SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: CHLOE’S LUNAR NEW YEAR
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://lilylamotte.com
CITY: Bellvue
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: one son.
EDUCATION:Hamline University, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Has served on the board of the King County Library System Foundation.
AVOCATIONS:Camping.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Western WA advisory board).
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 15, 2020, Summer Hayes, review of Measuring Up, p. 40; December 1, 2022, Carolyn Phelan, review of Chloe’s Lunar New Year, p. 129.
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2020, review of Measuring Up; November 15, 2022, review of Chloe’s New Year.
ONLINE
Lily LaMotte website, https://lilylamotte.com/ (May 30, 2023).
Literary Rambles, https://www.literaryrambles.com/ (October, 2020), author interview.
Reading (as) (I) and (AM)erican, https://readingasiam.blog/ (May 12, 2021), author interview.
We Need Diverse Books website, https://diversebooks.org/ (November 25, 2020), Alaina Leary, author interview.
Young Inklings, https://www.younginklings.org/ (February 2, 2021), author interview.
Author Interview: Lily LaMotte
May 12, 2021Interview, Taiwanese American Heritage WeekContemporary, Graphic Novel, Immigrant MC, Middle Grade, Own Voices, Taiwanese American
Welcome to my Taiwanese American Heritage Week feature series! Taiwanese American Heritage Week is celebrated every year in May starting on Mother’s Day and ending the following Sunday. Each year during TAHW I spotlight Taiwanese authors and books in some form or fashion on my blog. You can find all of the past features in my Post Index.
The third author interview in my 2021 TAHW series is with Lily LaMotte on her debut middle grade graphic novel Measuring Up, illustrated by Ignatz-nominated cartoonist and illustrator Ann Xu.
Synopsis:
Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.
Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.
And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?
Interview:
Q: This is a question I ask most of the Taiwanese authors who I feature, and it’s also relevant to the theme of Measuring Up: What’s your favorite Taiwanese food?
A: That’s a good question! I have to say my mom’s dumpling soup. When we visit my parents, my mom, my kids, and I sit around the kitchen table to wrap the dumplings. It’s one of those things that not only is delicious but creates memories. At home, although I don’t make dumpling soup, my husband, son, and I will do movie night where we make and eat potstickers while watching that night’s movie pick.
Q: At times the publishing industry fetishizes youthfulness in authors, putting spotlights on the so-called prodigies who get published at a young age. However, everyone’s path to publishing is different, and there is value in learning from people who transitioned into the industry at an older age. What has that process been like for you, and how has your life experience before becoming an author informed your writing?
A: I think that as we age and gain life experiences, we bring some of that into our writing. I started my writing journey twelve (!) years ago. I am pretty sure that I didn’t have anything worthwhile to say at that time. Hamline University’s low-residency MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults changed how I thought about my writing. Prior to Hamline, I had taken writing classes, webinars, gone to SCBWI conferences to further my craft but it wasn’t until I went to Hamline where we were involved in intense discussions about diversity that I thought it would be possible to write a diverse character and story.
Q: I saw from your other interviews that you were drawn to writing for children because of your experiences reading with your kids when they were younger. Children’s literature contains a wide array of subcategories segmented by age. What drew you to writing middle grade in particular?
A: I write middle grade because those stories of families and friendships speak to me. Despite my advance age, I think about family and friendship relationships because they are universal no matter one’s age. I also write picture books and have my debut picture book CHLOE’S LUNAR NEW YEAR from HarperCollins coming out Winter 2023. I had such fun reading board books and picture books to my kids when they were that age. I want to capture some of that fun in my writing for both the picture book and the middle grade groups. There is also less cynicism and more happy endings. I really like happy endings!
Q: I think it’s super cool that you had Gene Luen Yang as a writing mentor since he was one of the first Taiwanese American children’s authors I ever read when I was younger (around 14-15). When I first met him at the book festival hosted at my high school, I asked him to draw me a llama, and I still have the drawing saved. What was your favorite part of working with him?
A: I love that you still have the llama he drew for you!! Gene is not only a wonderful mentor but just a wonderful person all-around. He is so smart and was able to steer me through my story. And he did it in a way that was so supportive.
Q: I read in another interview that you had to do extremely detailed panel descriptions for Measuring Up. As someone who’s interested in writing a graphic novel script someday, I’m curious about the process of working with an illustrator. I know that you and Ann Xu collaborated through your editor. What was that triangulation like? Did Ann surprise you in a good way with any of her interpretations? And what is your favorite page or panel from Measuring Up, illustration-wise?
