PB 23 Bunch Features: Marietta Apollonio

Hi, friends! It's been a minute, hasn't it? Things have been busy around here! I'm guessing for you, too! But I'm so excited to feature another PB23Bunch Member! If you missed last month's post, then you might not know that I'm a member of a debut author group with picture books releasing in 2023. It's been so awesome to be part of a group of people going through the same thing I am, and I highly recommend participating in a debut group!

This month, I'm super excited to chat with Marietta Apollonio, author-illustrator of the upcoming JACK THE LIBRARY CAT. So join me in welcoming Marietta!

Hi Marietta! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey?

When I was a kid, after running around outside, bike riding through the neighborhood, and watching cartoons, I spent a lot of time drawing from comic books and creating characters. In ‘98 I attended an art college in Boston thinking I wanted to be an animator (in the times of VHS), but ended up really wanting to be a picture book illustrator. I wrote random stories, but never thought that I could write and illustrate. It took me almost 20 years working in different fields (selling mattresses, sign artist at Trader Joes, managing a graphic design firm, co-owning a co-op gallery) to get to a place where I could finally sit down and put it all together. In 2016 I became a stay at home mom. Accumulating picture books for my son and reading to him everyday, reminded me how much I had wanted to create my own books. Still having this creative idea that I loved and had wanted to do, but had always told myself I didn’t have time.

I went to my first writer’s workshop in 2018, met writers and illustrators, began attending more workshops, retreats, watching webinars, and joining critique groups. In 2020 I joined Storyteller Academy to workshop a story about a cat I was working on. I couldn’t remember how to put a book dummy together, and forgot most of what I learned in college. Once I had a stack of versions of that dummy done, I decided to start querying agents with it, while also writing other stories. People say that querying is hard. They’re right. It is. But it also made me hopeful because when I got requests for more work, even though those didn’t pan out, I thought, well, there must be something here. In 2021 I entered PBParty as an author-illustrator, and got a spot as a finalist that March, signed with my agent (super star Jemiscoe Chambers-Black at ABLA) that April. We went out on submission with JACK THE LIBRARY CAT immediately. He found a home that October with Albert Whitman. And as I’m writing this out, I’m still thinking, what just happened over the last 22 years? Haha!

That is so awesome! I love that your journey came back to picture books. Sometimes our dreams take some detours, but so wonderful to get back to it. And congrats on your PBParty success! I love that so much. Really cool that you went out on sub right away. So what inspired your debut book?

My main character, Jack, is actually inspired partly by a real life cat named Max. This intrepid feline, who was not a stray, would leave his owners house daily to visit the nearby college campus. Often he was found in the library. If you google him, you’ll find articles and the sign on the campus library door that asks students/staff not to let him into the library. Poor guy. I took that notion of a cat who just really really wanted to be in a library, and thought about the different reasons that might be. And voila! JACK THE LIBRARY CAT was born.

That's so awesome! I love taking inspiration from true stories too. I hadn't ever heard about Max and will definitely look him up. Your book sounds so wonderful. What message would you like for your readers to walk away with?

We all know that literacy is so important for kids. But not all of us are comfortable practicing our reading with people. I know I wasn’t as a kid. I was always petrified that I’d mess up, pronounce something wrong, miss words. That someone would laugh at me. One of the big themes in JACK THE LIBRARY CAT is not only literacy, and the importance of libraries, but how animals can play a huge role in kids building confidence in themselves when reading. Animals don’t judge. They don’t laugh. So, that was a huge part of writing a story about a stray cat who loves story time, sees the library as a home, and how he manages to help kids and endear himself to the library staff.

I love that so much! So, when does JACK hit shelves?

Spring 2023

Yay!! That will be here before you know it. Where can we follow you online?

Instagram and Twitter: mar_illustrates

Perfect! Thank you so much for joining me today, Marietta! I had a blast chatting and cannot wait for JACK THE LIBRARY CAT to hit shelves!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!!

Marietta is generously offering a a piece of original art to one lucky reader! To enter:

Follow DK on Twitter

1. Follow PB23Bunch on Twitter

2. RT THIS Tweet

For bonus entries:

1. Tag 2 friends in THIS Tweet

2. Comment on this blog post

Good luck! Winner will be announced on Twitter May 5th.

About Marietta Apollonio:

About PB 23 Bunch

The PB23Bunch is a group of 12 authors and illustrators with Picture Books debuting in 2023. We cannot wait to get our books in your hands!!

PB 23 Bunch Features: DK Ryland

Hello wonderful readers!! I am absolutely thrilled to let you know that I am part of a debut picture book group of wonderful authors and illustrators with books coming out in 2023. It has been a huge blessing to connect with these amazing individuals as we navigate this journey together. You can learn more about our group members HERE.

