If Wendell Had a Walrus
by Lori Mortensen (Author) and Matt Phelan (Illustrator)
Booktalk: A boy named Wendell dreams of getting a pet walrus. Together, they’d ride bikes, tell jokes, and have a grand time. If only he could find one!
But looking for a walrus turns out to be its own adventure . . .
Snippet:
Guest Post by Lori Mortensen
Lori Mortensen has been a high school dance teacher, sign language interpreter, and typed oodles of stuff for attorneys, engineers, and accountants. It wasn’t until she was a stay-at-home mom that she wondered what she could write. At last count she has written over 70 books and over 350 stories and articles! Lori lives in Northern California with her family and a mega-fluffy cat named Max.
Q. Describe your writing process.
A. My writing process starts with an idea. Ideas present themselves in different ways. For my rhyming picture book Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg, I was inspired by my neighbor’s dogs that regularly escaped from their backyard and raced down the street. Moments later, my neighbors chased after them, shouting for them to come back. As I watched the lively scene unfold, an idea came to mind. What if I wrote a story about a boy chasing a dog? Once my main character turned into good ol’ Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg, the story took off just like Dirty Dawg does in my story.
Another time, I was wandering through my local thrift store when I spotted a figurine of a spotted cow sitting on a crescent moon. I stopped and thought; Wouldn’t it be fun to write a story about how the cow got there? After buying the figurine, I went home and wrote the story in rhyme to accompany the original Hey, Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme. I was thrilled when HarperCollins published it.
Sometimes a title pops into my head, as it did with Chicken Lily and Mousequerade Ball.
Once I have a kernel of an idea, I find the voice to tell the story. It’s an exciting and challenging process. Fun to see the voice of a character emerge and see where the story will take me. Frustrating when I hit a snag, lose my way, or wonder if I’ll ever get through the first draft. However, as I begin to like what’s blossoming on the page, momentum builds until I cross the first-draft finish line. Maybe this story has potential after all, I think. After I’ve polished the story to the best of my ability, I share it with my trusted critique groups. I have two–one online and one that meets in person once a month. Their fresh insights are invaluable. They point out inconsistencies and raise questions that never occurred to me. Then, the revision process begins again. I may not agree with everything they suggest, but I’m forced to reevaluate my text and its purpose in the story. Revision is a writer’s best friend.
Each story is a new adventure, a new story to tell.
Q: Tell us about your latest book.
A. The idea for If Wendell Had a Walrus began while I was reading a lot of quiet books such as And Then It’s Spring, by Julie Fogliano, and The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood. As I read these and others, and let the thoughtful voices settle in my mind, I imagined a character looking up at the clouds. Once I added “if” to the mix, an image of a walrus popped into my head and I knew it was a fun storyline I wanted to explore. Line by line, the voice of the eager boy who wanted a walrus emerged and it was exciting to figure how he would do it.
One of my favorite parts of reading or writing a book is that unexpected twist at the end. Should Cowpoke Clyde finally catch his ol’ Dirty Dawg for a bath? Should Cindy Moo jump over the moon? Should a boy who dreams of having a walrus get one? That’s the trick of course. The end needs to be surprising, yet satisfying. I knew I’d hit a home run when I came up with the unexpected, yet satisfying ending for this story. Does Wendell get a walrus? Read the book and find out!
Thanks for sharing your new book, Lori!
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