I never had any weird teachers at East Arvada Junior High. The closest to 'interesting' I got was the one guy with a giant poster for the movie 'Rollerball' over his desk. I had to wait until high school to meet anyoen seriously strange - starting with the science teacher who wandered the halls with chips of dry ice in his mouth, blowing smoke rings at people. Iva Valentina's Middleton Middle School sounds like it would be a fun place to go. I wonder if we could get Mrs Pruitt to sponsor a D&D club...
Welcome, Iva! Please tell us about yourself. What
do you do for a living? How long have you been writing?
I’ve
always had a big love of science. When I started my Biology degree at the
University of Arizona, I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with it. Five
years later, after participating in a few marine biology workshops with kids, I
knew I found my calling in education. I soon obtained a Master’s degree in
teaching, and began my eight-year adventure teaching middle school.
Even
though I really enjoy working with kids, something I love just about equally is
books. So, I decided to combine the best of both worlds. Now, I work as a
science editor at an educational publishing house. I help create beautiful
nonfiction books for kids, and I write some as well. When I’m not working this
amazing day job, I write humorous tween chapter books.
In my
spare time, I enjoy yoga, photography, and cooking. I live in Tucson, Arizona,
with my husband and our dog, Lupo. My week is not complete unless I’ve taken at
least one Zumba dance class!
How did you start writing? Was
there any specific event that sparked your interest?
I’ve
been writing fiction since I was a kid. At first, it was short stories. I loved
creating fun characters and then sending them on silly adventures. I never
imagined myself having a career as a writer. I took a long break from writing
during college due to my hectic schedule. Once I started working as a teacher,
my love of writing came back full force. Being around kids and talking with
them about the books they were reading really made me realize how much I missed
the writing process. This is when I started pursuing writing fiction books.
Do you have a schedule when you
write or do you write whenever there’s some peace and quiet? If you have a set
schedule, share it with us.
I work
best when I make a schedule for myself ahead of time. I set aside blocks of
time in which I make an appointment with myself to write. This means NO
internet surfing or email! The schedule
will vary a bit from week to week, depending on what I have going on. For the
most part I am able to carve out several hours a day. The time when I’m most
productive is in the morning, so I always set time to write first thing before
I do any other kind of work.
Any odd rituals that get you in
the mood to write?
I
recently started a daily meditation practice. I meditate right after I get up
in the morning, before I write. I feel that it’s really improved so many
aspects of my life!
What’s on your desk?
Usually
my desk is pretty organized. I’m one of those people that normally can’t
function with clutter of any sort. I just have my laptop, desk calendar, inbox
(where I admit, I do sometimes toss in stuff I don’t know what to do with), and
some pens/highlighters/whatnot. I also have a little figurine of a dragon that
my husband recently gave me for inspiration! Oh, yes, and I can’t forget to
mention all the little sticky notes I post all over my desk as I’m working and
need to remind myself of other things I need to do later. I love sticky notes.
How have your family and friends
reacted to your writing?
My
husband thinks it’s great that I write. My dog, Lupo, spends his time sleeping
under my desk while I work. All around support from friends and family!
Tell us about your new book.
Black Cats and Ballet Slippers is a humorous tween chapter
book. Gemma Mayfield, the main character, is a ballerina and middle school
student. She is convinced her teacher is a witch. After her crush, Trevor, has
a spell cast upon him, Gemma embarks on a mission to save Middleton Middle
School from witchcraft!
Where did the idea for this book
come from?
The
idea for Black Cats came about during
my last year of teaching middle school. In the book, Gemma’s science teacher,
Ms. Pruett, has a really creepy classroom. The classroom has a preproom with
lots of “witchy” things, such as powdered unicorn horn and other ingredients
for spells. In my classroom, I also had a big preproom. My classroom was
actually very nice and not creepy at all, but over time my imagination took
over. I started to envision this preproom as being Ms. Pruett’s. From there on,
the rest of the storyline for Black Cats
started to brew!
How hard is it to step away from
characters you’ve spent time with and finally pen THE END? Do you have an
impulse to continue their story?
