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tion with a Professor of Circus at a conference i
n Amsterdam for festival programmers! – Is there a secret formula to creating a book of note? SMC: Humans are by their very design a ‘work in progress’. None of us, not one, are finished, we’re all building ourselves one piece at a time, I think if you can create something that can become a part of someone, a part they keep, then you have a winner. SW: Being passionate about your book. And putting your whole heart into it. I threw myself into both A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea (my first in fact) and Blazing a Trail: Irish Women Who Changed the World (illustrated by Lauren O’Neill) and both won Irish Book Awards. Tenacity, hard work and luck have a huge role to play too! See below! – Is it hard to get published? Is there a secret formula for cracking the market and getting that deal? SMC: It’s incredibly competitive, the market is at once desperate for new work and simultaneously over saturated, there’s always someone better than you, always, and then sometimes for no reason at all, people who aren’t even that good are very successful, and probably better looking. There’s no money in it, the hours are long and stressful, most of the time you’re all alone, and nobody is there to help you. But if you love it, you don’t care, cause it’s so much fun, and no amount of rejections, building security or setbacks will stop you, getting that deal. SW: Yes, it can be. I am in the lucky position of having some bestsellers under my belt, but even so I often have book ideas turned down and, most stingingly, whole books. You have to dust yourself down after a ‘no’ and keep going. Staying engaged with the world, coming up with new ideas that you are passionate about (and pitching them with gusto), keeping an eye on the market but not being afraid to lead the market (Blazing a Trail was one of the first Irish ‘herstory’ books) – all these things will help. Being resilient, remaining open to trying new ideas (like a light-hearted book about animals with lots of cartoons and jokes – my book with Alan Nolan, Animal Crackers recently came out), and working super hard has worked for me. – Who would be your picture book heroes (authors and artists) and why? SMC: Jon Klassen owns “dead pan”, Oliver Jeffers is a child stuck in a very skilled artist’s body, Carson Ellis sold her soul to a demon in a deep dark wood, and is cursed to produce nothing but exquisite works of art for the rest of her life. Chris Haughton can draw a really good crab. SW: Beatrice Alemagna without a doubt. She’s fearless and her work is sublime. She has a very distinctive style and is a powerhouse. I also love Martin Waddell – his Owl Babies is one of those rare things, a perfect picturebook text. And Shaun Tan for his vast imagination. And finally Isabelle Arsenault’s Cloth Lullaby is a book I come back to time after time – the use of pattern and colour, the giant spiders (it’s about the artist Louise Bourgeois) - it’s just heaven, one of my favourite books. – What are the pitfalls along the way that people should watch out for? SMC: I think everyone has a great idea, but ideas are stubborn, difficult and moody, ideas don’t do what they’re told, they change their mind, they throw tantrums. I’ve had an idea straight up not speak to me for a whole month. If you are going to get into the business of ideas, you have to learn to be patient with them, don’t be pushed around, but also be kind, don’t lose your temper, and above all, stick with them till the end. SW: If you have written a picturebook you do not need to pay for illustrations. I cannot stress it strongly enough. Editors are looking for strong picturebook texts. They all have someone like Emma Byrne in house whose job is to match the text with the best illustrator for the job. You submit the text without illustrations (unless you are someone who can both write and illustrate, like Steve). – Your fondest picture book memory and why? SMC: Ok, so, it’s a book, for children, but you knew that much! It had a car in it. The car was old? And the dad (I think?) had to fix the car for some reason? Anyway, so the dad and his son, they take all the broken parts of the car out, they lay them on the ground, and then (this is my favourite part) they paint them blue, and then they put them back! And the car is fixed! I do not know the name of this book, and it haunts me, I don’t even remember what happens at the end, what is the source of this miraculous paint? Does it have military or medical applications? I need to know! SW: When I was little my dad used to read Busy Busy World by Richard Scarry to me, over and over again. For about six months it was the only book I wanted read to me and I slept with it under my pillow. When I picked it up again as a young parent to share with my own son, Sam, the memories came flooding back and I could remember my favourite story about a kangaroo nurse practically word for word. – Your favourite film/animation/short adaptation of a picture book? The treat that would have you curled up in a ball on a sofa on a winter Sunday and quite content to not move an inch. SMC: James and the Giant Peach is a favourite of mine, I actually haven’t re-visited it since seeing it as a child! Will you hold on a sec? I’m going to go watch the trailer real quick… Oh! Oh man, lads! It holds up!! Joanna Lumley is in this movie! There’s a whole live action bit I totally forgot, I mean come on, Roald Dahl, Henry Selick, Tim Burton! I am watching that this Sunday. SW: I’m not a huge fan of picturebook adaptations to be honest. But I do love Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman and Shrek was based on William Steig’s picturebook. I’d happily curl up and watch that one. – Irish artists and illustrators are known to create incredible books both for the local and international markets. Who do you think will be the next emerging star we should all watch out for? SMC: Conor Nolan’s doing amazing stuff, Claire Prouvost is making great things too, Niamh Ní Bhroin, Megan Hyland, Bronagh Lee’s stuff is really really beautiful, Charlot Kristensen’s stuff is spectacular. And while I’m at it, I’d love to see Irish fine artists getting approached for children’s books, the likes of David Booth, Aches, Shane Berkery and Vanessa Power, that would be rad. SW: Steve McCarthy! Although he’s already been hugely successful, I know he has so many brilliant picturebooks in him in the future. Also watch out for Alan O’Rourke – a Dublin picturebook maker and designer. And Úna Woods’ use of collage and pattern in her debut picturebook Have you Seen the Dublin Vampire is pretty special. The One With The Waggly Tail - Favourite Rhymes from an Irish Childhood is published by O’Brien Press, €16.99 15