Alaska author Brooke Hartman presents an interactive reading of “Watch Out for the Lion” for students at Catholic Schools of Fairbanks. (Photo provided by Brooke Hartman)
This is part of Alaska Authors, an occasional series about authors and other literary figures with ties to the 49th state.
Alaska writer Brooke Hartman, author of numerous children’s books including “The Littlest Airplane,” “All Aboard the Alaska Train,” “Little Narwhal Lost” and others, said writing is something she was born to do.
“It’s definitely a passion,” she explained with a laugh. ”Some people have to golf. Some people have to do yoga. I have to write. And if I go too long without writing, I get grouchy.”
Ever since her first published book, “Dream Flights on Arctic Nights,” was released in 2019, the Chugiak writer has been busy churning out popular kids books at a rate of one to two a year. Her most recent, “Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead,” came out in April, and “Help Me Find My Hamster,” her 10th, is due out in October.
“I don’t have writer’s block,” she said. “I have so many book ideas in my head at any given time that I have time block. I don’t have enough time between my kids and my day job to always put all those ideas on paper. But I try.”
She dreamed of becoming a writer since childhood, but Hartman said her pathway to becoming a professional began as a side project, and she still doesn’t consider herself a full-time author. “My day job is actually in behavioral health. But I started writing probably in the early 2000s with the intent to get published in some way, shape or form.”
Author Brooke Hartman talks to young readers during storytime with her book “Klyde the Kraken Wants a Friend” at Title Wave Books in Anchorage. (Photo provided by Brooke Hartman)
She initially tried writing young adult fantasy novels, but none of them came to fruition. It was only after she had children and read them her favorite books from her own childhood that she turned her attention to writing for early readers.
Born and raised in Alaska, Hartman began writing at a young age. “I was that kid that the teachers probably loved to hate because they would give an essay assignment and I would write it in rhyme or something like that,” she recalled. “Chalk it up to being a kid growing up in Alaska with lots of time indoors on dreary or snowy or icy days and staring out the window and nothing better to do.”
After attending attending Pacific Lutheran University near Tacoma, Washington, and graduating with a business degree, she returned to Alaska, earned a master’s in business from Alaska Pacific University and married her pilot husband, Craig Hartman, an Alaskan since age 3.
Hartman and her husband were flying over the state in their own plane one day when she got the idea for “Dream Flights on Arctic Nights,” which she said was not the first book she wrote but was the first to find a publisher.
As the couple looked down, spotting bears, caribou, whales and more, she thought to herself, “It would be interesting to write a book where the concept is flight. So a child is basically flying, and in the book he has a bird companion.”
“Dream Flights” follows a young boy who rides atop a raven, an eagle and a snowy owl observing the wildlife in different corners of the state. Hartman’s transcript was accepted by Alaska Northwest Books, but — unusual in the children’s books industry — she also was able to choose her own illustrator, Ketchikan artist Evon Zerbetz.
“We put together a pitch for them with my text, and she did some sketches on what the illustrations might look like,” she said. “We pitched this project together to them and they bought it together, which is a rarity, but we pulled it off.”
From there Hartman’s writing career took flight, and since then, she said, she’s maintained a nonstop pace of writing, submitting proposals to publishers, publishing books and promoting them, all while keeping her regular career going.
“I get asked, ‘How do you find time to do this?’ ” she said. “I have no idea. I don’t watch a lot of TV. So there is that.”
Hartman said aspiring authors, whether they write children’s books or want to publish in other areas, need to work hard, have a thick skin when their pitches are rejected or they receive honest criticisms and suggestions from those they share works-in-progress with, and, most importantly, always read in the genre they want to write in.
“The advice that I tell anybody who is wanting to write no matter what it is, is read. If you want to write science fiction, read science fiction. If you want to write kids books, read kids books.”
One of the areas much of Hartman’s work falls into is nonfiction. Her latest, “Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead,” is about furry creatures that evoke oohs and aahs from children but aren’t so cuddly in real life.
She said if a kid “loves cute animals, loves dangerous animals, loves all the animal fun facts, this book is for them.”
While the book is written to be informative and to increase vocabularies, she said, she took a lighthearted approach to the subject matter so it would be engaging to readers in the 9 to 11 age range.
“I had so much fun writing it because it’s full of not only fun animal facts but it’s all puns, all jokes.”
Hartman has looked beyond Alaska for several of her books. One of them is “Lotte’s Magical Paper Puppets.” The story is about Lotte Reiniger, a German woman who was creating feature-length animated films even before Walt Disney. She had to flee the Nazis but never abandoned her creative endeavors. “There are some references to World War II and Hitler in there. So that’s for slightly older readers as well.”
The industry norm for children’s books calls for authors to submit manuscripts, and then the publisher chooses the illustrator. Working with an agent, Harman said, she puts a clause in her contracts mandating her approval of the chosen artist, and for her to pre-approve the artwork. Some children’s book writers don’t see the finished product until it’s at the printing stage, she added, and for a few of them, the book they end up promoting is one they don’t like.
Hartman said her ability to have a say in this aspect has had good results. “I have been really lucky in that all the illustrators that have been found or chosen have been wonderful. I really have not been disappointed.”
Anther part of Hartman’s job is making author visits in schools, something she loves. “My favorite part is that I start them by going through some fun book facts. And we learn some terminology, but in a really fun and engaging way.”
In addition to her writing, Hartman is an adjunct instructor at APU, teaching students the business side of getting published, and also serves as treasurer for the Alaska Writers Guild. But being a children’s author is her favorite part of her busy life.
“I just really enjoy the process,” she said. “I enjoy the creativity. I enjoy seeing and meeting kids who have read my books and love my books, and making that connection with my books. How they’re impacting young readers in Alaska and beyond.”