As you go the way of life,
you will see a great chasm.
Jump.
It is not as wide
as you think.
―Native American Proverb
Acclaimed
children's book author, speaker and educator BARBARA JEAN HICKS currently
teaches high school English online for Golden Valley Virtual Charter School,
based in Ventura, California. Her picture
books include the award winning
Jitterbug Jam: A Monster Tale, The Secret Life of Walter Kitty and
most recently Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli.
She has taught at the preschool, middle school and community college levels and
worked in an elementary school as author-in-residence, program
facilitator and parent educator. She has also written marketing copy and edited
manuscripts for numerous trade publishers.
Barbara lives in Oxnard, California in the home of Patches, a persnickety cat.
Everything I know about
writing, I learned from my cat.
Look, leap and learn. If you've ever had a cat in your life, you know
what I mean. My favorite cat, Miguel, was curious by nature. He had a nose for adventure,
leaping into the unknown like an old-world explorer, learning along the way. And
he had the scars to prove it.
A writer, too, is a curious creature, always sniffing about
for new ideas. Observing, reading, eavesdropping. Haunting favorite places and
exploring new ones. Paying attention.
For me, starting a story or poem is always an adventure, a leap into the
unknown. I might start out with a curious bit of dialogue, or a vivid
description, or a word or phrase that tickles my funny bone. Before I have any
real idea where I'm going, I'm on my way. I let the
writing take me wherever it wants to. Unlike some of my writer friends, I'm a
seat-of-the-pants-er more than a planner. It's the way it works for me.
A writer learns by doing. There's no substitute. It's only
after I've plunged into a project that I begin to find out what it's really about. The
act of writing teaches me what my poem or
story is, and how it wants to be told, and why it matters. Slowly. Rewrite after
rewrite. Not very efficient, I'm afraid. Messy. Unpredictable. Fun!
Miguel, my cat, my darling, my muse, taught me everything I need to know to be a
writer:
Be curious.
Be courageous.
Figure it out on the way!
Barbara Jean Hicks
P.S. Learn more about Miguel here!
For more on my thoughts about writing, check out
these interviews and articles:
ALSC Blog (Association for Library Services to
Children)
Little Willow's Bildungsroman
Elizabeth Partridge's Blog
La Bloga
Central Coast Magazine
Tales
From the Rushmore Kid
California Readers
TEN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR AS A KID
1. I was born on July 21, 1953, in Bellingham, Washington (USA) and grew
up in nearby Ferndale.
ACROSS THE STREET
ACROSS THE
BACK FENCE
2. I was the middle child of seven. My mom and dad and four
brothers and two sisters and I all lived in a very small, two-bedroom house.
3. My family was animal-friendly: we had chickens, a tiny turtle, and lots of
cats. We also boarded a horse named Lady in the barn. My first cat, a black and
white named Lucky, lived to be 18 years old.
That's 126 in cat years!
4. My family didn't own a television, but my father rented a TV every summer
when my grandmother came to visit so she wouldn't miss Bonanza. My
grandma Lizzie Lou liked to tell
family stories while she snapped beans on the front porch.
5. Music was always a big part of my life. My dad sang and played the
ukulele, my mom sang and played violin, and everyone in my family learned to
play a musical instrument. I sang, wrote sappy songs, and played flute and
guitar.
PRETENDING ON THE VIOLIN
FOR REAL ON THE FLUTE
6. I liked to make up stories to tell my three younger brothers at
bedtime. Mostly they were about Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff ( three kids, a
dog and a cat I learned about in school) getting into
some kind of trouble. They never got into trouble in the stories at
school!
7. I loved reading so much that after my parents put me to bed and
turned out the lights, I used to read under the covers with a
flashlight! My favorite books were the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and
the Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle. My favorite picture
book author was Dr. Seuss.
8. I knew I wanted to be a writer in the fourth grade when I was
assigned a project to write a diary of a pioneer girl traveling to the American West in a wagon train. Fun!
Thank you, Mrs. Green!
9. My first job was picking strawberries and raspberries in the summers. My brother Charlie and I raced
each other every day to see who could pick faster. (Charlie usually won.)
I earned enough money every summer to buy my own school clothes.
10. The summer after I graduated from Ferndale High School, I traveled
around the world. I visited eleven countries in seven weeks and celebrated my
18th birthday in New Delhi, India.
DELPHI, GREECE
JAIPUR, INDIA
TEN FACTS ABOUT
THE AUTHOR AS A GROWNUP
1. Someday I
hope to illustrate as well as write books. I designed the logo at the top of the
page and I'm working on a picture book using the same cat as a character. To see more
of my artwork,
click here.
2. I enjoy sailing,
biking, walking, reading novels and picture books, listening to oldies and jazz,
visiting art museums and galleries, cooking and hanging out with friends.
3. My partner, Michael, and I moved to
Oxnard, California from Seattle, Washington in 2005. We live in a condo a
block from the beach.
FLOWERS IN THE SPRINGTIME
PALM TREES ALL YEAR LONG!
4. I wrote thirteen
romance novels and novellas before I started writing books for kids. My grownup books
have been nominated for lots of awards and have even won some of them, but
writing children's books is more fun.
5. I'm a
procrastinator. Deadlines are stressful, but without them I'd never get
anything done.
6. Altogether in
my life,
I've had twenty-nine jobs! Among other things, I've been a teacher, a
nanny, a waitress, a bank teller and a retail clerk. I also owned my own
business editing books and writing marketing copy.
7. I like to get
together often with my family. Besides my mom and dad and six siblings, I have five nieces, six nephews, six great-nieces and nephews and two great-great nieces, plus lots of aunts, uncles and cousins—too many to name.
JUST SOME OF THE FAMILY
8. I love to travel and
discover new places. My last two long-distance trips were to southern Mexico and
northern Italy.
9. I've attended
seven
different colleges and universities—so far!
My degree in English Literature is from Los Angeles Baptist College. I earned my
secondary teaching certificate in Language Arts at Oregon College of Education.
10. As an adult,
I have lived in nine different cities and towns on the West Coast of the United
States: Ferndale and Seattle in Washington; Salem and Portland in Oregon; and
Newhall, Whittier, El Cajon, El Centro and Oxnard in California.
AUTHOR INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES
For more in-depth information about the author,
please refer to the following interviews and articles:
Write About Now
NEW!
Blog Talk Radio (Podcast)
NEW!
Write Revise Repeat
NEW!
ALSC Blog (Association for Library Services to
Children)
Little Willow's Bildungsroman
Elizabeth Partridge
La Bloga
Central Coast Magazine
Tales
From the Rushmore Kid
California Readers
All text and images on this website © Barbara Jean
Hicks 2005-2009 unless otherwise identified. Text and images may be used for
educational and other non-commercial purposes if copyright and website
information are clearly stated. Commercial use of all text and images is
strictly prohibited.
