19 Nov A Butt-Tas-Tic Interview with Jocelyn Rish and her BATTLE OF THE BUTTS Plus a Giveaway!

EL: I’m excited to highlight my multi-talented friend, Jocelyn Rish. Jocelyn and I met in our 2021 Marketing group, The Picture Book Scribblers. Not only is Jocelyn a fantastic author, but she is a tech whiz who has gotten many of us (especially me) out of fixes. But wait. There’s more! Jocelyn is a filmmaker too! When I say multi-talented, I mean it!

Welcome, Jocelyn! As you know, I have a grandson who has been waiting patiently for BATTLE OF THE BUTTS.  Happy the wait is over! Please tell us a little about it. What’s it about? How did you get the idea?

JR: Ha! Every time you tell me about your grandson’s excitement about BUTTS, I get the most ridiculous grin on my face. I hope he has as much fun reading it as I did writing it!

BATTLE OF THE BUTTS is about ten animals that do weird things with their butts. It was released on November 2^nd.

Late one night, I was doom-scrolling Twitter rather than writing or sleeping when I saw a picture of an adorable manatee with the text “Manatees can control their buoyancy through an endless cycle of farting. There. That’s a thing you know now.” That couldn’t possibly be true??? But I googled, and it was! And my google search brought up other weird animal fanny facts as a bonus. I spent that night going down a research rabbit hole and BATTLE OF THE BUTTS was born!

EL: This book is well done in every way. The fun facts, the questions to engage the readers, and the lively and fun narrative are all fabulous.  I can’t forget about the great illustrations by David Creighton-Pester. They are bright and engaging and actually make me want to meet some of these terrific tushies! 

 This is your debut, correct? Will you please tell us a little about your road to publication? Was it long and winding? Short and straight? Quick? Frustrating? 

JR: Yes, this is my debut, and my road to publication has been long and winding, and sometimes rewarding and often frustrating. I’ve been writing on and off for twenty years. I’ve had short stories published, I wrote articles for MTV News for a while, and several of my short scripts have been produced. But the published book remained elusive.

I wrote YA and then MG novels (thriller and horror) for years. I never thought I’d write a picture book. And I definitely never thought I’d write a nonfiction book. But life is funny. And when you get an idea and just know in your bones it’s THE ONE, you have to follow where it leads even if it’s an unexpected path.

EL: I giggled the whole time I read BATTLE OF THE BUTTS (but I’m immature). I know there was a lot of serious research, but was it also fun? How did you go about your research?

JR: Oh, there were so many giggles as I researched and wrote BUTTS! I started out by casting a wide google net trying to find animals with interesting booties. I read about a bunch and narrowed down the list to ones that covered a wide range of species and abilities. Then I would look up research papers on these animals and their posterior powers. Once the book was acquired, my final step was to reach out to specific animal experts to have them read the sections and make sure the facts were correct. Sometimes the research was tedious, but in the end, it was about creating a book that is perfect for learning and laughing.

EL: Can you tell us a little about the illustrator? The illustrations are a perfect complement to your text. Did you see any of the spreads beforehand? What was your working relationship with the illustrator if you had any?

The illustrator is David Creighton-Pester, and I was completely blown away by his perfect illustrations. They are adorable and so, so funny!

I didn’t have any contact with him as he worked. I saw an early version where about half the book was line sketches and the other half had rough colorization. And I just loved it! It’s a perfect example of why they keep the author and illustrator separate because David took my words and ran with them in a way that would have totally been muted if I tried to suggest any of the ideas in my completely un-artistic head.

EL: I love that you work in several genres. Do you feel like a PB writer? 

Even with a picture book now out, I STILL don’t feel like a PB writer, since I spent so many years working on YA novels. But I LOVE working on other types of writing, and I think they all make me a better writer. PBs teach me about brevity, screenplays teach me about dialog, novels teach me about world-building. I hope I can continue to work in a number of categories and genres!

EL: If anyone can do it, you can! 

Do you have a specific writing routine? If so, please tell us about it.

JR: I wish I did, but I don’t. I’m very much a feast or famine writer. I’m either doing nothing or writing in a frenzy of no sleep and forgotten meals (usually attached to deadlines). It’s definitely not a great routine, but it’s what currently works for me.

EL: Do you consider yourself a planner or a panster? Why?

JR: Pantser for life!!! Whenever I’ve tried to plan or outline my writing, it ends up sounding blah and devoid of life. It has to come to me in the moment. Again, not a great way to be an efficient (or professional) writer, but it’s how I create.

EL: What was the most difficult part of writing this book?

JR: Some of the details about the hows and whys of the animals’ posterior powers were really dense and complicated. Trying to distill the info to the science background of the target age group was very difficult. I’m still worried I might not have gotten it right. We’ll see what the kids say!

EL: Do you have anything else in the pipeline that you can tell us about?

JR: I just recently submitted the final draft of my next book to my editor. It will be another Battle book called BATTLE OF THE BRAINS. This time we’ll focus on the other end of animals and learn about some of their cool brain powers. It’s scheduled for release in November 2022.

EL: I can’t wait!! And that’s very quick for the publishing world. Yay! 

Any advice for aspiring or even published kidlit writers?

JR: I encourage writers to experiment with different kinds of writing. Try out different genres, styles, age groups, and even different formats like screenwriting. I never thought I’d write nonfiction, but if I hadn’t stepped outside my comfort zone to try it, who knows when (or if!) I’d finally publish a book.

EL: Great advice! Where can we get your book?

JR: My local indie is Itinerant Literate Books, and if you order from them, you’ll get a signed/personalized copy: https://www.itinerantliteratebooks.com/product/battle-of-the-butts-the-science-behind-animal-behinds-signed-preorder-november-2-2021-/25270

You can also order from the usual places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore – support your indies!

EL: Find out more about Jocelyn at  https://www.jocelynrish.com

Thank you so much for visiting us today! I can’t wait for everyone to be able to read this well-researched, interesting, and funny book!

JR: Thank you so much for having me!

Bio: Jocelyn Rish is a writer and filmmaker who never imagined her cheeky sense of humor would lead to a book about animal butts. When she’s not researching fanny facts, she tutors kids to help them discover the magic of reading. Jocelyn has won numerous awards for her short stories, screenplays, short films, and novels and lives in South Carolina with her booty-ful dogs. Learn more at: www.jocelynrish.com

It’s time for a GIVEAWAY! To get in the running for a chance to win a signed copy of BATTLE OF THE BUTTS, just comment here. Let me know if you are a subscriber to this blog, and if you are, you get an extra entry ticket. 

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If you enjoy this blog, please share it with your friends. I’m busy scheduling author visits now and would love it if you would share my info with any teachers or librarians you know. Thanks! To find out more about my books and author visits, check out https://www.EllenLeventhal.com