Today's interview is with Donna Houle! She was a consultant for the Grace book series! Donna is the special projects manager for the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council!
ShiningStarAG and I met Donna at The Blackstone Valley Polar Express in Rhode Island on December 6, 2014. We were holding our dolls, Cassidy (MAG 53) and Alex (MAG 27), and that's when Donna approached us! She asked us if we liked (more like LOVED) American Girl Dolls, then told us that she helped to give details on the Grace books! As you may know, Grace lives in the Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts, and as the special projects manager, Donna had to tell the editors special details and facts about the Blackstone Valley, to make the book as realistic as possible!
EDS: What part did you have in making Grace Thomas come to life?
Donna Houle: The first draft of the storylines were pretty much written by the author
before I was contacted by the editor. They said that my job would be as a
consultant to read the drafts and make any suggestions on anything I thought
was appropriate to the Blackstone Valley part of the storyline. I mentioned
how long the river is from Worcester to Providence, about the history of the
mills and damns, and canoing and kayaking along the river. We also talked
about biking along the bike path and that the Slater Mill is the Birthplace
of the American Industrial Revolution. I mentioned that if you were biking
along the bike path you would see swans, egrets, herons, turtles, and deer.
My job was mostly to give local color about the Blackstone Valley. Imagine
my surprise when I first started reading the book and I saw that Grace's
grandparents owned the First Street Family Bakery and they live on First
Street. I live on First Street in Pawtucket and it was totally coincidental!
EDS: What was your favorite part about working with AG?
Donna Houle: I was told that everything I read in the drafts had to be kept secret until
the books were published in January. It was fun keeping a secret! I was
excited to see how the storyline developed in the series and I was always
anticipating receiving each new draft. I saw a cover of one of the books a
few months ago and I thought Grace looked a bit like my two daughters
because they each have dark brown hair though my daughter Lindsay has green
eyes and Michelle has brown eyes. I was excited to learn that my name would
be listed on the inside cover of the book! We have the America Girl doll
Samantha along with quite a few clothes, books, furniture, and accessories
so I was very familiar with the American Girl product.
EDS: Did you communicate directly with author, Mary Casanova?
Donna Houle: I always dealt with senior editor, Erin Falligant, who first contacted me in
March, 2014.
EDS: What was your reaction when you found out AG wanted you to work with them
on creating a new Girl of the Year doll?
Donna Houle: The doll and books were already developed long before I came on the project
but I was very excited to learn that they wanted me to work as a consultant.
I've lived in the Blackstone Valley all my life so I was surprised and
pleased that the character of Grace was from the Blackstone Valley! I
received an email totally out of the blue from the editors at American Girl
and I was speechless to say the least! I've worked at the Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council for 25 years so the editor told me they found my name on our
website and they contacted me because they thought I would be a good fit to
work on the project. Working as a consultant on the book series was probably
one of the coolest projects I've ever worked on. I was also called with a
few questions for the video that they've filmed about Grace. I was told that
the video will be released in July.
Donna Houle: The first draft of the storylines were pretty much written by the author
before I was contacted by the editor. They said that my job would be as a
consultant to read the drafts and make any suggestions on anything I thought
was appropriate to the Blackstone Valley part of the storyline. I mentioned
how long the river is from Worcester to Providence, about the history of the
mills and damns, and canoing and kayaking along the river. We also talked
about biking along the bike path and that the Slater Mill is the Birthplace
of the American Industrial Revolution. I mentioned that if you were biking
along the bike path you would see swans, egrets, herons, turtles, and deer.
My job was mostly to give local color about the Blackstone Valley. Imagine
my surprise when I first started reading the book and I saw that Grace's
grandparents owned the First Street Family Bakery and they live on First
Street. I live on First Street in Pawtucket and it was totally coincidental!
EDS: What was your favorite part about working with AG?
Donna Houle: I was told that everything I read in the drafts had to be kept secret until
the books were published in January. It was fun keeping a secret! I was
excited to see how the storyline developed in the series and I was always
anticipating receiving each new draft. I saw a cover of one of the books a
few months ago and I thought Grace looked a bit like my two daughters
because they each have dark brown hair though my daughter Lindsay has green
eyes and Michelle has brown eyes. I was excited to learn that my name would
be listed on the inside cover of the book! We have the America Girl doll
Samantha along with quite a few clothes, books, furniture, and accessories
so I was very familiar with the American Girl product.
EDS: Did you communicate directly with author, Mary Casanova?
Donna Houle: I always dealt with senior editor, Erin Falligant, who first contacted me in
March, 2014.
EDS: What was your reaction when you found out AG wanted you to work with them
on creating a new Girl of the Year doll?
Donna Houle: The doll and books were already developed long before I came on the project
but I was very excited to learn that they wanted me to work as a consultant.
I've lived in the Blackstone Valley all my life so I was surprised and
pleased that the character of Grace was from the Blackstone Valley! I
received an email totally out of the blue from the editors at American Girl
and I was speechless to say the least! I've worked at the Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council for 25 years so the editor told me they found my name on our
website and they contacted me because they thought I would be a good fit to
work on the project. Working as a consultant on the book series was probably
one of the coolest projects I've ever worked on. I was also called with a
few questions for the video that they've filmed about Grace. I was told that
the video will be released in July.
Donna is mentioned in the acknowledgements of the Grace books, so keep an eye out!
Thanks for the interview, Donna!
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