I am super excited to be hosting blog features for each of our group members so that you can get to know each one of us. Once a month, I'll be interviewing a fellow PB23Bunch group member. And most months we'll have a giveaway in connection with the post! Plus, you'll want to follow along now so that you don't miss these amazing books when they launch (plus many chances to win signed copies once we get our Author Copies!)

But that's all down the road. For now... join me for the very first PB 23 Bunch Feature with DK Ryland!!

Hi DK! I'm so excited to have you on the blog. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey?

Of course! I’ve always loved books, storytelling, writing, and art but I never thought it was a real pathway for me. I studied film in college and wanted to make wildlife documentaries – I even got to film on safari in Africa (where my obsession with giraffes began). But I focused most of my time and energy on softball – playing collegiately, professionally, and then overseas. After all that, I did the next logical thing and became a coach. I loved coaching, but not necessarily because of softball but because I loved working with kids. Once I realized I loved to teach, I got my teaching credential in English and that, as well as having kids of my own, led me back to writing, storytelling, and art.

Oh wow! That is all so cool. I didn't know about your life as a softball player and coach. I played through high school, but wasn't anywhere near good enough to go beyond that. We should chat some time about your softball life! I love that coaching brought you to teaching and eventually back to writing. That gave us a good glimpse, but could you tell us a bit more about what inspired your debut book?

Being an illustrator, many times story ideas will pop into my head as a visual image. Usually just a scene. In January of 2020, I took part in Tara Lazar’s Storystorm which challenges authors to come up with 30 story ideas in 30 days. At the end of the challenge, I had 37 picture book ideas and number 11 on the list read “giraffe does not fit into the book.” The image of a giraffe with an extremely long neck that continued off the page popped into my head. And there it stayed for a year and a half. I thought about it often and knew I wanted to make it a picture book, I just didn’t know what the story was yet. During that time, I was having a lot of conversations with my kids about problem-solving, so that theme started to creep into this story and give it some shape. One day I was finally ready to just sit down and write it.

Oh, I love that so much!! I'm a big believer in getting ideas down during Storystorm! And this idea sounds amazing. I'm so glad you made it into a full book! What message would you like for your readers to walk away with?

There are themes in GIRAFFE IS TOO TALL FOR THIS BOOK that I think are super important for kids - self love and acceptance, teamwork and problem solving - but mostly I want them to have fun reading it. The story encourages the reader to engage with the book in an interesting way and I love the idea of challenging the conventional.

I love that so much! Such wonderful layers. When does your debut hit shelves?

Fall 2023!

Eeek! I am so excited! We're going to be Fall 2023 buddies! I am so happy for you and cannot wait to get this book on my shelf! That announcement and those illustrations. WOW! Seriously, so good! Before I let you go, where can we follow you online?

Twitter: @RylandDK

Instagram: @dkryland

Website: www.dkryland.com

Wonderful! Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

I also offer teacher guides for picture books. If you are a picture book author looking for a custom teacher guide, you can learn more about what I do here:

https://dkryland.com/teacher-guides

Oooh! That sounds amazing! Thank you, DK. I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on GIRAFFE IS TOO TALL FOR THIS BOOK!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!!

DK is generously offering a PB Manuscript or Dummy critique - non-rhyming preferred to one lucky reader! To enter:

1. Follow DK on Twitter

2. Follow PB23Bunch on Twitter

3. RT THIS Tweet

For bonus entries:

1. Tag 2 friends in THIS Tweet

2. Comment on this blog post

Good luck! Winner will be announced on Twitter April 6th.

About DK Ryland

DK is an author/illustrator whose debut picture book, GIRAFFE IS TOO TALL FOR THIS BOOK comes out in 2023 with Page Street Kids. She loves to draw animals and nature and enjoys quirky and subversive humor. Before becoming an author/illustrator DK filmed wildlife in Africa, was a collegiate and professional athlete, and taught middle school English. DK received a PBChat mentorship with Cori Doerrfeld in 2019 and was a PBParty finalist in 2020. When not writing and illustrating, you can find DK going on adventures with her husband and kids, playing sports, or reading a good book - while petting a cat or dog.

About PB 23 Bunch

The PB23Bunch is a group of 12 authors and illustrators with Picture Books debuting in 2023. We cannot wait to get our books in your hands!!

Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest WINNERS!

Hello wonderful readers!

Well... this has been an amazing two months. I have had an absolute BLAST hosting the first annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest.

First and foremost, I have to thank you, Kid Judges. You are AMAZING and I could NOT have done this without you! I hope you had a really fun experience and learned a bit more about your taste throughout this process.

