Talk about perfect timing!  I just started teaching a unit about the Civil War and here is a book about a female soldier (in disguise) based on a true story.  I can’t wait to share it with you.

Joanna Lapati attended CCRI’s Fine Art program from 1988 to 1995 and transferred to UMASS Dartmouth from 1996 to 2001, where she developed her scratchboard technique during her senior year under the study of Bob Selby.  She worked at a major toy manufacturer, as a model-artist painting prototype toys for 8 years and as a department supervisor. She joined the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in 2008.  This is her first picture book as an author-illustrator.  You can learn more about her at her website.

GUTS FOR GLORY: THE STORY OF CIVIL WAR SOLDIER ROSETTA WAKEMAN is based on a true story.  Joanna tells her story through excerpts of letters and beautiful scratchboard art work.  One of my favorite parts are the end papers with the items a soldier might carry in this war (with a matching glossary at the back so you can tell what every piece is).  This isn’t your typical nonfiction picture book biography.  This is a puzzle that strings together pieces of primary documents to tell a story that was forgotten by history.

Welcome Joanna!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey? When did you start writing stories? What brought you to this picture book?

Joanna: My writing journey for Guts for Glory began when I gave up reenacting in order to shift my focus to the children’s book industry. I realized the book wasn’t going to write itself, so I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators organization in 2008, attending the New England SCBWI Annual Conference in 2010 for a manuscript submission.

In 2011, I attended the NE SCBWI Regional Conference for a dummy book critique and then attended Agent Day, Write Yourself Free, Westport, CT for a manuscript submission. That fall, I received written feedback through a friend from renowned children’s book author/ illustrator Chris Van Allsburg, who saw promise in Guts for Glory. In 2012, after showcasing the Guts dummy book at the New York Winter SCBWI, I later shared it with co-worker and toy designer David Bird, who suggested I take a class with published author/illustrator and editor Marlo Garnsworthy at Rhode Island School of Design’s Continuing Ed program.

Next, I enrolled in Writing for Children’s Books, an eight-week course during the Spring of 2012. Our last class ended with a book launch and letter to a potential publisher or literary agent. I contacted Stephen Fraser from the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, who graciously responded with feedback. At the NE-SCBWI Annual Spring conference, I met children’s book author/illustrator Jeanette Bradley, who invited me to her critique group where I received valuable input. During the fall, I attended the second Annual Children’s Book Illustrator’s Symposium at the New Hampshire Institute of Art for a dummy book critique from Racheal Newborn, a designer at Houghton Mifflin, who stated maybe Guts for Glory is my second book. I considered it was time to take a break from Guts and start a different story.

In 2013, I mailed an updated and revised picture book dummy of Guts for Glory to Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, forgot about it, and began working on writing a second story. After taking a break, revising Guts with fresh eyes, and feeling confident with all the work I had put in, I signed up again for one last picture book dummy critique at the NE-SCBWI Annual Spring Conference and received a metaphoric punch to the gut after being told Guts was a do-over. I asked, “For the writing or the illustration?” The editor replied, “both.”

In December, editor Kathleen Merz asked if Guts for Glory was still available. She emailed me a couple weeks later with an interest to publish. With the launch of my website, I contacted Stephen Fraser again from the JDLA who referred me to his colleague, Roseanne Wells, who has represented me since 2014.

Long story short, besides putting in the enduring work, making connections and taking feedback (both good and bad) is part of the process. Every action is progress, even failure. But if I had given up, Guts for Glory could have been written and illustrated by someone else.

Me: Wow!  That is quite a journey.  I’m also astonished that I’ve never heard of Rosetta Wakeman before, given that she was one of the only women who fought in the Civil War from whom we have letters sharing her experience and perspective. When did you first learn about her? What was it about her story that first grabbed you and made you want to write about her more than any other woman soldier from that era?

Joanna: I read about Sarah Edmond during winter break at UMASS Dartmouth when researching my senior Illustration proposal. That was the first time I learned of a woman disguised as a soldier during the Civil War. I found Edmonds’ story so interesting that I needed to know more, placing me in the vicinity of the Civil War section at UMASS Dartmouth’s library floor, where I discovered Uncommon Soldier: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman by Lauren Cook Burgess.

Maybe it was Rosetta’s sacrifice at such a young age. Maybe it was because I had never heard about her. Maybe it was because I was unknowingly searching for representation of a young independent woman’s story. But something sparked in me and I couldn’t let go!

