02 May CURLILOCKS AND THE THREE HARES with Andrew Hacket and Jan Dolby…A Double Delight!

EL: Happy May, everyone! I am thrilled to have not one, but TWO talented creators on Writing Outside the Lines today.  If you want to read a book that will keep you smiling, don’t miss, Andrew Hacket and Jan Dolby’s adorable new early reader,  CURLILOCKS AND THE THREE HARES!

Andrew and Jan, welcome! Before we get into the book, will you please tell us a little bit about yourselves? What do you do when you’re not writing or illustrating? 

JD: Hmmm…a bit about me. I’m a pretty quiet person with a good sense of humor. I have two adult children and a husband that I adore. I live and work in Aurora, Ontario Canada, just north of the city of Toronto. When I’m not working in my studio I am laughing with my family, hitting a few golf balls, watching the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing pickleball, and enjoying the view of Lake Huron from our cottage. I also teach an adult drawing course and an after-school comic class for children through my local cultural centre.     

AH: I am a teacher and picture book author living in central Massachusetts with my wife, three kids, and dog, Gus. Most of my free time these days is spent at my children’s activities, but when I am not teaching, writing, or chauffeuring my children around,  I love to get outdoors. 

EL: Do either of you have a writing or illustrating routine? If so, will you tell us about it? 

JD: I’m at my desk every morning checking my socials, returning emails, and prepping my day. I begin working on illustrations usually before midday, and it continues (hopefully without distraction) until dinnertime. I spend my creative time either at my computer or at my drafting table depending on the type of project. To keep me in my chair, I will most often have a crime mystery show playing close by.

EL: Andrew, I loved the take-off of Goldilocks. What drew you to write your story this way?

AH: The inspiration for this story is my daughter, Claire. When she was younger she hated her curly hair. It never seemed to grow and she couldn’t put it in a ponytail. One day the name Curlilocks came to mind. As soon as that happened, a fractured fairy tale was a no-brainer to me.

I have always loved fractured fairy tales and have seen how the familiar structure helps children understand and engage with them. This familiar structure also helped me as I planned out and experimented with how the plot would unfold within the context of a Goldilocks story.

EL: Please talk about your road to publication with your books.

AH: The path for Curlilocks was an interesting one. This was the first story I wrote with the intention of becoming a published author. As such, I made all of the mistakes in that first draft. It was overly predictable, had too much telling, and was WAY too long. Luckily, through lots of revision and the help of exceptional critique partners, Curlilocks was ready for submission and the incredible Michele McAvoy at The Little Press, expressed interest.

The catch?

Michele had a fractured fairy tale, illustrated, early chapter book series in the works, and she thought Curlilocks would be a great fit.

The problem?

Curlilocks was very clearly a picture book manuscript at this time.

This meant time to research and revise. After diving into books with similar structures, I began Curlilocks’ makeover from a picture book to an early chapter book. This included more than doubling the word count I had worked so hard to trim down. Fortunately, Michele loved the changes and Curlilocks was soon handed off to Jan to work her magic.

JD: My picture book career began with an exhibition of my whimsical children’s paintings. A daughter of a famous Canadian illustrator viewed my work and mentioned that I should consider illustrating children’s books. I began to post my work online and gained my first picture book contract shortly after. Since then I have illustrated 35 picture book projects. I’m pretty excited about the three-book modern fairy tale series with Little Press Publishing including Andrew Hacket’s adorable story Curlilocks and the Three Hares. Illustrations for the third and final reader, Digital Red are in the works.

EL: Do you have anything else in the pipeline you can talk about?

JD: Lots happening in my studio. I just submitted rough illustrations for Digital Red by Kimberly Delude. It’s the third book of the modern fairy-tale series for Little Press Publishing. As well, I’m completing a French version of Our Alphabet Roller Coaster picture book for The Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research with the assistance of Queen’s University.

Also, I’m beginning illustrations for a non-fiction book, Burst Your Bubble: How to Break Out of Your Information Silo by Joyce Grant, with Canadian publisher OwlKids and starting illustrations for a super fun musical picture book with Go Fish Resources. And, in the fall of this year, I will be illustrating a colouring book with Crayola Canada.

AH: Most of my time recently has been spent promoting my debut, OLLIE, THE ACORN, AND THE MIGHTY IDEA with illustrations by Kaz Windness. I have loved visiting libraries, bookstores, and best of all SCHOOLS!

More information about my school visit offerings can be found here: https://www.andrewhacket.com/author-visits

I can’t wait to now include CURLILOCKS & THE THREE HARES in the mix!

In just over a month my third book, HOPE AND THE SEA with illustrations by Svetla Radivoeva hits shelves. And while I can’t share any details it does seem like I am on the verge of a new project being in the works, but we will just have to wait for more details on that.

EL: WOW! You both are busy! I can’t wait until the other books come out. Jan, will you give us a little peek into how you decide what to draw when you see someone else’s words?

JD: Here’s my peek into my world with a manuscript – I read an author’s manuscript when I find a quiet and peaceful moment. While I’m reading a manuscript, my whimsical silly mind conjures up images and ideas immediately as well as some humour. I then jot down ideas onto the manuscript and begin a few drawings. If it is a really good manuscript my ideas develop easily. Andrew Hacket’s manuscript let my ideas develop quite quickly and smoothly.

EL: Andrew, What do you do when the words won’t come? 

AH: I used to think I had to write all of the time to be an author. As a result, when the words didn’t come this would cause me a lot of stress. Now that I’ve had my feet in the kidlit waters a bit longer, I take a much different approach. And that approach is to simply not write. Time in nature, whether it be hiking, kayaking, or fishing, is a sure fire way to clear my head and give those stuck ideas some time to tease themselves out in the subconscious part of my brain. More often than not I return home ready to write.

EL: Jan, you brought Curlilocks to life. Did you have a vision immediately?

JD: I did have an immediate vision of Curlilocks. Obviously, the character had to have crazy curly gold hair, bigger than her body. I wanted her hair to be the most detailed part of her personality, her clothing fashion less detailed and plain. I do like the ‘C’ on her shirt. ‘C’ for Curlilocks, curly, courageous, creative and clever.

EL: Do  you have anything else you’d like readers to know? 

JD: I share my studio space with our dog, the human-like dachshund named Margaret. You can usually find my dog somewhere in my illustrations.

www.jandolby.com
www.instagram.com/jandolby_artist
www.facebook.com/jandolbyartist
https://idrawanimals.myportfolio.com/
https://illustratorsforhire.com/jan-dolby-specializes-in-children’s-books

Purchase Curlilocks and the Three Hares in Canada at

https://blueheronbooks.com/item/ef79al6Yr1dNntPtkKdEfA

AH: And I am happy to offer a…

If you’d like to win (US only) a signed copy of CURLIOCKS or a 30-minute Ask Me Anything call, comment on this post, and let me know if you’ve shared the post, and/or if you’re a subscriber to the blog to get an extra chance to win. 

Thank you, Andrew and Jan! 

Until next time, 

Ellen