Interview with Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant, author/illustrator of I AM (NOT) SCARED! PLUS GIVEAWAY!

Tell us a little bit about I Am (Not) Scared.

Anna & Chris: I Am (Not) Scared is the third book in the series of “Not” books starring our fuzzy creatures. In the first one, You Are (Not) Small, Orange Guy and Purple Guy argue with each other about their size; in the second one, That’s (Not) Mine, they argue over an object that they each consider “theirs.” For the third book, we wanted the story to reflect that they are now friends, despite having different perspectives. This time, the source of their conflict isn‘t each other, and they must rely on their friendship to get through it. 

Tell us a little bit about your process of working together.

Anna: I will have an idea or a draft of a story and I‘ll bounce it off Chris. He gives me honest feedback and I’ll either rewrite it or move on to another idea. This process keeps going until I have a final manuscript that we’re both pleased with.

Chris: As I’m drawing the characters or designing the layout, I’ll talk with Anna throughout the process and see what she thinks. We have similar sensibilities in terms of what we like in children’s books, so I value her input greatly. I think the continual conversation elevates both of our work.

Have you always been into writing and illustrating?

Anna: As a kid I loved to write stories, but I never did it too seriously because it didn’t occur to me that it could be an actual job. Going to film school for graduate school gave me the confidence to pursue it full time.

Chris: Yes, I always drew, painted, and cartooned as a child. All kids love to when they’re young, but over time, fewer and fewer keep doing it. I just never stopped, until one day, it became my career.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?

Anna & Chris: Hands down, the best part is connecting with kids, teachers, and librarians all over the world. It’s truly an amazing feeling when a child tells us that one of our books helped him or her learn how to read. It’s an enormous honor. Being able to work from home in pajamas is also a huge bonus.

What inspires your creativity?

Anna: My children, nature, reading books, going to the library or bookstore and browsing, Mike & Ike candy, naps.

Chris: My kids, other artists’ amazing work, the changing seasons, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

What is one thing that readers don’t know about you, that only you could tell us?

Anna: I take great pleasure in shopping for bath mats, especially plushy ones.

Chris: When I was growing up, I wanted to be a ventriloquist. That dream ended the day I became scared of my dummy staring at me from the corner of my room.

If you weren’t writing books, what do you think you’d be doing?

Anna: Teaching.

 Chris: Cartooning.

What can readers expect from you in the future?

Anna & Chris: WILL YOU HELP ME FALL ASLEEP? is the second story about our worried little frog, Monty. It will be published by HarperCollins in 2018; ERASER is a new picture book about a young eraser who feels unworthy compared to the other school supplies because she doesn’t create, she only takes things away. It will be published by Two Lions in 2018.

Chris: I am also illustrating Laura Gehl’s charming new book, MY PILLOW KEEPS MOVING!, which will be published by Viking in 2018.

Anything else you’d like to share with readers of this blog?

Anna & Chris: To all the educators and parents, thank you for doing the most important job in the world. We were very fortunate to have both highly supportive parents and a few outstanding teachers in our lives. Everything we have achieved so far is thanks to them.

And to all the kids who might be reading this: be kind, stay curious, and read books. These three things will give you strength your entire life.

Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant are the creators of two other books featuring these characters: Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner You Are (Not) Small and That’s (Not) Mine. Christopher’s work can be seen regularly in The New Yorker magazine and his cartoons are syndicated worldwide. This husband-and-wife team lives in New Jersey with their two daughters and their Bich-Poo. Visit them at www.annakang.com and www.christopherweyant.com.

Twitter: @annakang27 @chrisweyant05

Instagram: annakangbooks; christopherweyant

Facebook: Anna Kang – Author; Christopher Weyant

For more information, and to download a free activity kit, visit annakang.com, or download at: http://bit.ly/2mKbFWi

Giveaway!
One lucky winner will receive a set of squeezable stress balls, two adorable plush characters, and a copy of I AM (NOT) SCARED courtesy of Two Lions (U.S. addresses). All you have to do is Retweet this blog post with the hashtag #IAMNOTSCARED to be entered to win! Winner will be chosen on Friday March 31 at 10:00 PM (CST).

Coming Soon: 2017 Picture Books Part Thirteen

I knew there’d be a part thirteen, but I’ve reached over 50 books here, and I still know of some coming, so there will be a part fourteen, but that will be all! (But part 14 might not have 50 total, we’ll see)…

If you missed parts 1-12, browse my previous blog posts for even more fun!

Enjoy!

Interview with Matylda Bright and Tender Author Holly McGhee

Today is Matylda Bright and Tender’s book birthday! I am so thankful Holly is here to answer a few of my questions.

Hey Holly! Thanks for joining me here to talk about all you have in store!

Hi Dylan, it’s such a big honor to be here. Thank you for having me!  

Tell us a little bit about your newly released book, Matylda, Bright and Tender.

Matylda, Bright & Tender is my first novel; I wrote a chapter-book series and three pictures under my pen name Hallie Durand, but with Matylda and my future books, I wanted to simplify and integrate my life as a literary agent and a writer, so from here on out I’m using my given name, Holly M McGhee. Matylda is the story of Sussy Reed, her best friend Guy Hose, and their leopard gecko. Sussy and Guy are inseparable until the worst imaginable thing happens, Guy is killed while trying to save Sussy’s life, on a simple bike trip. Sussy thinks that if she can just love their lizard Matylda enough, she can hold onto Guy—it’s a story of love and loss, but most importantly surviving.

