Author: Bridget

Author website/social media:

http://www.monicabrown.net/

https://twitter.com/monicabrownbks

https://twitter.com/monicabrownbks

When you were my age (9), did you like to read?

 I loved to read when I was young. I always had a book in my hand. I had an aunt who was a kindergarten teacher and she gave me a variety of books. I remember reading Nancy Drew, Beverly Cleary’s Ribsy, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and Judy Blume’s Blubber. I particularly loved books with adventurous kids and animals too.

 What was your favorite story?

I never had just one favorite story!  The lovely thing about books is how many different kinds of adventures they can take us on. I like stories with witches and monsters, and quiet stories set in nature. I like stories about nerds and about misfits and about rebels.

 How do you get your ideas?

I’m a curious person, so I read a lot, and listen to others, and observe the world around me. There’s so much beauty and wonder, I’ve always been able to come up with interesting ideas and characters. Sometimes, fictional characters, like Marisol McDonald and Lola Levine, are drawn from my own family and life, and at other times, they come from a question asked by a child. For example, the character of Chavela Chavez from Chavela and the Magic Bubble was inspired by a question my daughter Isabella asked me: “Where does bubble gum come from?”  With my new Sarai series, I was inspired by Sarai Gonzalez herself! She’s a bold, caring, creative girl who wants to change the world and leave it a better place!

Why do you think multi-cultural (including bilingual) books are important?

Multicultural books are important because they reflect our world and our reality. I love bilingual books because I think it’s neat to see two beautiful languages side by side on the page. I also think being bilingual, or trilingual, is something to be celebrated! The more languages we know the more people we can connect to, and life is all about relationships and friendship.

What advice do you have for a kid who wants to be an author?

 Read. Read. Read. Write. Write. Write. Revise. Revise. Revise. And don’t give up! Keep writing and believe in yourself, even if nobody else does! Write the stories you want to read.

As an author, do you hear from your readers? What do you like about that?

 It’s always a lovely gift to hear from my readers! I like knowing that I’ve made them laugh or think or that I’ve given them the enjoyable experience of reading a good story.

If you could portal into any book (yours or another person’s), what book would it be?

 My Lola Levine series is inspired by my family, so it’s certainly a place I enjoy being in—if only in my mind when I write. My children are grown up and at college, so it’s fun to remember the times when we were all at home together. But I supposed if I could portal into a book, I might choose one where there’s magic, like Cornelia Funke’s Inkspell or J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series, because who wouldn’t like to be magical?

Website: http://www.stephaniecampisi.com

Twitter, IG: @stephcampisi

Facebook: facebook.com/stephcampisiauthor

Tell me a little about yourself:

I’m a picture book author who writes stories about creatures and people who don’t quite fit in. My books include The Ugly Dumpling, Luis and Tabitha (out this month!) and soon The Five Sisters and Very Lulu.

I’m originally from Australia, but now live in a tiny town in Washington State, USA. I spend my days working in my upstairs office, reading on the porch and keeping an eye out for interesting wildlife in my yard.

1. When you were my age (9), did you like to read?

Absolutely! I was lucky enough to have a library at the end of my street, so I spent most of my afternoons there. They had a great kids’ section, and I remember trying to work my way through all the books in alphabetical order!

2. What was your favorite story?

I loved animal books, fantasy stories and ghost stories. When I was 9, some of my favourites were The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda and R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books, which were starting to become really popular at the time.

3. How do you get your ideas?

I get ideas from everywhere! I email myself newspaper stories that I find interesting, take photos when I’m out walking or travelling, and make notes when I read something interesting in a book. Normal conversations with people can also lead to great ideas. People all lead such different lives, and it’s easy to come across something that you find really interesting and worth exploring in a story. I also love word play, so lots of my books start out with a funny title and build from there.

4. Your book – was it easy or hard?

The initial idea is always easy, but turning it into a book is hard work! Even a picture book can take months to write, and it can be a few years before it ends up in a bookshop or on library shelves. I do think that the more you write the easier it gets. It’s a bit like taking up running: at first you run out of breath really quickly, but the longer you train, the longer (and better) you can run!

5. What author do you really like right now?

I really enjoy Cressida Cowell – I think she’s hilarious! In teen books I love Jaclyn Moriarty, and for picture books I think that Julie Falatko and Ame Dyckman are great.

6. Do you have any new or lesser known authors you would suggest?

For picture books, Jessie Sima and Dashka Slater; for novels, Mary Hooper and Cassandra Golds are authors you might like to try in a few years’ time. (I have to keep it short, or I’ll go on forever! I feel like so few authors are as well-known as they should be!)

7. What advice do you have for a kid who wants to be an author?

Just the basics: read a lot, write a lot, and be a mindful “reporter” of the world around you. Write stories that you love, and explore interesting characters and ideas. Don’t even worry about how to turn a story into a book. Just enjoy reading, writing, and observing. All of these habits are very valuable skills for an author.

8. As an author, do you hear from your readers? What do you like about that?

Yes, I do! It absolutely makes my day to get an email or a message from someone telling me that they’ve enjoyed one of my books. So if you read something that you love, don’t feel shy about letting the author know. I promise they’ll love to hear from you. It’s much better than getting a bill in the post.

(In fact, when I was about 13, I wrote to one of my favourite authors, and she wrote back with a lovely note – I was so surprised and excited, because up until then I don’t think I’d truly realised that authors were real people! That note helped me realise that being an author was something that I could do, too.)

9. If you could portal into any book (yours or another person’s), what book would it be?

Well, books are full of drama, and I’m a very boring person. So nothing where I’d be in trouble or danger! I think I’d pick a setting by Diana Wynne Jones. Weird, strange things might happen, but I’d be having so much fun I wouldn’t mind