I talked to Chiquita Mullins Lee and Carmella Van Vleet at the Ohioana Book Festival.

How did you decide to collaborate on the book?

Chiquita Mullins Lee

I wrote a play called “Pierce to the Soul” that premiered in CATCO in 2010. It was there for about three weeks. A couple of years later, the director at CATCO started his own touring company. He called it portable theatre. “Pierce to the Soul” was part of the touring company. One of the places it went was Village Academy in Powell, Ohio. There was a woman who had a daughter attending school at Village Academy. I came to the production that night. I didn’t go to all of them. I spoke at the talkback along with the actor. She came up to me and said, “I write children’s books. Would you be interested in writing a children’s book about Elijah Pierce?” I said, “of course.” And here we are.

Is this the first book out of the collaboration?

Carmella Van Vleet

Yes.

Tell me about the collaboration process.

Chiquita Mullins Lee

We are both writers. I wrote a play and I have written other work as well. Most of my work has been for adults. Carmella has a fabulous history writing children’s books. We knew that it was a completely different genre. Plays for adults are one thing. Children’s books are another thing. Carmilla, being prolific, generous, and talented, I was able to learn a lot from her. I also brought my perspective of writing and the creative process. We both did a ton of research together. I would write something; she would give me a critique. She would write something, I would write comments. We were both very open-minded about it, and excited about the process. We like working with each other. It was very collaborative.

Carmella Van Vleet

Without fail, if one of us had an idea, the other one was almost always on board. There wasn’t anything in the story that we didn’t agree on.

Are you self-published?

Carmella Van Vleet

No. We are published through Penguin Random House. We are connected with that house through our agent.

An agent?

An agent is similar to finding a publisher. You research who might represent your type of work. You send it to them. If they like it and have space to work with you, it is a match. If not, you move on and look for another agent just like you would a publisher. I have worked with an agent for a while. I do fiction and that tends to need an agent more than non-fiction. Maria is awesome. She found the perfect home for the book. We are really happy.

Is there anything that I didn’t ask you that you think I should have asked you? If so, go ahead and answer that question.

Chiquita Mullins Lee

We have an amazing illustrator. Her name is Jennifer Mach-Watkins. She lives in Savanna, Georgia. She did an outstanding work of art throughout this entire book. It is interesting that she is also a carver. Just like Elijah Pierce was a wood carver. She carved so many of the illustrations based on his work. She carved them herself. Her mother had a barber shop just like Elijah Pierce had a barber shop. It was a perfect mix of all three of our perspectives and relative gifts.