Accessing Her Inner Lincoln

My Life with the Lincolns
By Gayle Brandeis
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Things on hypochondriacal Mina Edelman's to-do list: Get through age 12 without dropping dead. Stop Mom from going crazy. Stop Dad from getting shot in the skull.

Your list would look the same if you believed your family was the Lincolns reincarnated, as Mina does. Her tasks become even more challenging when her father – Albert Baruch Edelman; ABE – starts taking Mina with him to Chicago to hear speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. And when Mr. Edelman brings the civil rights movement to Mina's small town, things will never be the same.

It's the totally unique premise of My Life With The Lincolns (Holt, 2010), the debut novel for middle-grade readers from Gayle Brandeis. Brandeis is no stranger to fiction; she's written several novels for adults, including The Book Of Dead Birds (HarperCollins, 2003), which won Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for Fiction.

Brandeis used her own fascination with the Lincolns – no doubt nurtured by her childhood belief that her father was Abe reincarnated – as the launch point for My Life With The Lincolns. And although she never intended it as a book for young readers, she tells, Brandeis is delighted that by tapping into her own growing-up, she's been able to reach an entirely new audience.

“I actually wanted to write a memoir called My Life With The Lincolns -- when I was a little girl,... ”
—BRANDEIS

AUTHORLINK: How did the book come about? The reincarnated Lincolns premise is so fun – how did you think to pair it with the Chicago Freedom Movement?

BRANDEIS: I actually wanted to write a memoir called My Life With The Lincolns -- when I was a little girl, like my character Mina, I thought my dad was Abraham Lincoln reincarnated, and several years ago, I learned more about Mary Lincoln and she reminded me a lot of my mom; I thought it might be cool to alternate the Lincolns’ story with our family’s story. I mentioned this idea to my editor and agent at the time and they were very excited about the project, but then I realized that I was too close to the story to write it, plus my mom had asked me not to write about her while she was alive and I wanted to honor that.

My agent and editor asked if I could fictionalize the story, and I told them no, I really wanted to write the memoir some day, so I let the idea go for the time being, but then Mina started to speak to me. The story that spun out from her voice ended up not being autobiographical at all, except for a few elements (such as Mina’s tendency toward hypochondria, and her close relationship with her younger sister).

The Chicago Freedom Movement aspect of the book came about because I knew I wanted to set the book in Chicago (my hometown), and I knew I wanted the story to deal with issues of civil rights so it would resonate with the social change happening during Lincoln’s time, but I couldn’t think of a specific set of circumstances to focus upon. I did a simple Google search on “Chicago” and “civil rights” and learned about the Chicago Freedom Movement; I was shocked I hadn’t known about that part of my city’s political history, shocked that I had no idea Martin Luther King, Jr. had come to Chicago to work for fair housing as his only northern civil rights campaign. I knew immediately that’s when and where I needed to set my story.

AUTHORLINK: What kind of research did you do for the book? Seems you had to become an expert on Lincoln, the civil rights era, even the specifics of '60s-era Downers Grove, IL, Mina's town. Any tips for converting "raw" research into compelling prose?

BRANDEIS: I adore research, and did every kind imaginable — library research, Internet research, hands-on research where I visited places mentioned in the book, etc. I found it especially moving to follow Lincoln’s footsteps in Springfield, IL and spend time in his family’s tomb — it helped me feel close to them in a very personal way. I also was able to speak to some people involved in the Chicago Freedom Movement who lived in Downers Grove, which was incredibly helpful (I happened upon them by looking at microfilm archives of the Downers Grove Sun; there were a couple of letters to the editor about fair housing in 1966, and I was able to track down the people who wrote them. I also talked to a couple of their children—one of whom turned out to be Miles Harvey, an author I admire! — to get a sense of what it was like to be a kid in Downers Grove in the '60s).

