CB: Siobhan, what was your role in creating Vunce Upon a Time?
SV: Co-writer, co-pilot, 50% responsible for bringing the awesome.
CB: After releasing A Little Friendly Advice in 2008, you said in an interview that you were "programmed to write young adult fiction." What brought you to write and illustrate a picture book?
SV: My heart is definitely in young adult fiction, but the chance to work with J.otto was too amazing
to pass up! But even though Vunce is my first picture book, I worked in pre-school television before
I became a writer, so a younger audience wasn't completely outside my realm of experience.
CB: Jim, how does the process of collaboration compare to working alone? What was it like working with Siobhan?
JS: I like to collaborate and be on a co-inspirational team! It's like how ping-pong is actually less fun
alone. And I love Siobhan. She is so very nicely committed to words and stories and truths.
CB: What was one of your favorite moments while collaborating on the project?
JS: When I was first drawing Dagmar, he looked like an adult no matter what I did. Then he popped
into his current form. It was a relief!
SV: My favorite moment was the first time Jimmy sent me a drawing of Dagmar. We were in the middle
of a revision with the manuscript, and being able to look at the character made it that much easier
to tell his story.
CB: What inspired you to use the world of vampires as a setting for a story?
SV: We loved the idea of a vegetarian vampire, an outcast in his world, and tried to think about
a place where he could really, truly come into his own.
JS: I am of Romanian descent; my mother is from Romania…a province over from Transylvania,
home of the you-know-whos.
CB: Like Olive, The Other Reindeer, Vunce Upon a Time features an atypical hero—a vampire—who
doesn't quite fit the standard definition of "normal." How did you conceptualize Dagmar?
JS: I have not offered up a normal hero in any of my books yet. Conceptually, I observed my son,
who is a committed, ethical vegetarian, and, I believe, one-sixteenth vampire!
CB: In Vunce, Dagmar learns a lot from his expedition into the human world. What message were you trying to communicate to kids?
JS: The message is that no matter what disguise you or anyone wears, don't let your fears keep you
from connecting to this very wonderful shared existence!
CB: What do you think makes Dagmar such an appealing character? Even if they don't run from garlic or sleep in coffins, do you think kids will identify with him?
SV: Absolutely. Dagmar is both underestimated and overprotected because he is different. But when
Dagmar is forced outside of his comfort zone, he discovers that he is stronger and braver than
anyone could have suspected…even Dagmar himself! That's the kind of formative experience
everyone goes through at some point in life.
JS: I'm not sure about identifying. That's not my intent, but I hope that Dagmar's condition
helps kids with any feelings they may have concerning vampires, candy, fear, and friendships
against-the-odds.
CB: Do either of you have more projects that we can look forward to?
SV: I'd love to do another picture book, and have a few ideas I'm currently mulling. My first young
adult novel, A Little Friendly Advice, came out in March 2008. My second young adult novel,
Same Difference, will be released in spring 2009.
JS: And I'm very excited about this thing called the Chore Board that's coming out soon. Google it
in a few months!
CB: How would you describe your creative process when you're creating a picture book? How does inspiration usually strike? Do you have the whole story of a book worked out before you start writing?
JS: Inspiration strikes like lightning…it always happens during a storm! Yes, most of the idea is
there before I start writing. I just need to make it communicable.
CB: Did you confront any challenges while working on Vunce?
JS: Oddly, none. Except, maybe, I didn't want to stop drawing on it. Visually, it's very dense!
CB: At this point in your career, Jim, what is the biggest reward of creating a picture book?
JS: Just being there to make a nice connection between children and adults and stories and art.
Long may books be important!
