Happy Thursday Critters! Today we have a fantastic interview with a debut author whose book ISOBEL ADDS IT UP, illustrated by AG Ford, just released this past June with Random House Studio. I’m thrilled to have her with us today to talk about her debut, road to publication, and process.
So without further ado, please welcome Kristy Everington!
Where do you live?
I’m from Perth, Australia, and now live in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s a beautiful area – I enjoy all of the local wildlife, especially the tiny baby deer right now! And we have a neighborhood owl, Howard.
When did you know you wanted to write picture books?
I discovered picture books when I was studying for my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I came into the program writing young adult fiction and hadn’t even really read any picture books! In my first semester, I had Kathi Appelt as my advisor, and thought it would be a waste not to try picture books with a picture book master!
I invested my time in reading and writing picture books, and fell in love! There’s so much to love in the picture book space – the brevity of the stories, the interplay between the text and art, the humor, the heart. I’ve learned a lot of things I didn’t know from reading non-fiction picture books too – I firmly believe picture books aren’t just for children!
Tell us about your road to publication, what did that involve for you?
After I finished studying, I started going to conferences and learning more about the business side of writing. I spent a lot of time researching agents and how to go about querying them. I started querying with other picture books first and then moved onto Isobel Adds It Up. It was one of the very first picture books I had written, but it went through a lot of revisions before I started querying it!
I had just revised it at the Big Sur Writing Workshop when I sent the first query for that manuscript to my now-agent, Jordan Hamessley. It was the first manuscript we put on submission to editors. It went through some more revisions before selling. It sounds simple when you summarize it, but it all took a lot of time and there was definitely a lot of angst involved!
Can you share a bit about your process?
I write picture books by hand first. I like to write with a pencil rather than a pen – there’s something freeing about the pencil not being permanent and having the ability to erase what I’ve written! I often think of titles first. It usually doesn’t take very long to write a first draft, but then it can take some time to hone the story.
What do you do to shake the rust off or get new ideas?
I go for daily walks around the neighborhood, and there’s always lots of things to see and think about. Ideas come from everywhere, so just paying attention to news stories, pop culture, and regular happenings in life gives me ideas. My cats alone give me lots of inspiration for stories!
Anything you can’t live without while you write?
I like to light a candle and have a cup of tea. My favorite writing tea is white tea with pomegranate, but it’s been discontinued and my supply is dwindling so I need to find a replacement!
Any authors and/or illustrators who inspire you?
So many! Some of my favorites are Oliver Jeffers, Carolyn Crimi, Jon Klassen, Sophie Blackall, Sean Ferrell, and Mac Barnett.
Dream project to work on?
One of the very first picture books I wrote was based on my cats when they were kittens called Chicken Face and Lily, and I have dreams of that being made into a picture book series and maybe even a TV show! I would never get sick of writing about their adventures.
Tell us about your debut book.
Isobel Adds It Up, illustrated by the talented A.G. Ford, is about a girl who loves math, but she is interrupted by the ruckus caused by her mysterious new neighbors. The inspiration came from my own noisy neighbors, which is something I think a lot of people can relate to after spending the last year at home!
Interior art from ISOBEL ADDS IT UP by Kristy Everington, illustrated by AG Ford with Random House Studio
Interior art from ISOBEL ADDS IT UP by Kristy Everington, illustrated by AG Ford with Random House Studio
What’s up next for you?
I’m working on a few picture book ideas – mostly funny ones with animals.
And last, but not least, favorite 80s movie?
Ooh, it’s a toss up between Dirty Dancing and The Lost Boys, but I will have to say Dirty Dancing. My friends and I were all obsessed with it when it first came out. I even saw Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights at the cinema when it came out. My friend who I saw it with swore me to secrecy because she was embarrassed (sorry, Al)!
Huge thank you to Kristy for stopping by Critter Lit! Congrats on your debut!
Originally from Perth, Australia, KRISTY EVERINGTON now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and quite a lot of cats. She enjoys exploring the California coastline and visiting as many lighthouses as she can. Kristy holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Kristy online: https://www.kristyeverington.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kmeverington
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristyeverington/
ORDER THIS BOOK To order a copy ISOBEL ADDS IT UP, click here.
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