R.W. “Bob” Alley and Zoë B. Alley are a powerhouse couple in kidlit, charming children with beautiful illustrations and fun stories. Bob is the illustrator for the much-loved Paddington Bear books, and together they’ve created the nursery tale retelling picture books THERE’S A WOLF AT THE DOOR and THERE’S A PRINCESS IN THE PALACE.
What makes them work so well together? We’re tickled to have a joint interview with the creators. Read on…
Booking Biz: What does your average day look like?
Zoë: Well, let’s see…I am a person with difficult curly hair, but I assume you do not mean time spent in using products and getting hair to cooperate! (Although my dear husband would appreciate more room for his ONE BOTTLE OF SHAMPOO in our shower!) But, as to your question…
I am that kind of writer who does a lot of “head time development” – I am definitely not the type of writer to sit every day for some amount of time and write. On the contrary, I do spend quite a bit of time developing a piece in my head BEFORE the words come out my hands. I need to feel very comfortable with what I am doing and where I want my story to go – I guess that’s a metaphor for everything in my life! (Too bad Life doesn’t always go that way!) I am most definitely a Planner. This being said, my average day will vary quite a bit.
Bob: With luck, I will have remembered to set the coffee maker to have the pot full by 7AM. Finding a full pot of hot coffee in the kitchen and finding an actual physical newspaper in the driveway (but not slid under the cars) begins the day in a good way. Then, I commute to the drawing table for about 9AM. I have my travel mug of coffee.
My drawing table is in a cheerful little studio right next to the kitchen. It used to be the garage. There, I have many, many books on many, many shelves and many, many stacks of paper on not enough tables. Depending on the task at hand, my soundtrack for the day will be either talking (NPR) or music from any of the zillion sources available over the web. Yet, I may also put on a CD or a vinyl disc if I know a specific sound bubble is called for.
Whether I’m writing or drawing, whether I’m sketching out an idea or putting the finishing touches on a piece, I try to set a goal for the day. This is useful. Otherwise, the tasks of pulling a story or drawing out of thin air becomes overwhelming. I can’t begin my day saying, “I’m going to make a book.” I will fail every time. And, that doesn’t feel good. So, I say, “I’m going to make this part of a book.” Even if that part doesn’t work out, well, it was just a part, not the whole thing. Eventually, the parts add up. Sometimes not even in the order you create them. But, eventually, the project comes together.
Lunch is very important. Not only for stopping stomach growling, but for getting out of the studio into other parts of the house. After lunch, I’m back in the studio, or doing errands. Morning is always a better time to create original work. Afternoon is good for tidying up things and replying to emails. In the evening, it’s time to hang out with the charming author Zoë B. Alley (aka, Zoë), with whom I have the amazing good fortune to share two lovely children as well as the house attached to the kitchen and studio. When we are not reading or binge-watching some very important TV, we sit side by side texting with the aforementioned children, who live in far off places like NY and LA.
Booking Biz: When you’re not writing, what do you like to do best?
Zoë: So, hmmm… I do see a direct linkage from your last question to this one! I see what you did there! When not writing, there is always The Other Stuff. This often consists of things as fascinating as The Daily Feeding of Family, The Laundry (a particular BLECH of mine), and Other Householdy Chores. I am also a BIG READER – I always have a book going on. Always fiction, unless my Book Group selects otherwise! I am a Big Socializer – my friends are very important to me. First and foremost to me, however, is my family. Besides said wonderful husband (see R. W. Alley…aka, Bob), we have 2 amazingly wonderful adult children – one on either US coast. Much time is thankfully still devoted to them, and not in that super annoying, helicoptering way! I am also so very lucky to still have a wonderful almost-95-year-old father in my life. I hope this is genetic. Bob and I also love movies, and travel (often to both US coasts to see our wonderful children), and eating, and sitting on our patio “of an evening” by our new fire column. Yeah, I meant column! Look it up!!!
Bob: The thing about doing work best done sitting down, is that you do want and need to get up and get moving. So, I play tennis and do random things at the gym, that I hope will add up to something healthy. I also like to mess in the garden, but only when the weather is neither too hot, nor too cold, nor too wet, nor too rainy. So maybe not as often as I imagine. On the other hand, I do have a few bonsai trees that I enjoy tending. As you may know, bonsai trees are small shrubs stuffed into seemingly too small pots and trimmed and clipped to look like miniaturized full grown massive trees. The trick is in getting the trunk to look cracky and thick. Some bonsai trees are hundreds of years old. I have a couple I pulled from the garden last year and haven’t killed yet. I’m looking to make a miniature forest.
Booking Biz: Where do you get the inspiration for your books?
Zoë: Oh, not this question! I hate this question! It is always asked, and I always demur and mumble and hope that Bob has a better answer. Ok, ok… I will try and be nice and answer. Ummm… I don’t know, really! (Am I not hysterical?!) Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of daily life experiences; sometimes from dreams; sometimes they simply… come. My brain is a very noisy place – my family will definitely agree with this statement – and things are always rattling about in there.
