Myrna: What is your profession?

Charlotte: I really don’t claim a profession. I worked for many years in various social service positions—jail screener, child welfare caseworker, literacy program volunteer coordinator, research interviewer—before completing library school and becoming a librarian. But the overriding occupational thread throughout my life has been: writer.

Myrna: That’s so relatable for me. What made you want to start writing picture books?

Charlotte: Like many other kidlit authors, I’ve read a lot of picture books to little ones, and I thought I could give it a shot.

Myrna: I’m so glad you did! Could you tell us about your recently released picture book and why the book’s message is important to you?

Charlotte: Brown Sugar Babe is about a brown-skinned child who wants to be something other than what she is. To refute that, the beauty of the color brown is explored poetically through the senses. I wrote Brown Sugar Babe to help instill self-love in children, particularly black and brown children. My hope is that the book will help all children see brown as the lovely color it is.

The book’s message is important to me because at this moment, in the U.S., we have a crisis of Black children committing suicide. There is also a crisis of Native American youth committing suicide. To transform the grief of that reality into something beautiful, I wanted to help create a book that would make Black children feel so loved, that sensation could grow to be enough armor to repel any thoughts of self-harm as they aged.

Myrna: The thought of any child committing suicide is heartbreaking. Thank you for sending a more positive message to children. Do you have any advice for writers who want to share a message in their picture book?

Charlotte: Study the writers who do it well. I continue to struggle with didacticism. With learning how to show and not tell. That’s where I turn to resources like the Storyteller Academy for help.

Myrna: Yes, Arree has a tendency to call manuscripts out on being didactic, doesn’t he? Actually, Melissa just did it on Saturday too. When did you start taking Storyteller Academy classes?

Charlotte: I joined Storyteller Academy during its November 2018 Black Friday event and began by trying to take two workshops that overlapped once they were available because I was super excited and didn’t want to miss out on either one: Arree’s Crafting Picture Book Stories and the Submission Ready workshop. I was also taking a Radical Novel Revision workshop outside of Storyteller Academy and working part-time in a library. I should’ve listened to Arree’s admonition to only take one course at a time. 

Myrna: Yeah, that sounds like a lot. How have you benefitted from being a Makers Pro member?

Charlotte: I’ve benefitted most from the flexibility of being a Makers Pro member. As my work and life schedule allows, I can dip in and out of workshops, take intensives, listen to replays at my leisure, plus download course materials and work on them at my own pace. I’m not an illustrator but love what they do, and enjoyed a Vanessa Brantley-Newton class where she demonstrated how she builds a character—it expanded my approach to character building as a writer. 

Myrna: Oh, I love Vanessa’s class! She is just so inspiring, and she simplifies concepts to the point where those of us who don’t have a background in art/illustration feel empowered to play with art.

But going back to your experience, could you tell us about your book deal with Boyds Mills and Kane Press? Did the merger between the two publishers affect your book at all? Did you get to choose your illustrator? Details, please!

Charlotte: I pitched the idea for Brown Sugar Bab during the April 2018 DVpit event. An editor and an agent “liked” the pitch. The agent passed, and the editor wanted to see what my vision for the book was, so after a telephone call, we struck a deal. My editor, Jes Negron, was with Kane Press at the time, and I believe Brown Sugar Babe was the first book she acquired for them. She later acquired a second book to be published in 2021.

Jes found illustrators she admired and sent links to their portfolios for me to review. I’ve been crazy hands-on about artists involved with my projects in the past and decided to fall back and trust Jes and the process. I’m so happy I did because I love Akem’s illustrations.

I became a little nervous in 2019, when I learned Kane Press had purchased Boyds Mills because, by that time, my editor had become my beloved editor. And sure enough, she accepted a job to do important work outside of publishing and left BMK a few days before my pub date. The merger may affect my next book due out in 2021 because the new team has a different vision for the book. Will we be able to work this out? LOL—I don’t have a clue.

Myrna: That’s so interesting. Thank you for sharing! I hope you work things out with the new team for your second book.

Do you have any advice for our readers?

Charlotte: Invest in yourself and your craft. Take advantage of as many Storyteller Academy courses, intensives, extra trainings, and community as you can. Read as widely as possible in- and out-side of your genre. And never give up.

Myrna: That’s great advice! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

What’s next for you?

Charlotte: Hopefully, another picture book in 2021.

Myrna: Yes! Where can we find you on the Internet?

Charlotte:

• www.charlottewatsonsherman.com
• twitter: @EmeraldCityChar
• Instagram: @charlottewatsonsherman

Myrna: Where can we buy your book? 

Charlotte: 

• Powells
• Eso Won Books
• IndieBound
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Myrna: And there you have it, readers! It’s probably also available at your library (or will be soon).

Here’s the book trailer: