Stalk Your Heroes and Other Fan Girl Advice
author-illustrators Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham
On Friday night I drove to Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH to see author-illustrators Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham. I was sweating I was so excited! The excitement was equally or even more so than when I saw U2, Dave Matthews or Harry Potter on Broadway.
Hale and Pham were on book tour, having traveled all the way from Utah and California to visit schools out east to promote their latest collaboration: Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn. And if that isn’t a great name, what is?!
The bookstore was filled with giggling excited children and adults as Shannon and Leuyen read Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn out loud. They delighted us all by taking turns with the voices.
Shannon writes the text to the books and Leuyen does all of the illustrations. Here’s a Publisher’s Weekly interview. Their other books together include the Best Friends series (based on Shannon’s real middle-school life), Kitty-Corn series, and The Princess in Black series.
One of my favorite parts of the night was when Leuyen said, YOU CANNOT MAKE A MISTAKE IN ART. You can make mistakes in science and in math (two plus two always equals four), but in art, you just keep making lines and adding color and YOU CANNOT BE WRONG.
I think every adult in the room needed to hear that.
For each book signed, Shannon wrote a note and Leuyen drew a picture of YOU (with kitty-corns) right there and then - amazing. I will cherish this forever.
It was all very inspiring.
Here’s my encouragement:
GO SEE THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE AND ADMIRE.
Bookstores and libraries are constantly hosting author events for free.
Listen. Ask questions. How do the creators do what they do?!
I had been on the fence about going (Friday night, cold outside, I could be in pajamas). But I went and of course had no regrets (story of my life). Instead, I walked away empowered, inspired, sweaty, and with ideas bursting from my brain.
The more artists, illustrators, and creators (or any kind) I meet, the more I realize how possible it is for ordinary people to create extraordinary things.
Ordinary people who put in hours and hours of time to perfect a craft produce extraordinary things - things we love, words we quote, pictures we dream of.
In addition to that night, I stood in line with fellow children’s writer Kari Allen, who gave me the exact pep talk I needed.
Humans are amazing. It reminded me of the quote: we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
p.s. Please don’t actually stalk your heroes; that is not the purpose of this message.
In the spirit of ideas brimming and bursting from the brain, I thought I’d be vulnerable (hey, it’s a characteristic of SUPERCOMMUNICATORS) and show you some recent sketches. Will any of these ideas every turn into a picture book? Probably not, it doesn’t matter, but it’s still fun to create.
Inspiration is EVERYWHERE.
That is all.
What picture book authors and/or illustrators do you stalk/obsess/fangirl over?! And what picture books DO YOU WANT TO WRITE or draw?
Amy 🌺
Happy April!
Oh, Amy, this post is so spot-on! I remember being in line to see Kate DiCamillo in Denver. I felt like I was going to pass out or cry from anticipation~ like one of those Beatles fans from the old black and white photographs that I always made fun of for freaking out. Yep, that was me right before I spoke briefly and super-nerdily to Kate DiCamillo and had her sign a book (she signed GREAT JOY, the Christmas picture book, btw). I love your drawings, sketches, and dialogue/truth bubbles! Happy Spring to you~the geese here in SE Pennsylvania are buddying up in the fields around our house, so I'm hoping to see goslings soon. They always show up, and for whatever reason, they always make me want to read Charlotte's Web again (maybe I can relate to the bossy goose) :)
“ Ordinary people who put in hours and hours of time to perfect a craft produce extraordinary things - things we love, words we quote, pictures we dream of.”
I LOVE THIS!!!