I wasn't born in a log cabin, although I do come from the Land of
Lincoln--Illinois. I grew up in Chicago with five brothers
and sisters and one dog, Snowball. I loved to read, but had
absolutely no inkling that I could grow up to be a writer. I
thought all writers had triple names, like my favorite, Maud
Hart Lovelace, and that they had entire books waiting in
their heads, and simply wrote them down, lickety-split.
I always knew I wanted to work with children, so I
got a B.A. in education from Chicago Teacher's College.
After graduation, I moved to New York City. My great good
fortune came when I met Ezra Jack Keats (author-artist of THE
SNOWY DAY), who told me about an editorial assistant's
opening in the children's book department of Harper & Row. I
was hired, and for ten years I worked with two of the most
brilliant editors in publishing: Ursula Nordstrom and
Charlotte Zolotow.
After becoming a junior editor, I soon had the
great pleasure of discovering new talent: I did Bruce
Degan's first book, AUNT POSSOM AND THE PUMPKIN MAN,
Myron Levoy's classic, ALAN AND NAOMI, and I also
worked with Lillian Hoban on her first Arthur books.
It was Charlotte Zolotow who urged me to write my
own stories, and my first book BABY (later
titled BABY,
COME OUT!) was published in 1972. Since then I've
written many many books, but no thrill has ever matched that
moment when I became a writer.
Because I was such a late bloomer, I am always
eager to help children recognize and appreciate their gifts
and begin using them NOW. When I speak at schools, I
show children my messy manuscripts, the artist's many
sketches, and talk about how much stubbornness and good
humor it takes to accomplish anything in life, including
writing.
I've also
mentored adult writers in Eastern Europe through the Open
Society Program of the George Soros Foundation. So far, I
have taught writers and artists in Moscow, Budapest, and
Tirana, Albania.
And, of course, I'm still writing. So far, I've
written 36 Katie Woo stories and 6 Katie Woo, Star Writer
books.
I hope you enjoy this web site. I've tried to fill
it with as much information as I can about my books--how I
got the ideas for each book, how many revisions I did, and
what some of the artists' sketches look like. I also offer
information about the programs I present for adults and
children at public and religious schools, libraries, and
young writers' conferences.
Fran is a member of the following professional
organizations:
-
PEN AMERICAN CENTER
-
THE AUTHOR'S LEAGUE
-
THE SOCIETY OF CHILDREN'S BOOK WRITERS AND ARTISTS
-
THE CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY
-
THE CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY
If you have any questions or just want to write to me, I'm here: franm@nyc.rr.com
Enjoy!