Bethany interviews Charlotte Sullivan Wild whose debut picture book is THE AMAZING IDEA OF YOU, illustrated by Mary Lundquist (Bloomsbury, 2019). Charlotte has served as the Regional Advisor for the Southwest Texas chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators; founding host of the Picture Book Salon of San Antonio, Texas; and bookseller at The Twig Book Shop. She previously taught children’s literature for nearly two decades, volunteered in public and school libraries, and interviewed children’s authors for Write On! Radio (KFAI).
In this episode of The Porchlight, Bethany extends a welcome to author-hood to Charlotte who says one of her greatest joys is reading to kids, and now she gets to read them her own words! For eleven years, Charlotte worked to master writing, and seven of those years she spent working extensively on picture books. She and Bethany discuss the speed of the writing process and how greatly it can vary from project to project plus how important it is that the publishing market be ready for certain subjects. They seek to define author voice and how publishing is more and more often blurring the lines among genres, usually to the delight of readers. Charlotte gives a shout out to three of her favorite picture books: ALL AROUND US, THE SOUND OF SILENCE, and THIS IS MY EYE. The interview concludes with Charlotte explaining how both the magic and the math of story and structure enchant her and inform her work. For more about Charlotte, visit https://charlotteswild.com/