Ms. Chapman received a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English from Lakehead University, a teaching degree from Queen's University, and she is currently working as a senior communications advisor for the Government of Canada. Brenda speaks to Absolute Write about the challenge of writing for young adults, her love of the craft, and her current projects.

This year, your second novel Hiding in Hawk's Creek made the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year shortlist. This is a major achievement, considering the awards are for all books published for children, not just mysteries. What does that mean for you?

Any award, especially a national award, is exciting and acknowledges a quality of work to which those in the book industry are giving a thumbs-up. Just being on the shortlist is an honor, and I'm hoping it will get my name out more widely to librarians and teachers so that more kids will have access to my books. When my agent heard that I was shortlisted, she said that if I knew the number of children's books that are produced each year in Canada, I would realize what an achievement this is. Still it's the kids that read my books and tell me how much they like them that are really important to me.

How are you involved with libraries? 

I've been a fan of public libraries my whole life and I've made a point of visiting libraries to talk to kids about reading and writing. I was in the Ottawa Library Children's Gala two years ago to read from Running Scared, and they've invited me back to read from Where Trouble Leads this October. I've also visited the library in my hometown Terrace Bay the last two summers, the Thunder Bay Public Library, and several libraries in Ottawa.

In terms of writing young adult fiction, do you feel restraints that are not experienced when you are writing for adults?

I'm always aware of my audience and believe that you can tell a good story without swearing or getting too explicit about anything adult. Sure, there are issues like divorce or physical abuse that come into my books, but I handle these topics with sensitivity and a view to the fact that kids as young as ten will be reading my work. What is left unsaid can be more powerful than painting a picture that turns kids off.

But when you think about it, children's fiction has a history of being violent. After all, in the classic coming of age story of Bambi, it begins with the mother being shot by hunters.

I would think that a lot of thought went into that scene before it was approved-- it's a scene that has had a lot of impact on kids since we all remember seeing it the first time. I'm not saying that we have to sanitize stories or hide the truth for kids, but I prefer to write in a style that handles issues and language appropriately for this age group. One might argue that the shooting of Bambi's mother was handled this way, and I think if you revisited the film, you'd find that there wasn't any gratuitous violence. Most of the impact was in our imaginations.

Does it seem to you society is more worried nowadays about what kids see and hear?  

Yes, but at the same time kids are allowed to see things on TV and in the movies that can be so terribly explicit and vulgar. I believe a good story doesn't need the shock factor. Character interaction and character development are key for me, as well as a suspenseful plotline.

In your books the family is experiencing separation and divorce.  Do kids ever come up to you and want to discuss that?

I've never had any kids approach me on these issues; however, when I read to a group about Jennifer's sadness over her parents separating, the room goes very still. It always makes me wonder how many kids are going through something similar, and I hope Jennifer's ability to express her pain might help them in some way.

Where did Jennifer Bannon come from?

Jennifer is a real composite of different people. She's partly me because she has my sense of humor, and she's partly my daughter Lisa who was twelve when I created Jennifer. Lisa played volleyball at school and liked sports, as did I growing up so that became one of Jennifer's interests. Also, at the same time I created Jennifer, I was tutoring a little girl who was dealing with her parents' divorce, so that crept into the story. Jennifer's younger sister Leslie is based on my second daughter Julia. I actually used Julia's experiences at summer camp as background in Where Trouble Leads since I had never been to camp. Whatever is going on in my life or what I'm seeing can appear in my characters, but I have to add that while my characters have real personality traits, the characters themselves are completely fictitious.

You never went to camp? Yet what you've written appears to be a very legitimate experience.

Yes, Julia was a great resource. I also grew up in the wilds of Northwestern Ontario and spent a lot of time in the woods and hiking around Lake Superior.

You grew up in the small town of Terrace Bay, Ontario.  That experience appears to be reflected in your books, Hiding in Hawk's Creek especially.

The Jennifer Bannon books are all set in small towns, small communities. Even Springhills, where Jennifer lives, is a small community outside of Toronto. I based Hiding in Hawk's Creek on the area around Terrace Bay. All of the places Jennifer visits are fictitious, but I can picture them in my head when I'm writing the scenes.

Are you writing a fourth Jennifer Bannon?

It's already written and with Napoleon Publishing, but that will be the end of the Jennifer Bannon series. Right now I'm working on a stand alone novel, which is more of a thriller for the twelve to fifteen year old age group.

Is it also a rural or Northern setting?

No, it's in real-time Ottawa, the first one I've set completely in a real location. The story moves around to Montreal and Toronto as well.

Why do you write?

Nothing makes me happier than writing a story and getting my ideas down on paper because to me, language can be beautiful and moving and thought-provoking. I love to read and find it exciting to be part of the author community. Knowing that people are enjoying what I write is a nice side benefit.

Do you have any mentors? 

Alex Brett is a friend who lives in my neighborhood and she has been very supportive. We've had many lively discussions on writing, and the industry. Rick Mofina is a work colleague so we talk about writing and publicity when we have the chance. It's a long process to getting published and to becoming known by readers so authors tend to help each other when they can. I've been fortunate to meet great people along the way that make this a fun journey.

What is the best advice you've ever received?

If you are receptive, you can soak up a lot of good advice because there are many facets to writing and being published and marketing your work. A key piece of writing advice I remember goes back to my university days, and that is to find your own voice. I've also learned to look at the scene or a character differently-- to come up with new images and new ways of looking at things, which is one thing I try to do in my writing. Finally, it's important to remember that writing is a craft, and not to be afraid to edit. I enjoy editing, although I suppose that's an odd thing to say.

Can you put your writing life aside when you're not physically sitting and writing?

I do think about writing when I'm not at my computer because I have a lot of pressures in my life that keep me from the keyboard. I have learned that time not writing can be productive though. For instance there was a point in this current manuscript where I didn't know how to go on to the next step in the plot. I was trying to imagine where the plot was leading, but not coming up with anything that fit. I would think about the story before I went to sleep, hoping the next scene would develop in my dreams. Finally I just sat down one day and typed a sentence, almost without thinking, and that was it! The plot came together and I knew where the story was going. Even though I'm not at the computer, I know that the creative juices are bubbling away in some part of my brain.

Do you have special place you use to write?

We have a small house and I wrote the first books in the living room with the TV on with my two daughters under foot. Several years ago, we added an addition onto our home, and now I have my own office space with my desk looking out at the pine trees.

And do you gaze out the window? 

Yes, I watch the birds and think. I like to work with the radio on low-- I listen to a local rock station, and oddly enough, it seems to help me concentrate. Sometimes I light candles-- I like to write in the semi-gloom.

One final question; do you have any fears that come out in your work?

I have a fear of the woods at night. After I wrote the scary part in Hiding in Hawk's Creek I had to go out for a walk-- I'd scared myself. I suppose one's imagination just starts to run and that's also why people read-- to be scared, to laugh, to feel the passion the characters feel. That's what a good writer can bring to the reader, and it's what I try to accomplish through my stories.  

Canadian writer Katherine Hobbs is the editor of The Purloined Newsletter, a Capital Crime Writers (CCW) publication. The CCW is an organization of writers working in the mystery field in Ottawa, Ontario. When not writing about crime, Katherine is an avid traveller, and taught English in Ethiopia for a year. She has published a number of travel articles in the Vancouver Sun newspaper in British Columbia, Canada.

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