Meet Elspeth Lorraine

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elspeth Lorraine a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elspeth , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I often wonder what the difference between resilience and stubbornness is, and how they intersect. My instincts for both are simply honed in adulthood. In childhood I was often left to my own devices. No one was wondering where I was or asking me my opinions. For better or worse I’ve always liked my own ideas and imagination best. If someone told me no, I usually just ignored them. When you grow up around people who don’t always have your best interests at heart, you have to learn to trust yourself. As I grew older I sought out people who believed in me and supported my path and that certainly helps when you start to feel imposter syndrome. But I believe at my core that writing for children is my purpose. I can’t not do it. So having to try over and over again can be tiresome, but I won’t stop until I succeed.

My job means I receive an insane amount of rejection. I get told “No” almost everyday. As a writer and audiobook narrator I am told (sometimes in detail) how I’m not right for a project or that my work isn’t to taste. But I feel strongly that that’s the key. It’s not to someone else’s taste. I love my work. My manuscripts provide me with a fantastic creative outlet and force me to continually build my writing skills. My joy comes from my excellent and funny critique partners. It’s what Jane Goodall calls “the indomitable human spirit”. We all have one, you just have to embrace yours. Life can seem like a series of tests, but you have to rise up. Take the valid feedback, eschew the notion that anyone will magically notice your talent. If you stop trying, that is the true failure. Resilience or stubbornness? I still can’t say, but I’m glad I have both.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Thank you so much for having me! I am a writer and audiobook narrator currently living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My focus is on creating hilarious picture books, early readers, and chapter books that make kids want to read them over and over again. I am looking for a literary agent and working hard to find the right fit.

I also narrate audiobooks and you can find me on Audible. My speciality is informational and self help non fiction. Formerly a Communications and PR lady, I’ve tossed all corporate knowledge (and reason) into the wind to pursue a career in the #KidLit space.

A little about me and what I love to do beyond writing and talking too much… My website ElspethLorraine.com features book reviews, exciting industry news, and what I hope are insightful (read: silly) essays. Please sign up! I’d love to include you in our little online community. You can subscribe either on my website or on Substack.

I create cyanotypes, which are vivid white and blue photographs using Potassium Ferricyanide and Ferric Ammonium Citrate. I will be releasing original art prints later this year which might break the internet. Or so I imagine in my extremely vivid day dreams.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

A skill I’m most proud of is empathy without overwhelm. Being a writer means studying (staring at) people and asking them questions (or eavesdropping). Learning (being nosy) about motivations and feelings can make or break a story, especially if you haven’t experienced the same situation or emotion in your own life. But in sad or hard stories it’s easy to get swept up and feel overwhelmed. This used to happen to me until I learned to empathize without taking other’s stories on. It’s helped me as a writer and as a human.

A quality more difficult to express is the appreciation of children as people with real problems. I’m sure many of us have stories of indifferent parents and adults who thought their own problems were more important or “real” than a child’s. In The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the little prince uses the example of a man saying “I am busy with matters of consequence” and adding up figures all day. He believes he is more important than the little prince’s problem with his flower. It’s a longer passage, but Antoine tells us “children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people”. Because the grown up believes himself to have real problems and the child’s to be of no consequence. Treating people including children, with respect is a quality I hold close while writing. I don’t talk down to the reader, I know that the child has real feelings, ideas and problems.

Lastly, I am curious. I want to know why a yawn is contagious. I want to know why naked mole rats are xenophobic (Look this up, it’s positively wild), or why did people in olden times put belladonna in their eyes? People who aren’t curious about the natural world baffle me.

As a writer, the trio of empathy, respect, and curiosity are my bread and butter. Or chocolate and peanut butter, more accurately.

My weakness is giving unasked for advice so I want to preface this by saying you asked for it!

Don’t be cool. Don’t be aloof. Be cool and aloof with people who aren’t for you. But with your peers, your friends, your loved ones… be your delightfully weird little self and see what you can create. My best work is done when I write what I think is funny or good. Not when I’m trying to impress others. If you are a creative person, you can’t be cool or aloof or above it all. You have to try really hard and maybe cry a lot because it’s hard.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

My writing mentor Esther Hershenhorn and my critique partners are my mainstays and my source of hope. I was exceptionally lucky to find Esther through SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) who specializes in picture book writing and all forms of children’s literature. She introduced me to my main critique partner Melanie Uteg (who has a series of books coming out with ABDO next year!). Through the excellent organization 12×12, I met my critique group who make me laugh and sustain me when I feel like giving up. We attend classes, conferences, and webinars together as we build each other up and continue to learn our craft.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ElspethLorraine.com
• Instagram: @elspethlor
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/elspeth-lor
• Other: If you’re a fan of children’s literature, original art including jazzy mice, and generally looking for a fun place on the internet, join my Substack! My community is still building and I welcome new voices and friends! https://substack.com/@elspethlorraine