Meet Our August Guest Guru: Lisa Rogers
- rateyourstoryweb
- Aug 3
- 6 min read
We are very excited to feature our August Guest Guru (Lisa Rogers) who brings a wealth of knowledge and information as a multi-published non-fiction AND fiction picture book author to us. She will give a rating and feedback to four lucky Rate Your Story Members this month. Members can request her from Judy, our in-box coordinator (via to RateYourStory@gmail.com), and if there are available spots and your manuscript seems like a good fit, you will receive this benefit.
Q: What did you love about being a child?
A: I loved feeling that there was all the time in the world, and I used that endless time to daydream, read, and create–drawing, writing a family newspaper, and acting out plays with my sister.
Q: What brought you to children’s books?
A: I appreciated children’s books anew when my daughter was born, but I fell in love with them when I left my career as a daily news reporter and became an elementary library teacher. I shared thousands of books with children and began to think that perhaps I could write one of my own. After many tries, I discovered a subject close to my heart, and that resulted in my debut, 16 Words: William Carlos Williams and “The Red Wheelbarrow” (Schwartz & Wade, 2019).
Q: What do you love about children’s books?
A: I love that there is a book for everyone, no matter what type of reader. It was my job to match readers with books they would enjoy and benefit from, and being able to do that was so satisfying. Opening a book is an act of faith on the reader’s part. As a library teacher I needed to choose books that would live up to their promise, and as an author I need to write books that do that. Children deserve the best books we can create.
Q: Share a little bit about your most recently-published book. How long was its path to publication? What did you learn from this experience? What is your favorite thing about this book?
A: Wow–I just looked back in my email to see when I first mentioned the subject of our new book, WOODY’S WORDS: WOODROW WILSON RAWLS AND WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (Calkins Creek/Astra) –it was June, 2018– and this book publishes in September! I had no idea until you asked that seven years passed between concept and publication. What I learned is that my initial concept of the book wasn’t strong enough. I hadn’t yet done the research that would create depth and validity to this story.
The heart of this book for me, and my favorite part (besides the winsome hounds and beautiful setting created by illustrator Susan Reagan) is that had Woody not accepted his wife Sophie’s help in rewriting manuscripts he destroyed, we would not have two beautiful books in the world. Imagine all of the books missing from our shelves and lives because writers gave up! Asking for and accepting help is important and empowering.
Q: Share a little bit about another book you wrote and how you drew upon your interests or experience to research / write it.
A: It took me a long time to figure out how to approach BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE MUSIC OF JOHN CAGE, brilliantly illustrated by Il Sung Na (Anne Schwartz Books, 2023). His life was so fascinating that I wanted to share all of that with readers. The manuscript had many, many permutations until, after years of strained efforts, I woke up one morning and the story spooled out in my mind in the same form in which it appears in the published book. I finally realized that the heart was about listening to the world, something I practiced often as a child and still practice. That led to it earning a Golden Kite Honor, which still seems unbelievable!
Q: What do you love about the genre of books you write in (please be specific)?
A: I love picture book biographies because they consider a person’s entire life, distill it into the essence of that life via 500 or so of the most perfect words, and leave a reader feeling inspired. They are carefully crafted, beautifully created gems.
Q: What does a story need to make it a favorite for you?
A: It needs to pull me into the world of the book, bringing me close to the characters and investing me in the story through its pacing, tension, and language. It needs to have that satisfying ending that lingers in my mind.
Q: Share a story that you love and why.
A: Two recent reads pulled me into their worlds: Beth Anderson and Sally Wern Comport’s Hiding in Plain Sight: Kate Warne and the Race to Save Abraham Lincoln, and Colleen Paeff and Ji-Hyuk Kim’s Firefly Song: Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery. Both are picture book biographies, with completely different tones, time periods, and pacing, and both called me to reread and enjoy and discover anew.
Q: What is a common issue you see in the manuscripts you critique?
