Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration: Interview: Annie Barrows

I am crazy excited about today’s Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration celebration. It’s always a good day when I get a chance to celebrate a book with rock star librarian Mr. John Schu. Today Mr. Schu and I ask the author (Annie Barrows) and illustrator (Sophie Blackall) the same 4 easy peasy questions. Be sure to check out Mr. Schu’s interview on his blog.

Now it’s my turn. I ask the lovely Annie Barrows the same easy peasy questions.

How long does it usually take to write an Ivy and Bean book?

It takes about four months, but I’m not writing the whole time. It takes me about a month to write the first draft of each book, and when I’m finished, I am convinced that I have just written the most hilarious, wonderful book in the world. Experience has taught me that the next thing to do is NOT send it to my editor with a note saying it’s the most hilarious, wonderful book in the world, but put it in a drawer for two weeks.  After two weeks, I read it again, and I generally think, Yuck, I have to fix this book. So I write it again. And then I stick it in the drawer for another week. After I’ve done this three or four times, it really is the most hilarious, wonderful book in the world, and I send it to my editor. And then, do you know what she does? She sends it back to me with notes all over it, telling me how to make it better! The nerve! But I do what she says, because I know she’s right. Then another editor messes around with my commas, and I fix it one last time.  And then, finally, after writing it about seven times—it’s done! Hooray! It’s the most hilarious, wonderful book in the world!

Have you always loved writing?

 No no no. I did not like writing at all when I was a kid. I liked reading, a lot, and whenever I finished a book I loved, I thought: oooh, I’m going to write myself a story just like that one!  I would sit down and write—and I would be horribly disappointed, because my stories were never as good as the book I had just read.  Duh. I shouldn’t have been trying to copy other books; I should have been writing my own stories. That would have been a lot more fun. Another major problem for me was that I was a terrible speller, so no one could understand what I had written.

Ivy and Bean need money for low-fat Belldeloon Cheese (in a special just-for-you serving size).  What’s your favorite cheese?

 I like pretty much any cheese that comes with squishable wax on the outside.

 Are you more like Ivy or Bean?

 I’m like both of them! I’m like Ivy because I love to read and I’m like Bean because I like to run around and yell.

Chronicle Books is giving away a copy of Ivy + Bean (book 8) as well as a sets of Ivy + Bean mini-notes. How cool is that?

Rules for the Giveaway

1. The giveaway will run from October 3 to 11:59 PM on October 6.

2. You must be at least 13.

3. Please pay it forward.

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The winner of the giveaway will be entered to win the grand prize giveaway from Chronicle Books.

A complete set of Ivy and Bean hardcover books signed by Annie Barrows
1 Ivy and Bean Paper Doll Play Set
1 Ivy and Bean Button Factory
1 Ivy and Bean READ Poster signed by Annie Barrows
Set of Ivy and Bean Silly Bandz
Set of Ivy and Bean stickers

Chronicle Books has added a set of the brand these spanking new Ivy + Bean dolls to the grand prize giveaway.

 

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