We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tricia Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tricia below.

Tricia, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I write books for adults and for children, but writing for children often takes me into schools. That’s where I’m always asked, “How did you decide to be an author?” I’ve got to laugh, because it wasn’t a conscious decision that I made. I worked on what gave me satisfaction while new opportunities were coming into focus. So, I studied for a bachelor’s in journalism and immediately went to work at a daily newspaper, writing features. Loved it. They stepped me up to features editor. That was one of my favorite times, working with a staff of writers, a copy editor, and a designer just for the feature pages. Next I moved to a bigger city and wrote features at that daily paper. Then I wrote for a couple of regional magazines. That got me out of the office and into villages all over Alaska. In my next chapter, I applied for editor-in-chief of Alaska magazine, and got that job, again with a staff of talented writers and photographers. Meanwhile, I began part-time work on an MFA, and I learned a fresh, new way of writing, breaking out of the journalism mold. At each job, I was gathering more experience and brushing shoulders with others who were good at what they did. Finally, I entered book publishing as a freelance editor and an author myself. That was nearly twenty-five years and about thirty books ago. Through the years, I’ll collaborated with so many creative people, some smarter and more experienced than I (so I learned from them); others with less experience (so I taught them). Every stage has been essential and meaningful.

What about obstacles? Everday life is full of obstacles, if you want to see them that way. You may want to cloister yourself so you can think without interruption. Close those office doors to dogs and kids. But those interruptions–grocery shopping, airport delays, cooking for family, fender-benders, etc.–are not obstacles. That’s my life, and I try to stay focused on how sweet it is, even when I’m standing in the wrong line.

Tricia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been writing about Alaska’s people, history, geography, wildlife, and lifestyles for so long that Alaska has become my brand. Long ago, I learned that there were other books out there by women who share my name, And our books are mingled on databases. (I’m glad they’re writers of excellence!) But I always tell people, if it’s Alaskan, it’s me. Still, one of my most popular children’s books is the only non-Alaskan book I’ve written, titled Bobbie the Wonder Dog: A True Story. It’s about an Oregon dog who became separated from his people during a driving vacation in the summer of 1923. Bobbie’s journey appeared in “Believe or Not!” and it still seems impossible. He walked nearly 3,000 miles, from Indiana to his little town in Oregon, all by himself, in a six-month period. That’s a favorite for lots of reasons. The press back then called him “The Love Dog.” Another of my children’s books that surprises me still is The Itchy Little Musk Ox. It’s one of my top sellers, and it’s about a little guy with an itch that he can’t scratch. He goes out looking for something to rub against and during his walk-about, he meets three individuals along the way and learns more about himself. When he gets back home, he likes himself more than when he left. I never expected it to be so popular for so long.
Other aspects of my work have included developing and editing corporate book projects for independent publishing. And now, at this stage of my career, I’ve been more focused on helping Alaska Native writers get their stories into print. I flew to Kotzebue, Alaska, recently to teach a weeklong workshop on children’s book writing and publishing. The students produced a couple of top-level manuscripts based on cultural values. The two books will be published in the coming months. I’m really proud of the work they did.
In 2021, I received an award from Alaska’s Rasmuson Foundation which gave me the freedom to research and write a biography about a well-known Fairbanks bag lady. For the last half of the twentieth century, she walked the sidewalks and streets of town, and was warmly cheered in the annual Golden Days Parade which celebrates the 1901 discovery of gold there. Born in Fairbanks in 1911, Irene Sherman was severely burned as a child, and those scars, plus her aggressive friendliness and loud, coarse language set her apart. Fairbanks itself, known as “The Golden Heart City,” was set apart, too, for the way its people loved and watched over their bag lady, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Fairbanks.” Elsewhere she may have been institutionalized, but there, she had the freedom to live in the margins while quietly assisted by local families and businesses. I loved researching her life deeply and found some shocking secrets about her and her family. That book, titled “The Queen of Fairbanks,” will be released in May 2024.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As a journalism undergraduate, these words were pounded into my head: “Stay out of the story. Nobody cares what you think!” And that’s right and good direction for reporters. But when I entered the MFA program in creative writing, I was locked up when I tried to write my first personal essay. I showed up for the workshop and shared copies of what I’d written, and the feedback was unanimous: “This is a great profile of a person, but what did you think about him? Where’s the brain that’s filtering this information and informing us of what’s below the surface?” So I made another run at it with another subject. Again, they told me that I’d written a very good profile (which is what I could easily knock out as a newspaper and magazine writer). But it wasn’t a personal essay.
I was so frustrated, unable to mine deeper into personal material. I sat at my blank screen and let my mind roam. I looked at the ceiling, the desk, my hands, and my eyes roamed to a scar that’s still visible from an injury when I was a preschooler. I remembered what happened, how bloody the wound had been, and how frightened my mom was so long ago. Then my father came to mind, and the painful thoughts of his ongoing struggle with Alzheimer’s. “Scars,” I thought to myself. “Some scars are visible; some are not.” With that I gave myself permission to delve into areas of life that I’d normally never write about. It was the breakthrough I needed.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I’ve found it’s important to not just sit in my office and write and expect to be found. I have to get out to meet my readers, so that means visiting schools and libraries, speaking at writing conferences, and offering to make presentations on the subjects I write about. Very often, I reserve booth space at big events, such as Christmas bazaars, summertime festivals, and Saturday markets. I do it routinely, and I try to get the same space at a market, so returning buyers know where to find me. The interaction is so good for the soul, and word of mouth has brought me many more customers. If I relied only on book distributors for getting my books into stores, I’d be sunk. So besides selling my own books on special occasions, I stop by bookstores and show them what’s new and what’s still available in the backlist, I stop at airport bookstores and sign their stock, and I use social media and speaking events to my advantage. For those holiday and summertime booth spaces, I’ve invested in good signage and booth decorations. Plus, I genuinely love meeting people and suggesting books for the age level they’re shopping for.
I’m not pushing for a national audience–there are plenty of buyers in this smaller pond. Likewise, when I’m out in public, I meet a lot of people who want to know how to break into publishing, if they need an agent, or how to get noticed. Most of my experience has been in traditional, regional publishing, so I often send people in that direction. And for newbies in writing and illustrating children’s books, I strongly encourage membership in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Every state has a chapter, and usually members are very collaborative and encouraging.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.triciabrownbooks.com
• Facebook: Tricia Brown Books; Bobbie the Wonder Dog; Zig the Warrior Princess; Children of the First People; Charlie and the Blanket Toss; Alaska Homesteader’s Handbook

Image Credits
Tim Parker photo