Update: Winner Announced! Celebrate National Read a Book Day with Evelyn Bookless!

9/24: Congrats to Pamela Hansen on winning Evelyn's book giveaway! We'll be in touch soon with more details.

A special thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate National Read a Book Day!

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9/6

Hi, readers, writers, and game players, too! Today is National Read a Book Day and we have a special treat in store. Evelyn Bookless is here with her newest book, JINX! which is not only a perfect read, but a perfect game to play today to celebrate! Follow her storybook character who's a talker and a trickster! From the very beginning, he challenges the reader to a fun game, resulting in a . . . JINX! Until that jinx is lifted, the reader is now forbidden to talk! Ready to hear more about Evelyn and her new book, PLUS want a chance to win your own copy and play your own game of jinx with friends and family? Read on...

Q. Hi Evelyn! It's great to have you back and hear all about your brand-new book, Jinx! This book sounds like a fascinating and fun read on National Read a Book Day. For those meeting you for the first time, can you share more about yourself and your children's books? What inspired you to become a children's author?

A: Thanks for having me! I am thrilled to share my new book on National Read a Book Day! I believe that supporting children to read for pleasure has never been more important, and I think humor is one of the best ways for kids to enjoy stories.

I grew up in the wild and windy west of Ireland. I always loved to read and my favorite part of the week was when the school bus stopped at the library on the way home. Everyone flocked in, as if they had never seen a book before in their lives, and dove for their favorites before it was too late!

I studied English at university (where there was still a lot of running and grabbing of books, especially at exam time).  Later I became a teacher and fell in love with children's stories all over again.

With a thirst for adventure, I have taught in schools all around the world. Now I live by the sea in Spain, and spends my time writing stories, visiting schools, and practicing Spanish with anyone who can bear it. I love to write funny stories and am inspired by my son, and his beautiful belly laughs at silly stuff.

I am the author of Captain Green and the Plastic Scene, illustrated by Danny Deeptown (2019) and Captain Green and the Tree Machine, Danny Deeptown (2021) which won the Singapore National Best Picture Book Award.

My newest book, Jinx! was released on May 6^th.

JINX! is a playful, interactive story inspired by the classic childhood game that dares you to stay silent—no matter how much you want to speak!

JINX! tempts you to squirm, screech and giggle... But don’t let it, because if you do, you lose! Or maybe you can stay as silent as a mouse and win the game. It won’t be easy. You’re up against one clever character with sneaky skills to make you scream!

It’s a fun, high-energy read-aloud that’s perfect for bedtime, classrooms, or story-time sessions.

Q. JINX! is such a unique book! Not only is it a fun story to read but it encourages the readers to play a game of Jinx (my kids love playing this game and admittedly trick me quite often, lol). Can you share more about your book with the readers? What inspired this?

A: Thank you so much. Well JINX! was most definitely born out of my childhood. Back in the 1980’s in Ireland, we had three TV channels and, of course, no Internet. Playing jinx was one of the many ways my siblings and I liked to torture, I mean play, with each other. I may have spent a good 42% of my childhood trapped in a jinx and that gave me plenty of time to think up stories.

As you say, JINX! is based on a popular game that children still enjoy today. I love that such a simple game, that starts with just one word, still captures imaginations and causes laughter and frustration in equal measure.

JINX! is exactly what it sounds like: a game turned into a book which is also a game! The main character talks directly to the reader and jinxes them. Then they spend the rest of the book trying to trick the reader into losing the game. In one attempt, the book character declares the reader must love chewing worms and if they don’t answer it must be true. Young readers will know the stakes, but whether they can keep it together or not is anyone’s guess.

Q. Turning a game into a book is such a clever concept! This also must be tricky to pull off. What tips do you have for readers looking to do the same? Did you overcome any challenges along the way?

A: I was keen to try to write a story based on a childhood game after being inspired by THE LEGEND OF ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS (Dewalt, Rex) so I brainstormed a few ideas. Jinx was the clear winner for me due to its simplicity and the fun I had playing it.