Now to our finalists, thank you all so much for your patience. I know the time frame on this contest was longer than most. But with kid judges, it was super important to me to keep the contest manageable for the kids. So thank you all for your patience!

And thank you for just making this entire experience an absolute blast. I am beyond grateful for the kind emails, positive comments, and connections made. What a wonderful thing we have done together. I am truly grateful!!

And now, it's time. Time to announce the WINNERS of the 1st ever Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest. Today, I will be announcing the winners. And then, over the course of the next few weeks, I will be sending the kid judges' comments out to our participants. You can choose to keep them to yourself or share them as you desire. I will also be creating posts with some of the general comments from the kids so that everyone can benefit from seeing their thoughts. This will take place over a few weeks as it's a LOT.

For those on this list, HUGE CONGRATS! To those who received an honorable mention, HUGE CONGRATS. And to those participants who were brave and put themselves out there, HUGE CONGRATS!! I am so happy with how this contest played out. Your entries were truly incredible. You should be proud of yourself simply for putting yourself out there.

Now, you are about to see the winners. I will then reach out to each of the winners and allow them to select a prize from our list of prizes. First, I will reach out to all three 1st place winners, then all three 2nd place winners, and so on and so forth until all the prizes are claimed. Please be patient with me as this may take a bit of time. If you are a winner, please have the prizes ranked in your mind so that you can choose quickly.

And now...

The WINNERS of the 1st Annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest

(For ease of reading, I will only be posting the titles and authors in this post. In future posts where I analyze the winners and kid comments, I will post the samples).

Young Adult Winners

1st Place: I'M NOT THAT INNOCENT

By: Ashlee Hashman

2nd Place: SCREAM QUEEN

By: Jessica Haster

3rd Place: FULL MOON

By: Bethany Walker

4th Place: THE WITCHES OF WONDERLAND

By: S.E. Reed

5th Place: THE NOTE

By: Sabrina Shah

6th Place: YEAR 2070

By: Kala Senthi

7th Place: FIRE GIRL

By: Amy Reitz

8th Place: 1917

By: Raluca Sirbu

Middle Grade Winners

1st Place: THE SECRET OF SCAREMERE FOREST

By: Gayle C. Krause

2nd Place: EVA AND THE CROWS

By: Cheryl MacAller

3rd Place: IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

By: Colleen Fogarty

4th Place: SCHOOL OF SECRETS

By: Penny Nolan

5th Place: PIRATE'S BOOTY

By: Mark Huffman

6th Place: IZZY HOFFMAN IS NOT A WITCH

By: Alyssa Alessi

7th Place: CANDYBOT

By: Ellen Seal

8th Place: SUNSET SISTERS

By: Abbi Lee

9th Place: THE HOUSE THAT ATE THE BOY

By: Sondra Eby Eisenstat

10th Place: FOUR HOURS TO GO

By: Jeannette Lee

Picture Book Winners

1st Place: I WANT A MOOSE

By: CJ Penko

2nd Place: THE SECRET ROOM

By: Becky Walker

3rd Place: TURTLE LOVES WAFFLES

By: Michaela Almeida

4th Place: SIR TOOTS

By: Hollie Wolverton

5th Place: GROWN-UPS HAVE IT ALL WRONG

By: Kimberly Bellanti-Bartho

6th Place: THE RUNAWAY UNDERWEAR

By: John P. Conery

7th Place: PORCUPINE PLOP

By: Katie Brandyberry

8th Place: THE OLD LADY WHO LIVED IN A...

By: Melanie Rowsell-Docherty

9th Place: NEVER-EVER!

By Julie Fruitticher Schroeder

10th Place: THE SUNSHINE CLUB

By: Kimberly Horch

11th Place: TIME TO GO!

By: Sasha Harris-Lovett

12th Place: UP YOUR NOSE

By: Tonnye Fletcher

13th Place: THE GIFT WRAP TRAP

By: Allison Strick

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR WINNERS!! I am seriously so blown away by the stories and by the community and connections made. If any of your Kids' Choice entries go on to find agents, be published, etc. Please let me know!

To all the winners, please check out THIS POST HERE to review the prizes and have your top choices in mind. I'll start reaching out to the winners today, but please feel free to make contact via Twitter DM or through my Contacts Page. If you can send me your email address, that will make this process even faster.

And again, I have to give another HUGE thank you to our Kid Judges. Without them, none of this would have been possible! And to everyone who entered, thank you! This was an amazing year and I'm already excited to host again in 2023!

I hope you'll leave a comment below congratulating our winners and making even more connections! And to everyone, the very best of luck on this journey. I cannot wait to have your stories on my shelves.

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's debut Middle Grade Book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Winter 2024.