Meet Jennifer Dickinson, Debut Author of Middle Grade Novel
Meet Jennifer Dickinson, debut author of middle grade novel Maggie’s Big Break. Read on to learn more about her writing process, what advice she would give to young writers, and what she hopes the story’s representation will offer its readers!
What was your first favorite book? What made you fall in love with the story or the characters?
I really loved Beverly Cleary books, and I loved the characterization of Ramona [Quimby]. I always felt like I could relate to her because she was very outspoken and opinionated, and reading about a character that was also that way encouraged me to be more that way. I think that’s served me well in life.
What inspired you to write about Maggie and her story?
Well…I wanted to write about me! When I was in the sixth grade, I performed in The Wizard of Oz, and it was a really transformative experience. My stutter isn’t as pronounced now, but it was much more pronounced when I was a kid. I always wanted to write a book for kids about theater and stuttering. When I got up on the stage and I was saying the lines, I felt so empowered and confident playing the role of Dorothy. I just loved the whole experience. I often find that, as I continued to pursue theater in high school and college, the theater kids were always really accepting. I went to a women’s college in Virginia, and I was doing plays with all girls. When I went to work on the book, I wanted to recreate what I loved and hopefully inspire kids.
Do any of your characters relate to or are inspired by anyone in your real life?
Olivia, who is Maggie’s best friend in the book, is kind of an amalgam of many of my friends. I would say my female friendships are one of the most important parts of my life; they embrace my quirkiness, and it’s very supportive. I really wanted Maggie and Olivia’s friendship to be a central part of the story, because Olivia makes Maggie feel okay about who she is.
What was your writing process like for this book?
The book was quite a journey. I wrote the first draft in 2019, and an agent got on board and was very excited about the book. I did two rounds of revision with her, where she really encouraged me to go deeper and deeper.
I have to say, it was hard at times, especially working with the agent, whose feedback was really great. I actually found that I started stuttering again while I was really deep into the book, because it was so deeply psychological to unpack all of those feelings from the past. It was fun to write a lot of it, but hard to write other parts. To make it so authentic for the reader, I was having to channel the past in order to authentically represent it.
You’ve spoken about what was the most difficult part of writing this book, but what was the most fulfilling?
When I started working with INCLUDAS, Luda recommended that I write a play for the book. In the original draft, it was The Wizard of Oz, but Luda suggested, “What if you wrote your own?” And I really didn’t want to do it! I mean, I didn’t write a full play, but coming up with ideas about the girl who builds a rocket ship in her garage…I really had fun with that. Because I have a theatrical background—my senior thesis was a play I wrote about girls in a high school bathroom—I kind of got to go back in time to when I was twenty-one and writing that play. It was like exercising a muscle that I hadn’t exercised in a long time, and I really enjoyed it. I wrote an outline, and there was originally more about the play and the story of it, but as I went through the revision process and really honed the story, I didn’t need all of it.
And I don’t have children, but I have my niece, and my niece gave me the best compliment. She read it in August when we were on our family vacation. I came into the living room, and she said, “This is just like Judy Blume!” That’s her favorite author! I made sure to have kids read it, because kids are who I want to buy it.
Why do you think that invisible disabilities (like stutters or cochlear implants) are important to see represented in stories?
This is probably the thing I feel the most passionately about out of everything you’ve asked so far. When I was a kid, I felt so alone: I wanted to be an actress, but I had a stutter; those things seemed diametrically opposed. I wanted to write a story for me from when I was ten, wanting to be an actress but only telling my mom because I felt like it was something I would never be able to do.
When you have an invisible disability like a stutter, it’s a surprise to people. All of a sudden, you start stuttering, and you become othered immediately. You get to watch someone’s face as they realize you’re different—you see that whole transformation. They’re uncomfortable because you can’t get the word out.
The story about the swimmer with a cochlear implant is based on a real person. She read an early draft of the book: I called her, and said I wanted to write about her story because it seems so cool and incredible, and she was so honored and excited. She loved the book. I even got feedback from her, making sure I accurately portrayed that experience, because it’s not my experience; I went right to the source.
What message or emotion do you want readers to take away from the book?
I was recently asked what one of my strongest qualities is as a human. I think I’m very empathetic, and I think that is in large part due to having a disability. It’s made me tremendously thoughtful about other people’s experiences and challenges. So if there’s anything I would want people to take away from this, it would be to develop their empathy. I truly that’s what’s missing a lot in the world. I live in L.A., where we’re in our cars all the time, so it’s really easy to be in your own little world.
What advice would you give young readers wanting to write books of their own, or just in general?
There’s a phrase that I use with students and clients: “Start small and immediately.” Don’t wait for “the right time,” just sit down and do it, and start small: don’t think you have to write an entire book. When I started to write, I just wrote poems, because it was easier to wrap my brain around ten lines on a page versus paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs. Trust the process. Try and enjoy it: one of the reasons I started my business was because I had fallen out of love with the act of writing, and I wanted to reignite my love for it. Especially when you’re a kid – just have fun with it! You don’t have to have a job, just enjoy it!
Do you have any special secret talents or fun facts about yourself?
I’m a really good gardener. Maggie loves plants in the book, and that is completely ripped from the headlines of my life. It’s like a secret language that you learn, once you start getting into it. I have a really green thumb; my yard right now, I have 15 rose bushes and a tree that’s full of persimmons in the fall. I basically made Maggie’s yard my literal yard.
I can remember phone numbers! I remember phone numbers from my friends from when I was really little. If I were to lose my cell phone, I would still know a lot of the phone numbers that are in it.
And parallel parking! I can parallel park anything, even a truck.
Is there anything else that you want to share that you haven’t yet?
It’s such a dream come true to talk about the book because as a writer, you so often write in isolation. I’m such an active writer: I’m working on my next book right now, I’m writing a collection of flash fiction, I’m sending short stories out left and right. I really take my writing seriously, so to have this conversation taking the book really seriously is so cool! Like a full-circle moment, like becoming that little girl on stage.
Photo credits: Andy Reaser
About Maggie’s Big Break: Maggie Pierson is an 11-year-old aspiring actress starting sixth grade at a new school with her best friend, Francesca. Their first day is full of shared dreams about auditioning for the school’s fall play, Dahlia Rockets to Space. But they’re not the only ones looking to audition. Valentine, an experienced actress who has been in a commercial and a movie, has her eye set on the play’s lead role and a new friend. Francesca falls under the spell of Valentine, the know-it-all actress who teases Maggie about her stutter. Maggie’s disability has never held her back from performing before, but in the face of new insecurities and her best friend’s abandonment, quitting seems like Maggie’s best choice. How will Maggie find the courage to pursue her big acting dreams?
