[ Music ] ^M00:00:13 >> And that book has won several impressive awards such as the 2016 New York Public Library Best Book for Kids, the 2017 Texas Library Two by Two and Topaz List, as well as being named the 2017 Storytelling World Resource Award Honor Book, and several more awards. We're so glad that she's with us today. So, Nancy, tell us briefly about your book and how you decided to write a children's book about William Hoy. >> Rochelle, I have to give most of the credit to Steve Sandy, who once attended the Texas State School for the Deaf, right here. Steve approached me; he emailed me and told me it was making him very sad that a lot of deaf and hearing children did not know the story of this great deaf hero. Steve also shared with me his dream of William Hoy being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The more Steve shared with me, the more I realized Steve was right. I wondered, what can I do to help? And I came up with the idea of writing a children's book because if the children agree he should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, they will help make it happen by writing letters. And do you know, so far, kids have written more than 800 letters that we've sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and we're hoping for many more before the next vote in 2020. ^M00:01:45 ^M00:01:53 >> So how did you become interested in writing children's books? >> I am the theater critic for the Dallas Morning News, but one thing many people didn't know about me was my passion for books and particularly for children's books. I was someone who has always-- I'm always happiest in a library, one of my biggest thrills in life was when, as a kid, I graduated from the children's card where you could only take out two books to the grown-up card where I could take out twelve at a time. That made me so happy! So I just have always love children's books, I dreamed of writing them one day, but it wasn't until I became friends with Steve Sandy and I felt that this book had to be written, that I wrote my first one. I have since sold four more ^M00:02:42 ^M00:02:50 >> So what type of research did you do for this book? >> Well, the best research I did was becoming friends with Steve Sandy, because Steve is the ultimate expert on William Hoy. He had all of the newspaper articles, newspaper articles from the nineteenth century where some of them didn't even have photographs, they just had drawings. And he had letters, he had journals, he had the photographs of Hoy dating back to when he was seven years old. Steve, I should add, is also a friend of the Hoy family. So they gave him access to everything. And I read, and I read, and I read, and I studied, and I studied, and I also would go back and ask Steve questions to make sure I understood and he was so patient with me. ^M00:03:40 ^M00:03:43 >> Wow! ^M00:03:44 ^M00:03:47 Now what type of challenges did you have while writing this book? >> That question makes me laugh, because remember I told you I had this brilliant idea that if I wrote a children's book, all the children would help us by writing letters to the national baseball hall of fame? Well this was a wonderful idea, but the only problem is I had never written a children's book before. And as a professional journalist, I assumed it would not be difficult. As a matter of fact I said to myself; how hard could it be? And I still learned that writing children's books is a very challenging thing. You only get to work with seven or eight hundred words that are illustrated but you have to make that story engaging, you have to make the child feel William's journey, you have to be right there, you have to have an-- want them to turn every page. And I learned I had to go and take classes in writing children's books. It took me thirteen years of studying how to write the children's book while I was doing the research provided to me by Steve to get this right, and finally I have an agent now, a wonderful agent Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary who loved the story and she sold it to Wendy McClure, an editor at Albert Whitman and Company who loved the story. And that's how it happened, but it did take a long time before I learned that I needed to learn the craft. ^M00:05:16 ^M00:05:20 >> Wow, goodness. ^M00:05:22 ^M00:05:25 So, if you could tell us one thing about William Hoy, what would it be? >> Rochelle, this is your toughest question so far, because this man lived such a long and fascinating life, he lived 99 years; from Abraham Lincoln, to President John F. Kennedy. Did so many things, and there're so many wonderful stories that tell about how smart he was, how inventive, about how funny he was, he had such a great sense of humor. But I think the one thing I would want to tell you, because it was something that reflects something he told about himself, is his honesty. One of my favorite stories that I've heard about William Hoy, and this did not even make it into the book, this is a special story I like to tell when I share the book with kids, is that once he was out on the field, he was such a great catcher, they called him the King of Center Field, because he could catch anything. And one day he's out there and the ball comes to him and he catches the ball and the umpire calls the runner out because if you catch the ball on the fly, the runner is out. And he shakes his head no, and the umpire's confused. But it turns out William Hoy wanted them to know that the ball hit the ground; the runner was safe. Think about that, he could have been the hero of the game, caught the ball on the fly, everyone thought he caught it, runner was out. No, he has to tell the truth. And later in his life when he was much older, and remember, this man lived until 99, they asked him what were you proudest of in baseball, because you set a record for most walks one year, you set a record for most bases stolen one year, you once threw three runners out in one game at the plate, you