Update - Winner Announced! BONUS INTERVIEW: Celebrate Summer Reading & Fun with Laura Lavoie!

7/15: Congrats to Angel Gantnier on winning Laura's book giveaway! We'll be in touch soon with more details.

A special thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate Summer Reading & Fun!

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6/26

Hi, readers, writers, and anyone who has dozens of cousins, too! We're wrapping up our Summer Reading & Fun event with a bonus interview. We're thrilled to have the wonderfully-talented Laura Lavoie with us today sharing her summer-worthy picture book, Cousins!. If you're looking for a bright, funny, summery and feel-good picture book about how families come together and celebrate their differences, look no further - you've come to the right place. Want to know more about Laura and her new book, PLUS want a chance to win her amazing book giveaway? Read on...

Q: Hi, Laura! We’re thrilled to have you here with us today for our Summer Reading & Fun event!

Can you share more about your new book? What was the inspiration behind it? Did you have a lot of cousins growing up? 

COUSINS! is a picture book about spending time with extended family, specifically--as you might have guessed--cousins. The inspiration for this one was actually my dad, and also bears, which I'm sure makes no sense at all. I got the idea while participating in Tara Lazar's Storystorm back in 2017. One of the posts suggested looking back in your camera roll and going to a specific picture--say, the tenth one--and then coming up with an idea based on it. The picture I was looking at was of my dad holding my older daughter at Christmas. She was so tiny compared to him that it made me think of a grizzly bear, and the idea I came up with was about having a grizzly bear as a family member. That morphed into a story about bears who are cousins, which eventually became a story about human cousins. I have eight first cousins on my dad's side of the family and we were with many of them when that picture of my dad and my daughter was taken, so in a way the story came full circle! 

Q. What kind of summer-themed events will readers see throughout the story, and why did you choose summer for a setting? Can you share some spreads and share your favorite? 

The premise for this story is that Ella, the main character, goes to a big family barbecue at her grandmother's house and gets to see all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. I chose summer as a setting because that's when I spent the most time with my cousins, and when I talked to people about their experiences growing up with cousins, that seemed to be a common thread. In the book, the kids have a backyard baseball game and eat summer picnic-style food with many, many kinds of pie. The pie scene is my favorite, though all of Luisa Leal's illustrations are so bright, colorful, and engaging--it's hard to pick just one!  

Q. A book about cousins is such a fun topic - there really aren't a lot of books out there for kids with this theme! What advice do you have for authors on finding unique topics to write about? 

It's definitely hard to find a topic that hasn't been done before, so I try to think about how to either put a unique spin on it or add extra hooks to the story so that it can be marketed in a few different ways. For example, tying in a season or holiday with a unique character or situation. Reading extensively also helps, both books that are out and deal announcements. Publishers Weekly is a great resource. If you're not seeing something out there, write about that! 

Q. I always love to hear what goes into a book. Can you share how long it took you to develop this MS/for it to get acquired, etc.? What advice do you have for authors that are navigating the publishing world right now (it's tough & slow out there!).

A: After I came up with the vague idea about having a family member who is a bear, it probably took me about a year or two to decide what I wanted to do with it. In the meantime, it was just hanging out there in my idea notebook, waiting for when I was ready. Then it was probably another year or so of polishing up the bear version of the story, but it was several years later that it was acquired. I sold my second picture book, MONSTER BAKER, in a two-book deal where the first book was set but the second one wasn't. We sent four manuscripts to my editor and the team at Roaring Brook liked the cousins concept the best. From the original spark of an idea to publication it was probably about eight years. It was a little sad to ditch the grandpa bear idea, but I did get to add in a grandma kraken! 

For writers navigating the market now, it is indeed both tough and slow. I would say, keep going, but be strategic. If there's a story you love but it's a little more quiet, maybe set that one on the back burner until the market picks back up. Query agents or submit to editors with your stories that have the most hooks, that maybe have an educational tie-in if you can. And know that we're all feeling it right now. Editors definitely seem to be acquiring fewer books at the moment, and it's not you or your writing. Having patience is tough when response times are slow, but I personally deal with it by writing the next thing. The more manuscripts you have, the more options you have and you'll hopefully have something that will be that right fit. 

Q: Can you share more about your spooky MG? We at #SeasonsOfKidLit love spooky-fun books! 

I had my first middle grade novel come out two weeks before COUSINS! and it's also a great read for summer. The main character, Maya, feels like she's failed to prove herself at the school paper and has also had a falling out with her best friend. She's going on a summer vacation with her extended family (including cousins--it's truly the theme of my own summer this year) and thinks she can find some inspiration while away from home to make everything right. The family goes to Black House, the former home of Maya's favorite author, Augusta Black. When they get to the seaside mansion on the Maine coast, the caretaker is totally creepy, there's a strange room with thirteen mysterious doors sealed in glass, and Maya realizes there's a mystery she needs to solve. I'm told by readers that it's spooky but not too scary! Something I'm really happy about with this book is that it came out in a $9.99 paperback right away, which is so much more affordable. It will also be out in audiobook format soon! 

That sounds like so much fun. Congrats on a successful year!

Q: BONUS QUESTION: What is your favorite part about summer?

Okay, so my favorite movie of all time is Almost Famous, and in that movie one character is interviewing the other and asks, "What's your favorite thing about music?" The second character replies, "To begin with, everything." That's my answer to this question! I love being warm (I hate the cold), I love the smell of sunscreen, I love ice cream cones. I love literally everything about summer.  

Q: Would you like to leave a tip or a treat for our readers?

A: A treat! I can give away a treat: a signed copy of either COUSINS or THE THIRTEEN DOORS OF BLACK HOUSE (their choice) to one reader.

Thanks so much for such an amazing treat! And thanks for stopping by and celebrating summer reading & fun with us! We loved getting a closer look at your books.

Giveaway Details: Readers, to enter to win Laura's amazing book giveaway, 1) share this post on social media and 2) leave a comment below to thank her for stopping by! Let us know which book of hers you can't wait to read, too!

Giveaway winners will be drawn and announced on or about 7/11!

Books will be shipped in the US only.

About Laura Lavoie:

BIO: Laura Lavoie writes books for kids of all ages, including other summer picture books like Vampire Vacation and Duck, Duck, Taco Truck. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading mysteries and thrillers and spending time in nature. She lives in northern New York with her husband and daughters. 

For more about Laura, check out the below links:

Website: https://lauralavoieauthor.com/

Twitter/X: @llavoieauthor 

Instagram: @llavoieauthor  

To purchase Laura's books on Amazon, or to leave a review for them, click here.

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