“My biggest tip is to look for quirky, specific details in your research . . .”
—BRANDEIS

My biggest tip is to look for quirky, specific details in your research that will really spring to life on the page. I was glad, for instance, to learn the jingle for a popular old fried chicken place in Downers Grove, and to learn about particular moments of mischief enacted by the Lincoln boys (such as when Tad Lincoln ate the strawberries meant for a state dinner.) It was also helpful to be in Downers Grove and see what kinds of weeds were springing from the lawns, since kids get down in the grass and notice those sorts of things. And I was glad to know how hot it was that summer so I could weave in sensory details of heat, especially during the scene where Mina and her dad first go to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. Of course it’s good to educate yourself broadly and deeply about the era you’re exploring in your work, but it’s those quirky little details that will make that era come alive for your reader.

AUTHORLINK: The fraying of the Edelmans' marriage was an unforeseen twist – why did you choose to explore that?

BRANDEIS: It came about organically as I wrote the book. My own first marriage was fraying during that time — in a different way than the Edelmans experienced — so it’s possible I was subconsciously dealing with my own issues. It’s amazing how our lives can spill into our fiction in unexpected ways.

AUTHORLINK: You're an accomplished, award-winning writer of books for adults. How did you feel about venturing into the children's literature arena?

BRANDEIS: I actually thought I was writing a book for adults when I wrote the first draft of My Life With The Lincolns. When I turned it in to my editor, though, she rejected it, saying it read as a novel for young readers. This was deeply disappointing at first — rejection always stings — but I started to get jazzed about reaching a young audience and now I’m thrilled to connect with this new group of readers. I’m writing for young people in a more conscious way now, and love it; I still feel like a 10-year old inside, so it feels natural for me to access a young voice.

“Rejection can lead to good things . . .I ended up having a great time writing it once I got past the initial panic.”
—BRANDEIS

Rejection can lead to good things — when my editor at Ballantine turned down My Life With The Lincolns, she gave me a year to write another novel, and my novel Delta Girls (Ballantine, 2010) was born (I doubt I would have written it otherwise, and I ended up having a great time writing it once I got past the initial panic). Delta Girls was just published at the end of June, so the books were released quite close together.

AUTHORLINK: Did your own children read any drafts of My Life With The Lincolns? If so, what did they think? Do you work with a critique group or partner? How important is outside feedback during the crafting of your books?

BRANDEIS: My daughter, who was 13 at the time, read the first draft of My Life With The Lincolns, and seemed to like it, but she asked when I was going to write a more “family friendly” book (the earlier version contained a bit more physicality than the final story). I think she was happy to see the book take on a younger slant (especially since the book is dedicated in part to her!).

I share work every month with my dear friend Laraine Herring. We met in grad school and really clicked, both as people and as writers. Her eye on my work is invaluable. I used to be very protective about my writing and wouldn’t share it until it felt close to finished, but I feel comfortable sharing work in progress with Laraine because I know she’ll always honor my own process, my own voice — she’ll just help me hone in and clarify it.

AUTHORLINK: You began writing at a very young age and apparently never stopped, even landing an essay in the Statue of Liberty centennial time capsule as a teen. Can you talk about the path you took to writing professionally, becoming an author? Were there ever any moments of indecision, or did you always know that writing was your destiny?

BRANDEIS: I’ve been writing since I was four, but it took me quite a while to get up the nerve to send my work into the world — or, I should say, to recapture the nerve. I was quite ambitious as a kid, writing a neighborhood newspaper — similar to the Lincoln Log Mina writes for her dad’s furniture store in the book — and selling subscriptions door to door, etc. At some point, though, I lost that boldness.

My undergraduate professors kept encouraging me to send my work to literary journals, but I didn’t feel ready; it felt too scary and vulnerable to put my work out there. After I graduated, though, my mom got me a subscription to Poets & Writers Magazine and I started to submit work to the journals and anthologies calling for manuscripts in the P&W classifieds. I steadily began publishing poems and stories and essays and started working on longer form writing, as well.

