Hosted by Francine Puckly

I so enjoyed meeting and chatting with Christy Ewers and Chris Tugeau, the mother and daughter team behind The CAT Agency, at the 2019 New England SCBWI Spring Conference. 24 Carrot Writing is thrilled to host this interview with Christy as Illustrator Month comes to a close. 
 
Welcome, Christy!
 
Hello! And thank you for including me!!
 
For a lot of authors and illustrators starting out in the children’s literature publishing world, the big question on their minds is, “What are my chances?” So what arethe chances with The CAT Agency? How many submissions do you and Chris receive each week/month/year and how many new clients do you sign?

Oh boy – lots and lots. We receive a consistent flow of submissions a day. I’d say 20 on a slow day. It can be a challenge to get back to everyone, but we try to. As far as chances? We are always open to submission – always. But right now, we are not actively looking to add to our list. We are a boutique agency, so we need to be careful that we have the bandwidth to give our attention to those we currently represent before we consider taking on more talent. That said, if there is someone whose work has blown us away, we huddle about it!
 
When there is bandwidth for more, we consider adding to the group. However, there are lots of submissions that have impressed us that we have had to pass on! That’s the one crux of being a small agency!
 
Have you ever received a submission from an artist you’ve declined and then a year or a few years later receive a second query from the same artist who you feel has grown and developed and then decided to represent the artist? What would be the changes in the submission materials that would lead you to change your mind?
 
Absolutely!! We have several illustrators in our agency now that have that exact story. For instance, one of our illustrators submitted to us in 2015…and after seeing her work grow stronger and stronger over the course of 3 years, I signed her in 2018. She landed a two-book deal almost immediately. I’m so grateful that she stayed in touch, evolved, grew so much as an illustrator, and had the patience that it sometimes takes!
 
As far as changes in the submission goes, usually when we see promise in someone’s work, we will give a brief critique, things to work on, things to add, etc. and then we ask the artist to be in touch with new artwork. Obvious progress, pushing oneself, listening to critique, and being motivated to draw every day…those things are game-changers!
 
Illustrators are encouraged to be fresh and original with their art. When you and Chris review potential clients, what are the factors that make you feel an illustrator’s voice is unique and authentic?
 
I completely agree in encouragement for illustrators to find themselves in their style and work. We can tell if they have been heavily influenced by a certain style or trend, and it makes their work less appealing to us. That said, paying attention to what is selling and what is happening in the market is of utmost importance, too! 
 
As far as illustrators go, we really don’t recommend that they attempt to follow trends, even if their style is not one that we think would be super successful in the industry right now. Artists should stay true to themselves and create art in a way that makes them happy. We encourage practice and experimentation and growth, but only if it’s an organic process of evolving as an illustrator. I think that when people overthink being unique and authentic, it either makes them too much so— that their work becomes too niche—or it changes who they are as an artist, and it stops being fun!
 
If you are a talented illustrator, you will find work somewhere. It may not be in picture books, but maybe it’s in scientific illustration! Maybe it’s in educational books! Maybe it’s in children’s magazines! And then maybe there’s that one picture book that’s perfect for you and only you! My point is, everyone is unique. Do YOU!
 
What’s the most common mistake (or mistakes) an artist makes when seeking representation from The CAT Agency?
 
Beginning an email with “Dear Sirs.” Ha! (For real.) But other than that, really it’s just treating us as you would like to be treated. Spelling our names right, reading the submission guidelines, and then being human in terms of connection and correspondence. 
 
A lot of people send out obvious group submissions, and the salutation is “Hello” and there is nothing personal in the body that gives us any idea that they care about our particular agency at all. When we respond to submissions, we do so on a personal level. Sometimes giving really thought-out critiques and guidance! When someone doesn’t give us the few minutes it takes to be a little personal, we aren’t compelled to do the same. And then everyone loses!
 
When you sign an illustrator or author/illustrator, do you engage in a revision process with their work? If so, what does that process look like? 
 
Yes! Illustrations-wise, if there’s anything that we see that needs to be added to make their portfolio more robust and appealing to publishers, then we work with them to get it to that point. 
 
If it’s an author/illustrator working on a dummy, then I am happy to help along every step of the process. Sometimes it’s so early in the process that I help in brainstorming ideas and characters, and I’m here to help with overall story-crafting. Often, our author/illustrators either write a manuscript or sketch out a dummy before sharing it with me, and then I edit, make notes and suggestions about how to get it to the point of being submission-ready. 
 
It’s part of my job to make sure that everyone’s work—whether it be their portfolios or their dummies, or manuscripts—is as strong as it can be, and as marketable as can be when I present it. It’s also part of my job to help as our artists grow and evolve and move forward. So it’s an on-going thing; not just something that happens at the beginning of our working relationship. 
 
Of your represented clients, what do you consider to be a “good year” for The CAT Agency and your clients with respect to the number of contracted projects? And how many projects would an illustrator typically juggle at one time?
 
Oh boy, is this a loaded question! The answer is that it’s different for everyone. We have some artists who can quadruple up on projects, and they have the speed and ability to complete dozens of projects a year. Of course, they’re not all picture books—but with a combination of picture books, chapter books, magazine work, educational work, and cover art, it’s possible. We represent some artists who only work on picture books and only work on one at a time. So a good year for them would be two picture books. We have some artists who have a very niche style or appeal, and perhaps one major project a year would be a good year for them and their particular genre. If someone is working on a graphic novel, that eats up a whole year – and so in that case, a good year is one graphic novel. 
 
When I take on clients, I ask what their goals are in children’s literature/illustration, what their ideal life/work balance would be, and what their financial needs are. And then I can set goals for myself on how I can help them to make it a “good year” for them. Of course, I’m not a wizard, and this business is still freelance – and there are no guarantees in freelance! – but together we can work to hit the mark of a GREAT year! ☺
 
How do you work with editors to match your illustrators to specific manuscripts? How do you determine if an illustrator is a good match for a project?
 
