To have predicted 11 years ago that Pine View School alumna Chandra Baker would have spent the afternoon speaking to students as a writer of young-adult novels would have required a high level of prescience.
The last time she set foot on the stage at her alma mater was when she made her acting debut in 4th grade, at which point she vowed "never to set foot on this stage again," creative writing teacher Neal Schleifer said in introducing Baker before an assembly.
Baker, a 2004 graduate, was a "very practical and responsible person" in high school, she said, who went on to study at the University of Pennsylvania and earn her law degree at the University of Texas.
But maybe there were signs. Schleifer said she was a very good student in his writing and literature classes, writing papers on "All the King's Men" and "The Awakening." And she was always a lover of books.
Chandler Craig Baker speaks to students at her alma mater, Pine View School, Tuesday. / HERALD-TRIBUNE PHOTO BY RACHEL O'HARA
Tuesday, Baker visited her hometown with fellow YA author Jenn Marie Thorne, an NYU drama graduate who now lives in Gulfport and writes novels with political/romantic leanings. Thorne's first, "The Wrong Side of Right," was recently published; a second, "The Inside of Out," is coming next. Baker's first book, "Alive," out last June, was described by School Library Journal as "a tense supernatural thriller with a plethora of teen appeal." The first in a series titled "High School Horror" will be published in January.
The authors shared the stage at Pine View, reading excerpts from each other's books and interviewing one another on how they became authors.
Baker said she didn't consider becoming an author when she was a student.
"I didn't think it was an option," she said. A friend dared her to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month (NoNoWriMo.org), an online event that challenges writers to crank out a 50,000-word manuscript in 30 days.
Students at Pine View School listen to Chandler Baker and Jenn Marie Thorne / HERALD-TRIBUNE PHOTO BY RACHEL O'HARA
"Doing this challenge really showed me that I could do it," she said, and also showed she had the need to do something a little bit more creative than practicing corporate and tax law, which she still does in Austin, although she's presently on maternity leave following the birth 11 weeks ago of her first child.
Baker and Thorne contrasted their approaches to writing – Thorne is a "plotter," who outlines everything and is "the dictator of my work. It's very paint by numbers but it works for me," she said – while Baker is a "pantster," someone who writes by the seat of her pants.
But, they both acknowledged, whatever a writer's initial approach, successful publication lies in the rewriting process.
"The truth is, they buy the promise of your book, then you work with them," said Thorne.
"The worst is when you have to change the last third of the book on a two-week deadline," said Baker.
Thorne said it's easy to "make excuses" and see the creative life as a way to avoid work by waiting for inspiration.
Melissa Santoyo, 14, far left, and Olivia Brezak, 13, far right, were given copies of Chandler Craig Baker and Jennifer Jones Thorne's books for asking the best questions during the assembly Tuesday, October 6 at Pine View School in Osprey. STAFF PHOTO / RACHEL S. O'HARA
"Go home, write something down," she told the students. "It will be terrible. It's OK."
When the students were given the chance to vie for copies of the authors' books by asking the best question during the mandatory Q&A session, a field of arms began waving madly in the darkened auditorium.
"What's your favorite book?" one asked Baker. "My elitist answer: 'Confessions of Nat Turner,'" she said. "My real answer: Harry Potter."
"Lovecraft or Poe?" one asked Baker; "Bilbo or Frodo?" to Thorne.
Baker picked Poe. Thorne chose Bilbo.
"Bilbo! He's got a sense of humor!" she said.
