Avid and eager readers! I know its been over a year and a half since I have posted here, I have been busy with award panels, Ryan getting into elementary school in TK, father duties and fun and the world and its mindless games. Thank you for visiting my blog again or for the first time!!
Today I am more then grateful as mega fan of Deborah Underwood to have her on the blog for her book Man Who Didn't Like Animals!
Please Purchase book here: https://booksinc.net/book/9780358567134
On to the interview:
Introduction:
I'm a Northern California writer who has published more than 30 picture books. I live in the Bay Area, and love animals, green spaces, and vegan cookies. Please visit me at deborahunderwoodbooks.com.
Intro to the book:
The Man Who Didn't Like Animals is about a tidy man in an apartment building who swears he doesn't like animals...until a cat decides she lives with him. Over the story, more animals show up and he grudgingly falls in love with them all, which leads him to make a surprising life choice. LeUyen Pham did the spectacular illustrations for the book. Interview1. What were you like as 5 through 8 years old?
I was an introverted child before people were talking much about introversion: your basic nerdy, small-for-my-grade, terrible-at-sports kid. I had a hard time fitting in, which is of course what I wanted more than anything to do. I was a big reader. I was overwhelmed with happiness when I realized the school library was open during recess so I could go hide there and read instead of getting beaned with kickball on the playground2. You say you write for your inner 6 year old, please explain?
A lot of authors say they have an inner kid. It seems like if they have an inner fifteen-year-old, they write YA; if they have an inner six-year-old, they write picture books. My most successful books have been the ones I wrote to please my inner child, not ones I wrote because of some perceived need in the market or some editor's wishlist. If something delights six-year-old me, I know I'm on the right track.
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| Underwood Author Photo |
3. How many books have you gotten published versus written and submitted to publishers?
Oh gosh, I'm not sure. I definitely submitted some amateurish manuscripts when I was starting out. I'm thankful that now my agent is a gatekeeper: she'll let me know if she doesn't think something is strong enough to send out, and I'll either abandon it or rework it and try again. She submits quite selectively and knows the tastes of editors we work with, so my acceptance rate is much higher than it was at the beginning. But there are still manuscripts she and I both love which haven't yet found a home.
4. How do you write for kids despite all that is going on in our world?
It can be so hard—and functioning in the midst of all the difficult news seems to be a problem for many people, not just writers. Sometimes I need to do news fasts. And I remind myself over and over that writing books that amuse kids, or get kids excited about reading, or help kids be more empathetic is likely the most powerful way I can effect change. If I let myself get depressed and bogged down in despair, I'm not serving anyone.
5. What would you say to your 5 or 6 year old self today?
I'd tell her that being introverted and not fitting in can be a challenge, but that those things are also a great source of power, and she'll discover that eventually. And that she'll find her people when she gets older and be much happier. And not to read in the bathtub, because despite her best intentions, the book will fall in and she'll have wrinkled books on her shelf when she's an adult.
6. Animals seem to be be dominant and always important in all your books, why? What is the role of animals in your books? Their recurrent Thematic importance?
I just love animals and feel a strong connection to them. And I think our world values a few animals—cats, dogs—but treats so many of the others badly: as products, as things put here for our use. I hope at some point we'll draw the circle of compassion more generously and include those others. Since I feel so deeply about animals, they can't help but show up in my work, because my work is me.
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Underwood with new Book |
7. Your new book is amazing, adorable, crucial, amazing blend of text and illustrations, and above all a lovely read for all ages! How did the book come to being from idea to sitting on shelves?
Thank you so much! I'd been trying to write a manuscript that would encourage people to see animals as individuals, and of course when you start out with a preachy message, you get a preachy, dull manuscript.
So I put it aside, and one day wondered what would happen if a man who didn't like animals had a cat show up at his home (which is the way I acquired my first two dear cats). I figured he'd discover things he had in common with the cat, and that the cat would worm her way into his life and his love, as they do.
As other animals showed up in the story, I wondered what the heck the man would do with all the animal friends he was accumulating, and Old MacDonald popped into my head. So I didn't set out to write an origin story, but there it was! I'm thrilled that my wonderful editor loved the idea too, and that she found the perfect illustrator in LeUyen Pham.
I have a draft of The Man Who Didn't Like Animals from 2020, so things progressed at publishing's usual molasses-like pace. I'm very happy to finally have it out in the world.
8. You have spoken so modestly about the entirely outrageous number of rejections you have had over the years. This seems to be way too common especially for not as accomplished authors... what can readers of all ages do about making our shelves and Storytime's full of both the best and the diverse books?
Aw, thank you—I think my mom was the only other person who was outraged by the rejections I got! I think just paying attention goes a long way toward building a diverse book collection. It's so very important for readers to be able to see themselves in stories—people who look like them, people who worship like them, people who share their experiences. And it's also important for kids growing up in areas without much diversity, as I did, to get a window into other lives. Booksellers are happy to recommend good picks to help diversify libraries.
The question about best books is an interesting one. In a way, I feel like any book that gets a kid excited about reading is a good book. But when I read self-published books with crummy rhyme schemes or creepy pictures, it really makes me angry, because the creators didn't take their job seriously. Kids deserve books by people who have worked hard to learn how to write and illustrate them well. Kids are the most important audience.9. What can everyone do to support you always? What do you want us to do next?
What a lovely question! Most authors appreciate it when folks buy their books, or ask that their library buy them, or post reviews, or pay them to come speak at a school (often people want free visits, not understanding the time and effort it takes to prepare a good presentation, and that many authors rely on school visit income to keep afloat). And I certainly love it when people shop at their local independent stores. Books Inc. has solidly supported my career from the beginning, and I can't begin to say how much I appreciate that. If you want to support local authors, shop at your local bookstores!
10. What is next for you professionally? How can we support you best?I'm really excited about Fairy Tale Fixers, two graphic chapter books I have coming out—I think the first one is scheduled for 2025! They're illustrated by Jorge Lacera, and have been such fun to work on. And I have several picture books in the pipeline, too.And there's a blank page on my desk waiting for me to put something on it. I may need a few vegan chocolate chip cookies first.Thanks all for all your time!
Above all thanks Books IncEspecially Deborah Underwood (her books from Books Inc website) andLeUyen Pham (books from books Inc Website) Please Purchase book here: https://booksinc.net/book/9780358567134
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| Book Cover Courtesy of Underwood |