Many of our projects are commissioned by editors or art directors who come to us. If our promotional efforts have worked, they’ll know about our illustrators, and they’ll come to me checking the interest and availability of an artist for a particular job. 
 
Whenever I’m visiting a publisher, showing portfolios and dummies, etc., I’ll start by asking if there’s anything in particular they are looking for. Oftentimes, they’ll say “Yes, we have just signed up a manuscript about a penguin who thinks he can fly and we are looking for an illustrator who has a fresh, painterly style, and who can create endearing, but not saccharine-sweet penguins. Got anyone who fits that bill?” And I think for a moment, and say, “As a matter of fact, I have a few!”—and we go from there. If they have interest in any of our illustrators, then it might lead to that person getting that book!
 
Sometimes, an editor or art director will come to me, and say (for instance) “I am looking for an illustrator for such-and-such graphic novel. Any suggestions?” or “I am looking for someone who is willing to work on a tight budget, and who can turn a book around in 4 months. Got anyone?” Things like that. So, depending on the criteria, I will make suggestions—but then the art has to speak for itself from that point on!
 
Based on your website, you and Chris represent roughly twice the number of illustrators as author/illustrators. Do editors prefer author work to be separate from illustrator work? Is it an easier sell to align an illustrator with an existing manuscript or do you find that it is a case-by-case basis?
 
Well, when my Mom started the agency in 1994, she was one of the only strictly illustrator agencies in the business. Over time, many of her illustrators either were, or became, authors as well. When I joined, I opened us up a little more to the ‘author’ end of things, as writing is my background, and it excites me just as much as the illustrating does!
 
As far as editors go, I think that a one-stop-shop of an author/illustrator is great, but I don’t think that it makes a huge difference. It’s not always a guarantee that they are going to love both the story and the illustrations, so there’s always that risk in submitting author/illustrated dummies. It often happens that they like the manuscript, but not the art, or the art, but not the story. Which is why just authors should generally submit only their manuscripts, and not try to assign an illustrator to their stories, or have an illustrator do artwork for them. If they like one and not the other, it may be a pass for both.  
 
Signing up just a manuscript adds that extra step in finding the right illustrator to illustrate it, but that’s the fun part! 
 
What do you feel The CAT Agency offers its clients that is unique or different in the industry?
 
I’m not totally sure how other agencies operate, but I think that what makes us different is the family aspect of our group. My Mom and I are obviously mother/daughter, but even long before I joined her, she always cultivated an environment of “family” within the agency. She has always really cared about the people she has represented over the years; knowing and involved in their work and family life – and they were always a part of ours! 
 
Since I joined, we have expanded a bit, but it’s still really important to us to maintain the family feel. We encourage everyone we represent to get to know one another, support one other, lean on one another, and to feel like they are part of an extended family of artists. We also want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable coming to us for any reason; in the way that you would a friend. 
 
Of course, the agency is a business, and we respect that aspect of it, too. Sometimes caring for someone means parting ways, if - for whatever reason - we are unable to do our job as agents, or an artist is unable to do theirs. But even if we have to take different paths, we still support and care for everyone as they continue their journey – like a family does!
   
When an illustrator is not working on an assignment, what do you advise your illustrators do to grow their craft/art?
 
Draw every day! Every day. Always create and play and experiment. If you find yourself with free time, create a dummy! Or give yourself an assignment, like a mock cover, or experimenting with graphic novel illustration, or creating any number of new portfolio pieces. Try a new medium, or a new process. One thing I definitely recommend is to do a figure drawing class, or sketch from real life, or plein-air paint, or even collage. Challenging yourself or simply just practicing every day will keep you loose and creative, but you also may discover (or uncover) something spectacular in doing so. And that may just be the ticket to your next project!

Hosted by Francine Puckly

As Illustrator Month continues, 24 Carrot Writing is excited to host New England-based author/illustrator Deborah Freedman, creator of several picture books for young readers. Her books have received many starred and enthusiastic reviews, honors, and awards — including SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award and a Parent's Choice Gold Award. Welcome, Deborah! 
 
You’re recently back from Nerd Camp in Parma, Michigan. Can you tell us a little bit about this event, how long have you been doing it, and what’s your favorite part of this outing?
 
I love Nerd Camps! I could talk books all day if you let me, and for the past four years visiting Parma has been a highlight of my summer. It’s a place where passionate, progressive educators are sharing their most creative ideas about raising readers, in a relaxed atmosphere, perfect for spontaneous, informal conversations and getting to know people. I’ve met so many I truly respect and admire  — and they give me hope for the world. I’m incredibly grateful for all teachers do.
           
Let’s talk about CARL AND THE MEANING OF LIFE. What was the process for bringing Carl into the world, from inspiration to completion?
 
Carl, as a character, first popped up in one of many revisions I did for my book SHY. But no one at Viking understood what this funny earthworm was doing in that book, so my darling was deleted. But not killed! Late in 2016, I was sitting at my desk, questioning my purpose in life, when this small character with big questions came back to me… and this time, he had his own story.
 
You’ve worked with Kendra Levin at Viking Children’s Books on a few of your projects. Have you and Kendra discussed or applied any of the exercises from her book, THE HERO IS YOU?
 
I’ve worked with Kendra on four books and have learned so much from her. We do talk about the creative process a lot, and she is as insightful about that in person as she is in HERO. The real Kendra, like the author Kendra, is a wonderful creativity therapist; when she helps steer me through some particular problem, she’s also giving me the tools and confidence to deal with it myself the next time.
 
Tell us a little bit about the process of working with your editors. How long does it take, from start to finish, once one of your manuscripts is acquired?
 