A: Ann is an amazing illustrator and I am so happy she not only illustrated MEASURING UP but is now working on UNHAPPY CAMPER coming next summer. As part of working with Gene, he required extensive illustration notes. It was the first time I thought about story details in that depth and I think that it helped me tremendously in figuring out who my characters were so that I could write their story. When my script went to Ann, I pulled out some of the descriptions so that she could bring her own brilliance to the book. I love the full-page panel when Cici is at the restaurant and sees herself for the first time as belonging to a place like that. I described the page as having Cici surrounded by puzzle pieces of the restaurant and equipment. I specified certain things that I knew would be restaurant versus home equipment to be helpful to the illustration process. Ann blew me away with that fantastic page. I love it so much that I created fabric with that image to make tea towels for giveaways.
Q: I love the variety of dishes that show up in the cooking competition. Did you have any systematic/meaningful way of deciding what each challenge would be and which dishes each character would make, or was it more random?
A: I thought about what kind of person each character in the competition would be so that I could decide what dish the character would make. As far as the challenge in each round, I wanted to make some of them kid-friendly but also have meaningful challenges like the sweet potato which has such a strong link to Taiwan.
Q: I’m super excited for your second graphic novel, Unhappy Camper, and can’t wait for it to hit the shelves. The premise of going to a Taiwanese American summer camp is super appealing to me because it reminds me of my own experiences attending TAA summer conferences as a kid, except those were geared toward adults with a few children’s activities on the side rather than being for children/youth. Can you tell us a little more about Unhappy Camper?
A: I’m not sure what I can say yet except that it is a sister story where my protagonist’s sister loves everything Taiwan. But for my protagonist, not so much. It isn’t until my protagonist goes to a Taiwanese American summer camp that she reclaims her cultural heritage. There’s crafting, singing, language lessons (much to her disappointment) with a tiny bit of what makes the Pacific Northwest so special.
Thank you for thinking of me for Taiwanese American Heritage Week!
Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | IndieBound | Indigo
About the Author:
Lily LaMotte is the debut author of the middle grade graphic novel MEASURING UP from HarperCollins/HarperAlley. When she isn’t writing picture books and middle grade graphic novels, she’s cooking up new recipes. Sometimes, when she sees the gray clouds outside her window in the Pacific Northwest, she loads up the campervan for a writing retreat camping trip with her husband and two dogs.
She is a graduate of Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
Author Links:
Website – http://www.lilylamotte.com
Twitter – @lilylamotte
Instagram – @lilylamottewrites
Lily LaMotte is the debut author of the middle grade graphic novel Measuring Up from HarperCollins/HarperAlley and her debut picture book Chloe’s Lunar New Year. Her next middle grade graphic novel Unhappy Camper is forthcoming from HarperAlley.
When she isn’t writing, she cooks up new recipes, and explores new crafts. She also loves to load up the campervan for a writers retreat camping trip with her husband and her dog.
She is a graduate of Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She’s passionate about libraries and served on the King County Library System Foundation board. She also supported writers through her many roles on the SCBWI Western WA Advisory Board.
Lily is repped by Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency for books and by Mary Pender at UTA for Film and Television.
AUTHOR BIO – SHORT
Lily LaMotte is the author of the middle grade graphic novels Measuring Up and Unhappy Camper (2024) and the picture book Chloe’s Lunar New Year from HarperCollins.
When she isn’t writing, she explores new recipes and crafts and goes on writing retreats with her husband and dog in their campervan.
She graduated from Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and YA. She’s passionate about libraries and served on the KCLSF Board. She was on the Advisory Committee for SCBWI-WWA.
Lily is repped by Laura Rennert of ABLA (books) and by Mary Pender of UTA (film and television).
AUTHOR BIO – LONG
Lily LaMotte is author of the middle grade graphic novel Measuring Up from HarperCollins/HarperAlley. Her debut picture book Chloe’s Lunar New Year earned a starred review from School Library Journal. And, her next middle grade graphic novel Unhappy Camper will be available on April 23, 2024.
When she isn’t writing, she cooks up new recipes and explores new crafts. She also loves to load up the campervan for a writing retreat camping trip with her husband and dog.
