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MEET MARILYN CRAM-DONAHUE
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Marilyn Cram-Donahue

I spent every summer at my grandparents’ beach house. I loved building sand castles and decorating them with seaweed bulbs. But the highlights of the visits were when the entire extended family descended on us every weekend. Many of the aunts and uncles loved to tell stories, and in the evenings I sat on the front porch listening. When other kids were hearing about THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD, I was enthralled by tales of the pioneers. The older storytellers in the family were only separated by a generation or two from people who actually traveled in wagon trains, and they spoke with such emotion and color that the stories seemed new no matter how many times I heard them. I loved the rhythm of their speech, their unique expressions, and I always protested when it was time for bed. I remember pulling the covers up to my chin and replaying the stories in my imagination.

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

I was quite ill when I was eight and had to spend three months in bed. My mother went to the library and brought home boxes filled with books. Someone donated a copy of A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES. I still have it. Through this book, I discovered that counterpane means a bedspread, and I used mine to make hills and valleys where little china animals lived. I made up dialogue for them, but in those early years I thought of it as “conversation.” In the meantime, my mother read to me, almost constantly. I remember that one story was about very poor children who lived on a houseboat and had to fish for their dinner. I thought that would be a fine thing to do. Much later, I devoured  the Oz books. Nancy Drew became my heroine, and Tarzan was my hero.

Was your first book accepted immediately? Or did you experience a number of rejections?

My first book was SUTTER’S SANDS, an adult gothic novel. It was paperback and had a picture on the cover of a young woman’s head against the backdrop of an old house. In the second printing, they changed it to a woman in a pink nightgown running across the sand. There was no pink nightgown in the book. Not knowing how difficult it was to get an agent, I simply sent my manuscript to one. She accepted the book and sold it. Looking back, I think I was very lucky. The rejections came later, when I began to write short stories for kids.

Where do you get your ideas?

I rarely get an idea when I try to think of one. They come unexpectedly, sometimes from a thing I see, or hear; sometimes from an usual expression. Often ideas come in the form of a title, and I work from there. Once I saw a house that had a crooked gate in the front yard and a kind of tower room at the top. Who could be living there? What would it be like for a child to stay there for the summer. A few more “what ifs” and THE CROOKED GATEcame to life.

If some of your fiction stories are factual, do you write about people that you have been interested in for a long time, perhaps since childhood?

Definitely. I think all of my characters start with at least a seed of truth. This is especially true in historical fiction. My great-grandmother walked all the way from Vermont to California when she was a little girl. The swaying of the wagons made her feel sick. That trip was the focus of STRAIGHT ALONG A CROOKED ROAD. In my recently completed book, MOONSTONE SUMMER, Angie is the focus of a situation that I remember happening when I was a child. A number of my characters are loosely based on people from my home town.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Always. I like to have something I can fall back on when I start to feel overwhelmed with a major project. I think working multiple tasks helps keep the writing juices flowing.

What are you working on now? When do you expect to start submitting it to publishers?

I just signed a two-book contract with E & E Publishing. I am working on A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS. The next book will be on nonfiction, and I am hoping for a third on historical fiction. The first book is well under way and should be finished by the first of the year. I really look forward to NOT having to submit it to publishers!

Has anyone ever written you a fan letter that you’d like to share?

A student once wrote and told me how much he had enjoyed my school visit. “I learned a lot about characters and stuff,” he wrote. “I hope you will come and visit us again and that you will be famous enough that your autograph will be worth something.” He signed the letter, then added a P.S. “I wrote to you because my teacher said we had to. What I really want to know is how old you are and how much money you make.” I save all the fan mail. Some of it is priceless.