Interview with Children's Author JJ Page
Below is the transcript for an interview with Heathen Children's Author, Joy Page. Her book would be excellent as a Halloween/Samhain gift or for someone on your Yule list this year!
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Michelle: Hi there, and welcome to Hearthside. My name is Michelle. I'm the author on the blog, and today we're doing something a little bit different. Instead of starting with our blog and making the accessible copy, what we are doing is I am interviewing Joy here, and then I will make the transcript as the blog entry.
Michelle: So for those of you who don't know Joy, this is Joy Page and she's one of my Kyn. And something really cool that Joy has just done is released a children's book. The book is called The Witch’s Family. So we have hard copies and paperback editions and I'll give you all the information at the end. So this is written by Joy and the illustrator is Penny Nicoles, and yeah, so I'm really excited about breaking our routine, doing the YouTube version first.
Michelle: So welcome, Joy!
Joy: Thanks for having me, Michelle.
Michelle: So I would love to know what inspired you to write a children's book?
Joy: Well, I've always written ever since I was 14 years old, I've been writing stories and one night I just sort of had rhymes in my head. Sounds silly. But yeah, I had these rhymes in my head about a pink haired witch living in a mushroom house. So, it kept me awake until I actually like wrote it. The next morning I was on a flight to Kelowna and I couldn't fall back asleep on the plane, so I just thought I'd write it down, and by the end of the flight I had my full book.
Michelle: That sounds really familiar to me. That's quite often how these blog entries go as well, that they suddenly keep me awake at night. Alright, so I just want to open up the book a little bit, show off a couple of the pages here.
Michelle: So here's the mushroom house that we were talking about.
Joy: It's one of my favourite pages in the book, to be honest. There's so much to look at.
Michelle: And there's some really interesting illustrations in here, and a lot of them seem to have different animals. So I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the inspiration for all the different pets that are in this book.
Joy: Well the big black dog is inspired by my dog who passed away in May. She was very protective of me and everybody who she considered pack. So anybody who was new, she was very suspicious of. So that's kind of where I based the character of the big black dog. And then there is the character of the puppy who is based on my current puppy, who still to this day decides to chew my walls.
Michelle: Oh dear!
Joy: So in the story with the puppy who does nothing but chew, chew, chew, that's who he's based off of.
Michelle: It seems like there's a lot of different things going on with the animals in the book and causing trouble for the witch in the story. Do you find that's true with your pets?
Joy: It was when I had a lot more, I used to do reptile rescue. So people would just sort of drop off sick and neglected reptiles and I would try and nurse them back to health. And at one point I think I had like 26 snakes in the house. And I've had lizards and tortoises and stuff, and at the end of it, it's very, very taxing. So it can totally relate to what the pink-haired witch goes through in the book.
Michelle: Awesome. And I would love to see some of your animals, if that's possible. Would that be something we could do?
Joy: Totally.
Michelle: Awesome. We're just going to pause and we will see what animals we can find.
Michelle: All right, so who's this?
Joy: This is Prince Ember.
Michelle: Oh, very cute.
Joy: Otherwise known as the lizard who wears paper wings and tries to fly.
Michelle: Yes, that was really imaginative in the books. So what inspired you to give your lizard wings?
Joy: He has a pair of felt red wings that he looks really cute in. He actually has a whole wardrobe of costumes. So I occasionally take him outside during the summer months and he wears his wings and he decides he wants to go for a little adventure and makes a leap for it.
Michelle: So for people who aren't familiar with lizards at all, what are some of the challenges of taking care of them?
Joy: I think the biggest challenge is that they don't have the same body language as a cat or a dog. So if they are sick, if there's something wrong with them, it's not always easy to tell. That's probably what the biggest challenge of taking care of them is, knowing the signs of when they need to be seen to.
Michelle: And how long have you had lizards for?
Joy: Probably about 11 years. Amber is eight years old, I wanna say. Yeah, I think he's almost eight years old and he's a little small for a male, but that's okay because we love him no matter what size.
Michelle: And how is the best way to handle a lizard?
Joy: Um, kind of just let them walk themselves through your hands. You don't wanna make them feel cornered. That's when they pull the teeth out. He's very chill. Obviously he's never bit me. He's a very, very good boy. His sister Astrid, however, is not very nice. Yeah, she's a, she's a different type of dragon .
Michelle: And have you always had beardies or have you had different lizards?
Joy: Yeah, I've had a uromastyx as well and had some geckos. And I guess, well, a salamander is like an amphibian, but it was sort of in the same vein. And then, you know, the turtles and snakes are all different.
Michelle: Awesome. Well, it was nice to meet you, Ember, and we'll see what other animals we can find around here.
Michelle: All right, so we just saw Ember. And who is this?
Joy: This is Anton Pavel Chekov, better known as Mr. Chekov.
Michelle: Awww, Chekov.
Joy: Cadet Chekov.
Michelle: It looks like Chekov is a big handful.
Joy: Yes, he is. Yes, you are! He just... he doesn't know what we're doing.
Michelle: And I love the illustration of Chekov in the book. It looks a lot like him.
Joy: It looks spot on. It looks exactly like him, especially when he was a puppy, because he is only a year and a half. And it looks like… the markings are just perfect. The little freckles. Hey? The little ears. Yes. I love you too baby.
Michelle: And what kind of dog is Chekov?
Joy: Chekov is a beagle and papillon with a bit of spaniel.
Michelle: That is quite the mix.
Joy: Yeah. He sings like a beagle too.
