I’m excited to celebrate spring with Cynthia Mackey, the author of several picture books, including If a Bumblebee Lands On Your Toe. I was thrilled to be a part of Cynthia’s launch team for Butterfly Sea, a beautifully written book, which was released in January of this year.
Welcome Cynthia and thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your writing journey.
Me: Do you have any special plans for the spring? Or are there any activities that you participate in related to the season? Do you have a favorite season?
Cynthia: Thank you for the interview, Patricia. I love the springtime. I’m hoping like to add a small wildflower garden to my front yard in an effort to do some rewilding. We have a big front lawn – too big and have been slowly adding more plants, especially native plants. I would like to attract butterflies and other pollinators.
This spring, I’m excited to be out visiting schools and childcare centres in my area to read my books aloud. I’m looking forward to sharing my books with young readers.
Me: How long have you been writing?
Cynthia: Since I was a child, I have enjoyed writing – both creative writing and journal writing. I didn’t start writing picture books until around 2015. That’s when I first joined SCBWI. I wrote one picture book and then decided I needed to write at least 3 more. After that I joined the 12×12 picture book challenge in 2017, and my writing habit snowballed from there.
Me: What, or who inspired you to write Butterfly Sea?
Cynthia: BUTTERFLY SEA began with the title, when I was documenting butterfly photos for citizen science and was surprised to discover a butterfly near the seashore.
Me: Tell me a little bit about this book’s journey to publication, were there any bumps and bruises along the way, obstacles you had to overcome, aha-moments? You can share the good, bad, ugly lol, or not.
Cynthia: At first, I wrote BUTTERFLY SEA as a poem, and for me, that seems to be an excellent starting point when writing picture books. I made the decision to attend the Andrea Brown Big Sur Writing Workshop in 2024, and I wanted to bring this story to workshop there. Because of that, I was motivated to work EXTRA hard on polishing the manuscript before I went. It went through several revisions and the manuscript really started to shine once I added the younger sibling. I needed the editorial feedback, otherwise, I might not have seen the potential a sibling could add to the story. I’d call that an aha-moment when I realized the new possibilities I could explore.
Another question I had in my mind while developing the story was about the camera. What kind of device, phone or camera, should the main character use to take the butterfly photos? I liked the sound of ‘grandma’s camera’ and the internal rhyme as well as the idea that the camera could be borrowed. Isabella Kung was my critique group leader at Big Sur and when I shared BUTTERFLY SEA, she reinforced the idea that a camera could work well, (even better than a phone) for this story. With the feedback from Isabella and the rest of the writers in my critique group, I gained the confidence I needed to send it to publishers. Sending it out was the next step and I did send it to several editors and agents. Butterfly Sea captured the interest of an agent, but not enough for her to offer representation. In June, I sent Butterfly Sea and some other stories to Tielmour Press and they contacted me in August to express interest in publishing the book!
Me: What is one piece of advice you can give to writers who are just starting out, or who are still in the query trenches?
Cynthia: The reality is you have to be sending work out to get published. Expect a lot of silence or passes. Try sending a story out in batches of five, then if there’s little or no response, re-read the manuscript and to look for missed opportunities and attempt to revise to add something deeper to the story. Or if you cannot see a way to improve upon it, send it back to your critique group to seek more feedback before sending out the manuscript again.
Me: What are your plans for the future? Writing or otherwise, traveling, hobbies, etc.
Cynthia: My husband and I have a spring trip to Europe planned – we’ve never been! We are going to get the chance to visit 5 different countries in two and a half weeks.
I like variety so I do a lot of different hobbies, walking/hiking, community choir, playing piano and guitar, crochet, stand up paddle boarding, gardening, and documenting butterflies for citizen science. I’m also learning to draw, sketch, and paint with watercolors. Of course, I love to read and keep coming up with new stories – I can’t help myself.
Me: I’d love for you to share a recipe with me; I have a collection of recipes from friends and family that goes back many years. I would love to include yours, as well as share it with my readers.
Cynthia: My first self-published book is called KATIE SHAEFFER PANCAKE MAKER (2016). Katie hopes to make golden brown, fluffy as a cloud, perfectly round, pancakes. What could possibly go wrong? The book has a recipe in the back, and I’m going to share it, with a twist, add some maple blossoms. Spring is the perfect time for harvesting them and if you’re in Canada, like me, there are plenty of maple trees around. The flowers offer a subtle maple flavour that goes very well with maple syrup. Harvest the flowers before the edges of the petals turn brown. Yes, you really can eat them! The maple blossoms are optional.
Recipe: Maple Blossom Pancakes
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
Maple blossoms, one for each pancake, if desired
Beat egg until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except maple blossoms, just until the batter is smooth. For thinner pancakes, add an extra ¼ cup of milk. Grease heated griddle if necessary. For each pancake, pour about 3 tablespoons of batter onto hot griddle. Add a maple blossom in the centre of each pancake if desired. Cook until puffy and dry around edges. Air bubbles will pop. Flip pancake and cook second side until golden brown. Eat and enjoy!
Thanks so much for your time. It’s always fun getting to know writing friends, and now I suddenly have a craving for pancakes…
You can connect with Cynthia here:
Pat Brown Books 