Questions from Kids

Kids love to ask questions. Here are some that we get asked the most…

WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?

We both loved making up stories when we were young, and as we got older, we enjoyed both our Creative Writing and Poetry classes in school. When we met in college and began our friendship, we wrote sappy poetry to each other. Rick describes Steffanie’s poems as “lovely” and “sweet”. Rick’s poems have always been sassy and silly. Together, our styles compliment each other very well.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR SUCH A SILLY BABY?

We had a brand new baby and were playing with him one afternoon, when Steffanie summed up their day, “I went to the zoo with my baby…we went to see the monkeys…” Rick soon joined in with his usual sense of humor and finished with, “but there was a hitch and my baby got switched…and I went home with a chimpanzee!” We kept rhyming back and forth until we had the beginnings of “Such a Silly Baby!”

IS SUCH A SILLY BABY TRUE?

It’s true that we brought our son to lots and lots of different places to entertain and educate him. But the rest is pure, goofy imagination woven into a silly, silly story.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE A BUFFALO IN THE STORY?

When we were writing the book, we tried to think of funny places that a mom would take her baby and what silly animals might be there. Can you imagine bringing a buffalo home (it kind of reminds us of that song, “oh give me a home, where the buffaloes roam…”)?!

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE SUCH A SILLY BABY?

Longer than you might imagine.

Because Such A Silly Baby is a rhyming book, it took quite a while. Rhyming is not always as easy as you think it will be when you start out. When we had several verses put together, we felt like it was ready to share with others. Steffanie read lots of books on how to get published. She followed all the instructions and got a nice pile of rejection letters.

Several years later, she met her illustration hero, Seymour Chwast. He has written or illustrated over 30 children’s books. He invited her to send him her story and liked it so much that he sent it to his agent. She also liked it but said it was too short. We went back to the drawing board and started adding to it. Many drafts later, it was ready for the world.

All in all, between the first rhyme and when the final book was actually in our hands, it took over eight years. But we are told that this isn’t typical.

DO YOU WRITE EVERY DAY?

We actually do write everyday. Usually it is a grown-up thing like a grant proposal or an artist contract but sometimes its a fun thing like a letter to a friend or a recipe for peanut butter mouse cookies (yum!). In Steffanie’s job at Art with Heart, she gets to write all the time, because part of her job is putting together therapy-based activity books for kids who are going through a rough time.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS?

The best ideas come when we are doing things that we don’t normally do…like going to new places or meeting new people. We keep notebooks and jot down all of the funny things that happen or that occur to us. Our son continues to be a huge inspiration, as his imagination is limitless!

WHERE CAN I BUY YOUR BOOKS?

Lots of places! Try the publishers first (Chronicle Books or Art with Heart Press). You can get most of them through Amazon.com or you can also ask most any book store to order them for you.

WHAT JOBS HAVE YOU HAD?

We have had all sorts of jobs in their lives: restaurant cashier, waitress, lawn guy, secretary, record store know-it-all, drug store clerk, caterer, florist’s assistant, copy assistant, store artist, clothing store associate, purse salesperson, among other things. We both enjoy what we do now but especially like writing for you!

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

Well, that’s hard to say, because our ages keep changing. Let’s just say that when we were kids, computers were about the size of your bedroom, only rich kids had microwaves and cell phones hadn’t been invented yet. But we actually still feel like we are in junior high sometimes

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO DONATE A PORTION OF YOUR PROCEEDS TO ART WITH HEART?

We both believe that everyone has a responsibility to help others, especially kids who are in difficult situations. By donating, Art with Heart, can help even more kids dealing with difficult times. Because Steffanie works there, she gets to see first-hand how big a difference people’s support can make.

If you’d like to help too, you can get your parents to purchase any of their books or you can even do a lemonade stand or other fundraiser, like some other kids have done (click Lemonade Brigade for that story)!