A Visit with Cynthia S. Becker

Cynthia Becker's 25-year career as a Human Resources Manager was followed by a part-time job with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster response team, which allows her time to write. She began researching her first book, Chipeta: Queen of the Utes in 1995. That task proved challenging. She dug into old Indian Agent reports in the National Archives, searched photographs in the National Anthropological Archives, visited libraries and museums in Colorado and Utah, and read lots of old newspapers.

Cynthia, what piqued your interest in Native American culture, especially Colorado's Ute tribe?

Moving from Indiana to Colorado after college prompted me to read more about Colorado and Southwestern history. My husband and I lived briefly in a small mountain community and I taught art in the local schools. During that time I took a one week summer class on Native American art. That really whetted my appetite to learn more about Indian arts and cultures. The Ute Indians are the indigenous people of the Colorado mountain area so I attended a Ute history seminar, then tucked my notes away in a file. We moved to a larger city and I returned to the business world. Some fifteen years later I happened to read a biography of the Ute Chief Ouray (1833-1880). He and his wife, Chipeta, are famous names in Colorado but the book did not tell me much about her. When I found she had no published biography, I decided to write one. Those musty old notes were my starting point.

Who was your role model as a child and which books did you read?

Although I thought Dale Evans hung the moon, my mother was my role model. She read to me and then I “read” the same books to my invalid grandmother and my pet rabbit. Both were patient listeners but the rabbit sometimes preferred to taste the pages. A childhood friend recently returned to me two books she found while cleaning out her mother’s house. My name appeared in the front of each book in mother’s handwriting. My friend’s children had also enjoyed To The Store We Go (E.C. Reichert, illustrations by Ora Walker, Rand McNally 1952) and Little Sugar Bear (Samuel Lowe Company, 1952). By third or fourth grade I grew into mystery and adventure series books – Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, the Hardy Boys. As an only child of parents who married in their mid 30s, I spent much of my time around adults. I could tune out a dozen voices at a dinner table and read quietly in my chair. However, I always paused to listen when they told stories. Bits of those long ago table-tales slip into my writing now and then.

What kinds of positions did your writing skills prepare you for? Tell us about them.

I talked my way into my first post-college job with one semester of high school journalism, a minor in English, and a few samples from my art major portfolio. I convinced the hiring manager that I could design and produce an employee newsletter. The assignment turned out to be challenging but fun. I soon found writing essential to job advancement in Human Resources. I learned to craft policies, draft contract language, document workplace incidents, and develop position papers. My most rewarding moment came when a corporate attorney said of my position paper on a complex labor relations issue, “I can think of nothing to add.”
  

      You’ve won a number of awards for Chipeta: Queen of  the Utes as well  as a subsequent book for middle graders. Tell us about them.

My first book about Chipeta was named Best Biography of 2003 by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association and was chosen for an All-City Reads project in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Chipeta: Ute Peacemaker was written for the “Now You Know Bio” series, a Filter Press product for young readers. It was the Finalist for the 2009 WILLA Award in Children’s/YA literature.

How important are critique groups to a writer’s success? And are there any drawbacks that you’ve encountered?

I believe critique groups are a tremendous asset to a writer. I wish I had discovered them sooner. Researching the first Chipeta book was exciting; writing the book was an often frustrating experience. A critique group would have helped me structure the story, revise for clarity, and decide what to include and not include. I believe I would have completed the work at least a year earlier with the support of a skilled critique group. The challenge is finding a group that meets your needs and to which you can make a contribution.

I belong to a critique group focused primarily on writing for children. Most members are teachers or school librarians and nearly all are published. Their insights into story structure and the needs of young readers have greatly enhanced my story development. I contribute research experience and techniques for non-fiction writing. The best part is our level of support for each other.

Drawbacks? Being in the wrong group. Each critique group has its own personality and objectives. I would encourage anyone interested in critique to visit a number of groups to find the one that feels right. There are online groups for the person who lives in a remote area or has scheduling challenges. For someone who has not participated in critique, open forums like critiquecircle.com can be a good starting place. Joining a critique group requires a commitment of time to read other members’ work and respond with encouragement and constructive criticism.

Your articles have appeared in The New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, Colorado Country Life, Family Chronicle, Learning Through History, and you’ve appeared on National Public Radio’s Dallas, Texas, affiliate, KERA. What kind of responses have you received from them?

Reconnecting with people I haven’t heard from in years is always a fun result of publication. Sometimes people contact me to tell their own similar experiences. The most exciting response came from one of my earliest published articles, a story about my Dad finding himself in census records. I pitched the story to the New York Times just before the 1930 census was released for public use. The day after it ran, the editor called to tell me the Saturday Evening Post wanted to buy reprint rights. It appeared a few months later in the center of the magazine opposite a Norman Rockwell illustration of a census taker. 

      Have you found that children are interested in Indian culture and the Old West?

Oh, yes! In classroom visits, children are eager to hear stories about the Old West and filled with intelligent questions about Indians. I remember one visit in which two classes sat together on the floor in a small room. No one squirmed or pestered during my presentation. When I asked if anyone had a question, half the hands in the room popped up. I was intrigued by some of their questions and stumped by a few. When we finished, I discovered we had gone long over the allotted time. The two teachers said the children were asking such good questions that they decided to ignore the schedule.

For the past two years I have maintained a blog focused primarily on research and writing about Chipeta and Southwestern history. The growing number of children who visit my blog makes the effort of writing weekly posts worthwhile. I estimate child visitors by search terms used, such as: “chipeta a indean woman; did chipeta know english; did chipeta go to college; how did ouray come to colorado.” Another indicator of the volume of children visiting the blog is the drop in visitors when school lets out for the summer.
 
Advice to fledgling writers of the West?

Whether contemporary or historic, the West remains a popular subject. Do your research well. Readers spot errors in little details. The Internet offers us ever expanding resources. One of my favorite research sites is the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection: (http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/Default/welcome.asp?skin=Colorado&QS=Skin=Colorado&e). You can search the database by subject or browse an entire edition. Reading newspapers is a great way to gain perspective on a particular time and place. It is also a great source of story ideas. The New York Times Archives:(http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html) is another treasure trove of history, although there is a cost per article if you are not a subscriber. The Times might seem an unlikely source for Old West research. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the West was a fascinating place to people back East and newspapers delivered exciting and often frightening reports. For example, unfolding events in Colorado’s 1879 Meeker Massacre, in which Ute Indians killed a number of white men and took women and children as hostages, were reported on The Times front page every day for a full month.

You can visit Cynthia at the following sites:.

Blog, http://chipeta.wordpress.com/
Red Room, http://www.redroom.com/author/cynthia-s-becker/
Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1158608.Cynthia_S_Becker
Jacketflap, http://www.jacketflap.com/profile.asp?member=cynipid
LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/in/csbecker
SCBWI, http://www.scbwi.org/MemberProfile.aspx?u=2840582077281348