I
definitely have a hard time stepping away from my characters in Black Cats and Ballet Slippers! I’ve
always envisioned this book as being the first in a series. Gemma, Izzie, and
the rest of the Middleton Middle School gang will be back with more adventures!
If you were making a movie, who
would you cast to play your characters?
Most
of the characters in this book are middle school age. I am imagining some
spunky, smart, funny young actors and actresses!
What advice would you offer to
new writers?
Keep
writing every day! Even if you don’t feel like it.
What’s in the workings for your
next novel?
I’m
currently working on a sequel for Black
Cats. This next book doesn’t involve a mystery, but the entire gang will be
back for some more fun at Middleton Middle School. I’m looking forward to
introducing some new characters!
Where can we buy a copy of your
book?
Please include links to your
author page, blog, etc.
Excerpt:
Okay, so something REALLY strange is
going on. Boys are from a different planet, but right now a few of them at
Middleton are acting like they’re from a different universe. (Wait. Does this
make sense? Is there more than one universe? Ugh. Maybe I should have paid more
attention last year in Astronomy.)
So, by the time I got to Ms. Pruett’s
class, I had already worked myself into a super version of “I Don’t Wanna Go To
Class Because I’m Creeped Out!” mode. I walked into the Science Laboratory, and
I swear I felt the cold of Building 400 smack me right in the face. I’m not
kidding.
Of course Ms. Pruett was at the door,
acting like her sweet old lady self (ha ha, I know better), and was welcoming
all the kids into the classroom. I just kept my head down and muttered a hello
as I passed. Staying below the radar was the goal. Then I sat down at my lab
table and shivered a bit.
Joey sat down at the table just a
second later. Normally he is really loud and obnoxious, cracking jokes, and
calling to the other Soccer Jocks across the room. Today he was quiet.
“Hey,” I said, trying to be friendly.
I thought maybe we could commiserate on us both having spells cast on us. Joey
responded with a “hey” but didn’t say much else. Hello? Was this the Joey I
knew?
“So, Joey, are you feeling okay?” I
asked. “You know, after yesterday…”
Joey didn’t say anything, but began
writing on a piece of paper. He folded up the piece of paper and passed it to
me. I gave him a questioning look. He gave me a weird look back that I couldn’t
decipher. The note was as follows:
Hey Gemma,
Sorry I gave you a hard time yesterday
about the “Cute Boy” list. It was kind of rude of me.
Joey
That’s when it hit me that Joey hadn’t
recovered from Ms. Pruett’s spell. For me it was just temporary, like a few
minutes. But Joey was acting weird. It had to be the spell.
“Um, thanks,” I said. “Don’t worry
about it.” I then started taking out all my school stuff so that I could look
busy and not have any more awkward moments with Joey until he felt better. He
was taking longer to recuperate.
After class I headed straight down
toward the lunchroom. On the way there, I saw Trevor going in the opposite
direction past me. Our conversation went like this:
Me: “Hi Trevor!” (with a big smile and enthusiasm)
Trevor: “Oh, hi Gemma.” (with zombie-like attitude)
Me: “Okay, have a good lunch!”
Trevor: “Okay, thanks. Bye.”
I wondered where he was going, in the opposite direction from the lunch room
when it was lunchtime. It took me another couple of moments to realize that the
ONLY classroom in that part of campus was Ms. Pruett’s room. He was headed back
toward Building 400!
Yikes! I turned myself around in mid-stride and turned back the way I came. I
knew there was no way possible that Trevor would be going to Ms. Pruett’s. Why
would anyone in their right mind be going there by themselves?
I didn’t want Trevor to think I was stalking him, because of course I would
never do that. But just in case that’s what it appeared to be, I used as much
stealth as possible. I walked in the shadows and stopped to peek out behind
bushes and building walls. I saw him up ahead…just before he ENTERED MS.
PRUETT’S CLASSROOM.
My mouth fell open, and I just sort of stared at the door for a while.
Weird things are going on here at Middleton. And I think Ms. Pruett’s behind it
all!
