Q&A with Tim McCanna

 

 

 

Tim McCanna is the author of the new children's picture book Cold. His other books include the Peach and Plum series. He lives in San Jose, California.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Cold?

 

A: When I’m thinking up new ideas for picture books, especially the concept-based nonfiction ones, I’m always on the hunt for a topic that is universally relatable, but also gives me opportunities to put my own creative spin on it.

 

In this case, the single word—COLD—came to me and I was immediately inspired to go down a rabbit hole and explore all the things that cold could mean. It’s a powerful word that hooks the imagination and has so many interpretations.

 

At the same time, climate change is a real threat to cold seasons and cold regions, so my hope in writing Cold is to inform young readers of what is at stake.

Q: What do you think Ramona Kaulitzki’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Ramona has done some really amazing things through her illustrations. She captures the beauty and realism of all these stunning animals and locations throughout the book, but she also adds a delightful touch of character to each creature. It makes us care for them and see the world through their eyes.

 

What she also managed to do was capture the essence of cold. A windy mountain, a misty meadow, frozen leaves, snowflakes, icicles, sea water—even the northern lights! It all amounts to a really rich reading experience that feels like a visual journey.

Q: Are you a fan of cold weather?

A: I have so many wonderful cold weather memories from my childhood. I grew up in rural Missouri and we had no shortage of ice storms, blizzards, and snow drifts. I built my fair share of snowmen and sledded down many long hills with friends.

 

I live in California now, so I’ve lost a bit of my cold weather tolerance, but I do enjoy cold weather to a certain degree (pun intended.) After diving into my research for Cold, I appreciate the value and necessity of cold weather even more.

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

A: On one level, Cold is simply about appreciating beautiful, cold environments around the world and the amazing animals that thrive in them. Cold seasons and cold weather and cold places are essential for how our world operates!

 

So, I also hope that through the back matter, which covers topics like temperature, how animals adapt to the cold, and the impacts of global climate change, it sparks conversations about how we can take responsibility for protecting cold and the animals that rely on it to survive.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Well, I have a new picture book coming out in 2025 called When You Wish Upon a Ghost with illustrations by Alan Batson. It’s an original rhyming story set in Disney’s Haunted Mansion! Talk about a fun project.

 

Meanwhile, I spent much of 2024 focussing on a middle grade nonfiction book and a middle grade fantasy novel, so I guess I’m trying to branch out into some uncharted territories for me. I like challenging myself!

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Picture books weren’t really on my radar until I was in my mid-30s and had two young kids of my own. Before that, I worked in marketing and advertising as a graphic designer, played accordion in various rock bands, performed in theatre productions, and wrote musicals in New York City.

 

You never know how different paths in life might ultimately intersect, but all of those things certainly did, and have led to a truly rewarding career in children’s publishing.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Nicole Dillenberg

 

Photo by Michelle Magdalena

 

 

Nicole Dillenberg is the author and illustrator of the new children's picture book Bennett Will Only Eat Blueberries. Also a singer-songwriter and recording artist, she is based in Los Angeles.

 

Q: What inspired you to create Bennett Will Only Eat Blueberries?

 

A: After a few years of finally feeling pleased with my bear greeting cards, I felt inspired to try a book.

 

I’d been digitizing home movies, and I rewatched a video of my infant son tasting his first banana. My poor baby ran the gamut of emotions; he was alternately terrified, then intrigued by this new food.

 

In preschool, my son was briefly food avoidant and started to lose a bit of weight. That terrified me. Our culture – especially American culture – is so disordered when it comes to food.

 

This little story came to me pretty much in response to all of these things. I lucked out when Bruce Socially at Henry Gray Publishing offered to publish the book. Bruce is an incredibly patient editor, and fortunately, he likes bears. 

 

Q: How did you create the book’s illustrations, and what is the history behind the bear family?

 

A: My inspiration for the photos started with the 1960s WC Jones-style postcards I treasured as a child. Typically printed in Japan or West Germany, the colors were deeply saturated, and the settings were dressed with wonderful dollhouse props.

 

My grandmother began to collect West German miniature bears in the 1960s, and I spent much of my childhood playing with them. She constructed a bear house for us out of a cardboard drum, which had paper mache’ bark and real working nightlights inside. 

 

In 2019, I began to photograph bear dioramas, originally because I planned to make postcards and toddler T-shirts. This morphed into my designing holiday cards to send out to friends and family.

 

 I’m not a professional photographer by any means, but eventually, I got comfortable with depth of field and perspective. It helps that each time I photograph the bears, one of them always comes to life for a split second, enabling me to grab the shot I need – Bennett and his friends are magical bears.

