I'm thrilled to welcome Indie Debut author Lori Calabrese to my blog today! Lori's first picture book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, has just been released by Dragonfly Publishing.



Here's a quick synopsis of this bug-filled adventure:

Hoping to win the upcoming Bug-A-Fair, Matt pries a strange bug off the grille of his Dad's car. But as the fair nears, Matt catches a different kind of bug: a cold. Will Matt become student of the year or will he create a third grade epidemic?

1.      How did you come up with the idea for the Bug? Did you have a bug collection as a child?

You know, I never did have a bug collection although I have vivid memories of running around the front yard, catching fireflies with my brother. We’d often catch them in jars and let them go later. Although I was never a real bug person, it was fun watching those little buggers light up!

The idea for The Bug didn’t come about from any insect, though. It came about from another kind of bug—a stomach bug! You know the one—that vicious virus that hits your house, and doesn’t leave until it’s gotten everybody sick. I know every Mom out there reading this is shaking their head right now saying, ‘Been there, done that!’

 My oldest got it, unfortunately, and when everybody called to find out how he was doing, I always replied, “He caught the bug.” I know a lot of people who use that saying and I used it so much, it made me stop and think, “Why do we call a virus a bug?” I knew I had something, so I took the idea, expanded on the play on words of catching a cold and catching an insect and before I knew it, I had The Bug that Plagued the Entire Third Grade.

2.      I noticed that your book is in rhyme - something that I'm terrified to try. Do you write rhyming picture books a lot? What challenges do you find when trying this format?

I LOVE writing rhyming picture books and if I had my way, that might be all I’d write! However, the picture book market is tough right now and rhyming picture books are a tough sell. Many other writers are also out there trying their hand at this genre, so it’s very competitive. But I love it so much and guess you can say, I’m one who must!

However, there are definitely many challenges when trying to write a rhyming picture book. First, there’s the rhyme. It’s not as easy as everyone thinks, which I realized when I first sat down to write one. It’s an art form to get rhyme and meter right, and I’l