Piboidmo Day 2 Guest Bloggers Aaron Reynolds And Neil Numberman

Blog & website of children's book author Tara Lazar PiBoIdMo Day 2: Guest Bloggers Aaron Reynolds and Neil  Numberman It’s Day 2 of PiBoIdMo. I hope you already have idea one down with more brewing. So go grab your coffee (and spoon) and sit down for the next piece of juicy inspiration. (Yeah, today I’m making you sit down. Tomorrow I might make you jump up and run outside again. Ya never know. This month is gonna be crazy. Crazy like a Fox in Socks!) Today author Aaron Reynolds and illustrator Neil Numberman are stopping by to talk about their new book Joey Fly Private Eye (in Creepy Crawly Crime). And since it’s Day 2, I’ve even got 2 blog posts for you! First, I asked Aaron and Neil where the idea for Joey Fly originated and how it developed. Aaron: It started for me with just a title…which was, at the time, Joey Off, Private Fly (get it, Off? Off bug spray?…get it?) Anyway, I loved the idea of a goofy mystery, having grown up with a steady diet of Scooby Doo and movies like Clue (and I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan). Bugs seemed the perfect cast of characters…all freaky and different, each with their own personalities and weird physical traits. From there, the story just took off. See that, folks? The idea started with just a title. Neil: When I first got Aaron’s script, I started buying all the film noir movies I could get my hands on, and creepy insect books from dusty old bookstores. That, and a couple books on city architecture in the 40s, and I felt good to go! I had my arsenal of bug characters and buildings to fill the street scenes, and noir-esque shots to compose many of the panels. I knew I wanted some Martin Handford (he of Where’s Waldo fame) type shots in there, too, because his books were always the greatest to sit and stare at for hours, and I want to bring that to Bug City. OK, let me get this straight. Old movies and dusty books? Eureka, picture book writers! Run to your local thrift store! (Sorry, I’m making you jump up today anyway. I told you things might get crazy!) Got your idea yet? Well stay tuned, kidlit lovers. Aaron and Neil will be back later today with a graphic novel about how to create a graphic novel.