• Interview with Author Rose Kent •

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An Interview with Rose Kent

by Debbi Michiko Florence

Rose Kent worked as a Navy lieutenant and later, in public relations for a food company before returning to her favorite childhood pastime: writing books. She is an admitted foodie who enjoys thickening the plot in her life (and stories) with mouthwatering dishes.

Rose's first middle-grade novel, KIMCHI & CALAMARI, coming out from HarperCollins in April, focuses on a quirky adopted Korean eighth-grader and his quest to find himself and survive the madness of middle school.

Congratulations on your debut tween novel, KIMCHI & CALAMARI! Can you tell us a little about your journey to publication? Do tell us about The Call!

Thanks, Debbi. I love hearing The Call stories, too! Actually my special moment came via email. It was two days before Saint Patrick's Day, and being both Irish and a serious foodie, I was at the computer, looking for a recipe for Irish soda bread. I had sent KIMCHI & CALAMARI to Rachel Orr at HarperCollins about five months prior, after we met at the Rutgers conference (which I highly recommend to beginning writers.). But I hadn't yet heard from Rachel, and true to the writer's neurotic soul, I'd concluded that she hated my story so deeply she couldn't even utter the title. So when I saw the email, which read,

“Rose, I’ve been meaning to tell you. I LOVE Kimchi & Calamari! Let’s talk about it…”

I felt those were the most joyful words that ever flashed on my screen! I wish I could say that I ran around my house doing a touchdown dance, but I didn’t. Tears poured down my cheeks — joyful ones, for the moment that finally arrived, and thankful ones, for all the people in my life who’d helped me get here. I never did get around to baking Irish soda bread that Saint Patrick’s Day, but my family understood. I had a good excuse.

Joseph Calderaro is an adopted Korean boy who has a very loving Italian-American family. When he’s assigned an essay on exploring his cultural heritage, Joseph struggles with trying to figure out just who he is. It’s a touching story with a lot of humor interwoven throughout. Can you tell us how Joseph and his story came to be?

Like most writers, I’m drawn to material that I care about, and certainly that applies to adoption. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the seed to Joseph’s story was planted when Connor, my third child, arrived from Korea. New Beginnings, the adoption agency I worked with, did a thorough job of making me aware of the feelings that adopted children often experience. Adoption is a true joy and blessing — and I felt that so deeply, but it involves a primal loss for the child. I remember holding Connor in my arms and worrying how he would cope later, especially during puberty, a natural time for such reflection. I knew I couldn’t spare him from some hurt, but I wanted him to know that I “got it”— that I understood that who he was as a person didn’t begin the moment he arrived in America.

So while Joseph’s story is all his own, KIMCHI & CALAMARI came from a place where I wanted to connect with kids reflecting on their identities. I love that old proverb that says children need to know their roots to develop their wings. And it isn’t just adopted kids needing this knowledge; all kids do. Nobody cruises through middle school without some questioning and struggling to figure out who they are and where they fit in.

You are a mother of two biological teenagers who are part Korean and two children adopted from Korea, and more recently, two stepchildren. How much of your real family life and issues influenced Joseph’s story?

I have a wacky-absolutely-wonderful family and our experiences certainly help me give dimension to characters. With our vast age range, spanning from eight to twenty, we’re dealing with everything from Show-and-Tell anxiety to dating jitters and college admission planning (and a lot of laundry too, by the way!). But it’s mostly the feelings I tap into. You can’t turn your family into characters. They wouldn’t be happy campers, and it wouldn’t work. Readers are too smart for that.

How much research did you have to do for this story? Were there any surprises along the way?

Fiction has to ring as true as nonfiction, so research matters plenty. KIMCHI & CALAMARI has many references to both Korean and Italian customs and traditions, and I wanted to get this right. I grew up on Long Island, with many close-knit Italian families, so I had some knowledge of (and genuine respect for) Italian culture. And of course having adopted Korean children motivated me to learn about their culture. I read whatever I could get my hands on. I especially enjoyed a presentation given by Sal Primeggia, a sociology professor at Adelphi University who shared fascinating details about the origins of Italian superstitions. That’s where I learned about the curse of the malocchio, or the Italian evil eye, which I have some fun with in the book.

And I did a great deal of listening. A dear friend, Sandy Dagliolo, grew up in a small village outside of Venice. I learned so much about Italian ways from listening to Sandy’s recollections. I also talked with Jae Kim, a bright young Korean lady who was a student at Yale University at the time. Jae broadened my horizon by sharing her family’s story and helping me understand Korea’s history, especially during the Japanese occupation.

Yes, you bet there were surprises! The subplot about Joseph’s father changing careers was not planned — or how Joseph would draw a connection between this and his own search for identity. And the fact that Olympic runner Sohn Kee Chung appeared in Joseph’s dreams wasn’t in the original blueprint, so to speak.

I call this aspect of writing A Series of Small Serendipities. It makes me think of Forrest Gump’s mama saying that life is like a box of chocolates, and you don’t always know what you’re going to get. The same goes for writing, and it’s exciting when the good stuff pops up unexpectedly. But then, is it really a surprise? The writer creates a character, paints a setting, and hacks out a plot path, and so maybe these aren’t surprises but byproducts of all that effort.

