TC: Truly, it’s, however, the Muse guides me. NJSCBWI: You are a writer who manages to excel in a variety of genres and for a variety of ages. I also have two more that I can’t announce yet! TC: I do! I’ve written a middle-grade biography of tennis legend, Serena Williams, entitled GOAT: MAKING THE CASE FOR THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. It was this shift in focus that sealed the deal! The quest for Mary to land the job and earn the respect she deserved was what the story needed all along.ĭo you have other non-fiction books in the queue? (I LOVE that book!) But nope, that didn’t work either! Finally, I tried a different approach-zooming in on what, both my agent and I agreed, was the most fascinating part of her life. Then, I tried writing it in stanzas with a refrain, in the vein of THIS IS THE ROPE by Jacqueline Woodson. I couldn’t sell the book that way, so it was back to the drawing board. TC: Initially, I wrote FEARLESS MARY using a cradle-to-grave method, where I told the story of her life from beginning to end and all the fabulous bits in between. What was the most challenging part of writing this book? (Oh, joy!) FEARLESS MARY was my second nonfiction picture book deal, though it published first. ☺ I landed my first book deal with my nonfiction picture book, FREEDOM SOUP, which hasn’t published yet. NJSCBWI: Is this your first non-fiction picture book? I had to learn more about her! This is how FEARLESS MARY was born. The look on her face told a story of hardship and triumph. TC: Thanks so much! One day during Women’s History Month, I browsed Facebook and an interesting article appeared in my newsfeed: “Mary Fields Put the ‘Wild’ in Wild West.” The picture showed a woman proudly perched on a stagecoach. NJSCBWI: Congratulations on your latest book release of Fearless Mary: The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver. (Or sneaking in a nap…because sleep is LIFE!)

When Tami is not writing, she can be found presenting at schools both stateside and abroad. Her recent titles include a picture book biography, Fearless Mary, a humorous middle-grade novel, Definitely Daphne, and forthcoming titles published by Sterling, Charlesbridge, Candlewick Press, and more.

Her middle-grade novel, Like Vanessa, earned Top 10 spots on the Indies Introduce and Spring Kids’ Next lists, three starred reviews and a Junior Library Guild selection. Tami Charles writes picture books, middle grade, young adult, and nonfiction. Recently, we took a break with Tami to catch up on all her latest happenings in the kidlit world…įormer teacher.

New Jersey children’s author Tami Charles was the Keynote Speaker at the 2018 NJSCBWI June Conference.

Fearless Mary by Tami Charles