Where do you live?
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. As the crow (or plane) flies, it's about 75 miles from Seattle.
How many years have you been in publishing?
My first picture book came out in 2004. So, by that measure, I've been in publishing for 17 years (though I did get paid for some opinion pieces starting in 2001).
How did you first get published?
I had dreamt of being either a writer or cartoonist since about second grade, but I never put in the hard work necessary to make that dream a reality. Then in October of 2000, at the ripe old age of 30, I finally buckled down and started putting my nose to the writing grindstone. Since I was starting at ground zero and was in a hurry, I focused entirely on short pieces. And in a year's time, I had gotten an opinion piece published in a local alternative weekly, won third place in a local Postcard Fiction competition, and signed the contract for my first picture book (titled Perfect Man).
I had certainly received all kinds of rejections for all kinds of work during that initial year, and would go on to receive countless more. But as for Perfect Man in particular? Never received a single rejection for it. I sent Perfect Man to exactly two publishers: Orca Books and a small start-up that I no longer remember the name of (I don't think they're around anymore). Orca said yes, and I jumped at their offer, withdrawing it from the other publisher. I had no agent and no contacts at Orca. Just a decent manuscript and a whole lot of luck.
I wrote all kinds of short material initially. Opinion pieces, book reviews, news stories, human resource reports for government. But over the years, my interest in the other stuff has diminished, and only the kids’ stuff has remained.
Do you write full-time?
Nope. I might do it full-time at some point, but right now I'm also working part-time as a stock clerk at a local supplement store. Picture books aren't super-lucrative, and neither are books in general. Sure, substantial payments can roll in sometimes, but it's very much feast or famine. I'm happy that my day job is an active one, to offset the sedentary nature of writing. Plus, my co-workers are top-notch.
What inspires you to create picture books?
Other creators' amazing picture books inspire me to create picture books.
What surprised you the most working as an author?
Everyone talks about how hard it is to break in, and it certainly can be. But for me, staying in was even harder. I thought that after my first picture book saw print, I'd have a picture book come out every year or two thereafter. Not so. My first picture book came out in 2004. My second picture book came out in 2005. My third picture book didn't come out until ... drumroll ... 2015! And believe me, that wasn't for lack of trying. I was writing and submitting the whole time, but to no avail. Rejection, rejection, and more rejection. Thankfully, I had a ton of fiction published in kids' magazines during the long book drought. Those published stories helped keep my spirits up, and the feedback from the magazine editors helped me continue to improve my craft.
And here's the funny thing about that drought-breaking third book: it was a rhyming book - and rhyming books are notoriously hard to place. Anyway, things have been going great since then. I signed on with my agent Hilary McMahon just in time for her to negotiate the contract for my sixth picture book. This year, books 8 and 9 are being released. Even so, I know full well that another book drought could hit me at any time. Can't take anything for granted. Just have to keep keeping on.
What is your favorite thing about being an author?
Creating picture books is my favorite thing about being an author. I love the collaboration with so many talented, dedicated, and insightful people. The artists, the editors, the designers, my agent, and everyone in between.
Inspiring, entertaining, and educating kids is great, too, of course. But for me, the creation part is super-duper-great.
What do you find difficult working as an author?
The waiting is the hardest part. Publishing moves at a glacial pace. You just have to accept that as a given.
What do you do to shake the rust off or get new ideas?
I honestly haven't had a problem with rust or new ideas in a long time. But I certainly do have problems figuring out what to do with ideas once I have them. Sometimes when I'm having trouble writing the thing, I write *about* the thing instead. For instance, I knew I wanted to do a fractured version of Jack and the Beanstalk, but even with a specific angle that I won't yet reveal, there were still a million different ways that angle could go. So I refrained from jumping into a draft. Instead, I wrote about the various options in a thinking-out-loud kind of way. After a couple years of periodically jotting down Beanstalk thoughts while I did other things, a fully-formed Beanstalk manuscript sprang up practically overnight (well, more like over a few weeks - but still, it came together relatively quickly when I was finally ready for the draft stage). And just so I don't totally scare everyone away from this technique, I want to assure you that my writing-about-the-thing practice doesn't always – or even often – take two whole years (!) to break a log jam. This just happens to be the only example that comes to my mind right now.
Anything you are habitual about when it comes to creativity?
I tend to work in silence. Not total silence, of course. The ambient sounds of the world always seep in. I just mean that I don't play any audio when I sit down at my computer to write. Same whenever I'm out walking alone. No podcasts, no music. It's just me, the ambient sounds, and whatever writing breakthroughs pop into my head.
Can you share a positive experience you’ve had in the Kid Lit community?
Goofing around with writer Ame Dyckman on Twitter is always a joy. She puts out lots of fun stuff, and genuinely seems to appreciate getting fun responses back. She has a generous, give-and-take, improv sensibility.
In general, I find Kid Lit Twitter to be invaluable. So much support and knowledge and humor. So much lovely artwork. So many great book recommendations. To be sure, Twitter has plenty of toxic zones, but Kid Lit Twitter is a rejuvenating oasis.
Recommended reading?
I recommend you read loads and loads of contemporary award winners and bestsellers (along, of course, with whatever happens to catch your eye and strike your fancy). But you don't need my help to find those. So instead I'm going to point out two under-appreciated gems:
Knot Cannot by Tiffany Stone and Mike Lowery
Glister by Andi Watson
And if you follow me on Twitter, you can check out my “Books I Enjoyed This Week” tweets. I just post the covers, with no further review or explanation, but people still seem to like them. And believe me, not everything I read makes the cut.
What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
This is hard to narrow down, so I'll pick two.
The first highlight was when Stan "The Man" Lee heaped praise upon my first book, a superhero tale called Perfect Man. I'd been eagerly devouring all sorts of comics, including Marvel Comics, from a very young age. So having Mr. Marvel himself applaud my and illustrator Dean Griffihs's work was quite a thrill.
The second involved the launch of a picture book titled The Sinking of Captain Otter. It was inspired by a little book I wrote and drew way back in Grade One called Captain Otter. Because of its origins, the publisher and I launched the book at the elementary school where I created the original. It was pretty amazing to come full-circle like that. I dedicated it to my first grade teacher and my six-year-old self.
What is something you wish someone had told you when you first started writing?
Same answer as my biggest surprise. I wish someone had told me that staying in is as hard as getting in.