 

Q: Did you work on the text first or the photos first, or both simultaneously?

 

A: I wrote the text first, as a fiction manuscript. Even though it was short and simple, I went through about five drafts, tweaking every word and comma until the story flowed.

 

Once the story was locked, I storyboarded each scene as if I were shooting a film. I dedicated a full day to dressing and shooting each of the three settings. Ultimately, I went back and did pick-up shots (re-shoots) in both the kitchen and Bennett’s bedroom. My favorite time to shoot is around 2 p.m.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

 

A: My hope is that “Bennett” and his family inspire toddlers to feel more courageous about tackling new experiences. Also, we’re excited that teenaged girls and grandparents are responding so well to the book. We welcome all to Bennett’s den with open arms!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m quite excited to be in pre-production on a “Bennett" ABC book, as well as a new story about Bennett’s female cousin, a young bear who feels like nobody likes her. 

 

Also, about a year ago, I began experimenting with framed art photographs of the bears, and I'm continuing that work as well.

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: We would love to reach out to children suffering through illness or natural disaster. Please feel free to contact us if you know of a charity or shelter that might like a donation of our “Bennett” books.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with S.G. Fessel

 

 

 

S.G. Fessel is the author of the new novel Switchling. She lives in San Francisco.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Switchling, and how did you create your characters Beth and Gravel?

 

A: Inspiration struck when I was lying in bed one night, paddling in the shallows of sleep. I heard a noise from outside and an image sprang to mind of figures in flowing robes carrying staffs. They were dragging an object across a windowsill from the downstairs apartment.

 

I started to wonder who these mysterious people might be and what they were stealing. They became the Honourable Society of Beam Reapers and the story developed around them.

 

For Beth I wanted to create a character who was not an obvious all-round natural leader or hero-type and would struggle with certain aspects of the quest. She was originally inspired by a close friend who is both shy and brave. As the book progressed, Beth gained some of her own attributes and idiosyncrasies.

 

In Gravel, I tried to imagine what a person would be like who had not always been human and how his experiences might have shaped him.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: Their dynamic is complex and changes during the story. Initially, Beth treats Gravel as her pet but also as a friend and confidant who she feels understands her. When she discovers that he is not only a cat, she’s initially unsure how to relate to him.

 

Beth has not had many human friends and having known Gravel first as a cat helps her to trust him. Gradually, they begin to understand each other’s points of view and they learn more about cats and humans in the process.

Q: Did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: If you are asking whether I’m a “plotter” or a “pantser” (writing by the seat of one’s pants) the answer is somewhere in between; I had an idea of how I wanted the story to finish from the outset but ended up making some major changes.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: First, I hope people will enjoy the adventure for itself but also that they will think about how one’s point of view, whether animal or human, influences one’s interpretation of the world. I love the way that fiction can help us to imagine alternate perspectives and I hope Switchling does that.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A sequel to Switchling and, with two artists, The Cake Pirate and The Fog Monster, which are both picture books for younger readers.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: There is now an audiobook available of Switchling, read by the very talented British actor Emily Bevan. I’m a huge fan of the Lockwood and Co audiobook series and was thrilled when she agreed to record my book.

 

For further details, interested readers can visit my website at www.sgfessel.com

 

Switchling has won two book awards this year.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Nov. 22

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Nov. 22, 1958: Jamie Lee Curtis born.

Q&A with Greg Fields

 

 

 

Greg Fields is the author of the new novel The Bright Freight of Memory. His other books include the novel Through the Waters and the Wild. He lives in Manassas, Virginia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Bright Freight of Memory, and how did you create your characters Matthew Cooney and Donal Mannion?

 

A: I’ve always focused my writing on what I think are the most essential questions that face us as individuals with hearts, minds and souls – Where shall I go now? What shall I do? 

 

The characters in my first two novels faced these questions from relatively comfortable and privileged places. But these are questions that we all need to address, the questions that keep us alive. What of those who are born in the sad and forgotten places? How do they face the challenges that define us? 

 

I wanted to pose these themes through a different lens. Cooney and Mannion gave me the chance to do so.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: I claimed the title from a line in Pat Conroy’s brilliant classic, The Prince of Tides: “There are no verdicts to childhood, only consequences, and the bright freight of memory.”

 

Both Matthew Cooney and Donal Mannion were born and raised in a shoddy neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Neither had any sense of stability. Both of their fathers were gone, and their mothers worked to keep things together, often with the help of a bottle. 

 

Their young years were punctuated with restlessness, no direction and a bit of violence. That defined them, and it set their separate courses through adulthoods that were little different. Both lived with the scars of their younger years and tried as best they could to incorporate the lessons of those years into who they became as men.

