Picture book tag: The Next Big Thing!
The Next Big thing Blog Tour has been traveling around the world visiting authors and illustrators and talking about their latest projects. My lovely friend Jeannie posted last week and tagged me to go next. First, check out Jeannie’s entry at http://www.jeanniebrett.com/news and her fantastic work at www.jeanniebrett.com! Then keep reading for my post. Or vice versa 
Ok, here we go!
- What is your Next Big Thing? Or your latest Big Thing?
I am going to talk here about my book, Ten Creepy Monsters, which was released in the fall. However, I also have a book coming out next fall, written by my cohort Deborah Lee Rose, called The Spelling Bee Before Recess. (see my last blog entry!)
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
I have always loved monsters! When I was a kid I used to watch all the old classics with my dad – Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolfman. I watched Dark Shadows every day after school. I asked for a ring for my index finger for christmas one year so I could be like Barnabas Collins. I loved movies with giant mutant things in them, like THEM! (giant ants), The Beginning of the End (giant grasshoppers – starring a very young Peter Graves), and Night of the Lepus (terrifying giant bunny rabbits). I had a poster of Bela Lugosi on my wall right next to the Beatles and the Monkees… So it is only natural that I should finally do a book all about monsters!
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Picture book.
4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Oy. Let me see….How about just a couple of them. Well, of course Bela Lugosi would probably have to be the vampire. Although he is dead now, which could make for difficulties in filming. How about Marty Feldman for the hunchback? The witch – I think maybe Carol Kane. And the goblin/kid… I would have said maybe Freddie Highmore, but he is too old now, so how about that kid from Modern Family?
5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Ten monsters gather on a dark and stormy night, and disappear as the evening progresses and the numbers count down from ten to one.
6. Who published your book?
Abrams Books for Young Readers.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Actually, the first draft didn’t take too long – a few days or a week? That is the first draft, however. Much polishing was required, off and on over many weeks. And the pictures, of course, took longer – a couple of months for sketches, more for final sketches, 4 – 6 months for the paintings.
8. What other stories would you compare it to in your genre?
These questions are getting harder! Maybe By the Light of the Halloween Moon by Kevin Hawkes or 10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman It has the same kind of countdown going on, but it isn’t quite as dark.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
LIke I mentioned before, my dad was a big influence on my sort of dark and twisted bent. I dedicated the book to him. Besides that, I have a group of writer/illustrator friends who kept pushing me to “let my freak flag fly,” as one of them said…
Oh, and may I just add, I considered it my duty to inform the youth of the world that vampires do not sparkle or shimmer in the sunlight. They burst into flames and turn into a pile of ash.
10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
Hidden in the book are references to those old monster movies – For example, the name on the rowboat is from Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the vampire has a towel from “Bats Motel,” a reference to Bates Motel in Psycho.
Also, readers could check out my book trailer I put together!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ2xOIJetto&feature=youtu.be
And there you have it! If you can’t find my book online, it will be restocked in time for Halloween, never fear.
Now, I would tag someone else for this blog tour, but unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone to participate, haha… So instead I am going to just mention some new books by people I know who don’t blog, and you can just check out their books!
1. First up, Jane Cowen-Fletcher and her sweet book Baby Be Kind, released last fall:
2. Next, Deborah Lee Rose – my partner in crime on the 12 Days books – and her new book about the most adorable baby koala, Jimmy the Joey: the True Story of an Amazing Koala Rescue.
3. And lastly, from Timothy Young, whom I met at the Baltimore Book Festival last fall, I Hate Picture Books!, just released last week!
Thanks for reading this, and hope you enjoyed this small part of the book blog tour!