With Kendra, each book has started with a fairly clear concept, characters, theme… but I’m plot-challenged, so that’s where a lot of our work together happens. Even once I hope I’ve got it, she will push me to clarify my intentions and go deeper. With some projects, I chase an idea in a bunch of different directions before finding the right path, and other stories slowly evolve — but all of our manuscripts have taken a long time, up to nine months of back and forth with text and thumbnails before I start doing tight sketches. Once everything is approved for final art, Kendra hands me off to Jim Hoover, who has art directed all of my five books at Viking.
 
With any of my publishing teams, a lot gets done by email, though of course I love those long phone conversations or occasional in-person meetings where we can really hash things out. 

How did you manage the leap from pre-published to successfully published with multiple books out over the last 12 years? Was there a learning curve when it came to marketing your books and crafting author visits? And did you ever feel you made any marketing mistakes or that there was anything you would avoid in future?
 
Wouldn’t it be great if there were one place authors could go to learn everything we need to know about having a book out in the world? My main mistake has been worrying too much about what other people are doing. In the end, experience has turned out to be the best teacher, helping me to slowly trust my own instincts and simply do what I enjoy and do best—for author visits, marketing, all of it. I think that figuring out how to present our public selves to the world is a lot like finding and honing a writing voice. Which can take a while!
 
You and I met years ago at the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA standing in line at a coffee bar, just after your debut picture book was released. You evolved from SCBWI member seeking publication to debut author/illustrator to multi-published author/illustrator who now presents at conferences. How important has the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators been to your writing career?
 
Yes, I remember that! I’d sold my first book, Scribble, after being “discovered” at the NYSCBWI conference, and it had recently come out. Travelling to LA that year turned out to be important for my career too, because it helped me connect with my first agent. But honestly, I mostly value SCBWI for helping me find a wonderful writing community of people like you — who are supportive, inspiring, and dear to me. We never stop needing each other.
 
When you are taking a break from working on an assignment, what do you do to grow your craft/art?
 
A break? What’s that? ;)
 
I should take more long breaks. But there always seem to be things on my desk, in various stages, because I’m very, very slow at developing ideas and am afraid to turn the incubator off! I have also discovered that valuable cross-fertilization seems to happen between projects when more than one is going at a time.
 
But every day I do make time for reading from a wide range of both kid’s and adult fiction, nonfiction, essays, poetry…  and my husband and I take frequent advantage of our fortunate, easy access to amazing theater, music, and museums. Other art forms give me a break from my own brain for a while and then later expand it.
 
At 24 Carrot Writing, we pay a lot of attention to goal setting and planning. Do you set illustrating/ art goals? If so, what do they look like?
 
I do my best to stay loose and open for as long as I can, and have figured out that I need to schedule in enough space for experimentation and play, and also time to overcome my inevitable inertia, fear, self-consciousness…
 
My main goal is simply to grow with every book; I just want to feel like I’m always pushing forward.
 
My biggest dream is that someday the final product will be as good as what was in my head. :)  ​

​Deborah’s most recent releases are CARL AND THE MEANING OF LIFE released by Viking Children’s Books on April 2, 2019, as well as SHY (Viking Children’s Books, 2016) and THIS HOUSE, ONCE (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017). To find out more about Deborah, visit her at https://www.deborahfreedman.net, @DeborahFreedman on Twitter, and @freedmanillustrates on Instagram.

​When I was 5 years old, just around the same age as the boy and the girl from A NEW HOME, my mom and dad had some big news for my brother and me. My dad had been accepted to a prestigious medical school in Stockholm, Sweden! This, of course, meant we had to move. Truthfully, I was scared, I had never even heard about this place before, and I didn’t fully understand what moving really implied. All I knew was that I would be leaving everyone and everything I loved behind, and that I was going to miss my home very much.  Nevertheless, we left soon after that, but something happened that I wasn’t expecting at all. I loved it! I quickly fell in love with Sweden, with the people, the food, and everything about it really, and in no time, I felt right at home. I had the opportunity to experience incredible new things that wouldn't have happened if I’d never moved to a different country. We lived there for three years and then we moved back to Mexico City, but I still cherish those years I called Sweden my home. 
 
When I graduated from high school, I really wanted to study art or design. I knew I wanted to have that experience of living in a different country again, so I applied to different schools across the United States. And this time, I got accepted to an incredible design school in New York City! I was thrilled!  When I arrived, I fell in love with the city: its sparkling energy, its incredibly diverse people, and how there was something new to discover every single day. 
 
From these experiences of moving around, I realized that no matter where I found myself, I could make that place my home. I learned so much from living in different countries and I am so grateful for that. It really opened my eyes and helped me realize that I should always be willing to try new things, no matter how scary they might seem at first. With this idea, I started writing A NEW HOME. 

Now, a funny thing happens when we move to a different country: our experience living abroad actually connects us on a very deep and emotional level to our home country.  Things you’ve taken for granted before suddenly become so precious, and you start seeing them with a different mindset. While living in NYC, I started reminiscing all the things I loved about my home city. The sounds, the smells, the food, and the people. All these things that make up a city, and what actually makes each place so wonderfully unique. There were so many things about Mexico that I wanted to share. And to tell you the truth, NYC reminded me of Mexico City in so many ways. So, you could say that this book is a love letter dedicated to these two magnificent cities I’ve had the honor of calling home and an effort to help others see them for what they truly are.

​On a final note, another incredible thing I was able to experience while living in different countries was meeting people from all over the world. While I was living in Sweden I went to an international school, so I had friends from Kenya, England, Australia, Iran, Israel, Poland, Finland, India, USA, you name it. It was amazing! I was able to learn so much from all my friends. And since NYC is one of the most diverse cities in the world, I met amazing people there as well. Because of this, I learned that that no matter where any of us come from, we’re really not that different. So, even though the boy and the girl from A NEW HOME grew up in completely different cultures and circumstances, they are experiencing the same fears and emotions—which serves to show that in the end, we are all just humans.