She is a graduate of Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She’s passionate about libraries and served on the King County Library System Foundation Board. She was also a SCBWI WWA Spring Weekend on the Water Retreat Coordinator, a Monthly Programming Coordinator, a Conference Coordinator for the SCBWI Western WA regional conference, and an Assistant RA.
Lily is repped by Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency for books and by Mary Pender at UTA for Film and Television.
Q&A With Lily LaMotte, Measuring Up
November 25, 2020 by We Need Diverse Books
Q&A With Lily LaMotte, Measuring Up
By Alaina Leary
Today we’re pleased to welcome Lily LaMotte to the WNDB blog to discuss her MG graphic novel Measuring Up, out now!
Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.
Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.
And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?
Measuring Up
What was it like working with illustrator Ann Xu on Measuring Up? How did you collaborate on the illustration process?
The process was very much like that for picture books in that I worked through my editor. What is different about picture books and graphic novels is that picture books have few, if any, illustration notes. For my graphic novel script, I described every panel and page in detail. Ann brilliantly translated my descriptions into wonderful illustrations.
Are you normally a plotter or a pantser, and did you follow your usual writing process for Measuring Up?
I am definitely a plotter so when I worked with Gene Luen Yang in a post-grad semester through Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adult, I was very happy to send him the synopsis he asked for. As it turned out, my synopsis was too detailed. Basically, Gene said that the synopsis needs to be detailed enough to contain the story but broad enough to leave room for new and better ideas during the actual writing of the book. He was totally right. I found that having the plot arc and the character arc worked out in broad strokes gave me a road map to follow. At the same time, not diving too deeply into details gave me the freedom to write the pages and panels with fresh eyes.
Measuring Up is your debut. Do you think you’ll write other graphic novels, or do you have other genres you’re hoping to write next?
My second graphic novel just went through copy edit and I’m thinking about how to shape my next one. Throughout my time writing these graphic novels, I’ve always had one or another picture book in revision. I find working on picture books gives me a mental break from working on the long form. I also just started a poetry 101 class at my local college. I’m taking it for fun and to learn new things. Maybe someday in the far future, I’ll write a verse novel.
Do you have any advice for debut authors, especially middle-grade debuts?
It’s a challenging time to be a debut right now. So many of the events that authors had planned have gone virtual. I had planned an in-person book launch at one of my local indie book stores but that’s now virtual. The upside is that readers from all over can now come.
I’m not sure what my wonderfully supportive publicity and marketing team would have planned, but I am thrilled by how they’ve pivoted to the new situation. I’ve been on several virtual panels like the NY Comic Con Metaverse and the Tween Reads Festival. And on blog posts like this one. Thank you for having me!
I think the main thing is to do what we can, try not to stress about it, and write the next book. Being a writer is always about writing the next book.
This book centers around your protagonist in a cooking competition. Do you also love to cook? If so, what are some of your favorite recipes?
When I graduated from college, I found myself with little to no cooking experience. So I learned by buying and reading cookbooks and most of all experimenting. There were a lot of failures along the way. My kids still remember the time I decided that scallops and apples would make a delicious pie. It does not. I was a big collector of cookbooks and everyone knew that they could always gift me one. These days, I’m so busy that I no longer make elaborate meals but I’m still experimenting. I have fewer failures but they still happen. And since I’m terrible at taking notes and use the “a pinch of this and a pinch of that” method of cooking, I can’t reproduce the dishes that do work.
Are you inspired by any authors, kidlit or otherwise?
At the time I was in the Hamline MFA program, we had a required reading list. I found that I loved reading the middle-grade graphic novel on the list. I sought out more of them to read. I love Cece Bell, Raina Telgemeier, Victoria Jamieson, and of course Gene Luen Yang. They inspired me to try writing one of my own which turned out to be Measuring Up.
What other books do you think Measuring Up is in conversation with? And do you have any recommendations for other published or forthcoming kidlit (particularly MG)?
There are so many wonderful middle-grade graphic novels. The ones that I mentioned earlier. I also love Jerry Craft’s New Kid. There’s also Jen Wang’s Stargazing and Nidhi Chanani’s Pashmina. On my read shelf, I have Lorena Alvarez’s Nightlights and my fellow HarperAlley middle grade authors Jerry Craft’s Class Act, Tim Probert’s Light Fall, Kathleen Gros’s Jo, Alejandra Green and Fanny Rodriguez’s Fantastic Tales of Nothing, and Ursula Murray Husted’s A Cat Story. I’m going to add Elise Gravel’s King of the Birds and Brian “Smitty” Smith’s Pea, Bee & Jay to my stack since who doesn’t love funny early readers. I feel that the world of graphic novels has changed in the last few years so that there is such a huge variety available. Just about every reader can find something that speaks to them.
