Penguin Random House editor Anu Ohioma is our editor faculty at the Weekend on the Water Retreat at the beautiful Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA from April 24-26, 2020. Anu shares some thoughts about writing with us.
Anu is also doing a limited number of email critiques of the first five pages of your manuscript. Deadline is January 21, 2020. There are only a few spots left so hurry and grab one of these!
Information for the exciting Weekend on the Water Retreat is here:
LILY: What are the three children’s books you most related to as a young reader? What one book do you wish was written back then?
ANU: When I was younger, I wasn’t drawn to epic fantasy or science fiction stories; I wanted to read about people dealing with everyday insecurities and preteen drama. So when I found The Baby-Sitters Club series, I couldn’t put the books down. Even though the four main characters didn’t look like me, I still connected with these girls because their stories felt relatable and familiar. As a kid, I never felt like my personality or interests fit the narrow concepts of “Blackness” that I found in books or saw on television, so I know I would have devoured the Black Enough anthology (edited by Ibi Zoboi!) because those stories reinforce the fact that there isn’t just one way to be Black.
LILY: You’ll be presenting a workshop on revision. Could you give us a glimpse into your workshop by giving us one thing that we must do when revising?
ANU: It’s important for authors to look at their story from the perspective of their reader. The reader knows nothing about the characters besides what you’ve put down on the pages. So if you’ve read your manuscript using this approach and you’re still left with multiple questions, then you know you need to make some changes.
LILY: What is your favorite children’s joke?
ANU: How do you make a tissue dance? You put a little boogie in it!
About Anu Ohioma
Anu is an Assistant Editor at Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House Children’s books. She primarily works on the New York Times Bestselling nonfiction series Who Was?, What Was?, and Where Is? She also acquires and edits chapter books and middle grade and young adult contemporary fiction. Anu is a council member for the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature. Follow Anu on Twitter @aohioma.
About the writer of this post
Lily LaMotte is the debut author of Measuring Up with HarperAlley (Fall 2020). When she isn’t writing picture books and middle grade graphic novels, she’s cooking up new recipes. Sometimes, when she sees the gray clouds outside her window in the Pacific Northwest, she loads up the campervan for a writing retreat camping trip with her husband and two dogs.
Lily LaMotte has an MFA from Hamline’s Writing for Children and Young Adults. She is passionate about supporting libraries and is a King County Library System Foundation Board member. She also supports kidlit writers through her volunteer work on the advisory committee of SCBWI Western WA. Visit her at https://lilylamotte.com