Bio:
Tania studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York City and finished her studies in her home country of Mexico. Her work as a costume designer in film and television has helped to better grasp the art of storytelling through images. She uses a variety of media in her work, such as watercolor, gouache, color pencils, wax pastels and ink to create richly textured, engaging images.

Visit Tania's website: https://taniaderegil.com/

Tania’s American debut picture books , A New Home, and Un Nuevo Hogar, are available from the following vendors:
Indiebound: 
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781536201932
Barnes&Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-new-home-tania-de-regil/1129102613?ean=9781536201932
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/un-nuevo-hogar-tania-de-regil/1129102661?ean=9781536206753
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/New-Home-Tania-Regil/dp/1536201936/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+new+Home+Tania+de+regil&qid=1565288619&s=books&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/nuevo-hogar-Spanish-Tania-Regil/dp/153620675X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=A+new+Home+Tania+de+regil&qid=1565288619&s=books&sr=1-2

Final thoughts
Thank you for letting me share my process of bringing Night Train to life with you, and thank you to 24 Carrot Writing for inviting me to do so. I hope it was helpful and am looking forward to reading all the different approaches/processes other illustrators have here in the future.

About the Illustrator
Ileana Soon is an illustrator/vis dev artist who grew up in a small seaside town in Borneo, before making her way to Los Angeles where she currently lives and works. Her clients include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Oprah Magazine. She has also won multiple awards, including a Silver Medal from 3x3, as well as recognition from American Illustration and The World Illustration Awards. Learn more about Ileana and see more of her work at http://ileanasoon.com/, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ileanadraws/, and on Behance at https://www.behance.net/ileanasoon.

Guest Post by Melissa Sweet

There is no separation between art and life in my book. I’m always seeing the world through the eyes of what I’m working on. In writing my biography Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White, I had the pleasure and privilege of reading everything he wrote, as well as listening to his three children’s books in my car for the better part of three years. It was an education, and an inspiration. There is much to admire about White and his writings. In the end, the essence of White to my mind was his sense of freedom, and the conviction for living life on his own terms. He personified what President Kennedy wrote in a speech celebrating the role of the artist: “If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”
 
When Francine invited me to create a blog post I suggested: “10 things I learned from E.B. White” (even though there were scores of things I learned from him). Then I remembered towards the end of Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte had laid 514 eggs, and since 5+1+4=10, hence the organization for this piece.
 
Here is just a handful of White’s many words of wisdom:
 
5
 
1. “I think the best writing is often done by persons who are snatching the time from something else…”
Sometimes taking a walk, deadheading the flowers, or jotting down something that comes to me in a flash is still part of “working.” It’s all another form of thinking.
 
2.  “Work from a suitable design”
Finding the design not just the writing, but the merging of words and pictures, is the best part of designing a book. Once I discover and decide on the “scaffolding,” the elements begin to fall into place. In Some Writer!, the hierarchy was first my text, then White’s quotes with illustrations, and finally the merging of archival photos, manuscript pages, and White’s ephemera. Creating the book was akin to inventing a three–dimensional jigsaw puzzle.
 
3. “I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else.”
White left New York City and the The New Yorker, as well as fame and notoriety, to live in Maine, a place that had inspired him since childhood. While living on his farm, he wrote essays for Harper’s Magazine that became a collection of some his finest writings: One Man’s Meat.He also penned Charlotte’s Web and Trumpet of the Swan, to name a few. Just as important as loving where we live is carving out a space and time to work. John Updike wrote, “Try to develop actual work habits, and even though you have a busy life, try to reserve an hour, say -- or more -- a day to write." Even an hour a day adds up.
 
4. “I like to read books on dog training….to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot.”
Why throw a wrench in the middle of deadlines when everything is going pretty well? In a fit of madness, or just to keep things interesting, we got a purebred shepherd puppy– I wasn’t looking for either. We named her Ruby. She continues to remind me not to take myself so seriously and that I need fresh air and exercise. For Ruby, life is a ball, and it might as well be the same for me, too. As White once wrote, “A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature.” Ruby is both. (With apologies to White’s famous line regarding Charlotte).
 
5. “The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.”
This says it all.  Could crafting a book with this advice be that simple? Yes, along with the other bit of advice.
When I wrote my first book, Carmine: A Little More Red, I had Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style on my desk and referred to it constantly. By the time I began writing Some Writer!, I realized I had about seven copies of that book between my home and studio. It was the book that helped me understand White’s process.
 
​
+ 1

1. A nod to another great writer…                                                                             
Author John McPhee, a New Yorker contributor, is one of my favorite nonfiction writers. In his book, DRAFT #4, McPhee’s essays are a collection of writing advice that is fun and informative to read, as are all his books. Writing a biography of E. B. White was a gigantic undertaking, not just because he is one of our most beloved writers but the sheer volume of research that had to be read, sifted through, and organized. The following quote by McPhee is sage advice for choosing the content of a biography (and writing in general): 
​“What is creative about nonfiction?…here are a few points: The creativity lies in what you choose to write about, how you go about doing it, the arrangement through which you present things, the skill and touch with which you describe people and succeed in developing them as characters, the rhythms of your prose, the integrity of the composition, the anatomy of the piece…the extent to which you see and tell the story that exists in your material…. Creative nonfiction is not making something up but making the most of what you have.”  –– John McPhee
 
+ 4
 
1. “Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”
Dr. Dorian said this in Charlotte’s Web. White once watched a spider spinning an egg sac in the doorway of his barn, and the rest is history.  It could be, as Mary Oliver writes, that “paying attention is the beginning of devotion.” Indeed.
 
2. “Omit needless words.” 
This rule from the Elements of Style is a favorite. By editing and rewriting, we find clarity and simplicity. White goes on to write: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” And in conclusion: “There you have a short valuable essay on the nature and beauty of brevity– sixty-three words that could change the world.” 
 