I have to admit JINX! has been one of the easiest stories I have written, and it seemed to fall into place in no time. Thanks to my amazing critique partners, I was able to quickly smooth the rough edges to get it into shape. I was surprised when there were no edits made on acquisition. Most of my stories do not behave so nicely!

JINX! is an interactive story and the biggest challenge was how to trick young readers into getting jinxed in a simple but effective way so the fun could start. The story is devised to encourage readers to say a word at the same time as the character in this book who wants to jinx them. In the end I settled on the following: 

I bet I can say the color on the next page before you.

I need to hear you, so say it loud.

Ready?

I had a lot of fun coming up with different ways for the book character to try to trick the reader into talking once jinxed, and therefore losing the game. The character tries everything to get readers to giggle, yelp or scream, and their growing frustration is all part of the fun.

Q. Can you share your favorite spread from the book and why? What did you love most about working with your illustrator and coming up with such a unique, funny, and lovable character?

A: Anna did such a terrific job bringing JINX! to life and I am beyond thrilled with the illustrations. I hadn’t indicated what sort of creature the main character was, or if it was indeed even a creature. I left it completely open to interpretation. So, when I saw her adorable, pink character for the first time, I was blown away. She has managed to portray tons of fun and mischief on every page.

I was surprised by lots of her creative ideas… roller-skates, cowboy hats, polka dotted underpants to name a few.  She has brought so much life and joy to what is essentially one character talking to the reader for the entire book.

One of my favorites, and it is so hard to choose, is when the main character has just tricked the reader into a jinx and they are so pleased with themselves. Anna has shown the character talking into one of those cute toy telephones from the 1980’s. It looks so sweet and joyful.

Q: Do you have any advice for other picture book writers?

A: Oh gosh! Don’t get trapped in a jinx if you can avoid it! Ha ha!

Mining our own childhood experiences for story ideas is an often said and totally top tip. Childhood memories are so powerful and help writers find ideas that are of interest to kids and can be written from their perspective.

But I think the most important advice of all is to simply write what you love. That can be funny or not. But most of all, make sure it comes from the heart. Then you have already done what matters most. 

Thanks for featuring JINX! on Seasons of Kidlit. I am thrilled to share this story with you and your readers.

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

A: A treat! I'd love to offer my new book to one lucky reader.

WOW! Thanks so much for such a sweet gift. And thanks for joining us again - it was a pleasure getting to hear from you and getting a closer look at your new book!

Giveaway Details: Readers, to enter to win Evelyn's book giveaway, 1) share this post on social media and 2) leave a comment below to thank her for stopping by. Feel free to share funny cat/game GIFs, too!

Giveaway winners will be drawn and announced on or about 09/20!

Books will be shipped in the US only.

About Evelyn Bookless:

Evelyn grew up in the wild and windy west of Ireland. She spent her time playing in the trees with her siblings, making up games, and getting up to plenty of mischief.

Evelyn has always loved to read. Her favorite part of the week was when the school bus stopped at the library on the way home. Everyone flocked in, as if they had never seen a book before in their lives, and dove for their favorites before it was too late!

And with only two TV channels at the time, and no internet, she played JINX... a lot! She was eventually released from a particularly long JINX, so that she could study English at university and later became a teacher. Evelyn loves adventures of all kinds, nature, animals, and laughing a lot with her husband and son.

Evelyn now lives in Spain and her favorite place to be is in the sea, dreaming up silly stuff.

For more about Evelyn, check out the below links:

Find out more about Evelyn here: http://www.evelynbookless.com

Instagram: @evelynbookless

Bluesky: evelynbookless.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/evelynbookless.bsky.social

Facebook: www.facebook.com/evelynbooklessauthor/

X: @evelynbookless

To purchase a copy of JINX! or to leave a review for it, see the below:

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jinx-evelyn-bookless/1146598912

Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/jinx/21977761?ean=9781478880417

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/JINX-Evelyn-Bookless/dp/1478880406

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