One of my favorite writer friends is Anne Marie Pace. She’s one of those sweet people who always have encouraging words and she also knows a lot about the business, so you can ask her questions and she usually knows the answer! Gotta love that. So, welcome, Anne Marie.

Anne Marie Pace writes for kids. Her stories, articles and poems have been published in such magazines as Highlights for Children, On the Line, My Friend and Wee Ones. Check out her website at http://www.annemariepace.com

1. What were your favorite books when you were a teen?

I had a lot of required reading to do for school (Tales of Two Cities, Fahrenheit-451, Anna Karenina—you know the routine), but when I got to choose, I read everything by Victoria Holt and Judith Krantz (eep!). I think I was a teen when I was reading Ellen Conford, Paula Danziger, and Judy Blume. Every year I reread all of the Little House books and all of the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome at least twice. That last series is wonderful; it’s a group of kids in the 1920s exploring the Lake District of England (and sometimes beyond). They ate exotica like steak-and-kidney pie and hot pots and squashed fly biscuits.

2.What’s on your iPod or CD player?

I have pretty eclectic taste in music. I’m a choral singer so I have a lot of choral music of all types. My favorite piece of music is Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” without which I couldn’t have completed my second novel manuscript; I think of it as the soundtrack to that work. The music plunges into despair, then soars into hope and peace. Other music? I grew to love Irish music when I took Irish dancing as a kid, long before Riverdance made it cool. And I still have a soft spot for (gulp!) the Partridge Family.

3.Do you eat right, get plenty of exercise, and sleep eight hours, or do you sit in front of your computer writing all the time?

I don’t get enough sleep. I could use eight hours, but it’s usually more like six and a half or seven. I do try to exercise and eat right, but I’m not a model of either. I’m just regular. I try to write at least an hour a weekday, but sometimes do three or four. I can’t write much more than that unless I have a deadline. My hands get cramped.

4. What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

I don’t know what the BEST piece of advice I’ve gotten is; I have been blessed through the years with good friends who give wise counsel. But writing-wise, I had a recent discovery that helped me get through the downdraft of a YA; this quote is something I found in Candie Moonshower’s blog, and it’s a quote from Jane Smiley:

“Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It’s perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be not to exist.” I typed it out, printed it, and taped it to my computer under the screen. It helped me plow through. I guess it’s just another way of saying to BIC or free yourself of your internal editor, but this particular way of phrasing it resonated with me and allowed me to work.

5. What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in high school?

Falling down the steps near the gym in front of the quarterback and his girlfriend. They snickered. L

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