Meet Author Clare Vanderpool

Writing background
                 Clare Vanderpool graduated with a college degree in English and elemdntary education.  But, she said, although she did a lot of reading for those majors, she didn't do much writing.
                 Her best writing education, she said, "has come from reading, listening to family stories and looking out the car window on the road."
                 She always enjoyed creative writing assignments in school, she said.  "It's always special when your writing gets picked to be read in school."
A new career
                 When she was in college, Clare began working at a job in youth ministry.  She worked with high school youth camps and sports, staying in that job for more than 10 years after college.
                 She had always dreamed of being an author, she said.  "But the job I was doing required a lot of creativity, and I didn't have a lot left over to do any writing."
                 She quit that job when she had her first baby.  She joined a writing group.  She went to conferences on children's literature to learn about writing.
Her writing
                 Clare started writing her first book, "Moon Over Manifest," in 2001.  She snatched writing time in between taking care of heer family, such as when her kids were taking naps or on Saturdays when her husband could be home.
                  Now heer kids are all in school, so she gets in at least four hours a day of  writing.  She shares the main computer with heer family, but is able to go to quiet places with her laptop.
Some favorite things
                  Color: green
                  Music: bluegrass music.  "If I listen to music while I write, it can't have words, and it kind of has to serve the story."
                  Books for kids: "A Wrinkle in Time," by Madeleine L'Engle, "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell, the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the "Anne of Green Gables" books by Lucy Maud Montgomery
                  Sport: swimming
Advice to kids
                  "Read and write.  Play.  It's important for kids and adults to have a playful mind and a playful spirit.  That comes through in a person's writing and allows for a certain sense of creativity.  Any time the TV and computer go off, it's probably a good thing."