ALPACAS HERE, ALPACAS THERE – Interview with author Carrie Tillotson + a Giveaway!

Hello everyone! So… I have a confession to make. Before I read the book I’m sharing with you today, I had NO idea there was a difference between alpacas and llamas (granted, I don’t get out much!) But this book answered all the questions I had about these adorable animals and then some. Here’s the review I posted when the book came out earlier this year:

I’ll be honest, I knew nothing about alpacas until I got my hands on this adorable and information-packed picture book. I especially love the format, with the main text in rhyme and sidebars giving more information on each page. Inspired by Peruvian folk art, the stunning colorful illustrations highlight the sweet nature of these animals and their caretakers. The back matter is chock full of even more amazing information about alpacas, as well as a glossary. And OMG the end-papers – I’m obsessed! A great book for anyone looking to learn more about these beautiful and important creatures.

I’m so excited to have author Carrie Tillotson here to answer even MORE questions about alpacas and the making of this beautiful book. Welcome Carrie!

CT: Thanks so much for having me!

RGL: I am SUCH a fan of nonfiction picture books structured this way, with a rhyming story as the main text for younger readers and prose sidebars with more information for older readers. I’m actually working on a manuscript like this myself right now am finding it so fun to do all the research but also so challenging to decide what to include, since a picture book can obviously only hold so much information! Tell us a bit about your writing process for this book. Did you start with doing all the research first and then sit down to write the main text or did you research as you went? And how did you decide what info to put into the main text vs. side bars vs. back matter? (Also, any tips for keeping track of it all?!)

CT: Well, the process for writing this book was such a long one (10 years from first draft to publication!) that the research and writing process was definitely iterative. Research. Write. Revise. Repeat! I had done a lot of research prior to writing the manuscript, primarily because I originally wanted an alpaca farm of my own. By the time I realized I’d be better off writing a book about alpacas than owning my own farm, a lot of the research had been done, at least to get me started on a first draft. But along the way,  I definitely had did more research, from reading books, to visiting alpaca farms, and interviewing people on the phone.

I knew I wanted the primary text to rhyme and be very simple. With such a small amount of space, there wasn’t room for a whole lot of facts in each stanza. I was able to build upon the main idea of each rhyming stanza with more detail in the secondary text. 

I am probably the worst person to ask about keeping track of research! I’m not very good at keeping track as I go. I tend to like to read a lot first, and whatever sticks in my brain is what’s most important. I did photocopy a lot of relevant pages from books and articles after the fact, and now I have a giant file folder with all of those materials saved. It came in very handy during the fact-checking process. But I don’t really have a great system otherwise. I’m one of those disorganized people that can (usually) find the thing I need among all the messy piles.

RGL: Oh, good to know I’m not the only one completely disorganized with my research! I’m sure you probably had a lot of research that didn’t make it into the book at all. What is the most interesting thing you learned about alpacas that didn’t make the cut?

CT: One fact I thought was fun about alpacas is that they poop in communal dung piles, which makes cleaning up after them really easy!

RGL: Ha! That is quite the fun fact! So, what made you decide to write this story in rhyme? Was this one always in rhyme or did you experiment with prose before landing on this combination “layered text” format?

CT: This was one of the first stories I worked on when I decided to write seriously for children. I’m not sure why I initially tried writing it in rhyme. Perhaps because alpacas are such adorable animals with their own bouncy rhythms? But back then I knew nothing about writing in rhyme. My initial attempts lacked rhythm and meter and used a lot of forced and slant rhyme. I had a critique with an editor, who encouraged me to revise the story in prose and submit it to her. I did, and she passed. 

Over many months (and years!) I kept revising. Eventually the story got to a place where I didn’t like it at all. My critique partner, Hannah Holt, suggested a new title, ALPACAS HERE, ALPACAS THERE, which unlocked something in me. It sparked an invitation to rhyme again. So, I dove headfirst into learning how to write in rhyme, with consistent meter and structure, and without forced or slant rhyme.

Once I had an agent, and we went out on submission with this story, I asked if we could send it to that first editor who I’d had a critique with years earlier. Since the story had changed so much, and so many years had passed (7!), my agent agreed. And would you believe it, that editor, Andrea Welch with Beach Lane Books, is the one who acquired it!

