Author: Michael

This week our FIVE ON FRIDAY guest Is Michael Rex, author and illustrator of best-selling Goodnight Goon. Michael is the author/illustrator of over twenty books and can be visited at his website.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer/illustrator?

Like many illustrators, I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember. And, to me, the next logical step was to make up stories about what I was drawing. I didn’t write in High School. I was a terrible student, and felt that a writer should have good grades. I barely graduated. I went to The School of Visual Arts, and studied film. There, I started to write again. Mainly I was doing goofy little comics, and getting really positive reactions to them. I took a cartooning class with Harvey Kurtzman, (creator of Mad Magazine) and he said I was a good “story man.” From that day on, I felt like a writer.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

H.A. Rey had a huge influence on my picture book work. His art, in my opinion, is “children’s books.” His economy of line is just masterful. I also looked at lots of Richard Scarey and Syd Hoff as a kid. I find Hoff’s simple stories very appealing, and honest. As an adult, I’ve spent a lot of time staring at William Steig’s work.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I’ve been really enjoying Sendak’s illustrations in Sesyle Joslin’s What Do You Do, Dear and What Do You Say, Dear? They’re really funny and we’ve been reading them with our boys. I’ve also really fond of Simms Taback’s I Miss You Every Day. Again, it’s funny and very sweet. As a kid I had a best friend move to California, so I really relate to it.

As far as adult writing, I’ve been reading Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon. It’s a very intense, and very adult modern cyberpunk novel. His work is funny, fast and inventive. This summer, I also read Buddha, an 8 volume, 3000 page manga by Osamu Tezuka about the life of Siddhartha. Spiritual, funny, exciting and emotional, all wrapped up in a comic. If you’ve never read Japanese Manga, this is an excellent place to start.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers (or illustrators), what would it be?

Don’t just write what you know. Write who you are. Be honest about to about yourself.  For years, I tried very hard to make picture books that I thought others would like, and while the books reflected my kinder, kid friendly side, I think that I watered them down a bit. When I was working on “Goodnight Goon,” I started to really enjoy the more gruesome elements and the snarky humor. I think it was a bit more “me.”

Goon took off, and became a big hit, and that really encouraged me to not hold back in my current work. I’ve done close to 20 books, but I feel like I’m just figuring out who I am as a creator.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

The Runaway Mummy is just hitting stores now, and I’m completing the third, and final, parody title; Furious George Goes Bananas, due in 2010. As I said earlier, I love H.A. Rey, but the way that everyone treats George in those books is awful. That man yanks him from the jungle, ties a rope around his neck, makes him work for no money and then puts him in a “documentary” they shoot on a stage! They even send him up in a test rocket and he blacks out. Not only that, but they keep calling him a monkey, and he’s an ape! He has no tail! And what about George’s parents?  Don’t they miss him? It’s just getting me furious thinking about it…

This week our FIVE ON FRIDAY guest is Tanita S. Davis author of the novels Ala Carte and Mare’s War. Visit Tanita at her website.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer/illustrator?

I first knew that I wanted to be a writer when I was about five, and my mother, in a vain attempt to get some work done with the luxury of silence, told me that my nose was an imaginary button on an imaginary radio, and that my “station” was done with its broadcast for now. She said I needed to write down all of the things I wanted to tell her for next time she turned on the radio. For some bizarre reason, that was very appealing. I put tape over my mouth and wrote all kinds of fantastical stories and after about an hour, Mom turned the “radio” back on… and I was READY. Both of us had so much fun with that (…not sure, but I think my mother had the MOST fun), that we did it every day.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

It seems odd; to have been influenced by a book out of the 19^th century, but Anne of Green Gables was a big deal for me. For one thing, L.M. Montgomery did not stint on the language – I was introduced to such words – “epoch,” and “dryad” and a host more which were completely out of my experience. And Montgomery loved her character, and took such pains with her emotions. I wanted to write people that lived and breathed and kept me in as good of company as Anne did.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I read so voraciously that this is a tricky/dangerous question! At the moment, I’ve just finished Growing Yams in London, by British-Ghanaian author Sophie Acheampong, and Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder – both excellent. On the nightstand are Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Lips Touch, by Laini Taylor. Am in the middle of The Outstretched Shadow by James Mallory. From YA fiction to SFF and beyond — you can see, my tastes are eclectic!

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers (or illustrators), what would it be?