Matylda is not an easy book to read, and I know it won’t be for everybody. But it’s the book I had to write—as a kid, I was also in a terrible accident, and it took me decades to put my life back together; with Matylda, I wanted to reach kids who might be suffering too, and I wanted to let them know that they will survive, that there is a light on at the end of the tunnel, hard to see but it’s there if they can keep going forward. That as crazy as they may feel they’ll be okay. And I hope Sussy’s story helps its readers find hope more quickly than I did.

What were you doing before you started writing? What made you want to move into writing?

As a middle schooler, I sold a lot of sweet corn from my dad’s red pick truck at a local gas station ☺ But as a grown up, I was first an editor at HarperCollins before I opened the doors of the literary agency Pippin Properties, Inc. Nine years into my work as a literary agent (and as the mom of three very small children), I started writing my first book (under my pen name); it’s probably a natural outcome from being around creative people all my working life. I think of my writing as a passage to a deeper part of myself—Matylda is a work of fiction but with a plum line straight through my heart.

And I’ve heard buzz about a 2017 title you wrote, Come with Me. I love the premise for that. Can you tell us a little bit more?

Oh, thank you for bringing up Come with Me. I think Come with Me actually started with the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. At that time, my Belgian artist friend Pascal Lemaitre sent me and my daughter a painting of an angry grieving man planting a flag at the trade center site—on the flag was a big red heart. Pascal and I have worked together as literary agent and artist these years and then last spring, with the Brussels lockdown, he and I were emailing every day because I was worried about him and his family this time—he’d tell me what he was doing during the crisis, walking the dog, shopping at the Moroccan grocery as always, watering the garden. Going on. And the idea for Come with Me was born, fast and furious, the first draft done in one night. What do we do in the face of an angry, hate-filled world—what do we do amidst the Pulse nightclub killings, the shootings In Dallas, Newtown, Paris, Nice . . . what do we say to our children? We show them how to go on, that’s what we do. And that’s what this simple book is about. Every one of us has a part.

Have you always been into writing?

In some ways, yes, as an editor and an agent. But I never thought I would be a writer too. Now I am all three: editor of my authors’ books before submission, literary agent for authors and artists, and a writer. I feel like there is an ever-expanding universe in life, and if we allow ourselves to follow our hearts, if we don’t try to put people neatly into drawers and label them, we can do everything that calls to us. We can be free.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?

Far and away the most exciting part of my job as a literary agent is helping to create and share projects that resonate with me emotionally, first with publishers and then with the world, in book form, audio, television, film, theatre, everything! As a writer, the most exciting part is when the idea begins to gel . . . and you see the pieces falling into place before your eyes, you remember exactly where you were when you got that scene, what you ate that night, who said the thing that helped you along the way, what came to you in your dreams.

What inspires your creativity?

Paying attention. This past summer I was talking to the man who owns the fish shop on Long Beach Island, where we buy our seafood when on vacation. A five-foot high waterline from Hurricane Sandy is still marked on the wall. I asked him what he does in the off-season, this incredibly helpful, good-spirited, rotund young guy. He said “This” pointing to a picture of a man fishing, and “That” pointing to a beer can. I’ve been thinking about it ever since—this guy sells enough seafood during the summer to fish and drink beer all winter, and he is very, very happy. It makes me smile / he is a fully developed character in my mind already / he enjoys the simple pleasures of life. “This and that.” All to say anybody, any word, any pet, anything at all can be a source of inspiration if we pay attention.

What is one thing that readers don’t know about you, that only you could tell us?

While I was writing the scene in Matylda where the lizard loses her tail, my own lizard lost his tail. Our geckos Midnight and Speedy used to share a tank, and they got along well, until one day when Midnight attacked Speedy, and Speedy dropped his tail. It was a terrible, terrible day and the coincidence was uncanny. It can’t be just chance. (Obviously Speedy and Midnight each have their own tank now.)

If you weren’t writing books, what do you think you’d be doing?

If I weren’t writing, I would probably represent even more writers and artists. I would cook more extravagantly too. Whenever I finish writing something, I head to the kitchen—I love chopping vegetables and roasting stuff.

What can readers expect from you in the future?

I have a couple of picture-book ideas in the vein of Come with Me I’m about to get serious with, I am working on a very crazy formatted book for adults, and I have the underpinnings of a new middle-grade novel . . . it’s beginning to take shape. But they may take years—you never know.

Anything else you’d like to share with readers of this blog?

Just a shout out to say thank you for being a champion of books for children. Not everybody starts reading in kindergarten or even first grade, I know from my own three children. The oldest was a voracious reader from early on, but the middle child didn’t get hooked until second grade. And my son, the youngest, didn’t get the bug until third grade with Tin Tin. As long as we keep the books in front of the kids, I believe they WILL become readers—there is a book for everyone. I always tell my adult agent friends that there wouldn’t be a single reader of adult books without kid readers. Pay attention to children’s books; they’re essential.