YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING + Interview with debut author Kelly Conroy + a GIVEAWAY!

I couldn’t be more thrilled today to help my friend and critique partner Kelly Conroy celebrate the book birthday for her debut, YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING, illustrated by Abigail Hookham and published by Tiger Tales/Penguin Random House!

Kelly and I met in 2019 when we (along with another CP and friend Jenna Waldman) were all chosen by Lori Degman as her mentees in the #PBChat Mentorship Program. The three of us have really “grown up” in this business together over the last five-ish years, and I am so thrilled to share this special day with Kelly. YAY!

YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING is an absolutely gorgeous, poetic picture book that expresses the deep and forever love we feel for our children, and our understanding of how their arrival changes our lives and the lives of all who have the privilege and joy of knowing them. It is perfect both as a baby shower gift for a soon-to-be mother or a cuddle-up bedtime book to share with the little ones who have already blessed our lives.

Seriously, with my first born headed to college next year, I cannot read this book without bawling my eyes out. You’ll soon see why….Here’s my interview with Kelly:

RGL: Kelly, welcome to Picture Book Builders! Tell us, what inspired you to write this beautiful book?

KC: Hi Rebecca! Thanks for inviting me! 

This book was fifteen years in the making. When my first son was born, he would smile at everyone, and everyone would smile back. And I thought, how great would it be if everyone just smiled at each other? So, I wrote a pay-it-forward story about a baby who changes the world by being happy, and that started my whole picture book writing journey. 

RGL: Your rhyme, meter, and word choices are all, as usual, absolutely gorgeous. What was the most challenging part of the writing process for this one? 

KC: Well, thank you, and thank you for being my critique partner. I’ve learned SO much from our critique group (shout out to NWOTB).

At first, I really wanted every stanza to end with “everything.” But everything doesn’t rhyme with very many things that didn’t feel forced. Luckily, I was able to find one rhyme that I really loved that worked well for the end of a day so (Spoiler alert!) I was able to finish with it.

Another really technical challenge was that Tiger Tales gave the title: You Are My Everything. For your readers who don’t geek out about meter as much as you and I do, here’s a little rhyming lesson:

• u = unstressed beat
• / = stressed beat
• The number of unstressed beats between stressed beats must always be 1 or it must always be 2. You can’t go back and forth.
• If you say, “you are my everything,” on its own, the meter is: 
  • /uu/uu
  • YOU are my EV-ree-thing
• BUT the rest of the story came to me in the meter: u/u/u, so I had to set it up in a way to force the reader to stress:
  • you ARE my EV-ree-THING
  • u/u/u/ which works. 
• BUT in other places, I wanted to stress “you” instead of “are, so I changed it to “you’re.” Example:
  • You’re my early morning sunriseYOU’RE my EAR-lee MORN-ing SUN-rise
  • /u/u/u/u

(I know – this is probably your most riveting interview yet.)

RGL: Ha! Totally! 🙂

So, I happen to know, as your critique partner, that this story didn’t begin as one about elephants. Can you share the story behind the story and how the change from human to animal characters impacted your approach to the revision process? 

KC: Several years after my original story (See question 1), Perry Emerson from Tiger Tales asked my agent, Sarah Stephens, if she had any clients who would like to write an I Love You story that also includes how the baby affects the larger community — and could it also maybe be about elephants — so I dove back in. 

Instead of talking about human baby specific actions or traits, I started brainstorming different metaphors and nicknames for babies: sugar, sunshine, star… a rhyming pattern emerged, and the rest started falling into place.

The text of YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING is very different than my original story, but the heart and theme are the same.

RGL: The illustrations are absolutely STUNNING. Seriously, I want to buy prints and hang them on my walls. Did you have any say in the illustrator selection and did you give any feedback along the way regarding the illustrations? Do you have a favorite spread? (I bet it must be SO hard to choose!)

KC: Me too! Oh my goodness, Abigail Hookham’s illustrations are incredible. I can’t believe I get to be associated with this book! I did not have any say in selecting her, but I mean, Tiger Tales definitely made the correct choice. I was able to give feedback, but all I remember is fangirling over the adorable elephants and her magical use of light. And yes, I love every spread, but the shooting star page takes my breath away. And I want to wallpaper my office with her endpapers.

RGL: And, of course, my favorite: What is one question no one has yet to ask you about the making of this book that you would love to answer? (And what’s the answer?!)

KC: Oooh! I feel so powerful! I get to pick the question AND the answer?!?!

I’ll tell a little story – Perry, the editor, wanted to talk to me about the project before I started working on it, so we set up a zoom call. This was the week before Easter, so everyone’s schedules were a little hectic, and I was going on vacation. Also, Perry was in London. I was in North Carolina, and my agent, Sarah, was in California which, as you probably know, are all very different time zones. 

Sarah was able to start her day early, Perry was able to stay at work late, and the time that ended up working was the exact same time my parents and sister, who I hadn’t seen for a while, were arriving at the vacation house. So, I quickly said hello, then kicked everyone out and told them they were banished for at least an hour.  And they had to take the dogs. 

I felt bad for my horrible greeting, but I think they’ve forgiven me. 

RGL: Thank you so much for stopping by the Picture Book Builders, Kelly!

Kelly has generously offered to giveaway either a manuscript critique OR a 30-minute Ask-Me-Anything Zoom call! To enter, just comment on this post and I will announce the winner in my next post, scheduled for Dec. 3rd!

And now for the winner of last month’s GIVEAWAY of either a signed copy of my latest picture book, LITTLE DREIDEL LEARNS TO SPIN *or a 30-minute Ask-Me-Anything Zoom call with me. And the winner is….

***Sherry Dubis!!!!!***

Congrats, Sherry! Please email me at [email protected] to claim your prize!

Kelly’s Bio:

Picture book writer and poet, Kelly Conroy, is 50% silly, fun-loving, never-grow-up big kid and 50% hard-working, focused, analytical former actuary. She loves all things magical, whimsical, and numerical, and her goal in life is to make people smile.

She was initially inspired to write by her cousins, Stan and Jan Berenstain, creators of the Berenstain Bears. She continues to be inspired by her husband, two rambunctious sons, and mini goldendoodle in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

To learn more about her, please visit www.kellyconroy.com or follow her on Instagram @KellyConroyBooks. Kelly is represented by Sarah Stephens at Red Fox Literary.