Happy Thursday Critters! We are officially back for 2020 and I can’t wait to share all the fantastic interviews we have scheduled this year. So let’s kick things off with the first debut interview of the year…
Please welcome Rob Justus!
Where do you live?
I live in the capital of Canada, Ottawa. In fact I’m fortunate enough to actually just live a few blocks away from the Parliament buildings, which to me, is pretty nerdy-cool!
When did you know you wanted to write/illustrate picture books?
Growing up all I wanted to do was draw comic books. It was all I read, and all I drew was superheroes. Fast forward almost twenty years, I started writing and drawing simple, very bad, stories for my sister’s children. I shared them with some friends and their children, and they all seemed to enjoy them, so I thought I’d take a serious stab at doing this professionally.
Tell us about your road to publication, what did that involve for you?
I feel like my journey to publication started before I even knew I wanted to work in children's books.
Like many people, I wasn’t happy with where I was in life - I just didn’t know what it was that I wanted. Then I started drawing again...and I remembered how much I loved it!
Life took several very difficult turns for me, but at the same time I felt it pushed me more and more towards a creative lifestyle. I had played it safe, and that hadn’t worked for me. So I thought I’d take a chance seriously pursue writing and illustration as a career. I went to SCBWI conferences, landed an awesome agent, Molly O’Neill, and started sending out submissions. I had a lot of rejection, but tried to learn from every pass that I got.
Then I took a shower...and during that magical shower I came up with what would eventually become Kid Coach. I shared it with my agent and several dozen revisions later we had something to share with publishers.
Soon after, I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down and have lunch with Kristen Nobles of Page Street Kids. I drove five hours to have a GREAT two hour lunch only to turn around and drive five hours back home. It was the best decision I had ever made. A few days later, hours after a tornado or two had ripped through the city where I live - leaving me without electricity for a few days. I received a call from my agent saying that Page Street Kids would like to offer me a two book deal! Oddly enough, all my friends and family were out of town that weekend so I celebrated my long journey to publication alone and in the dark. It was the best.
What do you do to shake the rust off or get new ideas?
I step back for a day or two. Get out and see friends.
Most new ideas come to me when I’m not really thinking about writing or in places where you zone out, like when I’m running. These ideas are either just an image of a character in a certain setting, or a turn of phrase, or bouncy line, but from that stories blossom and snowball.
Tell us about your debut book.
Kid Coach is a slamtastic book about a son who is determined to change his dad from a couch potato to a champion. Of course the only way to do this is by signing Dad up for WRESTLE-RUMBLE-MANIA-KINGDOM TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS!!! Surprisingly, Dad is really good at wrestling, but not so good at sportsmanship. It’s up to Kid Coach to help Dad become a better winner and right his wrongs, and hopefully make some friends along the way.
Kid Coach is a fun, action packed, read-out-loud book with colours and colourful characters that pop right off the page! Not gonna lie, I’m really proud of this book.
Illustration from KID COACH by Rob Justus
Illustration from KID COACH by Rob Justus
And last, but not least, favorite 80s movie?
Does it have to be just one? The 80s were a pretty good time for sci-fi ...So if I have to pick just one it’d be...Aliens. No wait. It’d be Back to the Future. Wait! It’s definitely Ghostbusters...Or is it E.T? Actually you want to know what? When it doubt, you gotta go with the bacon...Kevin Bacon that is, and the best movie of all time: Footloose.
Huge thank you to Rob for stopping by Critter Lit to chat with us today. Congrats on your debut book! We can’t wait to see what you’ll create next!
ROB JUSTUS chopped his way out of a career in market research and slammed into the publishing ring with his jammin’ debut book, KID COACH! Wrestling words and art as the Screaming Scribbler, Rob has wrangled many big guys, bad guys and bald guys with his signature move: THE DOUBLE-DARE DOODLE DEVASTATOR! Rob trains to be a true champion in Ottawa, Canada. He’s rep’d by Molly O’Neill at Root Literary.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on Rob, visit him online at www.robjustus.com or follow him on Instagram: @robjustus
BUY THIS BOOK To purchase a copy of Rob’s debut book, KID COACH, click here.
BOOK GIVEAWAY!
Want a chance to win a copy of KID COACH?! Comment on this post or share it on Twitter. One lucky winner will be selected Thursday, February 13th. US addresses only please.