Dumfries author loves a rainy day

By NORA HASSAN/For the News & Messenger
Published: June 15, 2008

Raindrops on the windowpane are sounds Dumfries children's author Cynthia Cotten knows well. She penned an entire book about it.

Cotten's most recent book, "Rain Play," about playing in the rain—something Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park has seen a lot of lately—released April 1.

Cotten, originally from Rockport, N.Y., took time to share about her latest book, how she stumbled into writing and the discipline required to be good at her craft.

Q. What gave you the idea to write "Rain Play"?

A. It's funny…. I like the sound of rain. And I wrote this back when we were living in Pittsburg and just hearing the noise of the rain against the windows one day and I just heard this kind of a plip-plop, plip-plop. And I started thinking "plip-plop, drip-drop," and that phrase started spinning itself in my head and when something like that happens I know I've got something. And I thought, "OK what can I do with this?" Thinking about rain and thinking about kids and thinking about when I was a little kid, how some of us used to just love to go out in the backyard in the rain, you know, put on our swimsuits and go out into the backyard and be goofy. So it went from there and then when I got the first line "At the park the sky goes dark" came in and then I had the cadence. And then I knew it was going to be a rhyme. And then it just went from there.

Q. What is it about?

A. It's about kids getting caught in a rainstorm in the park and just the fun they're having playing in the rain; different things that they do, you know, making boats and splashing and stomping.

Q. Now did you do this as a child?

A. Um, yeah! I used to do that and there was a way—we had a vine growing up the side of the house that had big leaves and you could make cups out of the leaves, you know, drink the water. Yeah, we used to go out and stomp in the puddles. Even in the spring when the snow was melting, you know, when it'd be half ice and half water, we'd go out and splash, and the sticks, you know, with the sticks and stuff.

Q.What makes this book different from the rest?

A. First of all, the illustrations. I mean each book is different as far as the illustrations. And this is probably the shortest thing I've ever written. I think it's about a 125 words. I can't remember the count but I think it's about a 120, 150 words.

Q. Is it more difficult than writing a longer book?

A. It is because you can't have a word out of place and nothing extra and when it comes to rhyming, you can't cheat. You can't have, for example, rhyme "go" with "road." Those are not rhymes. They sound the same. You look at a lot of books and people do that but those are not rhymes. If you're gonna really do it right, you gotta follow the rules. It should read the way you speak, you can't turn a sentence around. Of course you can't force out a rhyme; it has to sound natural. You got to come up with original things. Yeah, rose rhymes with nose, but is there a different way to say something, something better.

Q. Have you always known you wanted to write children's books?

A. No, I wasn't carrying a notebook around when I was a little kid and stuff. I didn't think about writing until I was about 30. My daughter was 2, and we were living in a very small town, a college town, with a small public library and the only bookstore nearby was a Walden Books about 10 miles away. And I was looking for a retelling of "A Christmas Story," for my daughter, in a picture book. I couldn't find anything I liked and I said well, you know, I could do that. And that scared myself, scared myself silly. I always liked to play with words. I used to do crossword puzzles—I still do crossword puzzles—and I loved to read but, you know, write a book? And I did a correspondence course, which gave me just enough of a taste of it to know I wanted to pursue it further. And, you know, I didn't write "A Christmas Book" until 22 years later. But, I got it done.

Q. Do ever see yourself writing anything other than children's books?

A. At this point no. I just love writing for kids. Nobody's ever said it to me, you know, "When are you going to start writing a real book," but I've had children's writer friends where people have said, you know, "Write something for adults" or "When are you going to write a real book?" Really when you think about it, for kids books you've got to muster with parents, with librarians and everything. They're picky, and if it's not up to snuff with them, if its not up to par, they're gonna pass it by. So I think it's almost a little tougher sometimes to write for kids because you're being judged harder.

Q. So it seems you set an example for people to make things happen, regardless of whether they have the life experience to do it or not. Is this something that you believe?

A. I think there will be, like, an "Aha" moment where you're like, yeah OK, this is something I want to do, but then you gotta sit down and do it. And a lot of people think, well, you know, wait till the muse hits you. But, you know the muse could be out to lunch or out on vacation or something. If you sit around and wait for the muse, you're not going to get anything done. And that's the hardest part, the discipline. I'm not as disciplined as I wish I were, but life happens, too.

Q. What piece of advice would you give for someone who wants to write?

A. Read. Read as much as you can. Read. I was told when I started out that if you wanted to write picture books, you should be reading twenty a week, easily. I mean, it sounds like a lot, but there are only 32 pages each. And a lot of them don't have a lot of words on the page. But the more you read, the more you get a feel for what's good, for what isn't, for what works, for what works for you. You get a feel for rhythm—even in prose there's rhythm, there's cadence. When I was doing graduate work, there was one semester where I totally focused on picture books, and (my teacher) would have me take a couple—three a month—that I really liked and type the text out in the computer. And it gave me, again, a feel for the rhythm of the words…. And the other thing is just to write. So read, read, read, and write, write, write. Those are the two things.

Q. Are you planning on writing another book soon?

A. Oh, I'm working on a couple of things. I'm working on a collaboration, a middle-grade novel, with somebody. We're feeling our way through that. And I've got a couple of picture books on the we're-working-on-it stage, right now.

WANT IT?

What: "Rain Play," by Dumfries children's author Cynthia Cotten

Illustrator: Javaka Steptoe

Reading level: ages 4 to 8

Details: Hardcover, 32 pages (Henry Hold and Co., April 2008)

Language: English

Cost: $16.95

Where to buy it: Borders, Amazon.com