Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.
Recently, we interviewed Peggy Dudarchik about her writing and her soon-to-be released children’s picture book, Miriam and Naomi: A Christmas Story, an enchanting retelling that offers a meaningful lens on the Christmas story. (Read the review here.)
Children’s author Peggy Dudarchik has always loved to write but it was a spiritual retreat that inspired her to write her debut picture book. Miriam and Naomi: A Christmas Story is a unique telling of the well-known journey of Mary and Joseph as they traveled to Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
On the spiritual retreat Peggy was asked to visualize Mary and Joseph on the ninety-mile journey to Bethlehem. This was the spark that led Peggy to research what that ten-day trip would have looked like for the parents of Jesus based on the geography and archaeology of Israel that time, how families lived, and the architecture and clothing. These accuracies are integrated into Peggy’s story about a young girl, Miriam, and her beloved goat, Naomi, who assisted the parents-to-be during their trek.
Peggy believes a great book is one about good people who are faced with a challenge and overcome obstacles to achieve a goal. She hopes her young readers come away from her story with an appreciation for this difficult historical journey and a love of the characters and reading that stays with them long after the book is closed.
When she isn’t writing, Peggy enjoys reading, cooking, and entertaining friends and family. Her love of children’s books was stoked after her now adult son was born, with countless trips to the library and a bedtime reading ritual bringing them both a joy that she later carried into her own writing. Peggy’s picture book experience has been a family affair, with valuable input coming from her husband, son, and daughter-in-law. She lives in Manlius, New York, with her husband and their crazy Cairn Terrier, Izzy.
Who and what ultimately inspired you to become a writer?
I love to read and I grew up in a family of great story tellers. My father and his mother perfected the art of making a good story better. In my professional careers I have always written and enjoyed writing. The prospect of having someone, somewhere pick up one of my stories and have it bring them the joy one of my favorite books brings me is exciting and humbling. It’s quite an incentive to write.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I am currently collaborating on a memoir and working on a novel.
Does your family support your career as a writer?
I could not ask for a better, more supportive team than my family. They proofread; they lend an ear when I need to bounce ideas around; they provide honest feedback. When I prepared a book proposal for a contest, they were in the thick of the formatting, preparing a video, keeping me going every step of the way. They’re terrific!
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I do a ton of research. Because I am a lover of historical fiction, I want anything I write to be as historically accurate as I can make it. I usually start with the internet to get the basic lay of the land. I go to the library; I reach out to people who may have had experience in the realm being researched. I conduct interviews. This is one of my favorite parts of the creative process.
Were your parents interested in literature? Did they read a lot? What books did you have in the house?
My parents were great readers. Our Christmas presents every year were books and a great Christmas day was everyone in their nook, reading away. I was the oldest girl sandwiched in between two brother and we generally read the same books – which is how I came to love action, spy type books!
Do you find writing therapeutic?
I do find it therapeutic. I coordinate the activities of a global writing community – Writers Without Borders. We gather twice a week (virtually) and write together for 90 minutes, writing to prompts and sharing our writing. There are sixty members in my distribution list and people drift in and out. We typically have ten writers at a time. We have been doing this via zoom for six years. It’s wonderful and they are amazing writers. I am always humbled to be writing with them.
What inspired the premise of your book?
During a spiritual retreat last fall, I was asked to imagine Mary and Joseph’s trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. That imagining led me to do some research on the geography of Israel to understand what that journey would really have been like. It was also at the time when my daughter-in-law was pregnant with her first child. I watched how difficult it was for her to get in and out of a chair. I remembered when I’d taken riding lessons how difficult it was to mount a horse. How was Mary going to ride a donkey when she was in the last stages of her pregnancy. If they had to sleep outside, how was she ever going to get up and down on the ground to sleep? Well, I thought, this would have been a very difficult journey. Mary would have had help. And that’s when Miriam and Naomi walked into my life. I have no idea where the names came from, they just introduced themselves to me and we were off to the races.
What in particular attracted you to this genre?
I fell in love with children’s literature when my son’s voracious appetite for reading led to weekly trips to the library, filling up tote bags with wonderful books to devour. I watched my son thrive through his exposure to that literature. It encouraged me to try to inspire young readers in the same way.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing absolutely energizes me. I start every day journaling and when I am caught up in a story, all I want to do is write.
What are your favorite books?
I read mostly fiction. My favorite genres are mystery, historical fiction, and action stories. I love all of Louise Penny’s books, Preston & Childs, Nelson DeMille, Amor Tolles, Dorothy Dunnett.
I love series books and appreciate getting to know characters over time. I love Brian Doyle’s works, especially One Long River of Song – magnificent.
***
BookView Review 
Leave a comment