Today’s picture book is tricksy fun.  I mean, you’re perfectly safe to read it.  Honest!

Megan Woodward is a comedy screenwriter and a freelance writer and editor, but her true love is writing for kids. This Book Is Definitely Not Cursed is her debut picture book. She lives with her son and two cats in Portland, Oregon, where it rains all the time, but never on her parade.  You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Twitter or on Instagram.

THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY NOT CURSED is a picture book full of laughs.  It reminds me a lot of THE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES in all of the crazy things it attempts to have the adult reading the book say out loud.  And there can be a LOT of fun reading this book out loud!  There’s plenty of potential for wacky voices and drama.  In fact, this book downright begs to have those elements added in (at your own risk of repeat reads, of course).

Welcome Megan!

Me: Can you talk a little bit about yourself and about your writing journey up to this point?  What brought you to this book?

Megan: I actually started out as a screenwriter. I got an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA and was working as a comedy screenwriter for many years. When I became a mom, I rediscovered my deep love of children’s books and decided I wanted to write them. My first one was 1700 words and rhyming (I knew nothing about the kid lit industry then).  But after a lot of research and reading and writing, I finally found my groove. This was definitely not my first picture book manuscript, but it was my first attempt writing something that wasn’t a traditional narrative.

Me: This book reminds me ever so slightly of “The Book with No Pictures” by B.J. Novak.  What gave you the idea?

Megan: “The Book With No Pictures” was part of the inspiration for this book, because it was my son’s favorite at the time— around 2020/2021. He wanted me to read it over and over, and I thought: “Hey, I should write an interactive book like this… something that makes kids (and adults) do and say silly things.” (I often like to challenge myself by trying to write different types of books.) But I wasn’t sure what my meta/ interactive book should be about. Then I was talking to my son about curses… not sure how or why we got on the topic, but suddenly something clicked in my head and I thought… “what about a picture book that’s cursed?” And BOOM I knew I had my idea.

Me: The story seems deceptively simple.  How hard was it to make it fit into a 32-page format with such excellent page turns?  Did it undergo a lot of revisions?

Megan: While it did start out with a much higher word count than where it ended up, I don’t feel like it was ever that difficult to fit it into 32 pages.  Most of what I removed was just unnecessary details or overly wordy phrasing, but the original story remained mostly the same except for the addition of the narrator as an actual character (which was a note from my very smart editor). She also suggested I add some tension by telling readers to close the book before they got cursed. So those were the main changes. Other changes were smaller things: originally, I wrote that the curse would make all your food taste like celery. That got changed to cabbage, after I received a note from a friend’s kid who really liked celery and didn’t see what was so bad about it. (And personally, I think cabbage is much funnier.) I’d say it maybe went through 4-5 drafts of revisions. So not a lot compared to other books I’ve written.

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?

Megan: I guess I was mostly just surprised at how easily this idea flowed out of me once had it. As soon as I thought of a “cursed picture book,” I was like:

-It’s going to tell you it’s not cursed

-It’s lying and it’s actually cursed

-It’s going to tell you ridiculous curse symptoms that everyone already has… like a heartbeat.

-It will outline silly things that the curse will do to you.

-It will make you do silly things to get rid of the curse— including making someone else read the book.  (Recently a reviewer compared this aspect of the book to the horror movie “The Ring” which is something that had never occurred to me, as I’m not much of a horror fan, but I find the comparison pretty hilarious and actually surprisingly accurate now that I think about it.)

That all just kind of fell into place so smoothly. It definitely took me by surprise.

Me: There is advice out there for picture book writers that meta manuscripts are done and over with.  How did you sell this one?  Can you talk about marketing it a little bit?

Megan: Personally, I don’t think meta picture books will ever be over and done with. Kids LOVE them. As a parent and as a bookseller, I can attest to this. My kid’s two most read picture books were “The Book with No Pictures” and “The Book That Eats People.” I had to start hiding them because I was so sick of reading them. To this day “The Book With No Pictures” is one of the most requested picture books at the book store and  “The Monster at the End of This Book” is one of the most commonly sold board books. And, yes, I do think there’s room for more. As most parents can tell you, they get sick of reading the same things over and over— and I’m sure the novelty eventually runs out for kids too. But kids love books that interact with them and they especially love when the adults have to do it too.  Seeing adults make fools of themselves will get a laugh from kids every time.

How did I sell this? Well my agent sent it to the right editor, who loved it. Not sure there’s much more to it than that. All it takes is one yes.

Marketing is not something I’m great at. The book blurb provided by my publisher does compare it to “The Book With No Pictures” and “The Monster at the End of this Book” so I’m hoping that will be helpful. I’m doing all the regular social media posts and I have a book tour planned for the whole month of July, so I’m hoping the sheer amount of story time events I have planned will increase the publicity and attention on the book. And I am definitely promoting it as being “great for read alouds” and interactive silliness.

Me: The illustrations by Risa Rodil are wonderful.  I love the creative lettering all throughout the story (which I assume is hand-lettered?).  Were there any illustration surprises for you?  Any favorites?

Megan: Risa did a wonderful job. Unlike most of my other picture book manuscripts, I had almost no vision for the look of this book, so I was really open to just about anything. Yes, Risa’s lettering is amazing, but I think the coolest part was to see her develop the look of the narrator’s character and I was thrilled, and honored, to be involved in the process. I saw early sketches of different ideas for the character and got to voice my opinion. It’s hard to pick a favorite illustration, but I do love the page where the narrator “Clustercrump McTootyboots” is whistling and pretending to be nonchalant about trying to get others to read the book, when there’s a big sign pointing to the book that says: “BEST BOOK EVER!”  It’s just so hilariously conspicuous.

Me: Any advice for other new picture book writers?

Megan: Read lots of picture books. And then write lots of them. Try different styles and genres. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and you’ll be surprised what you’re capable of. Also, have thick skin and learn to believe in yourself despite what may seem like every gatekeeper telling you “NO”. Be able to take constructive criticism and be open to changing your work, but at the same time, don’t compromise your vision and take every note with a grain of salt. It’s a subjective business. One editor/ agent’s trash could be another’s treasure.  Have a good critique group or set of critique partners. And finally, don’t rely on this career as a way to make money— have another backup source of income.

LOL!  That is great advice Megan.  Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book is released into the world today.  Prepare yourselves!  It’s going to be a terrific read, but you may never be able to stop reading it aloud.