What’s one question you wish you were asked more often (and the answer)?
I’m not sure. As a debut author, I’m just starting to be asked questions. And I’m grateful to be in a position to be asked!
******
Lily LaMotte
Photo by Lucien LaMotte
Lily LaMotte graduated from Hamline’s Writing for Children and Young Adults program with an MFA. When she isn’t writing, she’s cooking up new recipes and supporting her library system as a KCLS Foundation board member. Measuring Up is her debut graphic novel. Visit her at www.lilylamotte.com.
Debut Author Interview: Lily LaMotte and Measuring Up Giveaway
Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Lily LaMotte here to share about her MG contemporary graphic novel, Measuring Up. It sounds like a great story about friendship, family, fitting in, and food. I haven’t read a graphic novel but am looking forward to reading this one.
Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:
Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.
Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.
And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?
Hi Lily! Thanks so much for joining us.
1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.
Thank you for having me! I’ve always loved reading and spent many hours at my local public library. So when I had kids, I had to read to them and give them the same love of books. It dawned on me at some point that I wanted to write for kids. I had to wait until my kids were older to pursue it.
Then I took writing classes through my local community college, the University of Washington continuing ed, Highlights Foundation, and most recently through Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I also took advantage of virtual classes with Mediabistro when they still offered fiction writing classes and webinars with 12x12 and Storyteller Academy. I joined SCBWI and a huge shoutout to my amazing weekly critique groups the Imagineers, the EmGees, the HamlinePB, and the Grou. It took many, many, many years to learn to write well enough to become a debut author. And I’m still learning.
2. It's sounds like you've really worked hard to improve your writing. Where did you get the idea for Measuring Up?
When I worked with Gene Luen Yang for my post-grad semester in Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, I brainstormed ideas with developmental editor and author Lisa Cron. We were talking about an idea that I had about tomato magic. What if tomatoes were magical? That led to mentioning that I love food and cooking shows. At some point during our conversation, I had the idea to center the story around a cooking contest, a girl who wants to bring her A-má to celebrate her special birthday, and the idea that food brings together friends and family despite differences in cultures. The rest of the story quickly came together after that. Lisa is very good at asking questions to get the writing brain to come up with ideas. To put unconnected ideas together in new ways.
3. What was the process of plotting out your story like? Was it harder not knowing exactly how the illustrator would illustrate the story?
Gene requires his students to write a synopsis/outline. That was very helpful as I was able to work out
some plot problems before I even started writing the script for my graphic novel. Having his eyes on the overall story and character arc helped me to avoid writing myself into a corner.
As for the illustrations, I wrote very detailed panel descriptions. That’s another thing that Gene makes his students do. I found it very helpful since I had to really visualize and describe the setting, how the characters stood, sat, expressed joy, sadness. By going so in-depth with the characters, they became real to me.
4. That's great that you developed the idea for your story while you were in the MFA program and could get the help of your instructor. You like to cook like Cici. Did your own cooking help in developing Cici’s talents?
I definitely drew from my experience of not knowing how to cook when I graduated from college and had to cook for myself to years later making elaborate meals for friends. I also collected cookbooks. At one point, I had a couple of bookcases devoted to my cookbooks. Everyone knew to gift me cookbooks. I moved those cookbooks from one house to the next. Regretfully, during one of my last moves, I decided that I no longer had time to cook so what was the point of keeping them. I do wish I had them back.
5. My late husband used to collect cookbooks too, though he didn't make many of the recipes. Share a bit about Cici as a character. Did you learn a lot about her as you wrote her story or did you have a clear vision of her when you started writing your manuscript?
I knew some things about Cici when I began writing her. I knew she had a good life in Taiwan and worried about moving to Seattle. I knew that she loved her A-má and was loved in return. I knew she would feel like she didn’t quite belong in her new home. I knew the tight family that she had in Taiwan would be different because A-má wasn’t there. Knowing all that gave me the illusion that I knew Cici.