3. “Every writer, by the way he uses the language, reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities, his bias. This is inevitable as well as enjoyable. All writing is communication.”
All art is a form of communication. White wrote tens of thousands of letters in his lifetime. An invaluable exercise that lots of writers have used as a way of limbering up (myself included), is writing a letter, a postcard, or a thank you note. Try writing by hand or on an old typewriter. Why not email? Because doing something by hand slows us down, helps our mind become in synch with our hand, not to mention the recipient will receive a memorable gift in the mail. Also, a book titled, The Collected Emails of (insert name here) may not capture our imagination.
 
4. “A person who is looking for something doesn’t travel very fast.”
Stuart Little knew this. His quest was more important than the destination. You’re going artistically, and otherwise, write on!You are no doubt heading in the right direction.

Melissa Sweet has written and illustrated many award–winning books including, Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, and two Caldecott Honor winning books, The Right Word, and A River of Words, both by Jen Bryant. Her most recent book, How To Read A Book by Kwame Alexander, will be published in June, 2019.  You can find out more about Melissa at melissasweet.net and https://www.facebook.com/melissa.sweet.35.

~ Hosted by Amanda Smith

Stevie has been living on the road for the past three years, furthering her passion for climbing, art, and the outdoors. Striving to live simply and tread lightly on the earth, she gathers inspiration from a variety of places, be it climbing in the high desert at Smith Rock, hiking in the forests of southeastern Alaska, or sharing laughs with strangers around a campfire.  After working four years in animation at DreamWorks, she now illustrates children's books and creates art based on her travels. Her latest work includes PRINCE & KNIGHT (Daniel Haack; Simon and Schuster), THE FINDING SERENDIPITY series(Angelica Banks; Scolastic), and LOST IN THE LIBRARY (Josh Funk; Henry Holt & Co.), which will be on shelves August 28, 2018. 

​1. Tell us a little about your journey. How did you become an illustrator?
​
 I remember always having a pencil in my hand as a kid.  You would always see me doodling on the edges of my notebook, or on napkins in the restaurant.  It just flowed out of me, and became the way I shared and communicated with the world. I decided to seriously pursue a career in art when I was a senior in high school, and ended up getting accepted to Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.  After working endless nights and creating, with my friend, Avner, our senior film, Defective Detective, I landed a dream job at DreamWorks Animation in the Bay area.  After 4+ years of working there, I decided it was time to pursue children's book illustration.

4.  I’m an art supply hoarder. To me art supplies and a living out of a van sound incompatible. Most of your current art is digital. Did you make a decision about art media limits before you went on the road? 
​
Ha, I know what you mean.  I used to work with traditional media much more when I was in college.  But, since I started working in animation, my work became heavily digital-based.  It's incredibly easy to make changes, especially with big files and detailed pieces.  Sometimes you'd have a note that would ask you to remove a few buildings and add a park with trees in its place.  I can't imagine how hard that would be to do on paper.  It's funny because I worked with a few guys who have been around since the PRINCE OF EGYPT days, and did all of their artwork with pencil, airbrush, or a variety of traditional techniques.  Now they all work digitally and it's expanded their work to a new level.  But it is nice to be able to go back to pencil and paper when desired.  Living in the van, I've had to make a few sacrifices.  While I don't have to pay rent, I had to limit what I could bring along (especially living with two dogs and a 6'4" partner).  I pretty much have room for my computer, a small collection of gouache paints, color pencils, and some ink materials. Let's just say I have to make several trips to the art store when I'm working on a traditional project.

5.  What is the one medium (besides digital) you have to have? Why?

 Lately I've been experimenting a bit more with paper cutouts.  It's been a change in pace and challenge for me.  I like how I can reuse and recycle paper from old magazines or catalogs, and how it almost creates a sense of dimension off the page.  Every year I try to focus on a new style or medium, just to mix things up.  Next year I want to try screen printing!
 
6.  When you first receive a manuscript to illustrate, what is your process? 
​
 After reading a manuscript for the first time, I immediately have ideas of what I want to illustrate.  Once I’ve read it through a few times, done thorough research, and confirmed with my editor any details they want to see, I start sketching.  They’re usually rough sketches, just to see my ideas on paper.  If necessary, I’ll do research in person, for example, I flew out to the New York Library in Manhattan to spend some time sketching, taking photos, and gathering ideas for LOST IN THE LIBRARY, written by Josh Funk. Since that book took place in a beautiful, historical location, I wanted to capture as many details as I could. ​

Thank you, Stevie, for sharing your journey, process and amazing art with us!

To learn more about Stevie Lewis, visit her website here.

LOST IN THE LIBRARY will be in book stores, August 28. If, like me, you cannot wait, it is available for pre-order at indiebound and other book retailers.
​
To learn  more about Josh Funk, 24 Carrot Writing contributor and the author of LOST IN THE LIBRARY, visit his website here.

Guest Blog Post by Brian Lies

My newest book, The Rough Patch, deals with a difficult topic—grief, especially the anger aspect of grief—and hope. The story is about fox named Evan who does everything with his dog, but one day the dog dies. One of their favorite activities had been working in Evan’s garden, and without the dog, Evan can’t bear to even look at the place they’d enjoyed so much together.  He hacks it to bits, and in his grief, begins to tend the weeds that sprout in the space where his vegetables and plants had grown before. The garden becomes a dark place, but when a pumpkin vine sneaks in under his garden fence, Evan begins a transformation back to hope.
 
I didn’t set out to write a story about grief.  Sometimes a story idea comes to you and won’t leave you alone.  This was one of those ideas.  The story of a man, a dog and a garden began as I was weeding my own vegetable garden, wondering what would happen if instead of pulling weeds, I transplanted them into even rows and tended them.  Would some reverse psychology cause the vegetables I wanted to come up between my rows of weeds?
 