once hit a grand slam to win the American pennant for your team, for the Chicago White Sox. And what he said he was proudest of; telling the umpire that the ball hit the ground. And I think that tells you everything about what kind of a person William Hoy was. ^M00:07:44 ^M00:07:47 >> Oh wow, goosebumps. ^M00:07:49 ^M00:07:51 So for students who are aspiring to become a children's book author, what advice would you give to them? >> I would advise them to take classes, be smarter than I was and take the classes right away, it took me a long time before I realized how much I didn't know, it's a special art of story-telling. Not only did I learn a lot from these classes, but I also joined a lot of children's writing groups. The society for children's book writers and illustrators, and there are many other wonderful groups like the twelve by twelve group, the Rate Your Story group, there are many challenges and they're available to you on Facebook and online. And not only will you learn techniques, but you will find your tribe of fellow writers who will encourage you. I have gotten so much encouragement from so many people, and that makes such a difference because as I told you it took me thirteen years with all of these friends I found they would not let me give up. And I encouraged them and they encouraged me, that made such a difference. And we all celebrate together when any of us publish our dream. So please study and also do not give up. Do not give up, it is worth waiting for. And I'm also glad that it was picked up when it was because the early rejections made me go back and work harder and make it a better book. I am glad this is the book that got published and not my first draft of the book, that wouldn't have been so successful. So I am glad that the universe waited until I was ready to write the best book possible. ^M00:09:41 ^M00:09:44 >> Great. ^M00:09:45 ^M00:09:47 Okay, so I'm now going to give you a fun question. In all of the interviews you've experienced, what type of question have you always wanted to answer, and then what would be your answer? >> That question would be how has William Hoy changed me. And I will tell you that getting to know William Hoy changed my life for the better. It's not just about writing a book, that was one dream for me which was wonderful, but just getting to know William Hoy, seeing how he was proud of being deaf, how he had a dream of who he wanted to be, what he wanted to accomplish, nothing could stop him. There were people in the hearing world who were not kind to make fun of him for being different, never made him feel bad about himself, he was a proud man, he just found his way to connect with them. He didn't hold grudges. I don't think this man had any enemies. He just made friend wherever he went, and he didn't give up, and that inspired me. It made me think, well I'm writing this book, I'm having some challenges here, I've never written a children's book before. And in the beginning I got a lot of rejections, and some people said to me why are you even doing this, you write for the newspaper, you have a fine job, why are you doing this? But I made a promise, I had a dream, I had to fulfill it. I saw how William Hoy didn't give up and I couldn't give up, and I bring that into everything. Having written about William Hoy has given me confidence and I think it also gives me a sense of humor because if something doesn't work and if I make a mistake, I laugh and then I just try again, that's what he would do. He has been a wonderful role model for me, I hope he will be a role model for others. ^M00:11:51 ^M00:11:54 >> Wow, that's so inspiring, he is such an inspiring figure. Okay so your book on William Hoy, where are people able to buy that? >> It's, Rochelle, it's widely available; Amazon, of course, Barnes and Noble, a lot of independent bookstores have it, and if schools want to buy it directly at a special rate, they can go to the publisher Albert Whitman and they can probably work out a special arrangement as an educational order. ^M00:12:25 ^M00:12:30 >> I think I'll probably buy one this evening. >> Well, you know I am donating this copy to the Texas State School for the Deaf, and I will be autographing it, writing my name in it, and I hope all the students here will enjoy it. >> Thank you so much for that donation, that's so sweet. So what connections do you have with the deaf community? >> My friend Steve Sandy has opened the door to the wonderful world of the deaf community and of the history of the deaf community. He has taught me so much and he has been so welcoming to me and inviting me to know his beautiful wife who is also deaf, and his friends, and I've gotten to know the wonderful Peter Rozynski who is an umpire for the deaf, and just so many great people. And he has just taught me so much about deaf history, because he wanted to make sure that I understood what life would be like for William Hoy growing up, and it's also helped me understand the challenges that people in the deaf community have now, and that is why when I present the book, I always try to have an interpreter, so it's an inclusive experience. And I watch and I try to learn some signs myself. I've also been trying to partner with Teachers of American Sign Language and one teacher even taught her class how to perform a play version of this story in American sign language. And she did that at one of my presentations, it was beautiful. ^M00:14:17 ^M00:14:20 >> That's so cool, thank you. Well this concludes the interview, and I do want to take a moment just to thank you so much Nancy for your time and your effort in making this book happen, and thank you for reaching out and connecting with Steve Sandy so thank you for much for everything you've done. >> Thank you, Rochelle, these are wonderful questions and I feel grateful and privileged to be able to share this with you and to spend this time with you in the beautiful Texas State School for the Deaf. ^E00:14:48