Author and freelance editor Margot Finke talks about her upcoming book, Rattlesnake Jam, as well as the difficulty of writing picture books and their future within the children's book industry.

Welcome to Blogcritics Magazine, Margot! It's great to have you here. Do you consider yourself to be a born writer?

Yes. From childhood I scribbled down story ideas and wrote short stories.

Tell us about your recent release. What was your inspiration for it?

Guardian Angel Publishing will be releasing my picture book, Rattlesnake Jam, in the first half of 2008, in soft cover and CD. This rhyming romp tells about Pa catching rattlesnakes for crazy Gran. She cooks and bottles them as her “cure all” jam, but Pa longs for rattler served up on rice – just once! Preview here. Artist Kevin Scott Collier’s illustrations are just crazy enough to make kid’s eyes pop! Rattlesnake Jam will be available from Amazon, the publisher, and through my website.

Tell us about your children's books.

I have a rhyming, six-book series, available on CD and download. Fun and educational, they tell about animals from the U. S. and Australia. Purchase through the BOOKS page on my website - Publisher: Writers Exchange.

Two of the illustrators for this series live in Turkey. One speaks no English, and has no computer. The other has a little English, and does use a computer. Both are celebrated illustrators and artists in Europe. Thanks to e-mail, and a generous English-speaking friend on a writing list, who acted as go-between and interpreter, Kangaroo Clues and Never Say BOO to a Frilly were delightfully illustrated. The other four artists come from various areas in the USA. They were chosen due to the marvels of e-mail and the Internet.

Kids who want to discover more fun information about the critters in this series, can go to either the “Down-under Fun” or the “Wild US Critters” on my website.

Some writers go on long walks, others keep a journal, write at a café, or listen to music. What do you do for inspiration and unleashing your creativity?

Great writing thoughts usually pop into my head after I go to bed. I sneak into the bathroom in the dark, and close the door. I keep paper and pencil there – just in case.
So, enthroned upon the toilet seat, I scribble down my ideas lest they disappear with the dawn. There must be something about taking a shower, and cleaning my teeth each night, that prods my inspirational juices to flow.

Are you a disciplined writer? What is your working style?

I got a late writing start, so now my kids are grown and on their own, I write every day in my office, slash flower room. This is where, every winter, I bring my delicate plants to survive the Oregon chill. My husband fitted Gro Lux lights to wall shelves, in what was once our family room. My plants and I enjoy a cozy winter together – helps mitigate all that gray Oregon drizzle!

Do you like to outline and plot ahead, or are you more of a stream-of-consciousness writer?

A general idea strikes me, and I develop it as I write.