You May Contribute A Verse

Rejecting Rejection with Giuseppe Castellano

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!
This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.
Some things are worth waiting for. Our conversation touches on that in more ways than one. Today’s guest is Giuseppe Castellano, founder of the Illustration Department, a multifaceted enterprise focusing on encouraging and developing illustrators around the world through online learning and mentorship in a variety of areas.
Giuseppe also hosts the Illustration Department podcast, so you know he’s bringing the professionalism goods to this conversation. And he’s got the bona fides, credentialed in illustration and working as an art director for Penguin and Simon and Schuster for close to fifteen years.
Giuseppe and I have been working toward this conversation for two years, and I am overjoyed to finally share it. Short content advisory: the three of us discuss Giuseppe’s battle with severe depression and the struggle to keep on going and keep on flowing down that river toward better days, despite the despair, rejection, hardship, and other obstacles we encounter along the way.
Find out more about Giuseppe, The Illustration Department, and the ID podcast at one link: illustrationdept.com.

No Notes, Just Vibes With Kaitlyn Sanchez

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.
Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 
Our guest for this conversation was Kaitlyn Sanchez, a literary agent at Context Literary. You can find her on Twitter @KaitlynLeann17 and his website kaitlynleannsanchez.com
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 
Our new theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  
Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive @verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time. 
You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

Chaos Ensues with Kaz Windness!

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!
This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.
I think we’re starting to establish that there’s no such thing as a normal kidlit publishing journey. Our guest today is author-illustrator Kaz Windness, out with her debut picture book, Swim, Jim! this May. Among Kaz’s claims to fame prior to this year’s debut with Swim, Jim!’s, are a book of goth nursery rhymes called Mother Goth, a semi-graphic sort-of graphic novel about a murderous and moody unicorn called If UR Stabby, and a viral picture of a thrift store leotard. We’ll let that one speak for itself.
We caught up with Kaz late in 2021, just after Swim, Jim!’s cover reveal, about the time of Fred Koehler’s Quinn’s Monsters project, which Kaz was also participating in, and simultaneous with some regrettably missed Stabby the Unicorn painting auctions. Maybe next time. How things can change in just a few months – there’s a lot to talk about, and a lot more to come from Kaz.
Find her absolutely gorgeous – and only occasionally creepy – art and words at windnessbooks.com.
Chaos ensues with Kaz. Controlled chaos, delightful chaos, entertaining chaos! Here is Kaz Windness’s verse.

Perspective, Kindness, and Flowers With Benson Shum

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.
Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 
Our guest for this conversation was Benson Shum. You can find him on Twitter @bshum79 and his website bensonshum.com  
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versy, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 
Our new theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  
Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time. 
Episode 38 of You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

Let It Go Like A Farting Pig with Maddie Frost

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!
This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.
Our guest this week is picture book storyteller Maddie Frost, who is the new illustrator emeritus of this very podcast! To get a sample of her work and sensibilities, simply look at your phone or computer screen. It’s Versey the Quokka!
Do the work, put yourself out there, and good things will happen. That’s Brenna’s and my mindset and the mindset of our guest Maddie Frost, who has a bunch of work out in the world, namely for my household Wakey Birds, which is in regular bedtime rotation at the moment.
Combining Maddie’s openness to new opportunity with her hunger for the next big fun thing has led to a very productive career so far. Including a number of illustrator and author-illustrator credits to her name, she’s got four books coming out this year alone, including Capybara is Friends with Everyone, Not Yet, Yeti, Iguana Be A Dragon, and Let’s Draw Fun Animals, a how-to book that, we’ve been promised, also contains funtivities. As of episode publication, Maddie’s just done a cover reveal for this one on her Twitter, @_maddiefrost.
If you couldn’t already surmise, fun’s the name of the game today. Hope you enjoy!
Find Maddie Frost on Twitter!
Find Josh and Brenna on Twitter!