When you’re illustrating a story on a difficult subject, many questions arise.  How are you actually going to depict the difficult parts?  How much should happen “off-stage”?  How much is too much to show?  Or too little?  I wanted the story to carry real feeling but not be so strong that it felt brutal or manipulative.
 
One roadblock at the beginning was that I originally envisioned Evan as human, a crusty old New Englander with a good heart.  The more I thought about this, the more I worried that young readers wouldn’t empathize with him.  When we’re children, most of us don’t see our grandparents as fully-rounded beings with complex emotional lives.  Much of our relationship with grandparents is selfish—about how they make us feel, or what they’ll give us.  So, would a child looking at a story about an old man really feel for him when he’s sad?  I didn’t think so.
 
Turning him into an animal may seem like a no-brainer solution, but it took a while for me to see him differently.  I tried him as a bear...

 and then as a rhinoceros. ​

Both looked clunky, and I didn’t instinctively feel anything for them. But then I drew Evan as a fox, and knew I’d found him. A fox has soulful eyes, expressive ears and tail, and his long lines better echoed that crusty old Yankee that I’d originally envisioned.  Evan became a fox, and I think it’s much easier for a child to look at his face now and think, “Poor fox!  He’s so sad...”

The next big challenge was to find that storytelling line between bland and brutal.  The interplay between text and illustrations is always important in a picture book, but here it felt critical.  It’s easy to get maudlin if you say too much about how a character feels. So I decided to keep the text mostly factual, explaining Evan’s actions in a kind of reportorial way, and let the illustrations show his feelings.  The classic “show, don’t tell.”

Several techniques or tricks came to the forefront as I worked on how to illustrate the story. One was using a wide range of compositions or “camera angles” to convey emotion and feeling. When Evan destroys his garden, I didn’t want to fill the page with a bird’s eye view, looking down at a character mowing down vegetation. The most important thing was his emotional state at that moment, so I came in for one of two extreme close-ups in the book—Evan filling the page, slashing with a hoe and vegetation spraying behind the hoe. 

When Evan’s in the throes of anger and sadness, the color dims and becomes a kind of sickly green-gray.

And as hope returns to Evan’s life, the primaries re-assert themselves.  Even if the text doesn’t say that Evan is going to be okay in the end, the palette suggests that it will be.  The colors act as our guide.
 
This book was very rewarding to create. Each image was different enough from the others to make the process of painting them interesting, from the first day to the last.  And it was also the most difficult book I think I’ve done, taking some fourteen years from when I first came up with Evan’s story to publication.  But it’s a good reminder to keep plugging away if a story idea grabs you.  I returned to the idea for years, thinking “I’ve got to do that story!” before I finally discovered how it should look.  
 
Honestly, I don’t think I was ready to do this book back in 2004, and though it would have been great to get it out quickly, I think it’s a better book for the wait.
 
 
Brian Lies is the author and illustrator of the NY Times bestselling bat series (Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, etc.), and over two dozen other titles.  The Rough Patch has already received three starred reviews (Booklist, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly), been named a Junior Library Guild selection and is being translated into three languages.  You can visit him at www.brianlies.com, connect on Twitter at @BrianLiesbooks, or Instagram at brianlies.

4.  Let’s talk MARY’S MONSTER. You deliberately set out to do something so new and unique with this book to mirror Mary Shelly. How did you arrive at this format – an illustrated biography in verse that reads like a YA novel?
It took me a while to discover this format. For years I had been drawn to the story of the teenaged Mary Shelley, but didn’t quite know how to tackle it. First I considered a graphic novel, but it didn’t feel like the format fit. Mary Shelley’s life was so intense. Her emotions needed to leap out of the page. Graphic novels are structured so that the art unfolds within several contained panels. They leave a lot of white space around the images. This can be great for developing action, but it didn’t give me the room I needed to fully develop the visual story with the emotional intensity I wanted. I wanted full bleed illustrations that viscerally poured out emotion. I also wanted poetry, something I couldn’t fit into graphic novel format. Mary’s life and her love affair with Percy Shelley revolved around poetry and literature. And I really wanted to do something different than what I had seen before. Mary Shelley developed a whole new genre - science fiction. I felt I needed to do something unique to capture her story. Or maybe, I was just inspired by her to be bold and brave. Whatever it was, I felt like the only way I could bring her story to life was by blending full-page illustrations with free verse.
 
5.    During discussions of this book, our book group wondered about the genre of MARY’S MONSTER and how libraries would categorize it. Were you and your editors ever concerned that it would get lost in the adult biographies?  And in your heart, to which genre does this book belong?
Yes, I was concerned about how libraries and bookstores would categorize this book! I went multiple times to our local library and my local bookstore, The Toadstool Bookshop, and asked them where they would shelve it. I was concerned that it would slip into adult biography or that it would be categorized in the graphic novel section. I love graphic novels, but that section really didn’t feel like home to this book. I see this being an illustrated novel, rather than a graphic novel, and I really wanted it to be shelved with other YA books.
 
I was also concerned about whether it would be shelved as nonfiction or fiction, which has been an issue. It’s deeply researched and I tried to portray Mary Shelley‘s life as accurately as I could, but ultimately I chose to write it in first person. I thought that it was the only way I could capture the essence of this brave, courageous teenager who dared to throw off the shackles that society inflicted on women. But this is definitely not a straight up biography. It dives into the realm of what goes on in the mind of a creative soul. I didn’t want to be restricted by writing it in a purely non-fiction way because, in a strange sense, I didn’t feel that could possibly tell the whole truth of her story. And besides, there is also her creature. She gave him a voice in her book. I couldn’t ignore that. Her novel is about creating life from death, but ultimately she created life from literature. I wanted this story to reflect that. And to reflect the interaction that goes on between a writer and his or her creation. He just had to have a voice in this book.

