Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this post, free of charge, from the authors,for blog posting purposes. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post/review.
Tom: Luckily Helen likes the way I draw, so when it comes to working together, there is a lot more
discussion than disagreement and at the end of the day, it really feels like a team effort. Creating the illustrations for a book is a big job, deadlines can be tight and I’m often in a bit of a rush. So I really appreciate having another pair of eyes to spot where things aren’t working, how they could be mproved or to add details and check for continuity. Our house is full of picture books and our daughters are at just the right age for them, so we are always reading new things and talking about the stories and characters. It’s a very happy (if a little chaotic) environment to work in.
Helen: Our very first conversation (in a pub in Bristol, England) was about our mutual love of children’s picture books, so it’s really no surprise that we’ve ended up working on them together.
When it comes to writing my stories, that’s obviously something I do on my own, but Tom is the first
person I read them to, and he always gives me really insightful feedback. And when he is illustrating
one of my stories (right now he’s working on the pictures for our next book, Abracazebra), I’m quite
involved in the process – it’s really fun to discuss our visions of the characters and the setting. The only danger is that our work life can spill over into our home life (we both work at home) – but since
we both enjoy what we do so much, that’s not a huge problem!
Last weekend we had the official Snatchabook launch here in Swansea – it was really exciting to do
this together, and of course our daughters were very proud of their Mum and Dad.
We reviewed Snatchabook earlier today,
and now I have a quick guest post from the author and illustrator!
What it’s like for husband-and-wife team to work together?
Tom: Luckily Helen likes the way I draw, so when it comes to working together, there is a lot more
discussion than disagreement and at the end of the day, it really feels like a team effort. Creating the illustrations for a book is a big job, deadlines can be tight and I’m often in a bit of a rush. So I really appreciate having another pair of eyes to spot where things aren’t working, how they could be mproved or to add details and check for continuity. Our house is full of picture books and our daughters are at just the right age for them, so we are always reading new things and talking about the stories and characters. It’s a very happy (if a little chaotic) environment to work in.
Helen: Our very first conversation (in a pub in Bristol, England) was about our mutual love of children’s picture books, so it’s really no surprise that we’ve ended up working on them together.
When it comes to writing my stories, that’s obviously something I do on my own, but Tom is the first
person I read them to, and he always gives me really insightful feedback. And when he is illustrating
one of my stories (right now he’s working on the pictures for our next book, Abracazebra), I’m quite
involved in the process – it’s really fun to discuss our visions of the characters and the setting. The only danger is that our work life can spill over into our home life (we both work at home) – but since
we both enjoy what we do so much, that’s not a huge problem!
Last weekend we had the official Snatchabook launch here in Swansea – it was really exciting to do
this together, and of course our daughters were very proud of their Mum and Dad.
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