But those are just broad strokes and it wasn’t until I started moving her through the panels and the pages that I really got to know her. It was through deciding how she did specific things. For example, how she sat in her chair during her virtual calls with A-má or that they would reach out to each other by touching the computer display or that when she felt uncertain, she would stand behind her friends as if they are a shield.
6. What was a challenge you faced in writing Measuring Up and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was that I had to send Gene forty pages a month. There was no time for slacking. I read and re-read two books that got me through the semester: Deep Work by Cal Newport and The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal. Cal Newport reminded me that I could get through the semester by focusing on the work and various strategies to do that. Kelly McGonigal reminded me that the stress I felt was eustress, i.e., stress that was not just good for me but would strengthen me.
7. Your agent is Laura Rennert. How did she become your agent and what was your road to publication like?
I actually found my way to my wonderful agent Laura Rennert through a manuscript critique. Interestingly, the critique was with Jennifer Laughran who is also with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Jennifer requested my full manuscript after reading the ten pages I sent her for the critique. I was blown away by the request and very nervous so I revised and revised and revised and then revised some more. She finally nudged me to ask if I’d sent my full to her yet. After she got my full, she sent it around to the other agents at Andrea Brown. So when an Andrea Brown agent says that they share manuscripts, they really do. Laura saw my manuscript and was interested so Jennifer connected the two of us together. I had a lovely conversation with Laura on the phone. I felt like we connected in how we saw our relationship as a partnership. I am absolutely thrilled that I have been able to work with Laura.
8. What a cool story about getting your agent. How are you promoting your book in these challenging times? What advice do you have to debut authors releasing their book during the pandemic and in general?
My publicity and marketing team has been amazing during these challenging times. They are so supportive of MEASURING UP. I’ve been on several panels including one for the NYC Comic Con, Tween Reads Festival, and the HarperAlley imprint launch. They’ve run giveaways on Goodreads and Instagram and created a very fun recipe name generator.
Then there are the things that I did. I made a cooking video for the HarperCollins YouTube Shelf Stuff channel. That was very fun to do. I roped in my son and my husband to put that video together. Also, I ordered a couple of tote bags for the giveaways with my book cover. And I’m sewing tea towels with fabric that I created with the book cover and other images through Spoonflower. For my book launch, I’m partnering with Studio East, a local theater school for kids. We recorded a reading of Chapter One with their students and alumni. You can watch the recording here. Also, I have an exciting guest for my virtual book launch. It’ll be fun to just have a casual conversation with him during my virtual event. And I’m doing blog posts like yours. Thank you again for having me!
I think the main thing is to be a part of your local community. Find partnerships with other people, groups, and organizations. And be a good partner.
Do what you can but mostly write that next book.
9. That's great that your publisher is being so supportive. What are you working on now?
My second middle grade graphic novel is in copyedit so I’m kicking around some middle grade graphic novel ideas for my next book and hope to start soon. And of course, since reading picture books to my kids is what started this writing journey, I’m always in the middle of revising one picture book or another.
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Lily. You can find Lily at https://lilylamotte.com.
Giveaway Details
Lily and her publisher have generously offered an ARC of Measuring Up for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by November 7th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.
If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is U.S. only.
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.
Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways
Sunday, November 1st I'm participating in the November 2020 of Books Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, November 3rd I have an interview with debut author Chole Gong and a giveaway of her YA fantasy These Violent Delights and my IWSG post
Monday, November 9th I have an interview with debut author Sheila Averbuch and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Friend Me
Tuesday, November 10th I'm participating in the Super Stocking Giveaway Hop
Monday, November 16th I have an interview with debut author Rachel Short and a giveaway of her MG spooky mystery The Mutant Mushroom Takover
Wednesday, November 18th I have an agent spotlight interview with Tori Sharp and a query critique giveaway
Monday, November 23rd I have an interview with debut author Carol Coven Grannick and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Renni's Turn
Hope to see you on Wednesday!
Posted by Natalie Aguirre on Monday, October 26, 2020
February 2021 Ink Splat: Interview with Lily LaMotte
by Inklings Team | Feb 2, 2021 | The Ink Splat
For our February issue, we talk with author Lily LaMotte about her recent book, Measuring Up. In this interview, we learn about dealing with writer’s block and different elements in writing a graphic novel and a picture book.
