Mood:
happyTopic: tours
VBT Dotty’s Topsy Tale
- Dotty’s Topsy Tale deals with discrimination. What was your primary inspiration?
In Topsy Turvy Land, I came up with a whole menagerie of animals, like green monkeys, singing snakes, and hot pink hippos. Kevin (the illustrator) suggested that I write stories about several of the animals. One day while brainstorming with my daughter for ideas, she asked, "Isn't Dotty pink? What if she wanted to play with purple hippos? Would that be a problem?" I decided, yes, it would, but not for Dotty - only those around her, and more specifically, the grownups.
- You deal with how to handle being different. That almost begs the question of how do you define normal?
When my children were little and would complain about someone being weird or different, I always reminded them that we are all weird in our own way. Growing up with five brothers and sisters, I was the only left-handed child. My dad tried his best to make me use my right hand because he wanted me to be normal. Not until I entered school did I realize there were other people who functioned quite nicely being left-handed. And besides, aren't the so-called different people the ones who make life so interesting? If we all conformed to the same standard, we'd have a very boring, beige world.
Kevin has been a delight. He gets my sense of humor, and adds so much with his whimsical style. We have never met in person, but we both feel like we operate on a similar wavelength when we're working on a project. As a singer myself, it is only natural that I include a character that sings. I have written another book featuring the snake. His story was so much fun to write. I can't wait to see it in print one day! My experience has been good. Kevin and I subbed directly to the person who owned the company at the time after she posted a request for submissions on a Yahoo group, so I'm not familiar with their current submission guidelines. As a new company, they did offer several types of contracts, but with mine being a traditional contract, I have no experience with any other type. Since the Dotty's Topsy Tale has a lot to do with color, I was hoping the colors would be vibrant in the finished product, and are they ever! It turned out beautifully. 
