writing have you gleaned from these experiences?
Working at living history sites like Hale Farm &Village and Colonial Williamsburg gave me so many of the "small details" for my historical writing – the "flies on the pies" ideas I often say! I experienced the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, etc. of the past in these sites (and yes, even saw the flies on the pies...). In fact, historical sites are the source for many of the sensory details I use in my novels.

2. Have you worked with historical documents when researching your books and stories?
Yes, lots! Primary sources or artifacts (letters, slave reward ads, interviews, autobiographies, diaries, cookbooks, early photographs, etc.) were THE major source of material for the novel Trouble Don't Last. Most of the events/stories in the novel come from an original source -- as well as the sayings like "no use singing spirituals to a dead mule", and all but two of the character names are also from historical sources. In my second novel, Crooked River, I used an unpublished Ohio diary from 1814 as a source for pioneer information. I also used Indian trial transcripts from the 1850's and Native American songs, artifacts, photographs, interviews, etc.

3. Do you have any tips for using original sources?
a.) I believe that original documents are ESSENTIAL to writing excellent historical fiction. Original documents & materials give you the small details, insights, and viewpoints which can help you bring your time period and characters to life. I find ideas for many of my plot twists and turns in these materials, too.
b.) Original documents are very easy to find -- especially now that so many are available on the internet. (For instance, I was able to read an original Thomas Jefferson letter on-line.) The Ohio memory website is an excellent source for old letters, documents, etc. from Ohio -- you can search by topic -- ie. Underground Railroad -- preview material in original form, or sometimes transcribed form. The Library of Congress collection is also an outstanding place to start research.
c.) If you begin by reading some secondary sources to familiarize yourself with the major events/aspects of a particular time period, you will usually have a good base for understanding the material found in original sources.
d.) Don't be afraid to ask an expert -- call a history museum, history professor, research department, etc. when you have questions about what you are reading in a particular source.

4. Do you have any special record keeping strategies to track all the interesting stories you come across when you research?
I use a lot of record keeping during the process of researching a novel. For each novel, I have a notebook of research categories -- such as historical language (one of my favorite categories), historical food, clothing, artifacts, names -- people and places, etc. After I have developed a comprehensive set of material about a time period, I try to memorize and "absorb" it as much as possible -- I find that it interrupts the writing process too much to keep returning to the research books, so that's why I try to know it very well before I start. Of course, a lot of research comes up during and after writing a novel, too.

5. Your descriptive passages in Trouble Don’t Last throw the reader right into the thick of the story of two runaway slaves. I heard a rumor you crawled around in cornfields at night to get the right words to bring a feeling of authenticity to your writing. Is this true?
During my research for Trouble Don't Last, I did crawl into a cornfield and take notes about how it felt -- although it wasn't at night. However, I did spend a night in a historic house on the Ohio River --in order to experience what the Ohio River might have looked like at night to runaways. I also stood on the spot where slave auctions were once held in a Kentucky town and traveled all the way to a settlement in Chatham, Canada where freed slaves and runaways once lived.

6. How did your collections of short stories and biographies come about?
My collections of short stories and biographies were written during the early to mid-1990's. They were commissioned by an arts organization called Eden Valley Enterprises, which still provides historical programs, entertainment, and storytelling for schools, libraries, and museums today.

7. You have written scripts for various venues. What is it about scriptwriting that appeals to you?
During my tenure as the Playwright in Residence for Cleveland's Bicentennial I wrote a play for middle schools called Artemus Ward & Me which featured some of the great characters from NE Ohio history. I also wrote historical scripts and one-woman shows for an Ohio group called Eden Valley Enterprises. Some of the scripts included an Underground RR play for kids, a Margaret Bourke White performance and a 2-person play called "Letters in the Margins" about a woman who was a POW during World War II. In scriptwriting, I enjoy the challenge of communicating information through conversation – and working with the pacing of scenes. The "pacing" needed in script-writing has also been very helpful to my novel-writing, I've found.

8. Any new plays on the horizon?
Currently, I'm not doing any script or playwriting -- although one of my long-term "dreams" is to do a full-length play for the stage.

9. What prompted you to write your second novel, Crooked River?
Crooked River was inspired by a true story from Cleveland's past -- the captivity and murder trial of a Chippewa man in 1812. It's a story that I've been thinking about for a long time -- mostly because it raised so many questions in my mind. Why did the settlers decide to hold a trial in the first place? Was it possible -- with an all-white jury -- for the Chippewa man to get a fair trial? Did the trial have anything to do with the approaching war? Why was the man held captive in a settler's cabin? What might have been the feelings and reactions of the people inside that cabin? Did anybody believe he was innocent? I'm often drawn to stories from the past which raise questions -- especially questions of fairness and justice, so that's why I wrote Crooked River. However, it was a very challenging project and time period to research -- almost two years of work!

10. What new works can we look forward to from the pen of Shelley Pearsall?
I have a contemporary novella coming out with Little, Brown & Co. late next year. I'm also working on two new books -- an Elvis story and a post-World War II book for Random House. With frequent author visits in the schools and writing workshops -- I'm definitely keeping busy.

P.S. I'd just like to thank SCBWI for helping me to get my start as an author with all of the wonderful materials and resources they provide!