Interview with Beth Consugar

Hey, everyone, I’m excited to introduce Beth Consugar, author of Swanee Day. Her picture book is about a young swan, Grace, who learns the importance of manners. I interviewed Beth to find out just how Swanee Day came to be written, and to find out how she’s enjoying the title of author.

What was your inspiration?

This story came about for one of our Monthly Write-Off challenges on the writer’s retreat. At the time I wrote this, I was frequently reminding my daughter to remember her manners. It just seemed to fit for me.

Was this very hard to write? Or did everything just fall into place?

Writing was the easy part - it's the revising that was tough!

Did you have fun as you wrote it?

I really enjoyed writing this. It was a lot of fun, and it's even more fun to see it in print!

Swans are graceful birds, but after reading Swanee Day, we learn that manners are very important to swans. What made you picks manners as the lesson for Grace to learn?

It just seemed that I was reminding my daughter about her manners, so I had manners on my mind at the time!

Was it hard waiting to see the finished product?

Absolutely! The illustrations came one at a time, and I was always anxious to see the next one. Then when I found out the book was sent to the printer, I was on the edge of my seat!

Will there be any more picture books?

I hope so! I have some that I wrote but haven't revised. I think it's time to pull some of them out of the box. Oh, and November is also PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month), so I'm sure that will get me writing some more!

Are you enjoying the title of author?

Yes! It still seems strange to me, but it's starting to sink in. It really hit me when someone asked me what I do for a living, and someone else interjected and said "SHE'S AN AUTHOR!" That's when it became real, to hear someone else call me an author!

 

Thanks so much for your time, Beth, and I wish you best of luck with your writing! Below are links where Swanee Day is available for purchase.

http://www.halopublishing.com/bookstore/Beth-Consugar

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/swanee-day-beth-consugar/1116977448?ean=9781612441764

http://www.amazon.com/Swanee-Day-Beth-Consugar/dp/1612441769/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382460940&sr=1-1&keywords=Swanee+Day

Stay tuned for more interviews from great authors!