As many people know, novels are written and rewritten many times. How did your first draft come about? Tell us a little about your rewriting process.

Oh it’s a cinch. I sit down, whip out a story in a week, email it off to the publisher, and six months later it lands in bookstores. Uh, whoops, I thought you asked me about my writing fantasy.

I relate to Anne Lamott’s view on first drafts from her book, BIRD BY BIRD. First drafts are very messy. I’m still throwing paint on the canvass quite a ways into my first draft before it starts looking like something whole. It’s the second, third and even fourth rewrites that bring clarity to the story.

I heard an actor once say he couldn’t stand to watch himself on the screen because there is always something he wants to improve on. That’s true for my writing as well. I hardly ever read my own work without a pen in hand because I know I will always find more to revise, refine, and improve. But I actually enjoy revising. It’s more fun to me than the creating stage, which is a hard process of pushing out words.

Tell us about your path to becoming a writer. Did you dream of being a writer as a child? How did you decide to actively pursue a career in writing for children?

My childhood report cards always had two comments: “shy” and “enjoys writing.” I outgrew the shyness eventually, but not the writing!

I dreamed of being everything as a kid — a pediatrician, a firefighter, a senator, and even Batgirl — this was the 1970s, after all. But while I dreamed of adventure, writing is what I did. My family spent summers on a small lake in Maine. This was back in the days of charcoal barbecuing, and I remember I used to bounce a rubber ball against the side of our lake cabin while waiting for the coals to warm. To others this might have looked like dull play, but in my head I was miles (and sometimes centuries) away, concocting adventures about gutsy girl characters.

I think most children’s writers bring pasts and “other” lives to their work. I had the privilege of attending the Naval Academy in one of the first classes with women and later, serving as a naval officer. Those were my forming years, and they certainly influenced my writing. After the Navy I worked in public relations for a food company, and there is a genuine love of food that slips into my writing as well. And of course my family, which includes adopted, biological children and stepchildren, brings yet more awareness to my writing and, I hope, empathy.

Are you working on something new? How does it feel to dive into a new story with different characters? Do you find the process similar or different to when you wrote KIMCHI & CALAMARI?

I’m in the revision stage of ROCKY ROAD, about Tess Dobson, a twelve-year-old artistic girl whose unbalanced mom abruptly moves her and her deaf little brother to upstate NY in the middle of winter to open an ice cream shop. And I’m writing a baseball story called FLASHING THE LEATHER, which is set in an African-American community in Albany in 1974.

Each book feels like a unique mountain that I’ve never climbed before. The similarity lies in how it always takes patience, persistence, and solid footing to get me up the mountain. (Plus tea and chocolate, I wouldn’t dare leave that out.)

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

There are so many. I get to be a sponge and soak up the world around me and use it in my work. I get to breathe life into some quirky characters who I like hanging out with. And I love the team aspect of being an author, as odd as it sounds. My editor Rachel Orr brings such insight to shape the story. I know the book is way better thanks to her. And the same goes for my agent, Emily Kim, who is as smart as they come (and fun too!). I feel like KIMCHI & CALAMARI is our collective baby.

One more thing. I couldn’t ask for a better commute: one flight of stairs.

What’s the most challenging thing about being a writer?

I suppose all authors struggle a bit with the perfectionist syndrome, and I’m no different. And there are so many tremendous writers in this business that it can feel daunting to put work out there. But that also creates adrenaline that I like to think fuels me on.

What does your writer space look like?

It’s eclectic, which is a fancy-shmansy way of saying it has a little of this, a little of that, and a lot of candy wrappers.

A few Children’s Book Council’s posters are on the walls. My favorite is a picture of a clown waking on a tightrope with a book in his hand and balancing a huge elephant in the other. I got this poster six years ago and told myself I wouldn’t display it until I sold my first book. Each time I look at it I still feel a tingle of the excitement from when KIMCHI & CALAMARI published.

I also have a bulletin board with photos, quotations, and various clippings that connect to my work-in-progress. As I mentioned, I’m deep into a baseball story set in 1974, so I have images that connect to my character’s neighborhood and family.

Last but not least, I have the See Hear Speak wooden monkeys perched on my bookshelf. One is covering his eyes with his hands, the second is covering his ears, and the third is covering his mouth. They remind me to stay silly, and to use all my senses when getting at the heart of the story.

Tell us something that not a lot of people know about you. ;)

Here’s a true confession from a married lady: I have a crush on Raffi, the children’s singer from Canada. When my kids were little, their colic and fussiness would disappear once I started playing Raffi's songs like "Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea.”

My kids have gotten older and moved onto other music, but I’m still into him. I really admire his passion for peace and the environment – plus he’s got a great smile. Have you heard his song, “Jane, Jane,” in tribute to the animal researcher Jane Goodall? When it plays I start swinging my arms like a chimpanzee.

Do you do school visits? How can fans and teachers contact you?

School visits are a blast. I’m not sure who has more fun, the kids or me. I know we all laugh quite a bit. I share with the students about the path to being an author, and I offer tips to help them write to express who they are. I’ve had some terrific letters from children who write more, following my talk, and that’s really satisfying for me.

I love to hear from all readers, big and small. I can be contacted at my website, www.RoseKent.com.