Franny Billingsley traveled many roads before she encountered the one "not taken"--and decided to take it. The road she traveled during her childhood took her to Washington, DC; Yokohama, Japan; Princeton, New Jersey; Chicago; Copenhagen; and back to Chicago. In 1971, Billingsley graduated from the University of Chicago High School, then attended the Cambridge (England) College of Arts and Technology for a year, where she obtained an "A level" degree in music. Her travels and educational pursuits took another turn, however, as she returned to the United States and enrolled in the University of New Mexico for her freshman year of college. She spent her sophomore year at the Institute of European Studies in Paris and later attended Tufts University, where she was granted an undergraduate degree in 1976. In 1979, she earned a law degree from Boston University.

With her degree in hand, Billingsley followed the road to a law career. "I was a lawyer for five years, which I detested." She read "hideous legal documents." In 1983, she visited her sister in Barcelona and was intrigued with the simple but artful lifestyle. She returned to Chicago and began to save her money. When she had saved enough, she quit her job and moved to Spain. Among the things she took with her were all of her favorite children's books, especially the fantasies: C.S. Lewis's Chronicle of Narnia series, Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time (and the sequels), and Dr. Doolittle. She also took some of her favorite realistic books, such as Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh and The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by E.L. Konigsberg. The books served as an antidote to the legal readings. She intended to do nothing but "read and eat tapas."

Once she started to reread her favorite childhood books, she realized that "this is what I truly loved--the world of children's books--and I wondered that I could have been so blind about myself as to leave it behind." It was then that Billingsley realized she had come to a fork in the road. She took the road "not taken"--the road that would take her to writing for young readers.

Billingsley returned to Chicago and began working as the children's book buyer at 57th Street Books, a major independent bookseller. Billingsley worked in the bookstore for 12 years, buying, managing, and holding story hours two or three times a week. She also taught fiction writing at the University of Chicago's Graham School and at Columbia College in Chicago. She had begun writing while in Spain and continued while working in the bookstore. She says, "My early books were simply awful, but I did not let rejections and criticism stop me from writing." It was not until she turned to writing fantasy that she found her voice. In 1999, Billingsley quit her job at the bookstore and became a full-time writer.

Her writing does not come easily. She says, "I don't always like writing; maybe it's even true to say that I often don't like writing." She finds writing hard because she has so much self-doubt when she writes. But she says that each time she writes, "I connect with some deep important place inside myself. I'm working out old struggles and conflicts of my own, and that always feels good, after I've done it, even when it's been painful." Billingsley says that working out conflicts that confront a person is what people do in their dreams. And people deprived of dreaming for some days become grumpy. "I also get very grumpy when I can't write. So I guess you could say I have a dream job."

Her writing day generally begins at 5 A.M., when she carves out two hours of writing time before dealing with her children and getting them off to school. Once the children and her husband, Richard Pettengill, are off, Billingsley settles down to write from 9 to 11 A.M. All of her drafts are written first in longhand. Once the draft is completed, she transcribes it into the computer and prints it out. She scribbles on the hard copy to create her next draft, which is again entered into the computer to produce the next revision, until the final manuscript is completed.

Usually Billingsley sets "process goals": she determines that she will write a certain number of hours each day. Sometimes though, especially when a deadline is nearing, she sets "product goals." Product goals dictate that she complete a certain quantity, such as, "I tell myself I have to revise a chapter a week or something, and I make myself keep going, even if that chapter isn't quite as glowing as I might like." Her product goals help her move toward deadlines. "I'm very bad about making myself move on--I could linger over a sentence for days."

Billingsley's first fantasy tales feature strong female characters based in traditional British and Celtic folklore. Her characters struggle against hierarchical societies but are triumphant. Her first successful book was Well Wished (Atheneum, 1997; Aladdin, 2000), a classic tale of a spell that has to be undone. Several reviewers hailed the book as an exceptional first novel. The characters are intense. Nuria is art 11-year-old in a mysterious mountain village that has a magic well. The townspeople who have made wishes at the well have suffered disastrous results. Nuria attempts to outwit the wishing well. When two girls exchange body forms, one refuses to change back. Trickery and some rather sinister characters emerge.

Nuria is much like Billingsley as a child. However, Billingsley says, "Unlike Nuria, I was quiet and shy, but she and I shared (and still share) a love of nature and of beautiful language." Nuria's grandfather sings to her each night just as Billingsley's father sang to her. The cold, snowy winter Billingsley spent as a 10-year-old in Copenhagen provided many details. For example, the crown of lighted candles that Billingsley wore that year during Christmas time was "the inspiration for the crown of candles Nuria wears" in the book.

In 2000, Billingsley's novel The Folk Keeper (Atheneum, 1999) earned the prestigious Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for excellence in literature for children and young adults. Billingsley weaves the Celtic legends of the selkies (part human, part seal) and the traditional tale of the malevolent Folk spirits into a compelling fantasy novel for middle school readers. The Folk people dwell in cellars and caves, and enter the world of humans to make mischief. Corinna, a 15-year-old orphan, possesses a force that is able to hold the Folk at bay--to prevent them from creating havoc. She also has other magical powers. She can tell time without looking at a clock. Her hair grows two inches a night and sometimes more.

Only males can hold the position of Folk Keeper, so Corinna cuts her hair and poses as a young man, Corin. Her role as a Folk Keeper takes her to live with a wealthy family in their manor by the sea, where she discovers her heritage as a seal maiden. The plot becomes more complicated as Corinna struggles to keep her gender and special powers a secret and develops an interest in Lady Alicia's son, Finian.

Billingsley says, "Although I'm very different from Corinna ... she and I share a dogged determination. We know what we want, and although it may be hard, we don't let ourselves be deflected from our course." This determination comes through in Billingsley's writing, which she has "stuck to through good times and bad." For her character Corinna, "It's her determination to be a Folk Keeper." The search for both is for a meaningful path in life. For Corinna, she "eventually discovers that the most meaningful path in life for her is not to be a Folk Keeper; she discovers this when she discovers what and who she truly is." For Billingsley, "I'm a step ahead of Corinna. I think I've already discovered what my meaningful life path is, and I'm going to stick to it."

Billingsley lives in Chicago with her husband and their children, Miranda and Nathaniel. She is working on a third fantasy novel for young readers.

By Sharron L. McElmeel

Sharron L. McEhneel writes frequently about authors and illustrators. Her latest titles, 100 Most Popular Children's Authors (1999), and 100 Most Popular Picture Book Authors and Illustrators (2000), were published by Libraries Unlimited. McElmeel maintains a Web site at <www.mcelmeel.com>.

©2005 Sharron L. McElmeel

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