8.   The amount of work that went into MARY’S MONSTER is vast. Your research, your sketchbooks, your photographs and models, your poetry and artwork. What practical methods did you learn along the way about organizing big projects like these?
      Hmmm, I wish I could say I had a plan, but really it was get up every day and write and draw the hell out of it. It was just full throttle rather than planned out vision. Maybe for the next one, I could come up with something a little saner. I’m just learning how to take a weekend off again.
  
9.    You worked on the HOOT AND PEEP books while you were working on MARY’S MONSTER. In which ways was it challenging to transition from the playful colorful artwork of making picture books to the dark, haunting paintings of MARY’s MONSTER? In which ways was it helpful?
Yes, I did work on HOOT AND PEEP during the six years I’ve worked on Mary‘s Monster. It was incredibly challenging going back and forth between the picture books and MARY'S MONSTER - not so much because the style of art was different, mostly because of the pacing involved in a picture book versus the pacing of a longer form book. Everything has to be spelled out but simple in PB art. Little readers have to be lead through a story differently. In MARY'S MONSTER, I had to trust that I could make big leaps, otherwise, it would have taken 5000 pages. But there, I could put a lot more hidden meanings into things because I knew my readers would have more life experience to interpret them. Working on the novel for such long spells made it hard to get back to the simplicity of a picture book.

But on the other hand it was incredibly helpful to have an oasis in which to fall back on, because MARY'S MONSTER was an incredibly intense project. At times I just needed to let my brain rest before diving in again. I often work back-and-forth between nonfiction and fiction picture books. I think creatively it can be good to work on more than one project at a time so that you allow yourself time to escape a project and then come back with fresh eyes.

10. You work mostly in watercolor, but in MARY’s MONSTER, the illustrations have a layered and washy quality. How did you adapt your techniques and media for the art in this book? Have you transported some of these techniques into your newer picture books?
I did have to adjust my techniques for MARY'S MONSER. To get the emotional depth to some of the pieces required a lot of haunting imagery. I found that digitally layering different washes helped me find the richness that I needed. In a picture book, simplicity is important. Young readers are just learning to explore visual images so my washes are often very simple and my line work bold. I’m not sure that the work I did with Mary will translate to picture books. But I’d love to find another project in the future where I can use these techniques. Artistically it was really fun to dive into this new style.

13. What has been your greatest joy in your career as an author/illustrator so far?
Having my picture book, FLIGHT SCHOOL, get turned into an off-Broadway musical was an incredibly joyful experience. Creating a character out of your imagination and then watching him suddenly come to life, singing and dancing on stage, was mind blowing. I also loved seeing how other artists, in this case, the composer, lyricist, director, actors, and costume designer pour their energy into this character. I will forever be thankful for that experience. Plus, it’s pretty cool to crank up the volume and play the soundtrack of the musical and dance with my parrot on a rainy day!
 
14. What has been the biggest surprise?
As a kid I never imagined I’d get to be an artist. I really didn’t know people did this for a living. My mind was reeling with imaginary friends, basically because my family lived far out in the woods, and I didn’t have other kids to play with. It was kind of a lonely childhood and living in my imagination helped me get through it. But now I get to give those imaginary friends life within the pages of a book. Is that sappy? It’s just that they feel real to me. And then kids read those books, and in so doing, those characters become real to them. It gives me a strong sense of connection to people that I didn’t have when I was a kid. I wasn’t expecting that gift to come out of this career.

15. What is next?
I’m very excited to have another picture book coming out with the character from FLIGHT SCHOOL. This one is titled PENGUIN FLIES HOME and is coming out in January. I also have a non-fiction picture book coming out called HOMES IN THE WILD, which draws on my love of animals and the natural world. It’s full of all the cool ways animals create shelters and homes for themselves in the wild. And one more picture book – called Wingbeats. I wait to let that mystery unfold.

Thank you, Lita, for sharing your amazing art, insights and stories with us. To learn more about Lita, visit her website at  www.litajudge.net.
For a 24 Carrot review of MARY'S MONSTER click here.
For book group discussion questions on MARY'S MONSTER click here.​

~ by Julia Anne Young                                                       
 
I have always loved The Wizard of Oz. When I was a kid, I wore out our VHS tape. As a grown-up, I work with a shelf of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books directly across from my desk.
 
Naturally, I was beyond excited when Maria Middleton, Art Director for Random House Children's Books, created an Oz-themed assignment for her illustrators’ intensive at the 2017 New Jersey SCBWI Conference. She asked us to put our own spin on any character from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, write an original story brief, and illustrate a story scene.
 
Follow me down the yellow brick road as I share the process of creating a brief and art for my story: The Forgotten Cavern of Oz!
 
Generating Ideas from a Manuscript
 
At this point, my story brief and art were somewhere over the rainbow. I was facing the scary blank page. Time to revisit the classic book!

Refined Character Sketches
 
Maria Middleton encouraged us to consider our character from every angle. Here are the three tighter character sketches I sent for review.

​She gave me great advice for the final piece, including a suggestion for a middle grade cover design: Dorothy’s canoe coming straight at us, about to tip into the cyclone. Among other things, she also recommended adding touches of Oz to Dorothy’s style, like a ruby slipper charm.
 
 
Thumbnail Sketches:
 
Before starting on an illustration, I create several thumbnails (tiny sketches). Thumbnails help illustrators experiment with composition ideas without expending energy on larger sketches. Here are just a few of mine.

​Collecting Reference Images With Pinterest
 
At this stage, I will gather reference images either by taking them myself (as often as possible) or finding them online. I create secret Pinterest boards for my projects. I never copy a reference image exactly—it's essential to truly make the sketch your own. Gathering multiple photos and studying them before drawing really helps with this! 

​Sketching and Value Studies
 
I enlarged my favorite thumbnail to the correct dimensions and started sketching in Photoshop with my Cintiq drawing tablet. To get Dorothy’s pose right, I photographed myself and used my little artist’s mannequin.