A: With picture book biographies, manuscripts often become bogged down by the captivating details of the subjects’ lives, to the detriment of the storytelling. It’s a problem I’ve experienced myself (see above!) so I’m especially attuned to it.
Q: Please share a Submission Tip with our Members.
A: Make sure your pitch accurately reflects your story, and vice versa. Well-written, carefully crafted pitches can amp up an editor or agent’s interest, so be sure to deliver on your promise. Maybe your pitch will lead you to strengthen your story!
Q: Please share a Revision Tip for our Members.
A: While you’re away from the computer, daydream on how to approach your story in a new way, then write it, by hand, on paper, without looking at your latest draft.
Q: Name subjects you would like to read about.
A: Almost anything if it has heart and tension.
Q: Name subjects you would not like to read about.
A: I might have a hard time reading about spiders, but I would overcome my phobia to do so!
Q: Share something you wish we had asked you about, but didn’t!
A: I love being an author advisor for The Writing Barn’s Verge program. I enjoy meeting writers and it’s an honor to work with them and help move their manuscripts toward being submission-ready.
Q: Share a fun fact about YOU!
A: I foiled four thieves who stole my mother’s wallet on an Italian train.
Lisa Rogers became inspired to write for children during her career as an elementary school librarian. She is the award-winning author of the picture book biographies Joan Mitchell Paints A Symphony: La Grande Vallée Suite, illustrated by Stacy Innerst (Astra/Calkins Creek) Woody’s Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where The Red Fern Grows, illustrated by Susan Reagan (Astra/Calkins Creek), Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage, illustrated by Il Sung Na (Random House/Anne Schwartz Books); 16 Words: William Carlos And “The Red Wheelbarrow”, illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Random House/Schwartz & Wade), and the rhyming picture book Hound Won’t Go, illustrated by Meg Ishihara (Albert Whitman), inspired by her rescue hound, Tucker.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaljrogers/
Website: https://lisarogerswrites.com/
Book list:
WOODY'S WORDS: WOODROW WILSON RAWLS AND WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS, Calkins Creek/Astra, 9/2025 "A poignant tribute to the power of story." --KIrkus Reviews
JOAN MITCHELL PAINTS A SYMPHONY: LA GRANDE VALLÉE SUITE, Calkins Creek/Astra. "Simply marvelous." --KIrkus Reviews, starred review
BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE MUSIC OF JOHN CAGE, Random House/Anne Schwartz Books
SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Award Winner; Crystal Kite Award finalist; Boston Authors Club Notable Book; starred reviews from Booklist, Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly; a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, Bank Street Best Book of the Year
16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS AND "THE RED WHEELBARROW", Random House/Schwartz & Wade. Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Award Winner; SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Finalist: featured in The New York Times; Kirkus & Publishers Weekly starred reviews; a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection; Bank Street Best Book of the Year; CCBC Choice
HOUND WON'T GO, Albert Whitman, a Massachusetts Must-Read
RONALD REAGAN: A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK BIOGRAPHY, Random House
ELVIS PRESLEY: A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK BIOGRAPHY, Random House
IF COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY: POEMS OF POSSIBILITY, edited by Irene Latham & Charles Waters, Candlewick
FRIENDS AND ANEMONES: OCEAN POEMS FOR CHILDREN, Writers' Loft Press
GNOMES & UNGNOMES: POEMS OF HIDDEN CREATURES, Writers' Loft Press
DISCOVER HER ART: WOMEN ARTISTS AND THEIR MASTERPIECES, Chicago Review Press
I'm always inspired by reading your words whether they are words of advice or books you've published. I am looking forward to WOODY'S WORDS coming out in the word so that readers can be inspired by his writing journey and how important accepting help can be.
It was validating to see that your concept to publishing journey made your story better. Best of luck on your continued success!
Love Lisa's lyrical voice! Welcome to RYS.
Love your pitch tip! And Loooved the John Cage PB. Thanks for sharing and keep on delighting us with your stories!