Children’s Authors – PAMELA JANE

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My Long Recovery From Kindergarten (The Wall Street Journal)

For a long time I puzzled over how I managed to go from a hopeless screw-up in school to a hardworking, disciplined writer as an adult. After considering it for 50 years or so, I came to the realization that I had been a very hardworking little girl. In fact I was a workaholic, striving, in my 4-year-old way, to decipher the mysteries of the universe and the meaning of life. What was real? What was illusory? Sometimes, in the middle of the night, it seemed as if nothing was real, that sunlight and houses and stop signs were pictures painted on a curtain. Behind the curtain was a black hole—nothingness. We kids weren’t supposed to know about the nothingness. Late at night, when we were asleep, the grown-ups touched up or repaired any wrinkles or tears in the curtain so that we wouldn’t suspect what lay behind the seamless surface. Even my consciousness, my essential being, might be part … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Read the First Chapter of My Memoir

beach run

In 1965, when I was eighteen, I ran away to Portland, Oregon. Running away was an act of rebellion, but also of faith. In one beautiful leap I would escape my family, my past, and the insufferable person I’d been living with for the past few years—my teenage self. This person was quite obviously screwed up. She had way too many problems. No one wanted any part of them, especially me. In Portland I could reinvent myself and leave the past behind. My brother agreed to drive me to the airport on the condition that I stop to say goodbye to my parents. So on a gray November morning, I found myself driving down the flat Midwestern streets where the silent, respectable houses stared impassively out of the dawn. We turned a corner, and my brother slowed down. There it was—the familiar red brick bungalow with my writing alcove overlooking the maple tree. My brother pulled over and turned off … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

The Amazing Things You Could Do – If you Really Wanted To!

My cat, Mittens, is – how can I describe it? Let’s just say he doesn’t have a lot of personality. It’s not his fault that he was born with no street-smarts or even house-smarts, and sleeps 23-1/2 hours a day. He’s also terribly timid and runs away meowing if he even sees an ant. The most dangerous thing he’s ever attacked is a Starbucks straw. So imagine my shock and amazement when Mittens recently caught a mouse in our living room! I’ve seen similar things happen in my own life and in the lives of others. People who “couldn’t write” became writers, while others who “couldn’t do math” became mathematicians. Someone may think he or she knows what you can – or can not do. But the truth is no one really knows. My friend, author Joyce McDonald, was told by a high school counselor that she wasn’t “college material”. Now she holds Ph.D. in English literature, has been a college professor and is the … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

What Happens When You Get Stuck?

When I visit schools, kids (and often teachers and librarians, too) ask me what’s it’s like to be a published author. Do I ever get stuck? Do I ever feel frustrated with my writing? I’ve thought about this a lot, and this post is an answer to that question! I hope it will help all the kids out there who wonder if we authors ever get stuck and if so, what do we do about it? I’ll begin with a story. Recently, I started writing Little Elfie One, a Christmas sequel to my Halloween picture book Little Goblins Ten (Harper 2011.) I was thrilled about the new book. Jane Manning, who illustrated Goblins would be illustrating the sequel too, and I think we make a great writing and illustrating team. Although the manuscript (writing) for Elfie wasn’t due for several months, I sat right down to write a first draft. This was going to be so much fun! But after several hours of writing random rhymes, I started … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Creating for our Readers

I have to admit that I’ve always had a little trouble with reality. Maybe that’s why I love to write, to immerse myself in a world of fantasy. Even when I’m writing a non-fiction piece (like the one you’re reading) I’m shaping the narrative into a story by choosing what to put in, and what to leave out. We can’t do that in real life! But what really shaped me into a writer is a combination of things, including disappointments and loss. I was fortunate to have parents who surrounded my brother and me with a rich library of children’s books when we were growing up. But neither my mother or my father saw any special talent in me, or any possibility of what I might become. No one was paying attention. Oddly enough, this worked in my favor. While my brother was busy collecting insects and butterflies for his growing collection, I was dreaming about escaping to the land of Oz. (My brother is now a happy … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

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