{"id":171,"date":"2014-07-18T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T05:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/?p=171"},"modified":"2014-07-18T07:25:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T12:25:21","slug":"did-you-say-ghosts-the-nightmare-behind-the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/?p=171","title":{"rendered":"Did You Say Ghosts? The Nightmare Behind the Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rich-Michelson-Portrait-00lg\"<\/a>Yesterday, we wrote about indecent exposures<\/a> of one sort or another.\u00a0Today, we hand the site over briefly to author and poet Richard Michelson<\/a>, pictured left, to tell his own tale. This is a story he originally submitted for possible inclusion in our book. It’s not in Wild Things! <\/em>after all, but we are happy to share it here. We think it’s a pretty entertaining story on many levels, and fans of illustrator Leonard Baskin<\/a>\u00a0(1922-2000) may get a particular kick out of it. Baskin received a 1973 Caldecott Honor for\u00a0Hosie’s Alphabet,\u00a0<\/em>written by\u00a0Hosea, Tobias, and Lisa Baskin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0*<\/p>\n

Let me tell you a scary story. No, not about ghosts. This is a really scary story: It\u2019s about half-naked mythological women and publishing my first children\u2019s book, Did You Say Ghosts?<\/em><\/p>\n

It seemed easy enough at first. The year was 1993. My son was having nightmares and couldn\u2019t sleep. He was afraid of ghosts. Instead of reading Dr. Spock, I channeled my own Dad who was prone to creative solutions. \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d I assured my son, \u201cthere\u2019s no such thing as ghosts \/ I guarantee it… well almost<\/em>.\u201d Besides, I reasoned, \u201cthe werewolves under your bed will scare the ghosts away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"51VZ0QVA45L\"<\/a>I was, of course, soon calming his fear of werewolves with witches, witches with demons, and so on, continuing to raise the fright quotient in what soon became our nightly game. \u201cWrite it down,\u201d suggested Jeff Dwyer over drinks one night. Jeff was a friend and children\u2019s book agent. \u201cWe\u2019ll get Leonard to illustrate it.\u201d Leonard, meaning Baskin<\/a>, one of the preeminent artists of our time.<\/p>\n

Jeff is what my mother would have called \u201ca mover and a shaker,\u201d and within days he\u2019d interested Macmillan Children\u2019s Books in my nighttime ritual. \u201cIt was,\u201d Jeff told me \u201cjust a matter of money.\u201d I was coming from the world of poetry, small presses and subsidized sales. Suddenly I had a major publisher and a Caldecott-honored collaborator. I was starting at the top, and I dreamt of book clubs and window displays in the malls. \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d I told Jeff, \u201cwhatever it costs, I\u2019ll pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon I had a contract (yes, they<\/em> paid me<\/em>!), and I sat down to put words to paper. But now that I had a guaranteed readership, I felt a responsibility. The teacher in me came to the fore. I added mythological figures, mixing in Cyclops and Sirens and Satyrs among the more traditional vampires, expanding my verses to include the relevant educational background information.\u00a0 Then I passed on the text to Leonard and waited.<\/p>\n

My first inkling that all would not go smoothly came in the form of Baskin\u2019s watercolor Harpy. She had breasts.<\/p>\n

\"W098<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis will hurt our sales with librarians,\u201d the editor wrote. \u201cCan you do this one over again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure thing,\u201d Leonard said. He did a second drawing.<\/p>\n

\"W097<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cScrew them,\u201d he advised me. \u201cIf you let the beaurocrats have their way, they\u2019ll wring the brilliance out of everything. Mediocrity is their goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like librarians,\u201d I protested, \u201cand I like sales.\u201d Leonard shook his head, pitying my na\u00efvet\u00e9, and sent in the second drawing just as it was.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you remove the verse with the harpy?\u201d my second editor wrote (the first having moved, suddenly, to a rival publisher). He mentioned those pesky librarians again.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d I protested, “the Harpies scare off the Sirens. It\u2019s a crucial link.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen get rid of the Sirens, too. Think simple. Stick to what kids know: the Goblins and Ghouls.\u201d<\/p>\n

One by one, my edifying asides were edited out until, I must admit, what remained began to read almost exactly like the original game I had played with my son. My third editor (the second quit unexpectedly) let me know she already had enough work on her desk. The book had been assigned to her against her wishes. She hated the drawings, had never heard of Baskin, and didn\u2019t return my calls. Editor number four was pregnant and let me in on her secret: she\u2019d be giving notice in two weeks. The fifth editor thought I ought to add more unusual monsters. \u201cMix up the stew,\u201d he said, \u201cand add some educational value. (Librarians love that.)\u201d Number six hand-delivered my advance copies and applied for a job in the art gallery I own<\/a>. Each editor seemed to scare off the previous one, raising the fright content along the way.<\/p>\n

But all was soon forgiven. Advance reviews were strong. \u201cDelightfully creepy\u201d (Booklist<\/em>). \u201cGood-humored\u201d (Publishers Weekly<\/em>). \u201cFor children who enjoy suspense\u201d (Horn Book<\/em>). A positive notice even appeared in The New York Times Book Review<\/em>. Editor number seven informed me that bookstores had pre-ordered over 10,000 copies by August. Not record-breaking for the children\u2019s market, but for a poet, whose first book had taken eight years to sell out 300 copies, the numbers were astounding. I was riding high.<\/p>\n

And then Macmillan Children\u2019s Books filed for bankruptcy (something all those editors and everyone else but me had known was coming).\u00a0 Simon &\u00a0Schuster bought them out. The warehouses would be consolidated. No Macmillan books would be shipped for four weeks. Those stores that hadn\u2019t already canceled their orders received their cartons the week after Halloween.<\/p>\n

The New Yorker<\/em> listed Did You Say Ghosts?<\/em> among its favorite children\u2019s books of the year. It was noted, refreshingly, as a book that \u201cdid not try to preach, teach, or grind an ax. It was just fun.\u201d Friends called with congratulations, but they couldn\u2019t find the book anywhere.<\/p>\n

Months later, I contacted the publicist at Simon & Schuster. \u201cHow about featuring Ghosts<\/em> next Halloween?\u201d She checked her computer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d I was told, \u201cthere were too many cancellations and returns after last year\u2019s holiday. The book barely sold any copies at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026but\u2026but…,\u201d I stammered.<\/p>\n

If my son grows up and decides to become a children\u2019s book writer, instead of studying law or medicine, I think I\u2019ll tell him this story just before he goes to sleep. That ought to give him nightmares.<\/p>\n

Postscript:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Did You Say Ghosts?<\/em> quickly went out of print. In 2006, Harcourt published a rewritten version of the book as Oh No, Not Ghosts!<\/em> with new illustrations by Adam McCauley<\/a>. It stayed in print until 2011. The manuscript is awaiting its third incarnation.<\/p>\n

\"9780152051860_p0_v2_s600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0*<\/p>\n

Want to know the story behind this Michelson image?<\/p>\n

\"Nimoy-Michelson\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That story actually made it into our book. Wild Things!<\/em> will be on shelves on August 5.<\/p>\n

… Which means we must<\/em> give you the Vulcan salute as we sign off.<\/p>\n

Until tomorrow …<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michelson, Richard. Email interview. 2 February 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, we wrote about indecent exposures of one sort or another.\u00a0Today, we hand the site over briefly to author and poet Richard Michelson, pictured left, to tell his own tale. This is a story he originally submitted for possible inclusion in our book. It’s not in Wild Things! after all, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":732,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildthings.blaine.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}