It’s not every day you get to read about two very different witchy sisters written by two different authors!
Welcome Lynne Marie and Brenda!
Me: I love the idea of two witch siblings with opposite tastes and flair for décor. Where did the idea for this story come from originally?
Brenda: BroomMates is the brainchild of Lynne Marie. It originated from her childhood and her sisters, so I will defer to her as she can give you the backstory of her brilliant idea and concept.
Lynne Marie: BroomMates (Roommates – get it?) was inspired from sharing a room with my sisters in my childhood (Jean) and teenage years (Michele). Sharing a room with Jean inspired the different decors aspect (she liked pink and orange and I liked black, green and purple LOL), as well as the line drawn down the middle (lol) and Michele inspired the messy room. There were lots of bitter battles LOL But looking back we just laugh. Thankfully, I was able to add some creativity and take some liberties and make the best of the situation! If you’re wondering about the characters, they were inspired by me, Jean and Michele. So really a composite of a few people, put together in a way that worked well for the story.
Me: Ha! That’s terrific. Both of you are writers with published picture books. How did this story evolve into a joint project? What drew each of you to this witchy story (besides the fact that you’re both writers)?
Lynne Marie: Based upon their familiarity with Moldilocks, I was asked by a publisher to submit. I had this story in my treasure chest and pulled it out, thinking it might be a good fit. But I noticed many of their stories are in rhyme so I called upon Brenda, my partner in rhyme, to work on it together. Being in the business and being published, our experiences allow us to look at our work with objectivity. Even so, we loved what we came up with – which was a good start. The publisher really liked it, but they wanted the main characters to be on the broom for the entirety of the story, so we politely declined a rewrite and moved on by submitting to The Little Press. Thankfully, it worked out and it has been a wonderful collaboration!
Brenda: Lynne Marie suggested collaborating on this picture book with her several years ago. She had originally written BroomMates in prose and she wanted to turn it into rhyme. Rhyme is at the heart of me. I love writing it and I love reading it, so I jumped at the chance to work with Lynne on it. We converted it together, first taking it out of prose and worked on scene after scene one rhyme at a time.
Me: The text is succinct and rhyming. Did that make working on a manuscript together harder? What was it like working as a team on this picture book? Was this a true team effort where you worked on paragraphs side-by-side (or email by email)?
Lynne Marie: Since Brenda and I both wanted to be picture book authors, we have been on the same path together for many years. During that time, we have written together and hoped to have a book to share! So we were very excited as our dream finally came true with this book. Whatever worked best at the moment to get the job done is what we went with. I believe Brenda covered it. In fact, we just finished up the sequel to BroomMates, TombMates, in the same way! We are very happy with the result and hope the publisher takes on the project, which was pitched and requested!
Brenda: It is always a joy working with Lynne Marie, I trust her implicitly to know what works and what doesn’t story and plot wise, and she trusts my ear in rhyming. I always defer to her story wise and she trusts me if something is off. If I say “The meter is off a beat,” even if she hears it a different way she trusts my ear in rhyme. We have worked together on many manuscripts but this is our first published book together. It is never difficult working with Lynne because she is the ultimate professional.
We would set up times to Facetime, or go into Google docs and talk on the phone at the same time editing as we went along switching rhymes, coming up with fun ideas and words together. I think, when working as a team, it is really important to listen to the other person’s perspective and Lynne and I work very well together. There can be challenges if each one of us hears things differently, different words sound different to each one of us because of our own accents. I am from Maine and she is from New York, so sometimes I hear things as three syllables and she might hear them as two. We did work side by side, and we also sent emails back and forth. What we have found that seems to work for us is a process where Lynne can go into Google docs and write notes and ideas on how a scene should go. I then go in and write a stanza or two in rhyme. Then we meet in the doc and tweak back and forth with word choices.
Me: Interesting. And that sequel certainly sounds promising! What is one thing that surprised each of you in writing this story together?
