Candice Ransom, children’s book author, took the podium at the center of Greenwood Library on March 21 and first apologized if her voice gave out on her during her speech because she was recovering from bronchitis. She also asked for luck for the two more speeches she had to give over the next 24 hours.
A quirky and eccentric woman, Ransom continued by saying that she knew she wanted to be a writer since the age of five, and she wrote her first story in the second grade, centering on a witch who wore a ball gown and had a beehive – however, it never became a published book. She would make extravagant plans with her friend, and one day, she said she discovered that “the adventures I crave so much should be written down not as plans, as stories.”
By the time she was 15, Ransom was still reading kids’ books. She would complete book reviews for her English teacher on “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Borrowers.” It was her teacher who first told her, “You’re going to be a children’s book writer.” And so she became one.
Ransom was appearing at the library as a speaker for The Friends of the Janet D. Greenwood Library foundation. Keary Mariannino, administrative assistant to the dean of the library, set up the event and filmed it from behind the seat as Ransom spoke. Aramark catered the event with delicious snacks available for listeners, including fried mac and cheese bites, pigs in a blanket, brownies, chocolate covered strawberries, sweet tea and mini grilled cheeses. Before the event, people wrote down their names on slips of paper, and after the speech, Ransom drew the winners for several prizes, including several signed
books, a Longwood cup and a notebook. Prior to and after the presentation, Barnes & Noble set up a booth selling Ransom’s work for various prices and taking orders for the books they did not have in stock. Many were overheard ordering books from “The Boxcar Children” series.
As the presentation continued, Ransom described how she got to where she was. It began when she was working as a secretary and writing on the side. She did – and still does – extensive research for her projects, and it usually includes her dragging her husband, who works in law enforcement, along. “I consider myself a street photographer,” she said. She takes pictures – not always legally or safely – of barns, sheds, houses and institutions – anything she finds interesting or noteworthy. “If I get caught, I’ll just tell them a story.”
Her first novel, “The Doomsday Kid” failed to get published after numerous attempts, and so she continued on and began her “rememberings” notebook that included her mother’s stories that she would tell her and also her and her sister’s memories. One event that she wrote down was that, at the age of six, her mother locked her cousin in a coffin (to apparently play dead people) but forgot to let him out later.
In total, Ransom has written over 100 books, including 18 titles of the beloved “Boxcar Children” series, which actually included several authors in writing the whole series. It took several years for her to be able to write for the series, though, due to contracting and scheduling issues. Some of her award-winning novels include “The Promise Quilt,” “Maria Von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music,” “When the Whippoorwill Calls,” “Tractor Day,” “Robert E. Lee,” “Children of the Civil War,” “The Day of the Black Blizzard” and “Pony Island.” She is attempting to return to non-fiction writing, setting her most recent work in Richmond in 1951. She commented that her current work was reflecting on her outfit choices, which tended to lean toward “Mad Men” getups.
A Virginia native, herself, she said, “Virginia, I’ve come to realize, is full of good, true stories.” Many of her stories have taken place all around the state, and she’s always on the lookout for a new one. “I’ll be ready with un-sweetened cherry Kool-Aid ... and my notebook,” she said.
As part of the presentation, Ransom read several passages from “Ivy Honeysuckle,” one of her favorites. The imagery in the book was incredible but at the same time, written well for kids. If it wasn’t for the genre, it would be hard to consider it a child’s book.
Ransom is definitely a character herself. She reminisced at one point about her troubles in high school, but instead of being bitter and angry over the events, she simply said, “Yes, you do get to get people back – you write about them.” Evidently, one of her stories included the people who gave her problems.
She believes her greatest accomplishment to be “Saving the stories that I want to save.”
