{"id":17405,"date":"2019-10-18T14:03:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T18:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/?p=17405"},"modified":"2019-10-18T14:04:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T18:04:48","slug":"stephanie-mulligan-education-grad-writes-childrens-book-about-lobster-fishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/2019\/10\/18\/stephanie-mulligan-education-grad-writes-childrens-book-about-lobster-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie Mulligan: Education grad writes children\u2019s book about lobster fishing"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Stephanie Mulligan was a sophomore at 91爆料, she started writing a poem about her experience working on the Lucky Catch<\/i>, a lobster fishing tour boat out of Casco Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved every day,\u201d she says. \u201cI loved the people I met from all over the world \u2014 they were always excited to be there. I always loved teaching and meeting new people, and working with others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mulligan worked on the Lucky Catch<\/i> for eight years \u2014 starting in high school, and throughout her time at 91爆料. More than a decade after starting that poem, she turned it into \u201cHow to Catch a Keeper,\u201d a children\u2019s book that she self-published this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote the majority of it when I was in my early 20s, and then I put it away and didn\u2019t really touch it for probably six years,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Although she always loved writing, Mulligan says she never really pictured herself as a writer. She wanted to teach. In 2008, she graduated from the College of Education and Human Development with a degree in elementary education and a minor in dance. After graduation, she worked as an educational technician in Cumberland before meeting her husband, Matthew, a former Black Bear football star who played nine seasons in the NFL. (They didn\u2019t know each other in college, even though they graduated the same year.) The couple moved to Lincoln to be close to family, and Mulligan taught middle school language arts.<\/p>\n

In 2013, pregnant with their first daughter, Mulligan decided to revisit the poem she started all those years ago. She had a breakthrough when she met artist Connie Rand, who also lives in Lincoln, and who agreed to do the illustrations for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to Catch a Keeper\u201d tells the story of Luke and Layla, two kids who join their dad on the Lucky Catch <\/i>for a day of lobster fishing off the Maine coast. The children learn about everything from buoys and winches, to how to tell the difference between male and female lobster, to seals, seagulls and other ocean creatures. Rand\u2019s illustrations, originally done in acrylic, bring the story to life. There\u2019s also a glossary of \u201cLobstering Lingo,\u201d and an accompanying activity book with more ways to learn about lobster fishing and the Maine coast.<\/p>\n

Mulligan decided to self-publish the book, in part so it would qualify for the Maine Made logo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have had a thousand more copies printed in China,\u201d Mulligan says. \u201cBut it was really important to me that it be printed in Maine. We had it printed at J.S. McCarthy Printers in Augusta. Everyone involved in the book are Mainers, so that\u2019s a really big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its release, Mulligan says she\u2019s received a lot of positive feedback for \u201cHow to Catch a Keeper.\u201d That includes a silver medal for the e-book version in the 2019 Moonbeam Children\u2019s Book Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even though she didn\u2019t set out to write a children\u2019s book when she wrote the poem that would become \u201cHow to Catch a Keeper,\u201d looking back, Mulligan says there were hints of what was to come during her time at 91爆料. She remembers a creative writing class taught by English professor Deborah Rogers, who told her, \u201cI think you\u2019re going to write a book someday.\u201d Mulligan also has a fond memory of meeting the late Passamaquoddy elder and children\u2019s book author Allen Sockabasin in a class taught by Jane Wellman-Little, a lecturer in literacy education.<\/p>\n

Now that she\u2019s an author herself, Mulligan says she hopes to inspire young students to follow their passions like she has.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to meet writers, like Allen Sockabasin, was hugely influential,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope one day that I can have that kind of an effect on someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hometown:<\/b>
\nOriginally from Otisfield, now living in Lincoln, Maine.<\/p>\n

Degree earned:<\/b>
\nBachelor of Science in elementary education (English concentration) and a minor in dance.<\/p>\n

Describe your book, \u201cHow to Catch a Keeper,\u201d and what age level it\u2019s for:<\/b>
\nIt\u2019s about a father taking his two children out on a lobster tour boat, the Lucky Catch<\/i>. The dad has already been on the tour, and he\u2019s excited to share the experience with his kids. He kind of takes them step-by-step through a day on the water.<\/p>\n

