Andrea Skyberg

Welcome back to Tuesday Tours! I took a couple weeks off for spring break, and I was just a bit too busy with some new artist residency projects. But I’m happy to be back! I’m gearing up for the year anniversary of Tuesday Tours and I have quite the lineup of guests over the next two months. For the 52nd tour, I’ll reveal my own studio, which the creation of is what inspired this Tuesday Tour adventure 🙂 If you’re interested in staying up to date with Tuesday Tours, I send an email out once a month showcasing the featured guests. You can sign up for the mailing list at the bottom of this post.

Today I’m excited to share the work space of collaborating Wisconsin authors Kate Heling and Debbie Hembrook! I’m fascinated by creative partnerships and I’m all about collaboration so this interview with Debbie and Kate is really interesting to me. Together the Heling/Hembrook team has published 13 books and has some more in the works. As educators, the duo has a great handle on how their books can be used in the classroom, offering teaching activities on their website. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative medium.
The Heling/Hembrook collaboration began in 1997 when we discovered that we shared a dream of writing books for children.  Since then, we’ve had 13 books published, many in rhyme and all for very young children. Debbie works fulltime as a Kindergarten teacher and Kateis a school psychologist, officially retired but still working hourly as needed. Probably not surprisingly, we tend to write books that have an educational theme of some sort.

How long have you had your space and how does it affect your creative process?Previously, we shared a room that Kate’s husband also used for his business. We had ready access to a computer and printer but we had to be organized and tidy because we weren’t the only ones using that space. About 5 years ago, we converted an otherwise unused room in Kate’s house to a dedicated writing space for the Heling/Hembrook team.  It’s such a luxury to be able to spread out, to have our resource books at our fingertips, and to leave works in progress laying on the desk.  

Describe a typical work day. How often do you meet, and are there any rituals you do before you start writing?
There really is no such thing as a ‘typical’ work day for us. Traditionally, we try to meet in person one late afternoon/evening each week, after our day jobs. In between meetings, our collaboration is ongoing, in the form of e-mail and voice mail messages almost every day. Lately, we’ve been sharing ideas and story drafts via Google Docs, allowing us to edit each other’s work remotely. Although not a hard and fast ritual, we do often kick start our in-person creative endeavors with wine and/or chocolate.

What’s the biggest distraction for you when you’re writing? How do you deal with it?
We tend to be our own biggest distraction – seems as though there’s always news to catch up on! (Sometimes, this is where the wine and chocolate come in.) It helps to have a running ‘to-do’ list. Also, it’s great to be able to divvy up some of the tasks associated with getting stories ready to submit, so it’s not unusual to assign each other homework.

As collaborators, how do you decide what to work on next?
When we’re working on a deadline, it’s easy to decide where to concentrate our energies. Otherwise, we mutually agree on which manuscript will be next to get our attention. Our typical process is that one or the other of us writes a rough draft of a new story and then the collaborative process begins. We work on the story together until we’re ready to share it with our wonderful critique groups. 

Please share with us a memory of one of the best times you had working together in your space.
That’s impossible – there have been so many! Writing can be a lonely endeavor, but writing collaboratively allows for shared rejections, shared frustrations, and most importantly, shared joy in a sense of accomplishment!

Which other writers, artists, or creative people are you most inspired by at the moment?
We are continually impressed and inspired by our fellow writers from Wisconsin. How wonderful to be surrounded by such talent!

How do you organize your bookshelf?
Mostly haphazardly. Kate’s high tolerance for clutter often manages to override Debbie’s organizational genius.

What advice do you have for people who want to make a personal space where they can be creative?
Whether a writing space is an entire room or a desk in a corner, it should be a pleasant, comfortable setting that is inviting and inspiring.

What’s coming up for you and where can we find out more?
Clothesline Clues to Sports People Play (Charlesbridge; illustrated by Andy Davies) is scheduled for release in August, 2015. Rhyming text introduces kids to the vocabulary and equipment associated with a number of different sports. This is a companion book to our earlier Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do (Charlesbridge; illustrated by Andy Davies). Andy Davies does a masterful job creating a visual story that enhances the text. We are so grateful to be Charlesbridge authors! Please visit us at http://www.helinghembrook.com.

Thank you Kate and Debbie! Looking forward to your next Clothesline Clues book!

May 19th we’ll get a chance to see inside the studio of author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka. 

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