The Ink Splat is our monthly activity letter filled with inspiration sparking challenges and resources guaranteed to inspire your creativity. In this Ink Splat, the book and author spotlighted is When Audrey Met Alice By Rebecca Behrens along with an author interview! Submit a response to a challenge and you may have a chance to be published online! What are you waiting for?
The Challenge: First Friends
Getting inside a character’s head can be difficult sometimes, especially when you don’t know them all that well. For this month’s challenge, try writing diary entries for a character, new or old, and see what they reveal about your character that you could add to your stories!
As a bonus, we have a prompt from Rebecca! Her favorite question to ask young readers is, “If you could ask a First Kid three questions about living in the White House, what would they be?”
Do a little digging:
When your story is set in an environment you may not be all that familiar with – like the White House – it’s best to do a little research about it. What does it look like? How do things work around there? Learn a bit about your setting before you start writing.
Submit your response HERE!
When Audrey Met Alice By Rebecca Behrens
When Audrey Met Alice is about what happens when Audrey, a thirteen-year-old First Daughter, finds Alice Roosevelt’s long-lost diary hidden under the floorboards of a White House closet. After reading about Alice’s wild antics—carrying around a pet snake to parties, going for joyrides in her red runabout, traveling to Cuba, and throwing a huge White House debut—Audrey is inspired to find her own ways to “eat up the world.” But trying to live like Alice threatens to get Audrey into more trouble than she can handle–and may even affect her mother’s political career.
About the STORY:
Q: Which of your characters do you identify with the most and why?
A: As a kid, I was like Audrey—a little unsure of who I was, but eager to figureit out. Audrey finds that she cares a lot about using her voice for the issues she’s passionate about, and so do I. Also, she loves cookies and a goodbook, like me.
As a grown-up now, I admire Alice’s spirit. She was such a vibrant person! I like to think that since I started researching and writing about her, I find more ways to “eat the world up.”
Q: What’s your favorite part of the story?
A: Probably when Audrey first “meets” Alice by finding her long-hidden diary. The reader and Audrey discover Alice at the same time, which is fun. And Alice’s words have an immediate effect on Audrey—which leads to a great scene in which she starts exploring the White House in a new way.
About the AUTHOR:
Q: What were your favorite books as a kid?
A: I loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Walk Two Moons, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Number the Stars, and The Westing Game.
Q: What made you want to be a writer?
A: From a very early age, I was an enthusiastic reader. My favorite way to spend my free time was with my nose in a book, and I was in awe of the authors whose stories I loved. I always thought the coolest thing in the world would be the ability to make up stories for a living. It took a long time before I tried that myself (and even longer before I was any good at it)!
Storytelling is hard work, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.
Q: Any advice or young authors?
A:A first draft is just the start. Every writer spends a lot of time revising and rewriting. The published version of When Audrey Met Alice is actually the eighth draft! It’s okay if something you write isn’t perfect, because you can always keep working to make it better. You definitely don’t have to get it right on the first try!
More about Rebecca Behrens!
Rebecca Behrens grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Chicago, and now lives in New York City, where she works as a production editor for children’s books. Rebecca loves writing and reading about girls full of moxie and places full of history.
Check out more on her website here! And The Runaway is available on Amazon!
Thanks again Rebecca Behrens!
