1. Please tell us about your creative process. My creative process always begins in a sketchbook where I can feel free to both write and sketch at the same time. I tend to visualize characters first and I am most comfortable drawing animals (people are definitely not my favorite!), drawing several rounds of roughs until I come up with one that sticks. Often, I will jot down a few descriptions or traits - their likes and dislikes - to get a feel for their personality which helps me begin to generate story ideas.
Once I have an understanding of my cast of characters, I write down a loose outline of my story, chapter by chapter. This helps me layout the book and create the story arc, as well as decide when to introduce characters. My second writing step is the script which is my dialog and narration text. I print out each chapter and mark it up to determine where my page turns will fall. I will often scribble out dialogue or make changes to the text as I go. Then I draw quick thumbnail sketches of the pages.
Luckily, I don’t have to show these to anybody, because they are very messy and rough and only make sense to me. Next, I refine the thumbnails into tight sketches. I work on stacks of cheap, printer paper and draw with a non-photo blue pencil. All the sketches are scanned into my computer where I compile and manipulate them as needed before laying in the text. For the final art, I ink my illustrations digitally and do all the coloring in Adobe Photoshop. 2. Please tell us about what inspired your latest book. My latest book, Horse Trouble, is not a memoir, but it is inspired by many of my childhood experiences that actually did happen. The book revolves around Kate, a horse obsessed, twelve-year-old who is also dealing with body insecurities. My younger self was very much the same as Kate. I was a bone fide horse nut who hung horse posters and calendars all over my bedroom walls. I drew endless pictures of them and collected models. I devoured horse books and subscribed to riding magazines. I took lessons, competed at horse shows, and wanted nothing more than to spend my life around these big, magnificent animals. I was also chubby, and very insecure about it.
My family and many of my relationships from my middle school years…friends, teachers, crushes… served as inspiration behind most of the characters in the book as well. 3. What do you believe the role of comics to be in literacy? I think comics have become a major role in literacy for children. Graphic novels are a beautiful storytelling format that have moved well beyond the genre of superheroes and villains. Graphic novels and comics open the door for the more reluctant readers. The visuals draw you in and get your attention quickly. My firsthand experience is with my own nine-year-old, who has been easily intimidated by middle grade chapter books and novels. However, she devours comics and reads them over and over again.
The daily digestion of comics in the morning at breakfast, and during a snack after school, helped develop her reading skills and boosted her self confidence as a reader overall. She now enjoys all formats of middle grade reads, but comics were a crucial stepping stone in getting her there.
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