 Today we celebrate the book birthday of Pencil & Eraser: We have a Dull-Emma! We sat down with Musa Jenny Alvarado to learn about the inspiration behind this story. Tell us a little bit about the book: Pencil & Eraser: We Have a Dull-emma!: Fiction Early Graphic Novel It's the start of a new school year, and Pencil and Eraser are ready for anything. Except when Pencil notices her point has dulled. That's never happened before and she feels...pointless. Stella can't write with a dull pencil. So what can Pencil do? The only answer is to leave the comfort of their desk behind and venture out to find a sharpener. But if Pencil is going on an adventure, she'll need to bring her (reluctant) bestie Eraser along for the ride. Together they'll have to traverse the classroom, scale a mountain-sized desk, enter uncharted territory of the school hallway, and avoid being caught by the janitor. Can Pencil and Eraser manage all that before Stella and her classmates return from recess? Sounds like an adventure. What 3 words would you use to describe your book? Funny, Colorful, and Silly. Are you agented? If so, can you share how you got one? Yes, my agent is Lane Clarke. I was not actively looking for agents but I told my fiance that I was going to get everything together and give myself a month to prepare to start querying and, I kid you not, the next day I received an email from Lane. She had seen my art on twitter and wanted to set up a chat. In our chat I told her about my interest in writing and that I had some dummies if she was interested in seeing them. She was, and after looking them over she offered to represent me as an author-illustrator but wanted me to look at other agents and get back to her if I wanted her representation since I hadn’t queried before. Well, after a few days I decided that I wanted her as an agent because of the good vibes on our chat that got from her. So I signed and within a couple of months I sold my first book. What 3 recommendations would you give writers who are starting out? READ! Read in the genre you want to write in but also in those you don’t. I was so against this at first because I didn’t want to be influenced by others' ideas but you need to read what’s popular and current to be able to sell a book that people would be interested in now. Take the leap! I took so long to query. I had so many books and dummies ready to show because I was so afraid to query. If my agent hadn’t contacted me, who knows when I would have actually started. Be a student. I will always be a student. There will always be something to learn. Whether it’s taking paid classes, watching free webinars and videos or listening to podcasts, there is always something to learn about writing and the publishing industry. It’s ever evolving and we should be too. What is on your creative bucket list? I would love to publish in every genre of kidlit. I am currently working on a middle grade graphic novel pitch and a couple of chapter book series ideas. What books are on your to-be-read list? I’m on a graphic novel kick right now. I’m finishing up The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor and after that I'll dive into The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao.
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