Writers write. It’s kind of a trite little phrase, maybe, but you can’t be a writer if you don’t write. We can argue about whether or not it has to be every day, or one kind of writing or another, but I will say that the best thing you can do for yourself, when you’re feeling like the story you’re working on is The Ultimate Crap and you’re afraid you’ll never finish anything or justify your parents paying for your college education – is to just write. And keep writing. Beginning, middle, and end. It’s a lot less simple than it sounds, but persistence is so very, very important.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

I’m hesitant to talk too specifically about ongoing projects, but I will say that I’m writing about a brother and sister struggling to come to terms with major changes in their family. Their father has been separated from the family for seven months, and the siblings go down to spend the week of Spring Break to begin the reconciliation. It’s a short amount of time – and a large amount of tension.

FIVE ON FRIDAY welcomes Cynthia Chapman Willis author of the novels Dog Gone and the soon to be released Buck Fever. Visit Cynthia at her website.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer/illustrator?

I can remember entertaining the idea of becoming a writer from about the age of fourteen on, but I did not take this seriously until my freshman year in college when an English professor talked me into changing my major to English and focusing on my writing.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

It’s tough to narrow the influences on me down to only one writer. I feel like I am continually affected by a great story and fabulous writing, and there are so many amazing books out in the world. Having said that, I should add that To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a novel that I still return to. I can’t count all the times that I’ve read this book and yet I’m blown away every time I dive into it again.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I just finished If I Stay by Gayle Forman and recommend it to all. It is a powerful, emotional young adult story with well-developed characters. What I really admired, though, is how the author dealt with all of the emotions without overdoing them or becoming melodramatic. Brilliant. Some of my other most recent favorites include The Underneath, The Graveyard Book, Wintergirls, and The Chosen One.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers (or illustrators), what would it be?

To never give up. Keep developing craft and write from the heart. Keep reading everything, write as often as possible, and devote time to becoming a better writer.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

I am trying to finish up a young adult novel about a girl in search of a home and her family. I really like it. Maybe too much as I’m having trouble letting it go.

Our guest on FIVE ON FRIDAY this week is Juanita Havill author of numerous award-winning books including, Grow: A Novel in Verse, the very popular “Jamaica” series including Jamaica’s Find which is a Reading Rainbow selection, and her most recent book, Just Like A Baby. Please welcome Juanita to FIVE ON FRIDAY.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer/illustrator?

When I was eight or nine and thought writing poems was easy and again later when I was a teenager and enthralled by lyric poetry, I dreamed of becoming a poet. From that dream I branched out to write a lot of prose, fiction mainly, and became a writer of picture book texts and middle grade novels. Then a few years ago I began to work on little snippets of garden poems I had been jotting down and added some new ones for my first collection of poems for children. So dreams detoured can reach their destination.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

Vincent Van Gogh and Edgar Allan Poe, the haunted ones, who felt they were misunderstood. I’m not sure where the appeal comes from. My hauntings are minor and my work is accessible.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I pull out Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook from time to time and have done so currently. The book is thought-provoking and non-judgmental with memorable examples, makes me want to write poetry all day.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers (or illustrators), what would it be?

Think at length before you write. When you write, try not to think at all.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’reworking on?

I have been researching and writing a picture book Call the Horse Lucky about horse rescue for The Gryphon Press. The press was founded by Emilie Buchwald after she retired from Milkweed Publications, which she also founded. Her intent with The Gryphon Press is to publish picture books that convey empathy with animals and speak out for humane treatment of them. The problem of horse abuse and neglect is growing in our country as the economy worsens. To create a story with a hopeful ending, I visited horse rescue ranches and also horse therapy facilities in Arizona, where I live, and learned some of the heartbreaking stories about the suffering of abused and neglected horses, the “imprisonment” of Premarin/PremPro mares, and the resilience of horses that have survived near starvation. As if by coincidence I was working on an early chapter book about two girls who become involved in trying to find a horse that escaped from a ranch near their neighborhood when I contracted to do a picture book with The Gryphon Press. My research for the horse rescue book reminded me of how much I loved horses (and cats and dogs) growing up. I was one of the lucky horse-loving adolescent girls who had a horse. While my research has evoked memories and contributed to a project I’m working on right now, it may also lead me into an unexpected direction in the future and perhaps another book.

This week’s FIVE ON FRIDAY guest is author/illustrator Jason Deeble. Jason is the author and illustrator of SIR RYAN’S QUEST, a book that Kirkus Reviews called “the spark for an imagination bonfire.” Visit Jason’s website and spend some time enjoying his delightful imagination. Welcome to FIVE ON FRIDAY Jason!

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer and illustrator?

There was never a magical “ah ha!” moment for me. I’ve always made pictures and stories. A few years ago I decided I would try getting some of them published.

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What book or writer or artist do you feel influenced you the most?

