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MEET ELIZABETH SPURR
by Bonnie O'Brian

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

Elizabeth Spurr

From the time I got my first pencil box I knew I loved to write. I had been leaving the library in Glendale, CA every Saturday afternoon with a stack of books, which I hoped would last the week. Wouldn’t it be fine to write one?

Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

I carried around my pencil box (complete with notepad and oversized eraser), which I called my “manuscript kit.” From this box came my first books, the shabbily illustrated ADVENTURES OF SECRET SAM. I was eight years old. At ten, I started a neighborhood newspaper called “The Ducky Doings”, which I sold for a dime. Now I was a paid publisher.

When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career?

In high school I chose the Journalism elective and became an editor on the school newspaper. I graduated from the University of California in Journalism, and, not daring to dream that I could publish a book, took a job as woman’s editor on a small daily newspaper. Sad to say, I hated it! Now what? Advertising became my next career. As a copywriter for a large New York agency, I had the privilege of working with some of the country’s most talented art directors and illustrators. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was my training for picture book writing: to write concisely; think visually.

How did your life change when you got married? and had children? Did it make it easier or harder to find time to write?

I loved advertising. I loved it so much, I married a fellow copywriter, and began producing young writers at a furious pace—five in seven years. I was widowed at the age of 41, with children 2 to 9, which delayed my writing ambitions for a number of years. (That’s my excuse, and not a valid one. Anyone who truly wants to write will do so under the most trying of circumstances.) When my children reached the terrible teens, I escaped by taking writing courses and attending writing conferences. I studied many genres: script-writing, women’s fiction, mysteries, romances. And finally, children’s books. I was encouraged to write for children after attending Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference, where I won an award for best children’s book. I found a list of children’s agents, submitted my work to one and sold my first picture book a year later. MRS. MINETTA’S CAR POOL (Atheneum) came out in 1985, a whole thirty-five years after college graduation. My advice to young writers—-don’t delay that career.

Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you find one easier than the other?

Since that time I have published about a book a year, mostly picture books. I prefer writing fiction; non-fiction is too close to the ads and brochures I wrote for a living. I enjoy pulling a story straight from my imagination. When my stories need research, I make up the facts as I go along, and do my research later. It’s surprising how often my guesswork is correct!

Do you do other types of writing - for example, educational, nonfiction, magazine work?

When I am writing a novel, I often take a break to write a picture book. Picture books are my treat, like a small, exquisite dessert after a substantial meal. Although I enjoy all writing for children of all ages, I especially enjoy writing humor for the very young.

Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?

I don’t keep set hours. Once I start a project it stays with me, whether I’m doing housework, walking on the beach, or driving on the freeway. (I miss a lot of turn-offs.) But I make sure to be seated in front of my computer for a substantial part of every day. Not a chore; this is where I want to be!

When is your next book going to be in book stores?

My new picture book, PUMPKIN HILL (Holiday House) will be released in September 2006, following last year’s very successful HALLOWEEN SKYRIDE, also from Holiday House. Another picture book, A CAT NAMED HATTIE (Abrams) is awaiting its publication date. Currently, I am finishing two middle grade novels.

When you do school visits, what question do children ask you most?

On School visits, the question most frequently asked (after “How old are you?”) is “Where do you get your ideas? I answer “from Everywhere.” I cannot get through the day without a dozen story ideas teasing my brain. For instance, on my morning walk I saw a neighbor walking a big, ugly, potbelly pig. By afternoon that pig had become the adorable PIG NAMED PERRIER (Hyperion), the toast of Hollywood cocktail parties.

What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?

When I visit schools, I like to encourage young writers to go after their dream at an early age, (instead of waiting like I did.) But, more important, I try to show, by reading samples of my stories or by playing games, what fun reading can be. It’s important that children learn to read. But more important is learning the love of reading. For books add an invaluable dimension, at any age, to every reader’s life.

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

One of my most gratifying experiences came in the form of an email, from the mother of an autistic child, age 11. He had always hated to read until he found my middle-grade novel, SURFER DOG. He loved it, pored over it again and again, and from then on became an avid reader.