Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

I would bet just about every writer has been asked, “How long does it take you to write a book?” Well…it turns out every book has its own story of becoming. And if you peruse this blog, you’ll find many books that sprang from ideas or experiences many years earlier. Here, Marsha Diane Arnold shares the journey of ARMANDO’S ISLAND. And…..

a GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment after the post to get in the drawing for a copy of ARMANDO’S ISLAND. 

The Long Journey of Armando’s Island

By Marsha Diane Arnold

I’ve been telling bloggers that I wrote Armando’s Island over twenty years ago. But I recently discovered an old file at the back of my filing cabinet – Armando’s Island. Leafing through my letters (letters, not emails!), it became clear that I started thinking about the story and researching it thirty years ago!

What I rediscovered in the file surprised me. I had a “Directory of Tropical Forest Specialists” from Rainforest Alliance, letters from organizations like World Wildlife Fund, a letter dated July 1992 from the Assistant to Dan Rather at CBS News! I had notes…so many notes…from books I studied. From those notes, I scribbled inspirations. Lots of inspirations, phrases, and thoughts. I found pages of information about Amazon animals and plants. I didn’t use any of those for the back matter that I added in 2019, because I’d forgotten about that buried file!

What does this show us? It shows that for some writers a story takes years to complete and years more to find a publisher.

My records show that the first time I shared Armando’s Island was in 2003, but I actually think it was before that. I think I shared it with my very first editor, who loved my work. She was the editor of seven of my early picture books and early readers, mostly at Penguin.

I sent out the manuscript again in 2007, with very limited submissions.

In 2011, I joined Red Fox Literary Agency with the wonderful Karen Grencik as my agent. One of the manuscripts I sent her to look over was Armando’s Island. She said nice things about it: “Truly, truly wonderful. I got shivers.” She submitted it that same year. No takers, though the rejections praised the writing.

In 2019, I decided to add back matter about some of the animals found in Armando’s Island. I really don’t think the manuscript sold because I added that back matter. I think it had finally found its place and time. In the end, two respected publishing houses wanted Armando’s Island. I chose Creative Editions.

The contract was signed in February 2020 and soon after, my acquiring editor wanted a bit more about Armando’s childhood in the story. She wanted to linger in his perfect world before the tree cutters arrived. I added three stanzas, beginning “Each morning he awakened to the smell of the earth, the sounds and songs of treetops, the taste of just-picked berries” and ending “He felt connected to his leafy refuge.” I also changed the next line slightly.

There’s a funny and embarrassing story about those three stanzas. My acquiring editor left. I was assigned another editor, who also left. They are both fabulous editors…I hope it wasn’t me! Changes often happen in the publishing industry and sometimes, at least for me, that causes confusion. That final version I’d worked on with my acquiring editor had been sent to the art director, who eventually asked me to double-check it in September 2021. (Remember, those three stanzas were added in early 2019.)

When I looked at the text, I didn’t recognize my additions. I thought, “These are lovely additions, but they aren’t mine!” Are you confused yet? Evidently, I was. It took a day of looking through my notes to realize the changes were indeed mine! I was the mysterious writer who I thought had intruded upon my story.

How could I forget my own writing? It happens to me fairly often. I suspect it happens to other writers too. You read something years after writing it and think to yourself, “How lovely. I wonder who wrote that? Oh! I did.” At least, we hope that’s what we think. It’s better than thinking, “How horrible! Surely that wasn’t me writing.”

I think my memory lapse may have been because the original manuscript didn’t have a lot of rewrites. I had lived with it in that form for decades. It was so completely mine, so completely final, that the rewrites, requested and completed in weeks, were forgotten.

To recap, the desire to write Armando’s Island began thirty years ago.

Exclusive or limited submissions were made in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2019, 2020, and probably in the late 1990s as well.

The back matter about the Amazon animals was written in 2019.

The contract with Creative Editions was signed in February 2020.

Anne Yvonne Gilbert, the illustrator of Red Canoe and other marvelous books, agreed to illustrate in 2021.

It was a long journey to the day when Armando’s Island was announced in Publisher’s Weekly in October 2021, described as “a picture book about a man who steadfastly protects his rainforest ‘island’ as a solitary refuge for the animals and plants he loves.”  A long journey to launch date, coming August 8^th, 2023!

Thirty years. Was it worth it? I hope, after seeing the spectacular illustrations Anne Yvonne Gilbert created and the beautiful book Creative Editions has made, that you will agree. It was.Thank you so much for welcoming me to your blog, Beth, and prompting me to delve through all these memories.

Giveaway! Don’t forget to leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of ARMANDO’S ISLAND.  (US addresses only). Winner announced 8/11/23.