They Asked, I Answered - Questions from the Illustrators
- Terynn Boulton
- Sep 8, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 6, 2021
They Asked, I Answered - Questions from the Illustrators
One of the interview questions for the illustrators of Alison the Astronaut was "What's a question you'd like to ask me?"
It's only fair right? I ask them multiple questions, they should get to ask me one.
And so here are those questions, and here are my answers! (I will add more as I post each of the interviews so please keep checking back if you don't want to miss this!)
Question: "How long does it take you to write a book?" - Maverick Galarneau (click his name to read his interview) Answer: That is a great question, Maverick. I am constantly "writing" in my head even as I stand in the rink waiting for my daughters to hit the ice for their ringette games, or I am waiting for them in the car after their shift at work. I picture my books in movie scenes as that gives me the visual that I can then relay to readers through words. Once I have the visual as I like it, I write it down. All of these visions together become my first draft. This includes the dialogue I envision my characters saying. I rewrite the first draft as many times as I need to ensure I am satisfied these are the words I want my readers to read. For a children's book like Alison the Astronaut, the entire book writing process can take as little as a few days to several months. I will break it down for you :) THE IDEA PHASE - one day to a few months! Getting the idea I want to focus on takes me the longest. For Alison the Astronaut I knew that I wanted to write a book about space with the main character based on my daughter, Alison, who has always loved space and has said she wanted to be an astronaut or study space from Earth, ever since could speak. So getting the idea did not take long, it was deciding in what direction to take that idea that took the longest. Depending on how many times my thoughts are interrupted (and with young children that is a lot of times) deciding on the direction I want to take my story can take one day to a few months! During that process I also decide on setting and other characters to include, etc. VISUALIZATION and BRAIN DUMPING - one day to a week Once all of the details are decided, I start my visualization process (picturing the movie scenes). Again, depending on how many times I am interrupted, that process can take one day to a week for me. It is a lot harder for people to take me out of focus once I get to this stage :) As things come to me, I write them down. I call this my brain dumping. I tend to carry a notebook with me as I never know when I will be ready to put them on paper! REWRITING - one to two days For me, because I write so much in my head to begin with, this process does not take me too long at all. For a children's picture book it usually just takes me a day or two before I have the final draft of my story. STORYBOARDING - one day Once I have the final draft of my story I need to decide what picture I would like to have with those words. This is called storyboarding. I literally draw squares representing the pages of a book and write the words on the page and then a description of the picture I see for those words. Then I ask for illustrations from awesome kids like you! Storyboarding is how I know what illustrations to ask for :) My writing process for novels is the same (except I do not have to storyboard for a novel) but each process would probably take me a month to a few months if I was able to write for 5-6 hours most days. Given that I have three children and a full time job other than writing, etc. sometimes my novel gets put on pause. I have been working on my dystopian novel, The Book of Beginnings, on and off for four years now and my goal is to have it published this November!
Question: "What inspires you to write?" - Gabrielle Galarneau (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: Writing is how I best express myself. I believe fiction writing entertains, educates and inspires people. Words are powerful. I hope my words entertain and inspire change for the better.
Question: "How old is Alison now?" - Olivia Mills (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: My daughter, Alison, is now almost 19 years old and plans to study space from Earth as her job! She will be attending university next fall to study Astrophysics.
Questions: "How do you make a name for yourself? How do you publish a book?" - Nadia Arnold (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: I am still working on making a name for myself but the best way I know how to make that happen is to show up. Even when it seems no one is reading what I am posting, I am going to post. I am going to show up everyday and slowly but surely my blog will attract more and more readers. I am going to keep writing my stories and I am going to keep publishing them. If I do not show up, I have guaranteed no one will know my name or visit my site or read my books. So just showing up is very important. Like on your YouTube site - keep sharing your videos and your audience will grow.
Another important thing is to allow people to get to know you. Talent is important but people are more likely to visit sites, YouTube channels, buy books, etc. from people they like or can relate to and trust. This is true for everything in life.
As for publishing a book, I am going to write a blog post of how the process went for me as there is quite a lot to it but there are many people who have asked me. I know that when I was trying to figure out the process reading peoples' personal experiences helped me a lot. So stay tuned for that post!
Question: If I wanted to publish my own novel, how would I go about doing it? - Charley Samson (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: I am going to write a blog post of how the process went for me as there is quite a lot to it but there are many people who have asked me. I know that when I was trying to figure out the process reading peoples' personal experiences helped me a lot. So stay tuned for that post!
Question: How are you doing? - Beth Neville (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: I am doing very well, thank you so much for asking. It is almost my favourite season, fall, and hockey season is about to start. I am looking forward to getting back on the ice. Although I work full time Monday to Friday, I am taking the time to work on my writing and expressing myself creatively. This is when I am my happiest. Writing and creating makes my soul very, very happy.
I was hoping to have my novel, The Book of Beginnings, published this November but during the rewriting process I have created stronger plot twists that will much better support the reason I am telling this story in the first place. By placing my protagonist in these situations I am forced to think as she does, and realize I need to change some of the scenes I have already finished as she would grow when faced with these adversities. So publishing the book will only happen once I am satisfied with the rewrite.
I am also super excited to have a call out for illustrations for my second children's book, Girls Don't Like Dinosaurs. I love seeing the illustrations drawn by these talented children. I am soon going to be taking some workshops about filmmaking and screenwriting. I want to learn how to express myself through several mediums.
Question: If you could change your name, what would it be? - Michael McDonald (click on his name to read her interview)
Answer: That is a very interesting question, Michael. I do remember when I was younger always asking my mother, "Why didn't you name me, Angela?" I hadn't really ever thought of changing my name, I quite like mine, but if I had to change it today I would probably pick the name Morgan. Morgan was my grandmother's last name.
Question: Did you like my picture? - Felicity McDonald (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: I LOVED your picture! You did a great job! Thank you so much for being part of Alison the Astronaut!
Question: What was your favourite subject in school? - Lauren McDonald (click on her name to read her interview)
Answer: I love learning and enjoyed most subjects that I studied so this is a hard question but my absolute favourite subject in school likely isn't a surprise - it was English. My favourite part of English was the writing (I know, shocker). When I studied in University I also very much enjoyed psychology, especially ethology (the study of human behavior and social organization from a biological perspective). I also very much enjoyed biology, especially when it came to learning anatomy and physiology.
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