RGL: What a fantastic submissions story! Ok, so… I’m a little obsessed with Elisa Chavarri’s art, especially those endpapers! I seriously want to use them as wallpaper somewhere in my house (powder room, maybe?). I see that Elisa mentions in her note that she is Peruvian, where the majority of alpacas reside, and her art brings such authenticity to the book. Did you have any say in choosing Elisa for this project? How much input did you have into the illustrations over all? Did you have a lot of illustration notes? 

CT: I’m in love with Elisa’s art, too! I actually cried when I first saw her sketches for the book. It was incredible to see how she brought the words to life. I did have some say in choosing Elisa for the project. In fact, when my editor asked if I had any illustrators or styles in mind, I suggested Elisa, and thank goodness she said yes! 

I did have some input into the illustrations at the sketch stage and the final art stage, and actually had a bit of a blunder on my end. On one of the spreads, the text talks about alpacas being among the herd and being corralled and close. When I saw this sketch for this spread, I suggested adding a fence to the right half of the spread to go along with the words “corralled and close” because I had envisioned that part of the scene taking place in North America. But when final art came in, I realized the whole scene was set in South America, showing alpacas inside a stone corral, but now with a fence inside the stone corral on the right hand side of the page. I felt so bad, because I knew this was incorrect. There would not be a fence inside a stone corral. I had to ask for the fence to be removed. I’m not sure if Elisa had to repaint the whole scene or not (sorry, Elisa!), but am thankful for a gracious team who worked to make it correct. I think I had a few other small notes, but that one certainly stands out, as I felt like a total idiot over it since I was the one who asked for the fence in the first place!

As for art notes, there were only a handful of explanatory notes when I felt like the primary text might not be super clear. For example, the line that says “crystal shawl” had an art note reading “[snow clinging to fleece]”. And for “hands SNIP-snip-SNIP”, it said “[manual shears/knife]”. Basically, just notes to explain when the text might not have been clear enough on its own.

RGL: OMG, I would have felt so bad about the fence too, but so glad it all worked out. And now, my favorite question to ask my guests: 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?!)

CT: Ooh, I love this question! One question no one has yet asked me about the making of this book is: 

Why did you cry when seeing the sketches for the first time?

I cried because Elisa Chavarri’s art had finally brought my words to life. It was a moment of both awe, that someone could create art that beautiful, but also a moment of catharsis. This book was one of the earliest manuscripts I had worked on, and the only one from way back then that I had persisted with, over and over, through so many different versions. The moment of seeing the artwork for the first time was magical, like it was releasing all those years of hard work. I both couldn’t believe my work was finally going to be a book, and that it was going to be that beautiful. So to all the other writers out there, waiting and wondering if their manuscripts will ever turn into books: keep working, keep going! Only with perseverance (and maybe some luck), will it get there, in order to be illustrated by an amazing artist.

RGL: Thank you so much for sharing that story and words of encouragement with us. I’m so thrilled for you and for this book!

And yes, dear readers, Carrie has agreed to send a copy of ALPACAS HERE, ALPACAS THERE to one lucky reader! Simply comment on this post to enter (US-mainland addresses only). I will announce the winner at end of my next post (July 22nd).

AND, the winner of last month’s giveaway, a copy of Shannon Anderson’s I LOVE BLUEBERRIES is….

**Denise Snyder!!!!***

Congrats, Denise! Please email me at RebeccaWrites4Kids@gmail.com to claim your prize!

Carrie’s Bio:

Carrie Tillotson is an award-winning children’s picture book author. Her newest title is Alpacas Here, Alpacas There. Her previous books, Counting to Bananas and B Is for Bananas, have received starred reviews, appeared on state lists, and won awards, including the 2023 Good Housekeeping Kids’ Book Award and SCBWI Crystal Kite Honor Award. As a child, Carrie loved to read, paint, and draw, and thought books were written by long-dead people. She later met a real-live author and realized she could be an author one day, too.

After getting a master’s degree in public health, Carrie worked as a biostatistician for more than ten years and now sculpts her interests in science into playful picture books. When not reading and writing, you can find her running, drawing, painting, and eating ice cream (though usually not all at the same time). She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and two dogs who are always going bananas. Subscribe to her newsletter, visit her at CarrieTillotson.com, or follow her on Instagram for all the latest book buzz.