A bit about Katy and her published works
Katy's inspiration for The Banana Police
I wrote The Banana
Police for my daughter, Sam, when she was a newborn. I’ve always been a
writer, although I make my living writing and editing non-fiction. But when I
had Sam, I thought it might be fun to write some silly stories for her. When I
was a child, I wrote stories all the time, and I even wrote a song called
“Elephant Banana” for my stuffed elephant PJs to sing. So when I sat down to
write something for my daughter, that song came to mind, and it got me to
thinking about elephants and bananas. And then The Banana Police just tumbled out of my imagination almost all on
its own.
I think part
of the reason for that was that I wasn’t writing for anyone else—it was just a
fun thing I wanted to do because I was so excited to have this beautiful little
baby girl. I had no pressure to write, and I doubt very much that my newborn
had any expectations! (If she did, she certainly kept them to herself!) I
read it to Sam several times when she was small, and I even read it to her
kindergarten class once. But I didn’t decide to try to publish it until 2007,
when Sam was 14 and in her last year of middle school. I did some more tweaking here and there, but essentially, the tale is
much the same way that it originally came to me.
First of all, it’s a
sweet story with lots of colorful characters, including resident elephants, a
wacky mayor, and creative townspeople who work together to solve a problem. But
what really makes this story shine is that the unspoken message is about the value of
peaceful co-existence and cooperation between inherently different groups—in
this case, the elephants and the townspeople. There’s not a preachy word in The Banana Police, and yet my hope is
that this underlying message will inspire the next generation to do a better
job of getting along with one another than we’ve been able to do.
Authors who have inspired Katy
Her advice for less seasoned writers (Completely great by the way)
Keep at it. Don’t get discouraged by the difficulty of
getting published, or at least try not to park yourself in that negative space
too often. The less pressure you put on yourself, the better, because the more
fun you have with your writing, the more engaging your stories will be.
Interesting story about the illustrator, Kelsey C. Roy (Who just so happens to be illustrating my picture book at the moment. I had not heard this story. Totally cool to find out.)
With a picture
book, the illustrations are just as important as the text. I really got lucky
when a young artist named Kelsey C. Roy agreed to bring The Banana Police to life. And how we found each other is a fun
story. Normally, the publisher finds the illustrator, but in this case, my
daughter Sam played a key role. Kelsey spoke at Sam’s high school during Sam’s
senior year, and although Sam is generally hard to impress, she came home
raving about how cool Kelsey was. When Sam suggested that I consider asking
Kelsey to be my illustrator, I checked out the artwork on her website and
instantly knew this was exactly the look I wanted for The Banana Police. Fortunately, my publisher Willow Moon agreed.
And when I contacted Kelsey, she loved the story and got ideas almost
instantly. Her illustrations are whimsical, humorous, and creative—with just
the right amount of silly mixed in. She’s done a brilliant job.
Contacting the amazing Katy Koontz.
Author Website: www.katykoontz.com
Email: Katy8232@aol.com
Link to purchase The Banana Police on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Banana-Police-Katy-Koontz/dp/0983687226/ref=la_B008UXCLIS_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1354650118&sr=1-5
The Banana Police sounds too fun to miss. I think a young person on my Christmas list will certainly enjoy it. Great post Krissy and so nice to meet Katy. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that lucky young person will love it! Thanks so much for stopping by, Dixie.
ReplyDeleteSounds great fun!
ReplyDeleteYes, Sheila! Thanks for stopping by.
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