I wrote three “practice” novels before I published The Book Of Dead Birds (through winning Barbara Kingsolver’s Bellwether Prize, where part of the prize was publication). A year before my novel came out, my first published book was a creativity guide, Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write (HarperOne, 2004), and that went through several incarnations over about 10 years before it found the right format and found a home.

“. . . I have been (and continue to be) beset by many moments of doubt and indecision.”
—BRANDEIS

Even though I’ve always known I would be a writer, I have been (and continue to be) beset by many moments of doubt and indecision. I wish it wasn’t such a part of my process, but almost every writer I know struggles with self doubt; perhaps it keeps us humble, keeps us growing as writers. I definitely don’t ever want to feel as if I can rest on my laurels. But even through the moments of doubting myself, I trust the creative process and trust that it will eventually coax me back into its flow. When I’m in the thick of writing, the doubt usually disappears and I’m fully present with the steady stream of words and the surprising places they take me.

AUTHORLINK: Do you think your extensive background in poetry – both in your academic and professional careers – makes you a better novelist?

BRANDEIS: It’s hard for me to judge my own work, but I do think poetry can enrich the work of any fiction writer. It all has to do with paying attention to language, to its sounds and its power. With poetry, you can capture large feelings, vast experiences, with a small handful of words, and this economy of language, this compression, can bring great energy to fiction. Plus reading (and writing) poetry can help fiction writers remember to use language in fresh ways, to write unexpected metaphors, to veer away from cliché. For fiction writers who are afraid of poetry or have only read the classics, I suggest dipping into poets like Mary Oliver and Sharon Olds and Billy Collins and Aimee Nezhukumatathil; they will change your idea of what poetry can be and do.

AUTHORLINK: You have some great ideas – involving the dictionary and a strawberry – for plowing through writer's block and opening up those creative pathways. Can you explain, please?

BRANDEIS: You mention two of my favorite writing exercises! The first line of my book Fruitflesh is “A strawberry changed my life” and strawberries continue to be meaningful to me. I never tire of this exercise, which was introduced to me by my beloved philosophy teacher in high school: you take a strawberry and take five minutes to explore it with all your senses but taste. Take the time to really feel its texture, smell its fragrance, look at all the intricate patterns of seed and leaf, its different gradations of color, see if you can get some sound out of it, etc. After these five minutes are up, take another full five minutes to eat the strawberry, eating with as much mindfulness as possible, noting each nub against your tongue, each layer of taste. Then write about it.

“The more deeply we pay attention to the world around us, the more we have to write about . . .”
—BRANDEIS

My teacher had us write a haiku about the strawberry, but I often ask students to write about the fruit in a way that combines direct sensory description, metaphor and memory. It leads to some amazing writing, and it wakes you up fully, which can only enhance your writing. The more deeply we pay attention to the world around us, the more we have to write about (and the more authentic and rooted that writing becomes).

The dictionary exercise is something I came up with when I was in between book projects but wanted to keep my creative juices flowing. I would open the dictionary every day and blindly point my finger at the page. If it landed on a word I didn’t know, or one that had an alternate meaning I hadn’t known about, I’d write a poem inspired by it. Some of the poems were goofy; some were cathartic. I compiled one for every letter of the alphabet in a little chapbook called Dictionary Poems (Pudding House Publications, 2003). It’s an exercise I still return to every once in awhile if I want to write but am not quite sure what to write about. I love how little exercises like this can blast open our creative doors, flex our writerly muscles, help us fall in love with writing all over again.

Learn more about Gayle Brandeis and her books at www.gaylebrandeis.com.

About Susan VanHecke

Susan VanHecke is an author of books for adults and children. Her titles for young people include Rock 'N' Roll Soldier (HarperCollins, 2009) and An Apple Pie For Dinner (Cavendish, 2009). To find out more about Susan and her books, visit www.susanvanhecke.com.