Writing Challenge
This month your writing challenge will be about a misbelief that your character has. Lily suggests drawing from your personal life, and then fictionalizing it. A lot of our misbeliefs come out of fear and anxiety. If you think about something you used to be afraid of, you can delve into that and find something that triggered the fear. Often it’s something that wasn’t true, and led to a misbelief.
So, for this month’s challenge, think of a time when you believed something that you later realized wasn’t true. Write about that belief, what triggered it, and what happened to make you change your mind. You can use that belief and change as your character’s internal story arc.
SUBMIT YOUR WRITING CHALLENGE!
An Interview with Lily LaMotte
What was your inspiration for Measuring Up?
I used to watch A LOT of cooking shows. One of the things I noticed between the adult shows and the junior ones is that the kids were so inspiring. The kids were also very supportive of each other, and I wanted to capture some of that in Measuring Up. So the characters are in a competition, but there’s no backstabbing or talking smack to each other or anything like that. I love the feeling of community that they have.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
One thing I like to do is writing sprints with other writers because of the community feeling of doing it together. Often, sitting down to write is intimidating. I’ll tell myself, I’m just going to write for twenty minutes. And then sometimes, in the pit of my stomach, I feel that, no, I just can’t. So I change my goal to fifteen minutes, then maybe down to ten. Okay, I can do ten minutes, and then I’m typing, typing, typing, and—when the timer goes off—maybe I’ll decide to write a little longer. Sometimes you just need that ramp to get into your writing head. And then once you’re in it, you feel okay. And at the end, you’re so glad you did it and feel much better.
Measuring Up is a graphic novel. How does writing a graphic novel compare with writing a picture book?
It’s very different from picture books. With picture books, you need to leave room for the illustrator. The picture book is your text, but then they get to do what they want with your text. So you can write a story in your mind, and it’s about a girl, but when you get the illustration back, the character is drawn as a bear. But with a graphic novel, it’s a very collaborative effort between myself, my editor, the book designer, and the illustrator. We all give our input for the illustrations. For example, they sent me the illustrations for all the characters, and I gave my comments back on that.
In Measuring Up, the beginning of the book is set in Taiwan. So I needed to make sure that they got the details right. For example, there’s a vegetable called a bitter melon. And I specifically wrote in the script that it needed to be a Taiwanese bitter melon, which is white. Because in the U.S. or China, if you buy it, the melon is green. So I was able to specify details like that.
How do you approach writing a scene?
Inspired by the book Story Genius by Lisa Cron, I figure out for each of my scenes what my character thinks will happen going into the scene, what she is thinking during the scene, and then, at the end, something has to happen. She will either get what she wants, but not in the way she imagined, or she won’t get what she wants. And then she has to figure out what to do next.
Another important thing is making sure that the emotion changes in the scene. So whatever emotion your character comes in with, when the character leaves that scene she has to have a different emotion. Otherwise, the scene will feel flat.
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A special thanks to Lily LaMotte for sharing with us! You can find more of her books at lilylamotte.com.
Lily LaMotte is the debut author of the middle grade graphic novel MEASURING UP from HarperCollins/HarperAlley on October 27, 2020. When she isn’t writing picture books and middle grade graphic novels, she’s cooking up new recipes. Sometimes, when she sees the gray clouds outside her window in the Pacific Northwest, she loads up the campervan for a writing retreat camping trip with her husband and two dogs.
She is a graduate of Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
She is repped by Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Chloe's Lunar New Year. By Lily LaMotte. Illus. by Michelle Lee. Jan. 2023.40p. Harper, $18.99 (9780063076518). PreS-Gr. 2.
This inviting picture book introduces children to Lunar New Year as celebrated in a Taiwanese American household. A young girl named Chloe guides Noah, her little brother, through the preparations. They help their parents fix traditional and new favorite foods for the holiday dinner. As the day progresses from discarding worn-out shoes to setting the table for a family reunion feast, several references are made to A-ma, the childrens grandmother. Their aunt and uncle arrive for the evenings festivities. After dinner, Noah watches as Chloe adds a slice of pie to an area with a framed photo, an incense stick, and mementos, saying, "Happy reunion dinner, A-ma." The family gathers to play a board game together. References to A-ma are brief and left to the reader for interpretation. The authors note refers to Lunar New Year as "the most important holiday of the year in many Asian countries," before focusing on Taiwanese celebrations. Created with watercolor, colored pencil, and digital media, the artwork reflects the cordial tone of the narrative in depicting Chloe's happy family gathering.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Chloe's Lunar New Year." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 7-8, 1 Dec. 2022, p. 129. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731042757/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=84b0312d. Accessed 14 May 2023.
