I’m beginning to suspect that there is a secret coven of kindergarten teachers who practice the dark art of prophesying.  They keep all their witchy gear tucked away in the classroom supply closets—Tarot cards under the art smocks, Ouija boards hidden in boxes marked Noodle the Poodle Phonics Game.  The reason I am so sure of this is that kindergarten teachers have this eerie ability to scrutinize wild little creatures called 5-year-olds and see into their very souls. Then they tell the children’s parents all about it at parent-teacher conferences. Of course not all kindergarten teachers can do this. Just the ones who are in the coven.

Eons ago, my own kindergarten teacher decreed that “Ellen does her own thing, and people better keep out of her way while she’s doing it.”

Oh yeah. That teacher was definitely part of the coven. Her prophesy followed me right into adulthood.

Group projects? Not if I can help it.

Club member? Forget about it. I wouldn’t even join Sam’s Club, just on principle.

Then one day I met a woman named Anne Mazer. A lot of you probably know about her, and if you don’t worse luck for you. She’s just terrific. Honest, funny, and oh, by the way, she’s written 44 books, including some best-sellers.

While bringing up two children.

As a single-mother.

Ka-ping! Ka-ping! That’s the sound of bullets bouncing off her Wonder Woman wrist cuffs.

So I met Anne Mazer when we did this crazily wonderful author event together, organized by yet another extraordinary person, author Megan Shull (of Amazing Grace fame). Here is a poster of the event. (Anne’s on the left and Megan is the cowgirl on the right). 

I’m always suspicious when people say something is life-changing. It’s very difficult for people to change. Ask any kindergarten teacher. But this event was a life-changer. The three of us decided to collaborate on a fiction-writing guide for kids. It would have been inconceivable for me to co-author a book before I met these two women. I did my own thing. Leave me alone.

Now I couldn’t wait to do our thing.

In the end Megan had to leave the project because she had some pressing work of her own to finish. That stunk because Megan is one of these charismatic people who you can’t believe has agreed to be your friend.  But Anne and I decided to keep going. We knew we were on to something because for years we had both received so many e-mails from kids all over the world who were asking questions about writing. They wanted to know about things like writer’s block and plotting and developing characters—basically all the things that adult writers wonder about. Anne and I decided to write a sort of Bird by Bird for kids.  

So we divvied up the sections. Anne focused on the Writer’s Brain and I focused on the Writer’s Craft and off we went! I can say unequivocally that I have never ever ever had so much fun writing a book. It was like dreaming and scheming with your sixth-grade friend again, if your sixth-grade friend happened to be a best-selling author.

The other day I caught an episode of Julia Child cooking with Jacques Pepin—the great culinary odd couple. As they chopped and sautéed, they gabbed, laughed, interrupted each other, digressed, and occasionally disagreed. You get the feeling that they are not only there to instruct, they are also there to learn new tricks from each other. I love the way Jacques will sometimes look appalled at the way Julia seasons a chicken, but then he’ll come around and say something like, “Ooolala, I must try zis at home.” Or the way Julia whoops in alarm at Jacques’ addition of anise seed to a vinaigrette, but when she plunges her finger in the stuff and tastes it, she mmmm’s with ecstasy. It’s so genuine, and it all looks like so much fun that it makes you want to go right out and buy a crepe pan.

The way Julia and Jacques worked together reminds me very much of the way Anne and I worked on Spilling Ink, A Young Writer’s Handbook.  We both had years of writing experience under our belts. And though we each had our own very different styles, we were able to toss ideas back and forth and come up with better and more inventive writing techniques and advice together than we could have on our own.  Plus we had a blast doing it. In the end I hope that our readers feel the same way I do after watching Julia and Jacques. I hope they can’t wait to start cooking up a juicy story.

Now that Spilling Ink is all done and ready to hit the shelves this March, I am jonesing for another collaboration with Anne. So in the end my kindergarten teacher was not altogether right. After all, soothsaying is not an exact science. 

P.S. I have joined Sam’s Club and currently have a jumbo box of salmon steaks in my freezer.