Monthly Meeting: November 2024 - Author Panel - Texas Book Festival Preview
Created November 09, 2024 by Laurent Sewell
November’s meeting featured a panel of some of our own Austin SCBWI members who will be presenting their latest published works at the upcoming Texas Book Festival on November 16, 2024. Author-illustrator Eliza Kinkz, and authors Evan Griffith and Kari Lavelle answered questions and provided insights into their recent books, which were on display. Signed copies of displayed books purchased by attendees at Book People included a 20% of the purchase price donation back to our SCBWI chapter.
Look for these books at the Texas Book Festival and at Book People:
• Eliza Kinkz:
PAPA’S MAGICAL WATER-JUG CLOCK
MAMA’S MAGNIFICENT DANCING PLANTITAS
MISTACO (preorder)
• Evan Griffith:
WILD AT HEART: THE STORY OF OLAUS AND MARDY MURIE, DEFENDERS OF NATURE
THE STRANGE WONDERS OF ROOTS
• Kari Lavelle:
BUTT OR FACE (series)
ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT: HOW JAMES EARL JONES FOUND HIS VOICE
Links:
https://www.elizakinkz.com/faq
https://www.evangriffithbooks.com/
MEETING HIGHLIGHTS: (All answers presented here are paraphrased.)
Question: What is your process and advice?
Answers:
Eliza: As an illustrator, begin with sketching all over the manuscript upon the first read; save looking at illustrator notes until after the first read of the manuscript to produce objective and original first-impression ideas and sketches. Focus on the story. Stay open to feedback from your team of editors and art directors, and even your five year-old! Also as an illustrator: if possible, enjoy a relationship with the author, which can contribute depth and passion to the project. To avoid overworking a project, remember to instill “play” into the work. To keep that spark going, you can always go do something else entirely and then come back to a project with fresh enthusiasm.
Evan: Break down work into small bites to avoid overwhelm. Create personal “goalposts” and time goals. Reward yourself along the way. (Cookies can work very well!)
Kari: Establish routines that work for you. For example, establish an early morning ritual of 25-minute writing prompts, which start the creative juices flowing. Exercise daily. To avoid perfectionism, try working and researching quickly; set a timer to help stay on track.
Question: What are the most surprising and most rewarding aspects of your children’s book journey?
Answers:
Eliza: It is surprising what a long, long time it takes to produce a children’s book from start to finish. (Also, waiting can be challenging.) … School visits are the most rewarding part, especially visits at Title 1 schools, where setting a positive and relatable example is very meaningful.
Evan: Throughout all the research and in-depth investigation over the course of a project, it is surprising how personally connected I become to the stories. Also, the amount of time it takes to research and then cull through the research is surprising. … Most rewarding (besides cookies) is accomplishing the work and seeing it through to completion. Relatedly, working to support authors against book bans is important to me.
Kari: It’s most surprising when a kid tells you, “Wow, you started working on that book before I was even born!” Also surprising is finding out your story is successful when you were not sure it would get past the agent. … It’s most rewarding when I discover, through research, new creatures that I never knew existed (like a beetle who lives on an ant) and sharing that knowledge with children. It’s also rewarding working with specialists in a field of study and working on censorship issues.