LaMotte, Lily CHLOE'S LUNAR NEW YEAR Harper/HarperCollins (Children's None) $18.99 1, 3 ISBN: 978-0-06-307651-8
An Asian American family celebrates a traditional holiday.
Chloe's family is getting ready for Lunar New Year: cleaning their house, tossing old shoes, and trying on new ones to usher in good fortune. The excitement is palpable as Chloe looks forward to the reunion dinner with the whole family, including A-má (grandma). Chloe and little sibling Noah set the table, putting good-luck oranges into a bowl, and help prepare festive dishes: turnip cakes fried golden brown, a whole fish symbolizing plenty, and A-má's favorite, hot pot. For dessert, a homemade apple pie goes into the oven. As the relatives arrive, we witness an extended family gathering that is a slice of contemporary American life, highlighting intergenerational connections and honoring ancestors. Themes of love and family underlie the snappy text. The spare drawings are most engaging on the endpapers featuring portraits in a family album. The backmatter includes a recipe for Fortune Cake ("huat kué" in Taiwanese) and describes the importance of traditional Asian new year celebrations. In the author's note, LaMotte discusses some of the foods served at Lunar New Year in Taiwan and explains how, as she was growing up, her family incorporated both American and Taiwanese traditions. Chloe's Uncle Tony is White, with light-colored hair; everyone else presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sentimental and sweet story. (Picture book. 4-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"LaMotte, Lily: CHLOE'S LUNAR NEW YEAR." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726309250/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6930f715. Accessed 14 May 2023.
Measuring Up. By Lily LaMotte. Illus. by Ann Xu. Oct. 2020.208p. HarperAlley, $22.99 (9780062973870); paper, $12.99 (9780062973863). Gr. 3-6. 741.5.
Newly transplanted to Seattle, 12-year-old Cici does her best to blend in at her new middle school, even though she misses her beloved A-ma, her paternal grandmother whom she left back in Taiwan. Cici is desperate to bring her grandmother to America for a visit, but how to pay for it? A local cooking contest with a $1,000 grand prize might be the answer, but will her favorite Taiwanese dishes be enough to win over the judges? This sweet, family-oriented graphic novel celebrates cultural traditions and new beginnings in equal measure. Cici is good at making friends and adjusting to American culture, but she also celebrates her Taiwanese roots, finding joy and balance in both. First-time author LaMotte brings an obvious love of food and cooking to a positive story that aspiring young chefs will devour. Xu's mangainfluenced, full-color illustrations set a gentle tone to this highly appealing story of new beginnings. --Summer Hayes
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
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Hayes, Summer. "Measuring Up." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2020, p. 40. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639876212/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6e7fe40f. Accessed 14 May 2023.
LaMotte, Lily MEASURING UP HarperAlley (Children's None) $22.99 10, 27 ISBN: 978-0-06-297387-0
An aspiring young chef discovers her innate resourcefulness and the courage of her convictions.
In this contemporary immigrant story, 12-year-old Cici moves from Taiwan to Seattle with her professional parents, who promote a straightforward formula for success: “good grades, good college, good job.” Cici, however, is sad to leave her grandmother and is determined to bring A-má to the United States for her 70th birthday. When a junior cooking contest presents the prospect of funding A-má’s airfare, Cici, an able chef, aims to win and begins making “American” foods. Working with her in-contest partner Miranda, Cici learns to make porcini risotto, not to overcook pasta, and that she is a super taster. This revelation reminds readers of the secret spice mixture that A-má taught Cici when she was little—will it help her win the contest? Similar hints of superhero identity lurk throughout this textured graphic novel filled with heart and humor, centering girls with budding ambitions, subverting tropes, and celebrating everyday heroes—including the librarian who introduces Cici to Julia Child. Word to the wise: Readers should not pick up this book while hungry unless they have treats nearby such as Taiwanese minced pork over rice, or at least a bubble tea to go with that pineapple cake and zucchini chocolate cookie.
Bold and nuanced, this intercultural “cook book” dishes up hearty morsels well worth savoring. (Graphic fiction. 9-13)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"LaMotte, Lily: MEASURING UP." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A635239810/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ba3a962c. Accessed 14 May 2023.