 Aunt Millicent does not
allow music in her house, so when Sparkle hears a beautiful song coming from
the forest, she wants to find out where it is coming from. Following a
songbird, she discovers something magical that will change her life forever. Thank you
very much for this interview, Samantha, and congratulations on the publication
of Sparkle’s Song. What inspired you
to write this story? I was asked to come up with a story involving music
and inspired by my passion for it. I believe first time writers tend to write
what they know about, and being that I am one, I decided to examine my own love
of music. Music is ultimately what helped me get through my father’s passing,
so I knew I could write an honest story about a little girl who suffered a
loss, and found relief in music. Sparkle’s journey is a magical version of my
own. Have you
always enjoyed writing? I have always loved writing. When I was a child I
came up with dozens of short stories. Mostly about animals. And I drew all the
pictures with my crayons and markers. My imagination was a dear friend to me as
a child and I wrote all my ideas down. I am not sure I wanted to be an author
though. It was just something I liked to do. What were
some of your favourite books to read as a child? What made the stories so
compelling? I loved the more mysterious and dare I say darker
books as a child. Anything with ghosts or monsters. I still do actually. I
loved “The Witches” by Ronald Dahl. “Where the Wild Things Are.” I quite
enjoyed the “Goosebumps” series by
R.L Stine. I even attempted to read a Stephen King book once, but realized I
was in over my head and it was too scary. I watched his movies though. Probably
shouldn’t have done that!
Can you tell us about your path to publication? I actually am very lucky and grateful to say that
the opportunity really came to me. I am actually a documentary filmmaker –
making films on the importance of music. My first film “Map the Music” is really what opened up the door to my becoming
published.  Maverick Books saw the film, and recognizing
how much music meant to me, he sent me a message introducing himself and asking
if I might want to come up with a music related story and see what happens. Of
course I jumped at the opportunity, and when I sent it over to him, I think we
were both surprised at how nicely it came out. I am not sure of the exact
timeline, but maybe over the course of a year or so we did several edits and
then found our amazing illustrator Mariana. It was an amazing process to see
the story and the characters come to life both through the written word and
through her beautiful artwork. What has been
the most exciting part of the publication process?
Well, I was doing a bit of filming over in the UK
last November, and I got to meet Steve in person. He was so lovely and it was
very exciting talking to him and truly realizing that I actually wrote a book
that people would see. But the day a finished copy arrived in the mail for me
was very special. Holding this beautiful book in my hands that we had all
worked so hard on was amazing. It became real.  Definitely writing the manuscript. I think I had
the first draft written in a day because it was kind of a stream of
consciousness. At that point I had no idea what I was doing so I just went with
whatever popped into my head and figured I could sort it out later. I just
wanted to find the heart of the story. I wasn’t thinking about how it would
translate to a certain age group or if parents would like it at that point, so
it was easier to get it out. Going through the editing process taught me so
much about how much goes into a children’s book. How involved
were you in the transformation of Sparkle’s
Song from manuscript to picture book?
I feel that Steve and everyone at Maverick really
took charge of transforming Sparkle’s
Song from manuscript to picture book. They all worked so hard, and sent me
samples along the way. I did of course bounce ideas around with them after I
had a look at the samples, but really they were so amazing at making it all
happen.  I gave Steve a breakdown of how I had envisioned
Sparkle. I tried my best to explain her essence and who I thought she was. I
also explained how I thought the personality of each instrument differed from
one another. He then sent me samples from three different illustrators. They
were all wonderful, but Mariana’s work truly blew me away. When I saw her
drawing of Sparkle I thought “That’s her. She found her.” Once I saw her work
we let her run with it, and I really can’t say enough how impressed I am with
her. We absolutely found the best illustrator to bring Sparkle and her world to
life. What do you
hope readers will take away from Sparkle’s
Song? I would like readers (and especially children) to
take away the feeling that sometimes dark or tragic things will happen in our
lives, but there is always a way to find the light. Are you
working on any new stories? I actually am not working on any books at the
moment, as I am working on my second film. It’s about the connection between
music and love, and why so many songs are written about it. I am about five
months in on it, and am hoping to have it out by late this year or early next
year. Can you offer
a piece of advice for writers trying to get their picture books published?
Well considering I had the wonderful fortune of
having this opportunity come to me, I am probably not the best person to ask
for advice on that. I can tell you how to go about working on getting your
documentary out into the world though, ha. Overall I would say, if you have an
idea you are passionate about, let nothing get in your way. If you make a
mistake – learn from it. If you are scared – keep going. Don’t just say you
want to do something… actually do it. Even if it takes longer than expected.
And do it because you love it.
Thank you very much for such an insightful interview Samantha. To find out more about Sparkle’s
Song visit the Maverick Books website. To keep up-to-date with Samantha's work, check out her Map The Music website and Facebook page.
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Samantha Hale |
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