Student Success Stories: Julianne Winter

Myrna: What is your background? 

Julianne: I was a library clerk for many years back in California, where I’m from. That was where my love of books really flourished, with every new release at my fingertips. My love of art/illustration, however, has been there from day one. I’ve taken many art classes through the years, exploring various mediums, but it wasn’t until recently with Wishweaver that I decided to try my hand at digital art. 

With writing, I’d always wondered what it would be like to write stories, but never thought I had a story to tell. When my first story idea came to me, my husband encouraged me to write it down, and the rest of the story broke free. That first book opened the door to many stories that would find their way into my mind, waiting to be written.

Myrna: What made you want to start writing children’s books?

Julianne: I loved reading middle grade stories like Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, Beetle Boy, by M.G. Leonard, A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, and Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor. Having kids of my own brought my focus down to picture books and the art of telling stories in so few words but with beautiful illustrations to accompany them. For an artist like me, it seemed like a perfect match! 

Books like Swatch the Girl who Loved Color, by Julia Denos, and I Took the Moon for a Walk, by Carolyn Curtis, showed me just how whimsical a tale could be weaved. When I read Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball, by Laura Ellen Anderson, and of course the array of books by Roald Dahl, I saw that chapter books could be longer than I’d originally imagined with illustrations on every spread.

It was a genre that fascinated me. One for a slightly younger crowd than middle grade. It was for those kids being introduced to books with a chapter structure yet still full of illustrations to keep their attention. It was precisely what I wanted for Whimsy.

Myrna: When and why did you take Arree Chung’s Making Picture Book Stories and Dummies?

Julianne: If memory serves, I took the class in the Spring of 2017. I took it because I was fascinated by picture books, had written my first one, but wanted to perfect it before sending it out to literary agents.

Mine was one of the first picture books to be critiqued by Arree, and boy was it not ready to send. That book, The Bookworm and the Butterfly, is one I’m still planning to get back to because I know from Arree’s teachings that the book needs more simplifying. I will get it there though. Benny and Beatrice are waiting. 

Myrna: How did taking Arree’s class change the way you approach picture books?

Julianne: It taught me about the importance of book dummying out the story and how crucial page turns are in building up the tension of a story. He also taught me there needs to be one central problem, and if there are more, the story needs to be simplified. I do have a tendency to try to cram too much into 500 words or less, but I’m working on that. For Whimsy, she was insistent she get more, and in fact an entire series to boot! 

Myrna: You're not alone! A lot of us have that problem.

Tell us about the book you have coming out. How did your story go from being a picture book to a chapter book?

Julianne: The book I have coming out on September 1 is called Wishweaver. It is book one of the Tales of Whimsy series about an orb spider named Whimsy, who goes on a journey to find out what happened to the Wishweaver (a spider with the magic to grant wishes). Whimsy is a curious orb weaver spider who has lots of questions, like why those in Weyburn are continuing on with the Wishweaver traditions when there is no Wishweaver? Seems pretty pointless to her. So, she goes with her milkweed wisp friend, Flit, to find the Wishweaver Oak to figure out what happened. Along the way, she’ll discover pieces to the puzzle, face challenges, and ultimately face her fears and self-doubt with them.

As a picture book, I was taking the story in one direction. Whimsy felt older though, more parental, and much less relatable to kids. Through Arree’s direction, I decided I needed to go back further in time for the chapter book. To share Whimsy’s journey of growing up, making friends, discovering what makes her unique and different. She gets to experience things that kids struggle with every day and overcome them. The story came so much more naturally when I made the switch.