​Here is my sketch, still at a very rough stage:

​As is the case with strong writing critique groups, a strong illustrator critique group makes all the difference! I asked for my group’s thoughts on these value studies, which help artists figure out their lights and darks.

​Inking
 
After refining my sketch, I began inking on a new layer using a favorite Kyle T. Webster Photoshop brush. I smudged some of the lines for the water.

​From Black and White to Technicolor—Time to Paint!
 
I use “watercolor” and “gouache” digital brushes created by Grutbrushes and Kyle T. Webster to build up my paintings gradually, using many Photoshop layers. I spent a lot of time on the water, making some layers more or less transparent and trying different colors.
 
To add additional texture, I take my own scanned, hand-painted watercolor background, convert it to grayscale, and set it as an “Overlay” layer above the painting.

​Off to See The Wizard (at New Jersey SCBWI)
 
Here is the final painting I took to the conference:
 

During our critique at the intensive, I found out that although this might work as an interior illustration, I would need to increase the drama to make it a strong cover.
 
Maria Middleton and the other participants gave me specific and valuable feedback. For example, they suggested I zoom in, add more whites to the water in the whirlpool, and darken the surrounding water. They also suggested incorporating more magical and Oz-themed elements, and they advised me to revisit the drawing of Dorothy and the canoe.

I completely agreed that the changes would make the painting stronger. So, where does this leave me?
 
 
 
There’s No Place Like Home — for Revisions!
 
I’m sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but as is the case in the children’s book world, final art will sometimes require final revisions. This assignment was a great challenge, leading me to try new things and learn along the way. Soon, I’ll be taking this painting to the next level and posting a new version to my website.
 
In closing, I hope this journey through my Oz adventure gave you insights about some common steps in the illustration process. I love reading a manuscript and taking inspiration from it—using my imagination and old-fashioned elbow grease to create a unique illustration that suits the narrative. When a writer’s manuscript is paired with an illustrator’s interpretation of their text, I truly believe the final collaboration can yield some of the most great and powerful magic!

​Julia Anne Young is a Boston-based freelance illustrator and member of SCBWI. To learn more about Julia, visit her website at juliaanneyoung.com, or visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/juliaanneyoungillustration. You can also connect with her on Twitter or Instagram at @juliaanneyoung.  
 

by Milanka Reardon
 
My first children’s book illustration job had a non-traditional start.
 
Eric Bennett, the owner of a penguin gift shop in Western Massachusetts, found my portfolio on my website through a friend in one of my SCBWI critique groups. He was working on a sequel to his 2014 self-published book about a penguin (Noodles) and a fish (Albie). I had been asked to work on self-published books before, but I had been advised to be wary of agreeing to projects that did not have the commitment of an agent or a publishing house for all the traditional reasons: the risk of low sales, a high workload, uncertain paychecks, and stigma from traditional publishers. But the first Noodles and Albie had sold almost 1,000 copies already, and I was looking for an opportunity to expand my portfolio and gain experience. I decided to read the manuscript.
 
In the sequel, Noodles and Albie’s Birthday Surprise, Albie is looking for the perfect birthday present for Noodles, whose birthday happens to be on Christmas Eve. Albie settles on a compass—just the device a frustrated Kris Kringle needs when his GPS fails and leads him off course! And as soon as I read the manuscript, my mind began working through illustration possibilities: mid-way through the book, Noodles and Albie visit an underwater amusement park. While the text did not describe it in much detail, I could already see the “Octowhirl” in my head—a giant octopus ready to spin the characters around as if the tips of his tentacles were seats on a ride. I was in.
 
Traditionally, the art director at a publishing house chooses the illustrator, not the author. But working with an author in the self-publishing realm allowed me to learn a great deal about the process of visual story-telling, communication about the direction of the book, and working through contracts. I reached out to one of my Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education teachers, who gave me a sample contract that I could use as a guideline and adjust it to meet the specifics of my project. The contract specified payment details, including my upfront fee, when I would be paid, and what percentage of royalties I would earn if the book sold a certain number of copies. It also specified the finals timeline and the number of revisions I was willing to do. I made sure I maintained the right to my original artwork, that I would be able to use the illustrations for promotional materials, and that there was a “kill fee”—an amount we agreed I would be paid if I finished the illustrations and the book did not go to print. The part about maintaining the right to my original artwork was important to me. Aside from loving the story and having fun coming up with ideas for the text, one of the reasons I decided to take this particular self-publishing job was to add new illustrations to my portfolio that will hopefully attract art directors or future collaborators. 
 
Within days, the contract was signed and accepted. I was ready to start illustrating my first picture book!
 
Now to the fun part - the illustration process! I was ready to create the main characters and did a lot of sketching. However, the images of Noodles and Albie were already set up in the first book. This was my first big dilemma: should I imitate the original book, or work on the characters in a way that felt truer to my own illustration style? Luckily, the author gave me artistic freedom. He said that he envisioned the characters a little bit older in the sequel. Instead of being a baby penguin with grey colors, Noodles is a spunky 6- or 7-year-old in this book, and his coloring is that of a one-year-old penguin: black and white. But I still had to work with the guidelines that the author gave me, such as the detail that Noodles always wears a blue baseball hat. In self-publishing, the author acts as the de facto art director.
 
Here are some first sketches of the main character, Noodles:

​And this is how Noodles looks in one of the final sketches and the final painting in the book:

​Milanka Reardon is Co-Illustrator Coordinator for New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She recently illustrated her first picture book, Noodles' and Albie's Birthday Surprise by Eric Bennett. Her illustration of "A Beary Special Friend" won the R Michelson Galleries Emerging Artist Award at the NESCBWI 2016 conference. She lives with her family in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. You can see more of her artwork at MilankaReardon.com.