Bob: Inspiration from a story comes from everywhere and nowhere. The more engaged you are in the world and life in general, the more likely a story will pop into your head. That’s why, now that our children are off into the world on their own, it’s important to me to visit schools and keep a connection with young kids. Using a whiteboard, making up an original story with a class, is a lot of fun. More than once, these sketching tales have led to real books. (It’s also lot of fun to set the kids giggling.) Of course revisiting my own childhood is good for a few ideas.
For example in the four books that I wrote recently about four siblings (ANNABELLE AT THE SOUTH POLE, CLARK IN THE DEEP SEA, GRETCHEN OVER THE BEACH and MITCHELL ON THE MOON), each sibling leads the others on an imaginative play journey keyed to one of the four seasons. These are the sort of adventures I recall inventing and playing throughout my childhood.
Sometimes thinking in a particular format can provoke a book. Zoë’s two wonderful books (THERE’S A WOLF AT THE DOOR and THERE’S A PRINCESS IN THE PALACE) began in answering the question, “What would classic children’s stories look like when told as large-scale Sunday newspaper comics?” The solutions were some of the happiest books I’ve had the pleasure to illustrate.
In other cases, doodles have led to full stories. It’s important to doodle without judgement. Self-editing can be useful at later stages of creative work — at the polishing stage. But, early on, it’s important to let the mind wander about and see what it finds around the corners. If you keep drawing the same character or scene, there may just be something there to explore further.
Booking Biz: Did you always want to write books for children, or was there another career you wished for as a child?
Zoë: Truthfully, I cannot say that I always wanted to write children’s books. I did always LOVE having books read to me. My fondest memories are of sitting on adult laps and being read to as a child. I also always LOVED reading to our own children. Once I did however become that Published Author… well, there was no end to my happiness. Really, this is not sarcasm. There was, for me, no greater career joy than to have the honor of having my first book published. THERE’S A WOLF AT THE DOOR (Roaring Brook, 2008) literally fell off my pen (yes, I write longhand) with an amazing ease. Clearly, it was in me to come out. My companion book 2 years later (THERE’S A PRINCESS IN THE PALACE) was a very similar experience.
As a child, I suppose there were those usual thoughts of being a ballerina (did you know one needed dance talent for this?) or a doctor (nope… I am too much of a hypochondriac) or a teacher (but at just over 5 feet tall, I never felt I had the authority needed), however none of those ideas really felt right. As a result, I am an Author!
Bob: It didn’t occur to me until my senior year in college that maybe illustrating could be a real job. I thought I would wind up teaching, as most of my family had. As a child, I thought possibly being a clown in a circus would be fun. I also wondered about being an astronaut. But mostly, I was very interested in puppets and puppet shows and Saturday morning television. It was this that led me to put on my own shows and make up stories. I envisioned making a puppet show for television. Making books is kinda similar to creating a theatrical experience. Only, making a book, you get to play all the creative roles at once. Writing the script, making the sets, casting the actors, and directing the action.
Booking Biz: If you ruled the world, what would it look like?
Zoë: OH I AM SO VERY GLAD SOMEONE FINALLY GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION!!! Long have I threatened ruling the world! You all think I’m going to talk here about important things like World Peace and Stability and Food for Everyone and a Clean Environment and Responsible People and and and…
Yeah, those are indeed important things. Not gonna lie about that. But if I am truly in charge, then things are going to look different! Here we go…
A. First and most important, PEOPLE WILL USE APOSTROPHES CORRECTLY! Yes, you heard me! I will no longer be looked at askance when I correct a menu. I will not be accused of “being some kind of English teacher or something” upon correcting a sign. The world will indeed come to understand possessives vs plurals under my rule! Are you with me? GRAMMARIANS UNITED!
B. Purell dispensers will be installed wherever I see fit. (See, told you I was a hypochondriac.) And they will be full!
C. Flatirons for hair will be invented! Not 5 or 10 years ago, but when I was in high school!!! Do any of you understand what it was like to go through the “dark ages” with curly hair, when all those Popular Girls had beautiful straight hair? I would be an entirely different person today if this simple invention had come about earlier. And, my husband would have more room in the shower!
Bob: This is tricky. I’m not sure I’d want to tell everyone how to live their lives. Ruling the world sounds like I’d have to know all the answers — or at the very least — all the questions. I can’t imagine. However, I can say that my ideal world would be one in which people respect each other. Differences would be accepted and not seen as a threat. Curiosity would be the core prompt for schooling at all levels. The arts and sciences would be taught in equal measure and given equal weight. Making things would be greatly encouraged. But, also, if a little magic is allowed, spaghetti would never clump and hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires would be tamed with a wave of a wand and, for dramatic effect, the singing of incomprehensible but tuneful spells.
Booking Biz: The world would be definitely be safe — and have good hair — in their hands.
Read more about R.W. “Bob” Alley and Zoë B. Alley on their speaker pages.