I Love A Good Exclamation Point! An Interview with Kailei Pew

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.
Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 
Our guest for this conversation was Kailei Pew. You can find her on Twitter @pewkailei and on her website kaileipewbooks.com where you will find all the information about the Kids' Choice Kidlit Writing Contest! 
Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time.

Manifesting with Jerrold Connors

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!
This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.
Can we all just get a little break here? Can we switch gears, start fresh, get some wind in our sails, make a little headway? It ain’t easy out here in the trenches, surviving while creating.
Welcome to 2022. 2022 is about manifesting greatness in ourselves and in the world. When will it all end? When we will it to be so through our intentions and actions and good vibes.
We are the versions of ourselves who have done great things and will do them again in the future. Brenna’s and my conversation with author-illustrator Jerrold Connors was so fun to have, and such a positive way to open a new year in an uncertain time.
Jerrold Connors – a creator whose career has touched on multimedia, on games, on animation, on writing, on illustration, and on education – is in a particular stage of his career where he is the main character of his own story, with motivations and intentions and inspiration that he’s following to grow himself, his craft, and his sense of satisfaction with the world.
Good vibes and a good reality check here. Take our chat with Jerrold and enter 2022 with some creative wind in your sails. Create for the sake of creating.
Here is Jerrold Connors’s verse.

Debuts and Layers with Moni Ritchie Hadley

Debuts and layers and parallels, oh my. Today’s conversation is with author Moni Ritchie Hadley, whose debut story (illustrated by Mizuho Fujisawa) is The Star Festival, published by Albert Whitman this year, 2021. The Star Festival is intergenerational, intercultural, loving, layered, and a little cheeky. A story of connection and caring.
Moni is an educator and writer, a self-described half-Japanese military brat who came up balancing Japanese and American cultures, and daydreaming – which I find to be one of the most useful skills for picture book writing.
The best of us comes from a place of personal connection and passion, even if we don’t recognize it at first. We’ll save the details to be revealed during our conversation, but Moni’s experiences with bringing The Star Festival to life remind us to keep our minds, eyes, ears, and heart open so that the world can sometimes steer us in the right direction.
Happenstance is a funny thing. Not only is The Star Festival Moni’s debut picture book, but also Brenna’s and my first recorded author interview after partnering up, which is also a result of happenstance and keeping eyes open for opportunity.
Mentions in this episode include a big shout out to Storyteller Academy, specifically Jim Averbeck's Writing Picture Book Manuscripts course. 
Enjoy both this conversation and the impending end of 2021! Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show, and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Introverted Extrovert; An Interview with Matt Forrest Esenwine

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, and outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.
Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 
Our guest for this conversation was Matt Forrest Esenwine. You can find him on Twitter @mattforrestVW or his website mattforrest.com
If you’re interested in hearing more about how to handle rejection. Jia Jiang’s Ted Talk, What I Learned From 100 Days of Rejection was incredibly eye-opening. 
Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show, and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time. 

Ohana with Margo Sorenson!

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!
This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.
There are many times in the life of being a fan of things that you consume something, and then want nothing more than to pick the brain of the person who created it.
Hot off consuming the picture book Calvin Gets the Last Word, Brenna and I got one of the primary benefits of doing this podcast, which is to get to pick the brain of one of the persons who created it, author Margo Sorenson (in partnership with illustrator Mike Deas).
Margo is a prolific multi-genre author who has had a storied career thus far, and built her resilience and tenacity by choosing to have taught middle schoolers.
Margo’s work is largely tinged with ohana, the Hawai’ian concept of family, seen through works like her picture book Little Calabash and woven into her identity as an author. I love Margo’s Hawai’ian name Leipua’ala, granted to her by a family friend, meaning ‘little gifts for children.’
What you’ll hear in this episode, aside from us deconstructing Calvin Gets the Last Word, is partial silence from me (especially toward the end), both because I had an internet outage during our conversation, but more importantly because I’m super jealous of Brenna and Margo’s newfound relationship as agency siblings, calabash cousins in the Dan Cramer of Page Turner Literary family.
Such a pleasure to share this conversation. Here is Margo Sorenson’s verse.