Without a doubt, I am most influenced by Maurice Sendak. He explores the spooky side of childhood fantasy in a way few other authors do. Also, I love Winsor MckKay for the same reason. Dreaming up weird creatures and imagining fantasy worlds are as much a part of the childhood as going to school and making friends.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

I recommend Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Comics, manga, and graphic novels are sequential art just like picture books but for some reason they are thought to be inferior. Watchmen is a towering piece of literature that smashes every assumption you’ve ever made about superhero comics and about storytelling through graphic novels. It’s a shining
example of how some stories just can’t be bound by traditional literature. I think it should be required reading in high school.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers or illustrators what would it be?

Determination, above all else, is the lifeblood of every creative endeavor. Be determined. Keep trying. Rejections can be painful but push forward anyway.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

I’m blessed/cursed with a hyperactive imagination so, at the moment, I have probably seven of eight different projects going on. The one I most recently finished is a science book all about the universe. It’s 200 pages of atoms holding hands, bunny rabbits multiplying, and stars exploding all done up in black and white. It’s tentatively titled Your Guide to Understanding Everything in the Universe and I think it’s coming out in 2011.

This week’s guest at FIVE ON FRIDAY is Larry Brimner. Larry is the author of over (gasp) 150 books! I know this because I counted them. If you don’t believe me, check out his website at www.brimner.com and see for yourself. Please join me in welcoming Larry to the FIVE ON FRIDAY community.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer?

I think I always knew I wanted to be a writer at least from the time I came to the realization that people-real people-put words in books and, if not a writer, then a teacher. When I got to college, however, and my dad asked me what my career plans were, I nearly put him into cardiac arrest when I said I thought I’d become a writer. No doubt he was envisioning many years more of supporting me. His sage advice was that real people got jobs. I took that advice and became a teacher (the “day job”), but a children’s literature professor I had while in college encouraged me to write for publication. In fact, he submitted my first work-poetry-for me and without my knowledge because I was too shy to do it myself. When those poems were accepted, he brought the journals to me and suggested I look at the table of contents. There was my by-line, and that was it. I was hooked. So I’d teach during the day and write at night. Eventually, my work began to appear in other publications. Then my first book, a nonfiction work, was contracted. Now, 150+ books later, I still get jazzed when a project is accepted for publication.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

Oh, my. I read so widely that it is difficult to say. I think probably Jim Marshall, with whom I studied, was a huge influence. He taught me that it is alright to tap into your sense of humor when writing for children-even if your humor is a bit wicked and the jokes will be understood only by grown-ups-because the people who share books with children-parents-will get and appreciate it. A good example of this is George and Martha. Although the characters are silly in nature and appreciated by children for that silliness, much of their banter will fly right over their heads. Another writer with whom I studied is Ron Roy, who writes wonderful middle-grade adventure books and the popular A to Z Mystery series for Random House. An early book of his that I truly enjoyed and still read from time to time is Nightmare Island. If you want to learn story structure, there is no better book to study and no better teacher.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

A chapter book that made me roar is The Sloppy Copy Slipup by DyAnne DiSalvo. Ms. DiSalvo took a common occurrence-common to those of us who have a teaching background-that is, HOMEWORK THAT WASN’T DONE and turned it into a delightful, funny read. Another book, a nonfiction title that I’m looking forward to reading, is What to do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley. Barbara has a way of tapping into the humor of real life, real events.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?

Persevere. Don’t let a rejection by an editor, or the anonymous “The Editors,” stop you. Just remember that a rejection is somebody’s personal opinion (and there is no accounting for some people’s taste). Keep writing. Keep submitting your work to publishers. Eventually, if you persevere long enough, you will find that editor who clicks with your style and topic, and you’ll be on your way. Somebody once told me that the only difference between a failed writer and a successful one is that the failed writer gave up too soon. I am assuming, of course, that the aspiring writer does the routine things, like reading current children’s books and attending helpful conferences like the Highlights Writers’ Conference at Chautauqua and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

The next project due out in February 2010 is a companion piece to We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin. It is called Birmingham Sunday, and is about the day the Ku Klux Klan bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and events leading up to that horrendous act of domestic terrorism. It’s intended for older readers (grades 4 or 5 and up). I’m also told that my next picture book, which will either be called Sophie or True Love (the publisher hasn’t kept me in the loop about this) will be out in time for Valentine’s Day 2010. I’m a little suspicious about discussing my two works-in-progress, but only because I worry about expending all my energy and enthusiasm for them in talk rather than in work toward their completion. It happened once that I talked so much about a project I was gathering information on that when I sat down to actually write the thing, I’d lost all energy toward it. I will say that one is a picture book and the other is a biography.

