When Things are Hard, Remember written by Joanna Rowland

Today is a really special interview for many reasons.

Just last year, our family was dealt a devastating loss. One of the stories that our preschool teachers gave us was THE MEMORY BOX, a story that Joanna had written about processing grief. It really helped us navigate this difficult time for ourselves and with our child.

When I found out that Joanna Rowland agreed to share her writing and revision process for her upcoming story, WHEN THINGS ARE HARD, REMEMBER...I was, of course, thrilled. This beautiful story is illustrated by Marcela Calderon.

As for a little bit more about Joanna in her own words:

“I grew up in Sacramento, CA with my parents and three sisters. When I was little I liked to play in the creek looking for crawdads and tadpoles. I loved to daydream and spent all my hot summers as a synchronized swimmer growing up.”

I can’t wait to get my hands on this story about the anxieties and fears of starting somewhere new. I think we can all relate!

And now, onto the good stuff....

Joanna, thank you so much for sharing your writing and revision journey for this book. What is the story behind your story? What sparked your story concept?

The first story I ever queried back in 2009 was about a seed called The Love Plant. Obviously, that story was not meant to be (for good reason) but I knew I had a story about a seed within me. From time to time I’d think about a seed and what type of story I could write about one.

In 2019, I was notified that the grade I taught had to collapse a class and I’d be moving to a different grade. For some reason (probably because I had been through years of teacher layoffs and uncertainty) that brought a lot of anxiety. I now realize a lot of my writing comes from having big feelings. It was during early April of 2019, I was sitting in the chair I like to write in and the phrase came to me

On days when your faith is shaken, remember…

A lot of times we can look at nature to see things will be okay. That phrase sparked ways I could show that using nature and then the story poured out. Within a few weeks it was finished and I sent it to my editor who offered to acquire it a few weeks later.

The illustrations show two stories: one about the life cycle of a seed and the other about a child moving away. It’s probably the most poetic writing of mine so far.

How long did it take from idea to book?

10 years! But it was worth the wait to get the story right. But once I knew what my story was, it took two weeks to write.

What was your revision timeline?

2009: I wrote a story about a seed and it didn’t work
2009 to 2019: I tried to figure out my seed story. I thought about it on drives. I tried to brainstorm on paper different seed ideas, but nothing grabbed me.
April 2019: The idea came to me and I wrote the first draft
Mid-April 2019: Sent it to my critique partners
April 24, 2019: I submitted it to editor Andrew DeYoung
May 15, 2019: I got an offer from Beaming Books editor Andrew DeYoung and signed!
July 2019: I got a questionnaire to fill out
September 2019: The illustrator Marcela Calderon signed
September 2019: The title of the story changed
December 2019: Very light editor letter, turned in edits
February 2020: Early sketches came in
July 2020: I got to see the final art
September 2020: It was going to be the publication date but....2020
March 16, 2021: New publishing date!

What was the hardest part of revising?

Every story is different. I think realizing that the only thing I should keep in the 2009 version was the idea of a seed and I needed to throw the rest out was the hardest but most important part. Sometimes to find the right story, we need to let go of so much and start again.

And time. Time can be hard.

It took a lot more thinking about this story for years before the right version came and I was ready to write it down.

Did you have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment? What triggered it?

I think the ‘ah-ha’ moment after ten years of brainstorming about a seed story was thinking about how the life cycle of a seed can relate as a metaphor to a child moving. That even though a seed blows away and is planted somewhere else before it will grow and bloom could also be used to show a child moving.

What advice do you have for other writers? Are there any resources you would recommend to help with the revision process?

Write and think about the idea that won’t let go. It might take ten years, but if you’re patient, all the stars will align at the right moment to help you write your story in the most meaningful way, so don’t give up. I also love StoryStorm in January to help me form ideas.

So for all of the writers out there, take heart! Sometimes the seed of a story takes some time to grow. And Joanna has kindly shared a snippet of an early version of this story…