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Does She have Antennas?

Lots of people are surprised when they meet me. In person, I don’t have:
antennas or...
a specially enhanced pinky finger or...
tin foil clothing.

In fact, I was born on this planet and wear typical earthling clothing. More than likely I’ll have on a:
a fleece or...
comfortable shoes or...
an overloaded backpack.

If my contacts are hurting me, I’ll have on my glasses, which may need to be cleaned. And my hair, if I’ve been at the computer for a few hours, definitely needs to be brushed but, other than that, I’d say I’m pretty normal looking, as far as writers go.

How Did the Crazy Alien Writing Begin?

I’d say it goes way back to me being this really shy kid. I mean it. Mute at times. But I read a lot of books and spent a lot of time daydreaming, which gave me a lot of time to come up with stories in my head.

And guess what? During stuff like kickball games, the kids in the neighborhood would boss me around like crazy because, in addition to being not very gutsy, I was really uncoordinated. Maybe it was because:
I needed to change my glasses prescription or...
I have really slow reflexes or...
I didn’t know my right from my left.

Anyway, the point is kids would bully me but when it came time to making up stories, I I was the boss. I felt really comfortable and not stupid and not shy.

In second grade, I remember coming up with stories and illustrating on that lined green paper with a place to draw on top was the coolest part of my day. And then when my teacher, Mrs. McCrone, wrote me a goodbye note, she said: “To Hillary, a future writer.” I’ll never forget those words. And then my sixth grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, wrote the same thing in my middle school yearbook. These teachers gave me confidence that I could grow up one day and actually get paid to do something I really loved.

Let’s fast forward a few years and take my life right after graduation from the University of Virginia. Not that high school and college were boring. But I’ll save those stories for my young adult books. Anyway, I waitressed for a summer and spent a couple of months in West Africa. Now that was an adventure:
I got malaria because I camped out under the stars and got a million mosquito bites...
walked through a swamp (don’t do this)...
showered under a waterfall...
spoke to a magic fish...
was on the run from bribe-taking, bad guys.

Good stuff for an action novel. I think I’ll have to do one of those someday.

Lotsa Jobs

When I got back to the United States, I became the news director at WJMA radio station in Orange County Virginia. I got up at 4:15 in the morning every day. Not a good move for a night owl.

Next, I wrote newsletters and press releases for the Pennsylvania Ballet in Philadelphia. The problem: I didn’t know a thing about ballet. That was my first fiction job, I think.

After the ballet gig, I moved to New York City and I wrote and performed sketch comedy for a few years as a part of a sketch comedy group, RUBBER FEET and HA! Comedy Duo. And then I decided to concentrate on what I love best. Kids books. I think this is because I’ve never really grown up. For instance, I still order Happy Meals when I got to McDonalds.

Over the next bunch of years, I practiced the craft of writing for kids and wrote for magazines and newspapers. My day jobs included teaching French to three year-olds, temping for a bank, and teaching English to Russian immigrants.

When I moved to Philadelphia, where my husband Matt was going to law school, I wrote articles. To have a regular salary and health benefits and all of that good stuff, I worked in a various positions including,
(1) secretary (xerox gal and champion paper jammer)
(2) library assistant (magazine reader and date stamper)
(3) public relations (newspaper reader and blabber mouth)
(4) health information (more blabber mouth)
While I was working during the day, I took a lot of classes and got two master’s degrees—one in education at Temple University and a degree in Children’s Literature and writing at Hollins University.

H.B.Homzie: The Truth

Ever since then I’ve been working hard on learning as much as I can about writing for kids. That means I read as much as I can. Of course, these days I get a lot of up close experience with kids since I’m the mom of two little boys: Jonah and Ari! And my husband Matt is sort of like my third boy. As the only girl in the family, I’m pretty much out-numbered! But my guys teach me so much, which is great with me because I love learning new stuff.

That’s why I love swapping writing with other authors. We help each other to make our books better and learn new stuff. Everybody needs help shaping writing. And that’s where an editor really comes in handy. My editor Julia helped me to craft the Alien Clones books and to make it flow better and see that everything makes sense.

I feel lucky to spend my time making up stories and sharing them with kids. And guess what? I’m not so shy anymore. When it comes to talking about my writing, I’m a downright blabber mouth. Plus, I have all that sketch comedy background so I love to entertain! So tell your school to invite me to your school, if my schedule permits, I’d love to talk with you!
And just maybe you could talk me into wearing some antennas.

So the truth is out there:
(1) I’m not so normal after all.
(2) I might consider wearing tin foil clothing if the style was right
(3) My pinky isn’t specially enhanced but I pretend that is and occasionally scream out “MUCKA MUCKA PINKY POWER!”
Zaptapkaka! You knew that, right!