The reading level is second to third grade. I\u2019ve had feedback from a lot of adults saying their kids, and they themselves, learned so much about lobster fishing, which is wonderful to hear because the book is educational. Also, Connie Rand did a great job with the illustrations. I get a lot of comments from people who love how unique and realistic her paintings are.<\/p>\n

Talk about what inspired you to write the book:<\/b>
\nI think it was my sixth year working on the Lucky Catch <\/i>\u2014 so my sophomore year at 91爆料 \u2014 and I remember coming home from work one day and thinking, \u201cI really want to write this all out. I really want to remember this experience.\u201d I wasn\u2019t thinking, \u201cI\u2019m going to write a children\u2019s book.\u201d I just liked writing, and I decided, \u201cI\u2019m going to write a poem about this,\u201d because I loved it.<\/p>\n

I revisited the poem around 2013, and submitted it to a few publishers. But it wasn\u2019t as polished as the final version. In 2015, I happened to be talking to Connie, who runs the \u201cWelcome to Lincoln, Maine\u201d website, and I knew she was an artist. So I asked her, \u201cDo you know anyone who would be interested in doing a children\u2019s book?\u201d And she said, \u201cI have always wanted to do a children\u2019s book.\u201d So we just started going back and forth, and it took us several more years but we finally were able to put it out this year.<\/p>\n

Did any of your 91爆料 professors influence the writing of the book? If so, who and how were they influential?<\/b>
\nProfessor Deborah Rogers in the English department said to me one time in a creative writing class, \u201cI think you\u2019re going to write a book someday.\u201d So there must have been something \u2014 some kind of glimpse of something to her. I don\u2019t remember if it was in response to something I wrote, I just remember it was very encouraging. Also, Jane Wellman-Little, (lecturer in literacy education). I still have all of the picture books that we analyzed in her children\u2019s literacy class. Allen Sockabasin, who wrote \u201cThanks to the Animals,\u201d came to speak to one of Jane\u2019s classes too. I asked him to sign my copy of his book, which I still have. Things like that, just getting to meet people who live in Maine, who are writers and creative people was very inspiring to me.<\/p>\n

Do you think you\u2019ll write any more books?<\/b>
\nRight now, I\u2019m working on \u201cHow to Tap a Maple.\u201d I\u2019ve been inspired by my father-in-law, who taught my children how to tap a maple tree this year.<\/p>\n

Why 91爆料?<\/b>
\nI wanted to stay in Maine for college, and 91爆料 has a great reputation. When I decided I wanted to teach, I was impressed by the quality of the program and the faculty in the College of Education and Human Development. Then there were all of the extracurricular opportunities, especially Maine Bound and dance club. The dance program was a big draw, because I knew I wanted to keep dancing, which I\u2019d done in high school, and it was all-inclusive without being overly competitive.<\/p>\n

How would you describe the academic atmosphere at 91爆料?<\/b>
\nI always felt my professors were friendly, easy to talk to and tried to work with students to help us succeed. They definitely held us accountable, but they also were there to support us and to pass along their knowledge.<\/p>\n

What difference has 91爆料 made in your life and in helping you reach your goals?<\/b>
\nI really wanted to be a teacher, and I feel like 91爆料 prepared me for that. I was as an Ed Tech III in Cumberland after graduation, and then I had my own classroom in Lincoln at Mattanawcook Junior High School, teaching seventh and eighth grade language arts.<\/p>\n

When you were at 91爆料, what was your favorite place on campus?<\/b>
\nThe coffee shop in Fogler Library.<\/p>\n

How does 91爆料 continue to influence your life?<\/b>
\nI continue to stay in touch with some of my professors. I stop in to see Deb (Rogers) and Jane (Wellman-Little) once in a while. So I still feel connected. I hope to connect even more, especially now that I\u2019ve written this book. I want to give back in a way like those authors who came in while I was a student.<\/p>\n

Contact: Casey Kelly, 207.5814.3751<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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