“
How many people have ideas of what they would love to do
but are too terrified to cross the line into the unknown.
Too terrified to face not knowing what and how to do it.
Too terrified of being a failure!
Anne Renaud, Award Winning Children’s Author has had all these feelings.....and overcame.
In the daytime Anne is the Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Westmount, Qc
At night she writes award-winning books for children and young adults.
She got the idea to write when she was in her 30s.
It was not until she was 47 that her first book was published.
Although it was nominated for several awards, it did not win.
"My books have been shortlisted for numerous awards, but I only officially began
winning awards in 2018."
Anne's 20th book is being published in September 2019
Despite her awards, Anne's feelings before a book is started and before it is published are always the same.
“I always have self-doubts. At the beginning of each project I think I will not be able to write something that will be worthy of publication. I think I have forgotten how to do this and that inspiration will not come.
It is part of my process and I don’t think it will ever change. I actually put off beginning each project until I overcome this fear. “
"How do you get your ideas? Where do they come from ? And do you get new ideas even while
you’re in the midst of writing your book?"
"I am constantly trolling for ideas.
They essentially come from everywhere: TV shows, children’s magazines, documentaries, family history, Canadian history, my nieces, etc. I stumbled upon Anna Swan while researching another topic altogether."
"My latest manuscript was inspired by my niece, Emma, who desperately wants a pet.
It was purchased by Penguin and will be out sometime in 2020."
"What is your writing process – and schedule?"
"It changes daily.
Because I have a full time job, it all depends on how much time I can carve out of my day.
But I can tell you that I do something relating to my writing every day.
It can be research on a topic, actual writing,
or dealing with the business of writing, such as submitting articles to magazines.
While I do have an agent, I still take care of that part of my career.
"Do you write non stop?"
"I am always working on something, but I can go for long stretches without writing.
I seem to work in cycles.
There is a research cycle, a reading cycle and a writing cycle.
Right now I am in a reading cycle. "
Do you need to take breaks from the process?"
"Some books have taken years to write, whereas others have taken a few months.
I did have to take a break when I was writing Fania’s Heart.
Reading up on the Holocaust for lengthy periods of time was brutal and left me very depressed.
To counter this, while developing Fania’s Heart, I also worked on a light and whimsical manuscript.
This second manuscript became Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament.
"What were your feelings when you submitted the first book which at that time you had no idea it would be published?"
"My first book came about in a very unusual way. I actually had a contract without having a written manuscript. This never happens. I had been working as an intern for a children’s publisher and every week I would pitch an idea to them. They knew I could write because at that point I had several stories and articles published in children’s magazines. Anyway, one morning I pitched the idea of Ottawa’s annual tulip festival and how my uncle had been part of the liberating troops. They loved the idea and gave me three months to write the manuscript. For the next three months, I breathed, ate and slept research on the tulip festival. I traveled to Ottawa and met with festival organizers, war historians, you name it. The book was nominated for several awards after it was published in 2004 and is still sold today.
"
"What were your feelings when your first book was published?"
"Tremendous pride. It was an hommage to my uncle who had served in World War II. I wrote A Bloom of Friendship: The Story of the Canadian Tulip Festival - to preserve his time served in the army. In writing that book I realize how important it is to commit personal testimonies to paper. These pages of history are lost to us when people die and their stories have not been somehow preserved.|"
"Do you have more than one idea for a book?"
Sometimes I have an idea for a book and I am not sure which age group to write the story for, either 5-8 year olds or 9-12 year olds, or somewhere in between. That was the case for Fania’s Heart. I was not sure what age group to target. In the end I wrote two manuscripts for two different age groups and then melded the two into one manuscript for 7-10 year olds."
How do you know when one idea is the right one for you to pursue?
"Sometimes I think an idea will be a sure thing and it will be easy to get the manuscript published.
This was the case for my book on the Empress of Ireland.
But it took me a very long time before I found a publisher interested in the story.
This was Canada’s Titanic, in fact there was greater loss of passenger life on the Empress than on Titanic. Yet no one wanted to bring the story to young readers.
"I am having the same issue with a picture book biography on Barbara Ann Scott. This is an iconic figure in sports. The first and only person in Canadian history to ever win a gold medal in singles figure skating and the only person in history to ever hold the Olympic, World, European, North American and Canadian titles all at once, and this while still in her teens. I have yet to find a publisher for her story. She is considered “too Canadian” for the US market. I find this aspect of publishing heartbreaking."
"Did you show this delightful talent when you were a child?"
"Not really. I read a lot as a child, but I honestly did not give any thought to the creators of books.
My school never had author visits, so I did not connect books with actual people.
Nor did I consider it a career choice, or something I could do. I did like composition, but that was about it. I did study French-English translation in university, so it was somewhat connected,
"But it was only years later, when I was in my thirties that I thought I might try creating my own stories.
I never considered writing for adults, only children.
The thought of writing a novel was just too overwhelming for me.
Little did I know that creating a story in 1000 words or less could be just as challenging."
"Are you at the point where you can leave your day job?"
"Gosh, no! I know very few Canadian children’s authors who can live from their craft. Those who do are usually author-illustrators, who not only write brilliantly, but draw brilliantly. I can barely draw stick figures. Some children’s writers of course do manage to make a living from their books,
but I am light years away from reaching their level of fame."
Would you like to leave your day job?
I will be retiring in a year or two, so it is quite present on my mind.
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