 

Q: The writer Alfredo Botello said of the book, “This is a searing ode to the flawed….Fields’ elegant prose shows us there is beauty and nobility to be found in unlikely places.” What do you think of that description?

 

I love Alfredo Botello’s writing, whose first novel 180 Days has won a number of major awards and who also tries to shine a light on his characters’ complexities, including their failures. We’re all flawed in our own ways, and, despite our efforts to cover those flaws, they help define us. 

 

I’ve never been terribly fascinated by heroes. It’s always been common characters that are more compelling, the ones that embody our shared humanity, both its glories and its failings.

 

And within those failings are the elements that create our essential character – resilience, perseverance, and the incredibly precious commodity of hope. I think these are common to all of us, but it’s in the things we don’t accomplish that they become most apparent.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the novel?

 

A: As with everything I write, I want readers to come away asking themselves the same questions that these characters confront, the questions of identity and purpose and place. 

 

I want what I write to be quietly provocative, with that provocation wrapped in a narrative with which readers might identify and carried forward by characters that readers might come to know, and in the knowing, recognize parts of themselves.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Each Saturday I Zoom into a writers group at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin. We banter for a bit, usually where they make fun of the token Yank, and then we write to a prompt provided by the leader. After an hour or so, we can read what we write for critique and comment.

 

I created the two main characters in The Bright Freight of Memory in part through these prompts. Each week I would place one of them in response to whatever prompt was given, and in so doing, I fleshed them out. I put them in different situations, in different places and reacting to the circumstances of these prompts. 

 

After a time I was able to build them into fully-formed characters, then devised a narrative that reflected who they were and what they were about.

 

The sessions continue, and each Saturday I find myself doing the same thing with a new set of characters. These weekly creative jolts provide the spikes that I can build around. They give my writing a focus, and I take it from there. 

 

I expect all this will coalesce into another novel, which seems to be gravitating toward a theme that addresses how we as individuals respond to the social evils we see around us.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I can’t begin to express both my wonder and my gratitude for where I am now. I never intended to write for publication. I was writing to explain my own life to myself, and offered that writing to those closest to me. 

 

I returned from my last trip to Ireland to learn that The Bright Freight of Memory has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, along with a National Book Award. And while I know I have no chance of winning, or even being shortlisted, I’ll cherish those nominations as long as I draw breath. 

 

All this is unforeseen, unanticipated, and probably undeserved. But through it all I’ve developed even more of a passion for the power of good writing, the way language can soar like birds in fight and, in the soaring, bring readers to new places, new thoughts, and new realizations.

 

Writers are a strange lot – neurotic, vulnerable, but ultimately courageous in putting forth the most unvarnished, honest versions of themselves. I’ve come to love being around writers and being around readers. And, in the end, I hope I’m even a little bit worthy of being in their company.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Greg Fields.

Q&A with Jan Gangsei

 

Photo by Jennifer K. Wall Smetek

 

 

Jan Gangsei is the author of the new young adult novel Dead Below Deck. Her other books include the YA novel Zero Day. She lives in Northern Virginia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Dead Below Deck, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: Just before the pandemic hit, my family and I went on an incredible cruise—one that wound up being a dividing line between before and after Covid changed our world.

 

During those early days of lockdown, I found myself wishing I could rewind the days and be back at sea—enjoying the sun, shows, and fabulous meals—blissfully unaware of what awaited us back on shore.

 

I then started thinking about what would happen if a group of privileged teens took a yacht trip that ended in murder, and the story evolved from there!

 

Giselle and Maggie were the first characters that came to me, and it’s their relationship that really drives the story. I then asked myself: who is important to them? Who made them the people they are? Who would they die (or kill) for?

 

That helped me round out the supporting cast: Vivian, Emi, Maggie’s family, Giselle’s mom, dad, stepmother, Wyatt, etc. Then, of course, I needed to staff the yacht—which was a prime opportunity to add more suspects! ;)

 

Q: The novel is told along several timelines—Maggie’s narration, Giselle’s diary, and police interviews. Did you write the book in the order in which it appears, or did you focus more on one timeline before moving to the others?

 

A: I wrote Maggie’s narration and Giselle’s journal entries pretty much in the order in which they appear. The police interviews, anonymous messages, and news clips were added later, after I’d sorted out Maggie and Giselle’s narratives.

 

(Fun fact: I actually toyed with including snippets of Emi’s film school sample, but ended up scrapping that idea because I felt it slowed the pacing a bit too much.)