This weeks FIVE ON FRIDAY guest is Chicago native and celebrated author Sherri L. Smith. Her books have run numerous awards and her recently released Flygirl was called by School Library Journal “a thrilling, but little-known story that begs to be told.”

Visit Sherri at her website.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer?

I think my family knew before I did. I’ve loved books ever since I was a little kid, and I started writing poetry and really bad fantasy novels in 5th and 6th grade. But, if you’d asked me, I would have said I wanted to be an obstetrician, or “baby doctor.” Or a vet. I remember my grandmother hearing me say this and sighing. She said, “Hmm, I always thought you’d be a writer.” Now, I am!

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What book or writer do you feel influenced you the most?

That’s a tough one, since I’ve got so many favorites. I’m really impressed by Virginia Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness writing style, and for fun YA/MG fantasy, you can’t beat Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles or Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising sequence. That said, I read and re-read E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web over a hundred times as a kid, and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is a close second. Fairy tales have a hold on my work, whether my books are contemporary, historical, speculative or mundane. So I guess I should have said the Brothers Grimm!

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

Currently I’m reading a steam punk novel and the jury’s still out on that one. I’ve just read Bernard Cornwell’s Agincourt, which is good, but not as great as his Grail Quest series, which I heartily recommend to anyone who likes battles, history, archery and Arthurian legend. Oh! I also just finished reading Dreamdark: Silksinger, the soon-to-be released follow up to Blackbringer by Laini Taylor. Laini’s got a way of making fairies tougher than the norm. It brings me back to my TSR days, but also forward to something grittier. Be sure to check it out.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers (or illustrators), what would it be?

My best advice is to sit down and write. Or stand up and write. Just write. In my experience, there are lots of folks who say they are writers, but not so many of them are actually DOING it. Do it and don’t stop.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

Its early days still, but I’m currently working on a book called Orleans, about a near-future New Orleans after a series of devastating storms. It follows the journey of a girl who lives in this new world and is charged with saving the life of a newborn baby. If all goes well, it will be out in 2011, which seems terribly far away, but I promise it’s going to be worth the wait!

FIVE ON FRIDAY welcomes Melanie Hope Greenberg, author and illustrator of the delightful picture book Mermaids on Parade in which a young girl takes part in the annual Mermaid Parade on Coney Island. You simply must check out this delightful book.

Visit Melanie at her website and please join me in welcoming this very talented artist to FIVE ON FRIDAY.

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When did you know that you first wanted to be a writer/illustrator?

MHG: I am a self taught artist. An older sister went to art and fashion school; there were always art supplies around and in my teens I studied acting and singing and loved to perform. In my early twenties I worked at an art dealer/ frame shop in Manhattan where artists sold their work. I wanted to do that too because I connect to my essential self effortlessly through painting and chose to channel creativity this way. My first jobs were illustrating greeting cards but soon learned my art style was ideal for picture books. I acquired a picture book illustration agent who encouraged my writing. I really fell into
picture book publishing by luck and good timing.

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What book or writer/artist do you feel influenced you the most?

MHG: Remember, I fell into this business by natural progression so most of my favorite authors wrote adult classics or were great poets. However, the illustrators I gravitate to use bright colors which evoke joy and balance; have great graphic style; or can transcend text to layer a picture book with silent stories created by the art. Top five: Franee Lessac, Diane Dillon, Pat Cummings, Betsy Lewin, Kathy Jakobsen. There are way too many artists to list, they range from ancient art and sculpture to many contemporary picture book illustrators and fine artists.

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What book or books are you currently reading or have recently read that you’d recommend to others?

MHG : For the authors and illustrators I recommend An Author’s Guide to Children’s Book Promotion by Susan Salzman Raab. That probably sounds dry.  However, authors and illustrators must be their own publicity agent as well as a craftsperson. For now, there’s no time for fiction; Its all about learning skills t  be able to paint and eat. Grateful, I read the classics and poetry as bedrock.

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If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring writers (or illustrators), what would it be?

MHG: I have two: Use both sides of your brain; be the artist/writer and be the business professional. And follow your own true calling by staying away from trends. Originality is your job.

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Can you share with us your next project or any information about the next book you’re working on?

MHG: Unless a book idea is under contract I am discreet about my creative ideas. I can say that new projects are being submitted. In the meanwhile, I am publicizing my book Mermaids on Parade as much as possible. The actual Coney Island Mermaid Parade in Brooklyn, NY which is the location and background story for my book, is 27 years old. Hopefully my book will stay alive that many years or more if I continue to nurture its existence to the collective mind.