What originally made you want to become an author?
We didn’t set out to become authors; we set out to create resources that teachers could use to bring more Indigenous education and awareness into classrooms. We decided to write a story for this purpose. Johnny is a storyteller and tells stories in many ways: through carving, dance, art, and theatre. Jess loves telling stories in the classroom as a teacher. We knew we wanted to write a story that explored reconciliation through a friendship. When we started writing, we had a clear vision of what we would create and realised that we work very well together. We also discovered the power of storytelling in this way and planned 3 stories about the Two Tricksters. As new authors, we are growing and learning along the way. We love being authors!
In your opinion, what makes a great story?
A great story has a clear theme and has many ideas to explore further that encourage critical thinking. The story has interesting characters who are good role models and who you can relate to. The environment of the story provides depth and context to the characters and their actions. A great story demonstrates how to overcome challenges in a good healing way.
Describe a typical workday in your life as an author. Do you have any unusual writing habits?
We set regular writing dates each week (usually once or twice a week) and we go away on writing retreats for 3 to 4 days when we can. We get a lot of writing completed when we are on a writing retreat. We write side by side in front of a computer. We do a lot of walking and talking to discuss ideas and storylines. We role play scenes in our stories to make sure that what we write captures the true spirit of the characters.
What messages or themes do you hope readers take away from your book?
We hope that our readers can see how the main characters, Johnny and Jessie, created a strong friendship through cultural differences. Their friendship in our story is modeling what reconciliation could be, it demonstrates that we must do the work together with love and respect.
What advice do you have for kids who are interested in writing or illustration?
Just start writing! You will learn a lot along the way. Share your stories with trusted friends, teachers, and family members and ask for their feedback. Incorporate the feedback that you feel enhances your story. A great story takes time and others to help you along the way.
Things that we found that helped us were to know who our audience was, who we were writing for. We had a very clear purpose for our story, so we knew what we were writing about and why. We also identified key moments and scenes that we wanted to include and then wrote the story around these. We asked many others for suggestions and advice and incorporated the ideas that made sense to us. We had a wonderful support network that we could access when we needed help.
It’s your story to tell; you have important things to share!
How do you write your books as a team? How does that work?
When we started writing, we discussed how we would like to work together. We wanted to model being a thoughtful Indigenous and Settler writing team. We did this by sharing leadership in how we made decisions, and we committed to doing everything together. Anything and everything to do with this story would include both of us. We write each sentence side by side. We take the time to listen to one another and to acknowledge when something is important to one or the other; we honour each other in this way. If we have big feelings, we take the time to pause and discuss how we are feeling. We have become even closer friends in this process, and we are full of gratitude for our friendship!