Me: I find I sometimes get lost in historical research because of the pleasure of discovering new things. You did an extensive amount of research for this book, including reenacting the Civil War. Did you find that all your years of research were necessary for your story? Can you tell us a bit about your unique research process?

Joanna: The research accumulated while I was working full-time as a Prototype Model-Artist.

First, I scheduled trips to upstate New York and Washington, D.C. to collect regional and historical resources, then I took part in reenactments for the experience. In 2003, I scheduled a trip to Louisiana.

I studied films such as Ken Burn’s “The Civil War,” “Glory,” and Buster Keaton’s “The General” and went to the Civilian Symposium at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, hosted by the Genteel Arts.

Reading “on topic” was constant throughout my research. I became a bibliographic junkie, searching for nuggets of information to shape the book’s authenticity and to correct my own errors.

It all involved time and money, which is why the research stretched over two decades. But I also needed to learn the art of writing and illustrating children’s books — not an easy task.

Me: You are also the illustrator of this book. I love the grit from the scratchboard that added to the look of this book. Can you talk about why you chose that medium and a little bit about your illustration process?

Joanna: I lean more towards traditional art than digital, and I love the tactile quality of scratchboard. The self-made boards were sustainable to my budget as a struggling artist but also authentic to the handmade principle of the mid-nineteenth century, especially for rural farmers.

The overall grit reflects hardship, while the stain of the book conveys the unsanitary conditions of the Civil War. After all, Rosetta did die from disease. The use of coarse line work and subdued color palette suggest the harsh realities of war.

My process starts with thumbnails to explore concepts. I may do in-depth studies or cut paper arrangements to play with the composition. Or I’ll make models for the more complicated scenes. Once the composition is set, the drawings are tightened and redefined. And after the Layout Stage is approved, I can execute the Final Art.

After airbrushing self-made boards with Japanese Sumi ink and allowing them to dry, I then trace over my line drawings using tracing paper, transferring the image onto the scratchboard with carbon, graphite, or white transfer paper. I then map out my drawings with contour studies prior to scratching the image out with an E-Xacto knife, fine steel wool, or utility blade. Once completed, the illustrations are scanned, spliced, and colored digitally.

Me: I absolutely loved the endpapers and was so happy to see the endpaper glossary at the end of the book explaining all of the items. Was that your idea or the publisher’s? What inspired that?

Joanna: It was all of Eerdmans’ doing! I worked with Assistant Editor Courtney Zonnefeld on the end page glossary, cross-referencing with the numbering of items, while Art Director Holly Hoover refined the finished layout.

The inspiration was wholeheartedly due to former EBYR Art Director Gayle Brown’s suggestion of including the personal items of a soldier for an interesting end sheet.

After reading about William Michael Harnett’s tromp l’oeil paintings, I realized the historical value of having the items remain true to scale, especially when painstakingly searching for a 54 mm caliber ammunition cartridge and caps cartridge as part of the arsenal pack, rather than having every item fit within the picture frame.

Me: I can’t imagine fighting in the Civil War. It was such a bloody time, and I was sad to read about Rosetta’s fate in the back matter. What was it about her story that you wanted to share with young readers?

Joanna: We don’t normally hear about the contributions women made during the American Civil War, especially during my schooling, but even generations later, my ears still perk up with a mere mention in popular culture.

Rosetta Wakeman’s is just one story. What she did was pretty extreme. It took guts to lead her own life, by defying social expectations of her time, when women were considered weak and frail, based solely on their biology alone.

I loved her boldness, independence, fearlessness, faith, confidence, and bravery, all at a very young age. Commendable attributes we associate with maturity. I don’t think I could have done what she did, but I loved learning about her and playing her character, leaving me with a lasting impression.

Me: Any advice for other new picture book writers or illustrators?

Joanna: With any art form, we artists have to do our work up front before we may see any return on our efforts — and it may take years. These are not jobs we can apply for or get paid for on a weekly basis. It is for us to create, and to create, we must give all our body, mind, and soul. We do it with risk. That is the struggle. But we writers or illustrators can take comfort in the completion of this great art form, a gift to our readers.

Also, remember to back up your data.

That is excellent advice.  Thank you for stoping by my blog today Joanna.

Dear readers, this 56 page picture book is published next Tuesday.  Keep an eye out for it. This is a book you will want to check out for yourself.