Michelle: And if you guys heard throughout the video some noises in the background, that was probably Chekov. He was very excited that someone was over to visit.
Joy: Yes, he's a very needy boy. Has to be up in everybody's business.
Michelle: Alright. Well thank you for showing us some of the pets that inspired you in your book and we'll go on to the next question.
Michelle: So for you, what was the most challenging part of writing and publishing your own book?
Joy: I think the most challenging part was doing the research and figuring out what companies to trust. There's a lot of, I don't wanna say misinformation, but misinterpretation of what publishing companies are these days. I did have book offers, like publishing offers from some overseas companies, who are traditional publishing companies. But these days what's more popular is hybrid publication contracts. And it just wasn't for me because… it's not that I wanted more money for the book, it's just that there were no real guarantees with distribution, or no guarantees with what the publishing company was going to do for my book. So at least publishing my own book, I was in control. I knew exactly where it was going, and how it was gonna be distributed.
Joy: And, I do have to do a lot of the legwork myself in terms of going to smaller bookstores, but I do have a bit more control and I really do like that.
Michelle: And do you think that working with a publisher was definitely better than like self-publishing or something? Because I know a lot of people do that with children's books now.
Joy: It's really hard to say honestly. If you can find your… like a decent, traditional publisher that will actually guarantee what they are going to do in terms of distribution and advertising, promotions and marketing for your book, then it's a good way to go. I absolutely support anybody who wants to do that, but self-publishing is great if you want to put the work in. So it's really up to individuals. There's really a lot of good things on both sides.
Michelle: Awesome. So I noticed the illustrations are very whimsical and detailed. Is there anything that you want to tell people about the illustrations?
Joy: The illustrations, they're just so… like you said, super, super detailed. There's so much to see in them. It's almost like, oh, de Where's Waldo? Because there's so much to look at. There's always something new. I'm even opening the book myself and still finding new details that the illustrator has put in and like going, “Oh my gosh, that's so cool.” For instance, there's a scene with a bookshelf and I had no idea she had actually named the books on the bookshelf until I looked so closely and it was such a nice little surprise. So like, keep looking. Keep looking at the book. Read it every day!
Michelle: That will be wonderful with young kids. Just to have things for them to be looking at on the pages when you're reading to them.
Joy: Yeah.
Michelle: And things that you can get them to be looking for or pointing out to them to keep them more engaged. I noticed one other thing in the illustrations, there's this guy… this gnome guy who appears on a whole lot of the pages. Can you tell us a little bit about the gnome guy?
Joy: Ah, that was sort of an inside joke with me and the illustrator. We just sort of wanted a gag where a character would appear in almost every picture, but with nothing said. And not really have any real role in the story, but just again, as like a Where's Waldo sort of thing, you know, make a game out of it with the kids reading it going, “Can you find the gnome guys?” And, you know, just make it a bit more interactive.
Joy: Again, you're searching for the character and you're bound to pick up more details. So it was just really, really adorable. I thought we could have the gnome do some silly things in the background.
Michelle: Yeah, I really love that. And the gnome is on almost all the pages, as you say, if you're looking through the books. So you guys can look forward to that when you get your copy.
Michelle: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to write a children's book?
Joy: Research! So much research. And editing… have at least 10 people read it and even examine the subtext. Make sure that nothing could be misinterpreted. It's kind of easy these days for the message to get sort of mixed up and to be misinterpreted. So it's really, it's a good idea to have as many people read it before wanting to publish as you can.
Michelle: And do you think that it's more difficult to write a children's book than an adult's book or just… different in how it's difficult?
Joy: It's just different. Especially if you're going the self-publishing route, it would be a lot more expensive to write something, say a novel. The editing cost is pretty substantial. I was lucky for my children's book it’s not very long. So paying an editor wasn't too bad, but if you're writing a novel, you're gonna pay quite a bit with self-publishing for an editor to look at it, especially since you really should go through three editors, because everybody is going to pick out something different from your book. Everybody's brain's gonna work differently. They're all gonna fill in different parts of the sentences. So it's good to just have as many eyes on your work as you can. It'll help a lot by.
Michelle: Awesome. That's great advice. And is there anything else that you want to share with us about your book?
Joy: It's my first book, which I'm really, really excited about and I have so many more stories that I want to tell. So this… I'm really hoping it goes well and it was a labour of love. I put a lot of myself into it and I wrote it sort of in memory of my dog. She was my heart and soul. She was the center of my world. So it's kind of in memory of her.
Michelle: Awesome. That's really neat. Um… so… What places should we look for you if we want to find you on social media?
Joy: I am on Instagram and it is @JJPageAuthor.
Michelle: Awesome. That is great. So we will definitely post that below and also on my blog. And if someone was to purchase your book, where would they go?
Joy: It's at Barnes and Noble. It's at… Chapters Indigo. It's on the Friesen Press online bookstore, and it is even being stocked in at Aaron's Books store in Pennsylvania for anyone who wants a hard copy… Aaron's books in Pennsylvania has it on their shelves.
Michelle: Awesome! Thank you.
Michelle: So… For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, I hope you enjoyed this new format. I'm going to link below details for Joy and also for her illustrator, and also details for where you can find my blog. And I hope to see you next time!
Links:
Joy Page on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/jjpageauthor/
Penny Nicoles on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/pennynicolesart/
Where to buy The Witch’s Family:
Friesen Press
https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000250911999/JJ-Page-The-Witch%27s-Family
Chapters
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-witchs-family-jj-page/1142398099?ean=9781039156678
Aaron’s Books
https://www.aaronsbooks.com/book/9781039156685
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