T. Katz, a resident of Southern California has been involved in the children’s entertainment industry since the early eighties working on hundreds of episodes of animated television and as a music instructor to hundreds of very animated children. She is also the honorary conductor of a four-part harmony household, consisting of her two children (three if you count the spouse on a bad day) and Alice the cat. The people that surround her help her to continue seeing the world with all its magic, beauty, and potential. She lives by the motto “A good book, a cup of tea and somehow all is right with the world.” Her adventures in life are adding welcome lines of character to her face and scattered optimistic silver linings all over her head.
Ms. Katz will be on virtual book tour in July ’09 to promote her latest children’s book, Miss L’eau. We interviewed her to find out more about her wonderful new book.
Q: Thank you for this interview, Ms. Katz. Can we begin by having you tell us why you chose to write children’s books?
A: Growing up I never felt that the adults around me fully recognized the powerful thoughts and feelings that children experience, and as a kid who had a lot to say in a speak-when-spoken-to world I suppose I’m making up for lost time by giving my characters voices to express themselves.
Q: Did you outline before you wrote your book or did you just go with the flow?
A: Having worked in children’s animation for years, where every half-hour plot was outlined and then storyboarded, I find that process is still very effective for me. Then, I fill a binder with pages of history and/or research on my characters and places. I wade around in that information for awhile to absorb as much as I can and then let the writing go from there, using my notes along the way to keep me on course.
Q: Who was your favorite character in Miss L’eau and why?
A: My heart is very full of love for James because of his fierce dedication to protecting the oceans, despite his tender age. Also, the fact that beyond the mystique of what he thought he saw in Miss L’eau’s eyes, he was touched even deeper by her ability to really see what was in his.
Q: Who was your least favorite character?
A: I would have to say that the image of the trash and pollution that affects our oceans took on a villain’s appearance for me throughout the story, so “it” would have to be my least favorite character in Miss L’eau.
Q: Can you tell us about the setting and why you chose it?
A: I was born in Santa Cruz, California and spent a portion of my childhood nearby, about eleven miles inland and when you live there you become a product of the sea. It’s in your bones, all that salt air and hundreds of days of fog a year. You’re practically swimming in moisture standing on the sidewalk. As a result, the sea is never far from your thoughts. Even when I moved to sunny, bone-dry southern California’s high desert I still had saltwater running in my veins. Every chance I had, I would turn my car in the direction of the nearest beach and spend as much time as I could near the water.
Q: What was the hardest part to write?
A: It was painful to write the last chapter where, in many ways, the characters and I were preparing to say goodbye. It’s almost like the last few moments of a grand family reunion where the pain of leaving overshadows the joy of having been there.
Q: What was the inspiration behind the story? Where were you when you came up with the idea?
A: Over the years, I would visit many beaches and think how I didn’t remember seeing all that trash as a young person and how it seemed to grow worse with each passing year. It broke my heart to think that people just didn’t care enough to pick up their own trash, much less be concerned about larger pollution issues affecting the seas. One afternoon, I sat on the hood of my car watching the sunset turn the ocean to a blanket of dazzling diamonds that affects what you think you’re seeing as you stare out for miles. It was then that I decided to write Miss L’eau, in an effort to make young minds aware of the help our shores needed. If one page of Miss L’eau makes a reader want to investigate more about the water surrounding us, then a good deed was done.