Lynne Marie: With this story I was surprised at how we were able to keep the story very much the same and not lose much when converting it to rhyme. In contrast, with TombMates (which I actually wrote before BroomMates), I had to get rid of some longer and more complicated scenes, language and aspects that just did not facilitate the rhyme or the rhyme scheme or the new pacing.
Brenda: It is always surprising to me how long these things take, Lynne could tell you better as she is a meticulous record keeper, but I think we went back and forth on this manuscript for well over a year writing and rewriting . We have a deep respect for each other, so really we agree on most everything when writing.
Me: Can you talk a little bit about the marketing of the book. How did you come to work with The Little Press? (I love their books!)
Lynne Marie: Michele and I often run into each other professionally, and we have done Girl Power Hour together (please keep an eye out for information on this spectacular October event and check out GIRL POWER HOUR). So during one of her presentations, she shared that she was looking for holiday books – I thought of BroomMates right away and sent it in (as it was already completed for the original publisher submission). Thankfully, she loved it as much as we did!
As to the marketing, we are all of us working as hard as we can to make this book a booming success! Follow my blog at and me on Facebook or Twitter/X for updates and registration information on our Launch and Learn Webinar (featuring me, Brenda, and our Illustrator Nico) which is being held on October 1st! There is a small fee, but all registrants will get a copy of the book from Amazon which can be received, gifted or donated to a local library or shelter.
And, Michele has gone above and beyond in her support of the project and in providing promotional resources and for that Brenda and I are grateful.
Brenda: Little Press has done a phenomenal job marketing this book. Michele gave us each a marketing plan that we followed and The Little Press has really gotten behind this book for us creating the book trailer and the educational guide and setting up signings.
Me: That’s wonderful! It sounds like you made the right publishing match. I also have to say that the illustrations by Nico Ecenarro are perfect! I love his style and I adore the end pages, not to mention all the extra touches he gave to the background details. Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?
Lynne Marie: Brenda and I were not involved with the selection of the illustrator, so when we got to see the first sketches, we were pleasantly surprised. As the project developed, our expectations were exceeded! And he added so many fun details that I had never imagined! And now, we are just in love with the art and hope to see it as a series and/or a show. His art just lends to that!
But also, Nico has proven to be such a Team BroomMates player so we are grateful to have his art in our book and his person on our team!
Brenda: Nico did a fantastic job on the illustrations, I was elated when it all started coming together and then when I saw the finished project, I knew he was the perfect illustrator for BroomMates. He is incredibly gifted and clever. I think one of my favorite pages is the illustrations with the T Sweep poster, in reference to Taylor Swift, she is an icon and her ERA’S tour this year has been otherworldly. Children everywhere will pick up on that brilliant reference. I love it all really. I adore the bickering birds back and forth (this was Michele’s idea) and I love that Nico chose the broken broom to act as the room divider. I also love the end pages where Nico blended the styles of the two sisters. The drawing page will also be fun for children. As the only thing I can draw is boxes, this is a fun page for me personally too.
Me: What advice for other aspiring picture book writers would you each give? Would you recommend working as a team?
Lynne Marie: I think the most important things I can share is to really, really, learn your craft by reading picture books, writing, reading craft books and attending classes and conferences. Writing a great story isn’t easy and Brenda and I did not become published overnight. We worked hard to make every word count and tell a story that’s both fun and has a takeaway for the reader!
As to working as a team, I think each prospective co-author would have to consider the players (including some self-evaluation) as well as other factors. What works for us and our personalities may not work for others.
Brenda: The advice that I would give is that you really have to have thick skin and a stick to it attitude. Lynne is great at this and never gives up. She is the perfect writing partner, and we are presently working on a second book to accompany BroomMates that the publisher is anxiously anticipating. I would recommend working as a team if you can find someone that is the yin to your yang. I feel incredibly blessed that Lynne brought me in on this project. She and it are nothing short of a blessing.
That’s wonderful ladies. Thank you both so much for stopping by my blog today Lynne Marie and Brenda. And good luck with the sequel! I can’t wait to see that one too.
Dear readers, this book was released in September. However, as we are in the middle of spooky season, I can guarantee that this is a fun book you won’t want to miss this time of year.