Using your witchy powers for picture book inspiration

Hello, Word Wonder-ers! I am a huge fan of witchy books so for today’s interview on Finding Inspiration, I summoned Gayle C. Krause, author of the newly released picture book, ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA. Welcome, Gayle! How did you find the inspiration for your spooky, kindness-centered Cinderella retelling?

Gayle: My sisters and I tease each other about our “witchy” powers. (When one calls, the other already has the phone in her hand, or when one is thinking about the other one, the phone rings.) To celebrate our sisterhood and our sibling thought-waves, (which we got from our grandmother) we gather every summer for fun, food, wine, and of course, ‘dress-up.’ We call it our Witchy Weekend.

Candice: How fun is that! I love it. What is your favorite part of the creative process?  

Gayle: For rhyming picture books, my favorite part is finding multi-syllabic rhymes that make the poetry interesting and not just end rhymes. Sometimes, I use internal rhyme as well. And I always try to incorporate theme-specific words. Examples in Zadie’s story are: 

fa-boo-lous frocks, bone-tingling beads, cobwebby capes, specdracula tea, zombie meringues

Recognize all this lovely use of color? The illustrator is Kate Talbot who we talked with in a previous interview! Find it here.

Candice: One of my favorites was “glamour-ghoul gowns”!  Do you have other creative outlets or hobbies? How do they cross into your writing?

Gayle: Yes. I’m a quilter and a dollmaker. I make anything that’s fantasy related. It helps me fill the well in between manuscripts. While I waited for responses from editors, I turned my creativity to dollmaking and designed and created Zadie, her sisters, and the Grand Witch. Really, anything that has to do with fantasy. 

Candice: Adorable. Filling the creative well is so important. Do you have any tips you’d like to share about finding creativity? 

Gayle: Keep your eyes and ears open. An idea can spring from a person you see, a place you visit, or a saying that you can turn on its ear to make a punny picture book, i.e. The Sound of Moosic, featuring cows, of course. Sometimes a TV commercial will spark an idea. And dreams are always a source of inspiration for me.

Candice: Your “Hairy Godspider” was my favorite pun from your story! Can you tell us about a future book project you’re working on?

“…you’ll need a gown of bewitched spider lace…”

Gayle: I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my MG Fantasy (also about a witch), which was born from a 200-word excerpt I entered in the 2022 KID’S CHOICE KIDLIT WRITING CONTEST, which won 1^st place nationally. The judges were MG readers, and that’s who I want to please with my MG novel writing.

Congrats, Gayle! I can’t wait to one day see it on a bookshelf.

To see ZADIE AND THE WITCH’S TEA on your bookshelf, request it at your local library, indie bookstore, or online at bookshop.org (helps support indie bookstores), Barnes & Noble, or Books a Million.

Named the 2022 MG first place winner of the Kid’s Choice KIDLIT Writing Contest,
Gayle C. Krause is a PAL SCBWI member and a past member of The Historical Novel
Society, and The Poets’ Garage. She served on the National Rhyme Revolution
Committee, choosing the best rhyming picture book from 2015-2018. She teaches writing seminars to published kidlit creatives and new children’s writers. She’s a former
Education Academy Chair in an upstate NY Career and Technical school, where she
taught prospective Early Childhood educators and directed a Laboratory Pre-K in
conjunction with her program. She writes PB, MG, and YA and has six published books.

Kate Talbot is a Children’s Book Author and Illustrator who has a passion for quirky stories, especially when told in rhyme. She has a degree in filmmaking and spent several years as a Film Producer (the highlight of her career was spilling an entire tray of drinks in Russell Crowe’s lap before falling butt-first into a fountain). In 2011, she made the shift to children’s writing and illustration, when she moved to Germany with her Spanish husband. Until recently she lived there with her family, but has now relocated to New Zealand. https://www.katetalbotbooks.com

Call to Creativity: Do you and your siblings/family members/found family have a special power all your own? How could that uniqueness magically turn into a story?

Stalking Inspiration with Michelle Vattula

Welcome, Wonderers! Today’s guest on finding inspiration is picture book author, Michelle Vattula. Michelle and I met in the New in ’19 debut group, though both of our books were pushed back to 2021. Happily, her book, THE STALKING SEAGULLS, released April 20th. I thoroughly enjoyed how her main character, Alec, uses his creativity and wits, along with sandcastles and beach ball blockades, to eat his sandwich at the beach in peace, though I had a good laugh at how the story ended.

Candice: Thanks for being here, Michelle! Where did you get the inspiration for THE STALKING SEAGULLS?

Michelle: I was on vacation in Florida visiting my parents. We took our boys to the beach. When the snacks came out, so did the seagulls.

