An Interview with Rebekah Reese on the Book Birthday of Penny and the Pocket Dragon!

 If you've been reading my newsletters this year, you already know a bit about my history with Rebekah. For any newcomers, fear not, I'm happy to repeat! I had the great fortune of meeting Rebekah in college in 2011ish in Michigan. She was in my ceramics class and I thought she was so cool I actually invited myself to her house, which as the mortifyingly shy introvert I was at the time, should tell you everything you need to know about how cool I really thought she was.
   And still do.
   More than 10 years later (how???) we are writing buddies and art buddies. I have her to thank for the chapter books I've completed. Every artist deserved a Rebekah in their life; she is my beta reader, my hype groupie, an honest and helpful critic, and a sympathetic ear when I'm overwhelmed. And on top of all this she manages a beautiful circus of a household full of fantastically feral children, coaches other writers, weaves baskets, grows a massive garden, makes bread, creates tiny ceramic snails, and writes and illustrates her own work, including graphic novels. (HOW???)
   When I talk about Penny I tell people I begged/insisted she let me illustrate it, and she says that she was the one insisting, so it was a magnificently mutual decision that I needed to make art for this adorable story. Our inner middleschoolers who just wanted to publish a book with a friend are giddy and gleeful to present to you our first collaboration.
   THAT YOU CAN BUY NOW, TODAY, AND SHOULD!

   So here are the questions I had for Rebekah! I definitely recommend you give her a follow, check out her work, and send her so much admiration and support. She deserves it all.

1. How long have you been writing and drawing? When did you know you wanted to make a go at it professionally?
   Ah, let's see, a long time. One time I turned in a math test with zero questions answered and the page full of squids. I failed that test. And that class. But they were good squids. So I'm not sure I ever really sat down and decided I wanted to make a go at it professionally but math sure wasn't going to be an option. 

2. What's your favorite art medium? Or do you prefer writing to arting?
   I think my favorite medium is story and I'm just trying to learn how to use words or pictures well enough to tell them. I would prefer to be able to draw 1000x faster than is humanly possible so every story I come up with could be a graphic novel. Alas I'm very slow. 

3. Tell us about Penny!!!
   Penny! Penny and the Pocket Dragon is a story I told my daughter. It's about a little girl who ends up with a very small (and very grumpy) dragon. It's a goofy fairytale with too much alliteration. There were multiple versions of it over the years and eventually I wrote one of them down. When it was finished it was clear that I'd actually written a story that existed in YOUR world of adorable mythical creatures and that you needed to illustrate it. So I begged you and you said yes and we lived happily ever after. 

4. Tell us about The Girl the Ghost and the Giant!
   The Girl the Ghost and the Giant is the first story I turned into an actual book. It's a folk tale about a giant who has to be killed to stop a harsh winter, but of course the legends are never quite right about the monsters, are they? It's strange, because when you publish you're sort of putting out a younger version of yourself, because usually there are several years between when you write the thing and when people read it. So it very much feels like letting people read my middle-school journal. My art and writing have changed a lot since then but I also wouldn't be the same person if I hadn't written that book. 

5. What project can we look forward to from you next?
   Besides Penny and the Pocket Dragon? What more do you want than tiny dragons in glass jars! Let's see, I have a really short book about Michigan salamanders that is *mostly* done. I like salamanders. I'm working on a comic about an Indian Boarding school in Michigan that I'm really proud of.  And eventually I'll be publishing the middle grade series that I've been working on for forever. That's probably the one I'm the most excited about. It's a series about a kid named Toby who's family are cryptid conservationists. So his family travels the world taking care of monsters. There's lots of sibling drama and awkward teenagers and it's my favorite thing I've written. But boy do series take a long time! 

6. Your top five favorite books! If you can. An impossible question, I know.
   That... is a rude question. only five?! Okay... I think I'll go for the top ones that have been the most influential, in no particular order. 

• 1. The Magicians Nephew by CS Lewis. This one really kicked the imagination into high gear as a kid. It's also dark and creepy and magical which is everything I want in a book. 
• 2. Till We Have Faces, also by Lewis. I remember learning as a kid that the Narnia series were the only books for children that Lewis wrote and being furious with him. How dare he write books for adults! Then I grew up and read this book and forgave him. I read this book every few years. It's a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche and it somehow cuts to the core of what it means to be human. 
• 3. Howl's moving castle by Dianna Wynne Jones. I distinctly remember putting that book down and deciding I wanted to write stories. 
• 4. Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke, really any of his graphic novels.. I feel like Ben taught me how to make comics from these books. His way of showing characters emotions with body language, not just facial expression has been so formative for me. Whenever I get stuck with a drawing I flip through one of his books and find a similar posture to unstick myself. 
• 5. Buzzing by Samuel Sattin and Rhy Hickman. This is a graphic novel I think everyone should read. It's not only a wonderful story, but it does such a good job showing what intrusive thoughts feel like. Even though I don't have OCD like the character in this book, I struggle with intrusive thoughts from anxiety, and this book made me feel really seen. The illustrations are also fantastic. 

7. What fictional character do you identify with most?
   Fictional character I most identify with... hum. That's a great questions. Probably Jill from the Silver Chair. I'd risk getting eaten by giants for a hot bath. 

8. A piece of advice for aspiring writers and artists?
   Keep going! Spend more time working on your story than planning or talking about it. Take your story seriously enough you finish it, but not so seriously you can't take constructive criticism to make it better. 

9. If you could be a salamander, which kind would you be?
   I would be a cave salamander because it's quiet and then I'd be bright orange with spots.

10. Where can we follow you? (Below are links to her website and instagram!)
   You can follow me into a swamp. Or on Instagram and Bluesky.

Bonus question: Will you let me illustrate another book of yours, please? (Correct answer: Yes.)
Yes, but after you publish at least Faun 1. ​

Buy Penny

Rebekah on Instagram