Q: The writer April Henry said of the book, “It's also so much more than just a mystery--an examination of wealth and privilege, a critique of our social-media obsessed culture, and even a look at the aftermath of combat.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love this description! While on the surface, Dead Below Deck is very much a fast-paced, “beach read” thriller, it does hit on themes of privilege, identity, and the effects of war (something that’s particularly important to me as a military spouse).

 

I was so happy that April saw those layers in the story—and also that she took the time to blurb my book, as I am a huge fan of her work!

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: If they ponder some deeper themes (as mentioned above) along the way, then yay! But mostly, I hope they have fun and enjoy the ride (and are surprised by the ending—in a satisfying way, of course!).

 

I’ve always enjoyed entertaining people (just ask the neighborhood kids my best friend and I used to corral to watch our self-produced backyard shows!).

 

I’m incredibly grateful to the readers who are willing to spend time with me and my words, and I hope that my book provides them with an entertaining “escape,” so to speak!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on another YA mystery set in an exclusive boarding school that has a bit more romance than Dead Below Deck—a romystery, if you will!

 

I also have an idea for an adult psychological/domestic thriller that I’d love to have a go at one of these days.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’ll be holding a launch event on December 4 for Dead Below Deck at Judy Blume’s bookstore in Key West, Florida, which is a dream come true on so many levels! Judy’s books were a huge part of my childhood—and played a not-so-minor role in my love of reading and writing.

 

Key West is also a setting in Dead Below Deck and holds a special place in my heart as I used to live there (it’s where I met my husband!). In fact, there’s a brick on Mallory Square with my name on it and the inscription, “she got there from here” – a wedding gift from a dear friend.

 

Returning to my former island home to launch my latest book (some 20+ years later!) is truly like coming full circle.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Phyllis Gobbell

 

 

 

Phyllis Gobbell is the author of the new novel Prodigal. Her other novels include Notorious in Nashville. She taught at Nashville State Community College, and she lives in Nashville.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Prodigal, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: I began thinking about Prodigal after I read William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace and heard him speak at a conference. He was widely known for his mysteries, but he said he was compelled to write another kind of book.

 

His setting was a small town in the Midwest, and I grew up in a small town in the South, but his story resonated with me. His characters were so much like people in the town I knew so well. The story had sufficient suspense but deeper ideas to ponder.

 

So, inspired by Ordinary Grace, I departed from my mysteries to write Prodigal.

 

The father and brother in my book are reminiscent of the Biblical story of the prodigal son. The other characters just seemed logical, the family and supporting cast that are part of a small-town experience.

 

Q: The author M. M. Buckner said of the book, “Secrets, lies, and surprise revelations abound when a long-lost son returns to his small southern hometown.” What do you think of that description, and what do you see as the role of secrets in this novel?

 

A: It’s an accurate description. Connor Burdette, who comes back to his hometown and family after 10 years, is not prepared for the truths he discovers as long-buried secrets are uncovered. More than once he thinks he should just catch the bus out of there.

 

In a way, secrets revealed to him and to readers provide the framework of the plot.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I knew where the novel was going, but I didn’t know exactly how to get there.

 

One of the most significant changes I made was point of view. My first draft was written from the POV of Ivy, Connor’s sister. It was not until I rewrote with multiple viewpoints that the novel began to accomplish what I wanted. Each viewpoint character has certain information that others do not have.

 

It was very satisfying to write in that way, so that readers are putting it all together for themselves as they engage with each character.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the novel?

 

A: As with all of my books, mysteries included, I hope readers don’t want to put it down, that they’re eager to know what happens next, and that when they close the book, they will think their experience has been worthwhile.

 

With Prodigal, especially, I hope readers will keep thinking about it. Connor has to come to terms with something heavy, the cost of forgiveness. I don’t hammer readers over the head with theme, but I hope the underlying wisdom of the book comes through.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have finished The Princess of Almost Alabama. It’s women’s fiction/literary and, even more than I did in Prodigal, I draw from my own experiences growing up in a small Southern town. It’s set in the years 1956-1978 and is told by a reminiscent narrator.

 

I suppose the book I’m writing is always the one we like best, but this one seems to have put in story what I’ve always wanted to say. I am hoping for an agent who will see promise in it!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I love engaging with my readers, at book clubs (in person and Zoom), at conferences, and on social media.

 

My website is www.phyllisgobbell.com, and the first item you see is an opportunity to sign up for my mailing list, to receive information about events and special offers. I won’t fill up your inbox. I usually send an email once or twice a month.

 

The next thing you’ll see on my website is a book trailer for Prodigal. I hope the short video will make readers want to read it!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Phyllis Gobbell.