Candice: Oh my goodness, yes. I totally felt Alec’s frustration. I had a Dorito snatched from my hand one time at the beach. It was almost IN. MY. MOUTH. Add injury to insult, the seagull’s wing even cuffed me on the back of the head when it stole my snack! They can be very determined. What is your favorite part of the creative process?

Michelle: When I initially get the spark for an idea and run with it. Once the idea pops in my head, I just sit down and write wherever I am. I have more notes on random pieces of paper, lol. The words flow out so much easier when the idea is spontaneous. The feeling of completing the story after dozens of revisions is wonderful too. I adore coming up with book titles. Sometimes I have the name of the book before I have the story. 

Candice: Titles are tough for many of us so that’s great you have that super power! Do you have other creative outlets? Do they cross into your writing?

Michelle: I love to anything with music. I have been playing the piano since I was 5. Playing is extremely cathartic (when I have time to do it). I also love to dance. I do Zumba throughout the week. I have written a few manuscripts that have dancing in them. One funny, lyrical and has dancing cows. The other more serious about a mother/son relationship. 

Candice: Zumba is so much fun though it’s been years (pre-kids!) since I’ve joined a class. Do you have any tips you’d like to share about finding creativity?

Michelle: My creativity usually comes when I’m doing something mindless like walking, cleaning or taking a shower.

I always tell writers to take time away from the craziness of life because it allows your mind to focus on simple concepts without being overwhelmed. I also find that writing using emotion tends to work for me. I like to tap into deep feelings that people are feeling but don’t like to talk about. 

Candice: Creativity usually seems to inspire more creativity. Do you have another book project you’re working on that you could give us a hint about?

Michelle: I have at least 5 more completed manuscripts and many more that are in their revision stage. I love to write about cows, but I have numerous ones that touch upon subjects such as mother/son relationships, aging family members, and participating in different cultural experiences. 

All great and important subjects! Thanks again for being here, Michelle!

Y’all be sure to request THE STALKING SEAGULLS at your library or local independent bookstore. It’s available online at MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing, and bookshop.org to support indie bookstores.

Michelle was born in Boston but grew up most of her life in Erie, PA. After She received her Bachelor degree from Miami University of Ohio, she ventured back to Boston for her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University. Michelle currently lives in the beautiful rolling hills of North Pittsburgh with her Finnish husband, her two Golden Retrievers (one who is a therapy dog) and her two beautiful boys who are her true inspiration for writing.

Michelle’s debut picture book, THE STALKING SEAGULLS, was released by MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing on April 20, 2021. Michelle is part of the Western Pennsylvania SCBWI leadership team as their New Member and Critique Group Coordinator. She is also a proud member of the twitter group #Newin19. Michelle is represented by T.J Kirsch from JCH Literary. She is open for interviews and virtual visits.

T.L. Derby is a children’s book author and Illustrator. She has turned her love for writing and art into her career. Now she helps others to make their dreams come true as a publisher. She is educated with a BFA in Creative Writing for Entertainment and an MFA in Creative Writing. She is also an autodidact in illustrating, screenwriting, and painting for over 20 years. Her love for children makes what she does a gift from her to the world

Call to Creativity: What frustrates YOU? Use your emotions, like Michelle suggested, and brainstorm a story of your own!

Connecting the Idea-Spark Dots with Charlotte Offsay

Welcome, Word Wonderers! Today we’re chatting with children’s author, Charlotte Offsay, about her debut picture book that releases in just two weeks, THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP. I am so excited for this book. Growing up on the Gulf Coast and participating in coastal cleanups with my children make this story very relatable, and any story with the many-hands-working-together-as-one theme is sure to make my heart absolutely melt.

Candice: Thank you for being here, Charlotte, and for writing such an accessible book on a global problem. Where did the original spark come from and how did it become the beautiful book we’ll hold in our hands in March?

Charlotte: Thank you so much for having me on your blog and for your kind words about The Big Beach Cleanup! The inspiration for this story stemmed from my desire to write a story about little hands joining together to make big change. I passionately believe that if enough ends join together, we can change the world. The story didn’t come together right away though and I struggled for a long time to find a way in. It wasn’t until a couple of back-to-back events with my two young children collided that The Big Beach Cleanup started to come to life. First my superhero obsessed son looked at me one morning and said, “I don’t feel like being a superhero today.” I jotted this down in my brainstorming journal as something to noodle on later and hurried my kids out the door (agreeing that I didn’t feel like being one either!). I later had a few environmental conversations with my children about some trash on the street on our walks to and from school.

