As a child
I am the middle of the five McGee kids. That fact probably shaped my childhood more than anything else. My older two sisters nurtured and prodded me along, as I did my younger sister and brother. We had a lively and competitive home life which provided most of the material for my Zelda and Ivy series. My oldest sister, Susan, was adept at writing and singing, and the rest of us pretty much followed suit.
Our whole family likes to sing, especially when we’re in the car. We lived in the Sierra foothills and our relatives lived three hours away in the Bay Area, so we spent lots of time in the blue station wagon. I still know all the words to the Cal fight song and a good many drinking songs Dad taught us, as well.
I was born in Sacramento, CA, January 27, 1951. When I was eight, we moved to Sonora, where my dad was editor and publisher of The Union Democrat, one of California’s oldest newspapers. As the years passed, I worked in every department of the UD: circulation, advertising, and – finally – editorial, including summers covering the fire beat in our county which was 85 percent state and national forests. Dad taught each of us kids to write, in turn, during our high school years. We produced a weekly column, Campus Letter, for his newspaper. Editing sessions with Dad were rigorous and sometimes marked by tears – but useful, because it turns out that writing a good newspaper article has much in common with writing a good picture book.
My artwork has roots in high school, too. Each week during football season, I painted a giant wildcat head for the team to burst through as they came on the field.
Of all my teachers, I learned the most from Mrs. Woodford in seventh grade. We memorized poetry. To this day, I cannot walk into the woods without murmuring, “This is the forest primeval, etc.” Not only did we recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning, we sang patriotic songs. We created wall-sized chalk murals of the Seven Wonders of the World. Mrs. Woodford shared her love for travelling and offered us glimpses of the world beyond our foothills. I was sitting in her classroom when the principal’s voice came on over the loudspeaker and announced that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. She had us stand and sing God Bless America. When she died a few years ago, the collection of poetry that I had written and given her made its way back to me. She had saved it all those years.
I am shaped by the place, Tuolumne County, as well. It smells right to me: the sharp scent of oaks along the Stanislaus River canyon; the clarifying elixir of granite, lakes, and pines in the Emigrant Basin; the fragrant grassy ravines around Table Mountain, especially after the first rains. Though I have lived in a city for all my adult life, I am a small town girl at heart.
As an adult
I went to college in Los Angeles at Occidental College. I changed my major so many times that I filled up both sides of the card, finally settling on an Independent major (it was the early 70’s) in journalism. This turned out to be a fortuitous choice, because it required a semester “abroad” at the University of Missouri’s famous journalism school where I met my husband, John Kvasnosky. Shortly after we married, we moved to Seattle. We had two children – Tim in 1974, and Noelle in 1977. I am a fourth generation Californian and we planned to return to the Golden State, but the years passed and we put down roots here.
As our children grew, I worked out of our home, first manufacturing baker’s clay Christmas ornaments in my kitchen, and later as a freelance graphic designer. When I turned 40, and the kids were heading off to their own lives, I decided to try my hand at creating children’s books. It is a pursuit that makes sense out of my life. Classes from authors Keith Baker and Jane Yolen helped me get started. My husband John’s support is also key.
I am a general maker of things: ukulele songs, games, gardens, quilts, and books – 16 titles over the past 18 years. Along the way, I have found I enjoy teaching, as well. I’ve had the pleasure to work with school children at Author Day visits, as well as adults at conferences and workshops. In 1998, I helped found the University of Washington certificate program in Writing for Children, and for many memorable January semesters I have taught at the Vermont School of Fine Arts, which offers a low-residency MFA in Writing for Children, in Montpelier, VT.
I enjoy being part of a vibrant children’s book community in Seattle. About 10 years ago, author George Shannon and I invented 'The Inside Story', a twice-yearly salon held in a rotating venue of independent bookstores where children’s book creators introduce their new titles. Now under the auspices of our local Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, it’s still going strong.
As an artist
I’m a firm believer in the Butt in Chair method of creating anything. That means you put in the time – and if you’re lucky, the gods smile and something way more wondrous happens. I don’t think it’s so much about finding inspiration, it’s more about taking the time to make the connections and plumb the channels that run through memory and experience.
Gouache resist is the method I have used to paint most of my picture books. The instructions are on my website, LMKBooks.com. A generous author/illustrator, Pierr Morgan, introduced me to this technique. I like that the process insists on a certain looseness.
I came to making picture books through the writing door, so I have very little formal art training, though I chose a few art classes as electives in college. I think one of the big benefits of being an illustrator is hanging out at art supply stores.
When we moved to this house in 2007, we remodelled the laundry room into a studio. Here, I am surrounded by things I love: two Springer spaniels, shelves of my favourite books, a view of the garden. It has lots of counter space, a light table and copier, too. It is great. I do most of my writing on my Mac Book Pro -- on the sun porch in summer and by the fireplace in winter.
For the past ten or more years I have met monthly to review work with Julie Paschkis, Margaret Chodos-Irvine and Meg Lippert. Zelda and Ivy The Runaways is dedicated to them.
Things you didn't know about Laura McGee Kvasnovsky
- I play the ukulele and I love to sing.
- I have a Springer spaniel named Izabella and I provide day care for my daughter’s Springer spaniel named Hudson. They are best friends.
- Whenever I can, I go by bicycle.
- I am creating a big garden on our hilly acre of land.
- I worked one summer as a printer’s devil in Columbia, CA, a state park that is set up like a Gold Rush town
- I love dark chocolate.
- Blue is my favourite colour – in all its shades.
- When I was six, I planned to be the lady on the flying trapeze in the circus when I grew up.
- I hate to shop.
- Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald was my favourite chapter book when I was a child.