Interviews with Shain Stodt
The KIDLIOMAGMAG Interview
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Q: How and when did your journey start as a writer?
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A. I’ve written for as long as I can remember. I actually wrote on my bedroom walls as a child and teenager because my thoughts felt so poignant. As if they needed to be embodied by words.
Q: When did you write your first story? Is it published or not?
A. My first published story was in my early thirties, in an online feminist magazine. I can’t remember its name, but I remember the story. It was about a bunch of boys who surrounded me on 42nd Street in its red-light heyday. They were trying to figure out if I was a girl or a transgender boy.
Q: Tell us something more about your books?
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A. The book series I’m working on now, The Sally Mitts Stories, conveys a wise innocence through its protagonist, Sally. It’s so refreshing. She’s sweet and funny and smart and you may notice I talk about her like she’s a real person. That is because I feel that, as a character, she independently asserts her identity! She’s like a daughter who makes me laugh and makes me proud, because she has such a good heart but she’s also very “human”.
In the first story, Sally Mitts Finds A Home (The Story Of A Shy Shelter Kitten) she loses her home and after adventures sinks to a low place, but then rises up to meet the major life challenge given to her.
As the Sally Mitts stories progress, her growth and adventures are wonderful. I have such a good time seeing where she leads me next. Sally And The Imagination Door is coming this fall, and Sally And The Timid Dragon during the holidays.
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Q: How did these stories and characters come to your mind?
A. My father and I had a magical moment before I fell asleep at night. He would read to me in his beautiful, expressive voice. Dad worked with children as a teacher and camp manager, and he never talked down to them. At a very young age, I heard the rhyme of Dr. Sues and the timeless poetry of Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. I remember quaking deliciously as Buck faced his nemesis, The Great White Dog, in Call Of The Wild.
It instilled a passion for learning about all aspects of life that I’ve always been grateful for. It also gifted me the ability to grasp essential reading and learning skills early on. Not to mention a wondrous appreciation for other cultures, and different points of view.
For that reason, I believe it enriches children to be read books for mixed-age levels, and I tend to write this way. Though age sometimes limits their comprehension of a subtle meaning here, or a long word there, the feeling and intent seeps in a child's consciousness to a surprising degree. Even with quite young children.
As I grew older, my childhood and adolescence were lonely. Books were where I found friends and role models. They were sanctuaries to take shelter in, where truth could be trusted and feelings were safe to feel. They nourished my mind and my heart. Opening a new book was pure magic, a doorway to a rich new world. I read fearlessly, and have always been glad that any book I was interested in was available to me without censure. I believe that children should be encouraged to explore their interests as individuals.
I hope The Sally Mitts stories embody this approach to writing. They are full of fun and humor and true-to-life experience, and they never talk down. Sally knows life is an adventure to be lived fully, as did we all when we were children.
Q: Do you want to leave any message for your readers?
A. Read out loud with your children. Share your thoughts and feelings about the books together. And I highly encourage acting stories out! It’s great fun and lets everyone really immerse themself in the core of the story.
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Sally Mitts Finds A Home: The Story of A Shy Shelter Kitten follows a sky little kitten who is accidentally left behind when her family moves and must find a way to survive. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Since I was a child I have been rescuing cats and kittens from the streets and shelters. I feel the suffering of abandoned animals acutely. And each one brought me so much happiness in return, with their love and their marvelous, unique personalities. But many had been traumatized. It took time, patience, and genuine commitment to win their trust.
When I wrote Sally Mitts Finds A Home, I wanted to show people that every animal, like every human being, comes with a formative backstory that we don’t know. And it’s important to approach them with compassion and humility.
The animals that people often bypass in shelters -the quiet ones, the seniors, the special needs animals - are so very deserving of love and attention, too. And they are often the most euphorically loving. I hope Sally Mitts's story encourages people to look beyond the surface when choosing animal companions and consider them.
What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?
That’s really a toss-up between when Sally discovers the wonders of a garden after a confined house life, and when she is happy in her new home.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children's book?
It helps children learn:
~How to cope with unexpected situations
~How to discern and trust good instincts
~To empathize with other’s experiences
~To understand the importance of adoption
Can you tell us more about what's in store for Sally Mitts and the direction of the second book?
The second book, Sally Mitts And The Land Of Imagination will be published on October 26, 2024. In it, Sally follows shoes who are walking along without any feet in them to a mysterious red door with the word IMAGINATION written over it. Inside the door, she meets fantastical creatures, paints the sky, meets a shirty mole, engages a fog monster, and has many adventures and challenges.
Our imaginations fire the dreams that we long to come true. And Sally discovers that you can do what you really want to if you follow those longings.
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