It was these conversations that connected the dots for me and the idea of not needing to be a superhero, little hands joining together, and doing our part to protect our oceans collided. I went home and wrote the first drafts of what is now The Big Beach Cleanup. The manuscript went through extensive revisions and early drafts didn’t even include the sandcastle competition that the manuscript now revolves around! Luckily, my incredibly supportive critique partners were willing to stick with me through my countless drafts and along with an inspiring critique during an Inked Voices Workshop with Albert Whitman editor Christina Pulles, the manuscript was ready for submission. It eventually sold to that very same editor! Christina Pulles shared my vision for the manuscript and selected the perfect illustrator for our book – the talented illustrator and ocean activist, Katie Rewse.

I love the color palette of the illustrations. They’re beachy, bright, & fun–the perfect balance for a children’s book that tackles big issues like plastic pollution.

Candice: I love that the story revolves around a sandcastle competition! Where would we be without our critique partners? And I got goose bumps when you said “if enough join together, we can change the world.” Such a powerful statement. What is your favorite part of the creative process?

Charlotte: Oh! What a great question! I guess the beginning stages of a new manuscript are probably my favorite. I absolutely love the feeling I get when an idea crawls under my skin and won’t let me rest until I’ve gotten it out. I become somewhat obsessive writing and rewriting, pulling every mentor text I can find and pacing my kitchen back and forth searching for the perfect words. I guess it’s that all-consuming feeling that I adore the most – the feeling that I have something that I just have to find a way to share with the world.  

Candice: Do you have other creative outlets or hobbies? If so, do they ever cross into your writing?

Charlotte: Hmm, most of my creativity finds its way onto the written page and regardless of my wishing, my illustration skills are continually outdone by my first grader. In terms of hobbies, I am a big workout enthusiast and can be found in our home gym in the early hours of the morning. I love a good high cardio workout with extremely loud music. None of this has crossed over into my writing yet, but the question is getting my wheels turning!

Candice: Do you have any tips you’d like to share about finding creativity?

Charlotte: I know a lot of people find creativity in different ways, some go for walks in nature, some make lists and mix humorous combinations, others try word associations and see where their minds take them. My story ideas tend to come from the things that I am most passionate about or the things in my life that I am most consumed with at that point in time. For example, I have another book coming out in September with Beaming Books called How to Return a Monster. It is a humorous how-to story about a young girl who tries to return her new baby sibling in the mail. At the time I began dreaming up that story I was consumed with how my daughter would react to her new baby brother being brought home and wanting to embrace/normalize all of her emotions!

My creativity tip is to think about the things in your life that matter most to you or that consume the most space in your mind and think about how you could approach that topic from a child’s perspective.

Candice: That is such great advice! How To Return A Monster sounds adorably child-centric. Can you tell us more about it and any other projects you’re working on that you could give us a hint about?

Charlotte: Yes, thank you for asking! I have two other upcoming picture books. How to Return a Monster which I mentioned above is being illustrated by Rea Zhai and is coming out this September from Beaming Books. A Grandma’s Magic is a picture book celebration of grandmothers and all the ways in which they are “magical.” It is being illustrated by Asa Gilland and publishes with Doubleday Books for Young Readers in Spring 2022.

Candice: Oh, I love anything magical and grandparents truly are! I’m excited for you, Charlotte, and appreciate you being here!

Who wouldn’t want to dive right into this spread?! I can easily envision a child scouring the page, looking for those first, second, and third place ribbons–how fun!

Y’all be sure to request THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP at your local library come March and preorder at your independent bookstore. If you prefer to shop online due to the pandemic, consider purchasing through bookshop.org. You can choose for your money to go to your local indie bookstore, or if you don’t have one in your area, it goes into a pot to be divvied out among indie bookstores.

Charlotte Offsay was born in England, grew up in Boston, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two small children. Born into a family with a love of travel and adventure, Charlotte enjoys exploring new places and cultures. She is a former corporate finance client specialist who now spends her days caring for her family, volunteering in her local community, traveling, and using her experiences to fuel her true passion: writing. Through her work, Charlotte hopes to make children laugh, to inspire curiosity, and to create a magical world her readers can lose themselves in time and time again. Visit Charlotte on her website at http://www.charlotteoffsay.com and follow her on Twitter @COffsay or Instagram @picturebookrecommendations. Charlotte is represented by Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary.

Katie Rewse is an illustrator based on the south coast of the UK, in Bournemouth. She graduated with a master’s degree in illustration at the Arts University Bournemouth in 2017. When Katie is not illustrating from her little home studio by the sea, she enjoys exploring the coast with her husband in their camper van. Visit her website at www.katierewse.com.

Call to Creativity: Do you have a brainstorming journal? Now is the best time to start if you don’t! Write down ideas that capture your wonder and attention, then, like Charlotte suggests, look at it from a child’s perspective. How would eight-year-old you connect the idea-spark dots?