Author and Illustrator, Mikey Brooks ~ Interview

Today we welcome an awesome 

author and illustrator, Mikey Brooks!!!

About Mikey:

Mikey Brooks is an author/illustrator with a BS in Creative 

Writing from Utah State University. Illustration

has always been a love of Mikey’s. His art has been seen in many forms from picture books to murals for community art productions. He creates full-room murals and loves to doodle on almost anything. He also manages a bakery where he also is a cake artist and decorator. He author/illustrated Bean’s Dragons, ABC Adventures: Magical Creatures, and Trouble with Bernie. He also illustrated Bongo Flo and Ocelot Scott, both by Carolyn Quist, and Lucius and the Christmas Star, by Jim Long. He’s had poetry and personal essays published in university sponsored literary magazines 2007-2009, and was awarded 3rd place for his personal essay, Waiting for the Morning Sun to Rise, in the Utah Arts 23rd Annual Writing Competition, 2011. He has a wonderful wife and two amazing daughters.

You can find more about Mikey Brooks and his works on his

Website 

&

Blog

You can also find Mikey on

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook as Mikey Brooks

Pinterest

Or you can e-mail him at insidemikeysworld(at)gmail.com

Bean’s Dragons.
Have you ever had a dragon in your house? How about a dozen? Bean is a little girl with an imagination that is creating quite a mess. Although Bean loves each of her dragons, she forgets how untidy they can be when having so much fun. When Bean's parents discover what's happened in their short absence, Bean finds herself the blame of the dragons' giant mess.
You can find more about Bean’s Dragons HERE.

ABC Adventures: Magical Creatures.
This is the first installment in a series of ABC adventures featuring Professor Vontriponmybottom, a heroic explorer determined to share with children the alphabet through exciting and fantastical means. In Magical Creatures you will find all sorts of enchanting beings such as: B is for Bigfoot, M is for Mermaid, and O is for Ogre. The professor shares fun facts about each creature he encounters and never shies away from getting a picture with them. This book is sure to educate and entertain young readers and their parents.
You can find more about ABC Adventures: Magical Creatures HERE.

Konstanz: What came first for you, writing or illustrating?

Mikey: They sort of both came about the same time. I always doodled on stuff and made up stories. I used to focus on my writing a lot more than my art. I got my degree in Creative Writing and kind of forgot about the illustrating for a while. I’d still paint murals for people’s homes and for community art productions but I never really thought of doing it as a career. I didn’t even think about putting the two together until a few years ago. Then there was the struggle with getting over the perception that my art sucked. I think a lot of artists go through that. Whether you’re a writer or an illustrator, you are your first critic and most of the times we are too harsh on ourselves. My daughter helped me to get over my doubts about my art. Kids are amazing with what they can share about something. They are pure in nature.

Konstanz: Do you like one more than the other?

Mikey: : I have to say that I love them both equally. I have yet to write a story that I haven’t tried to draw out a picture for. Even my first novel I ever write I had created chapter illustrations for. The writing really did suck, I wrote it when I was 18, but the art wasn’t too bad. I have them available on my website: http://www.insidemikeysworld.com/sketchwork/. I am glad that they go so well together. I’d hate to have to choose one over the other.

Konstanz: Aside from anything book related (yes, this includes illustrating) what are some of your favorite activities?

Mikey: I love to hang out with my girls and just play like I’m a 3 year old. Yes I know that sounds funny, but it’s true. I love to dance with them and sing up noxiously. I am also a huge, and I mean huge movie buff. I like all kinds of movies, even the girly ones I pretend I’m forced to watch with my wife. My favorites are the fantasy films though. I love Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Pan’s Labyrinth. I’m also a bug Halloween fan. So around September you’ll see me gearing up for the holiday. Yes I put out jack-o-lanterns out in September. I also throw a pretty smashing party for all my friends. I like parties and just hanging out with people I care about.

Konstanz: Do you listen to music while working (writing  & illustrating)  or do you prefer silence? 

Mikey: It really depends on what I’m doing. If I am working on a fight scene then I will most likely be playing some instrumental battle music from like Brave Heart or Last of the Mohicans. Otherwise when I write it has to be quiet. I tried to listen to a soft lullaby from the film Pan’s Labyrinth when I wrote my opening scene from my Dream Keepers series and it made my main character seem too melancholy. I had to stop. When I am illustrating I like to listen mostly to audiobooks. I love audiobooks because I don’t have much time to read so I get it in that way. If I don’t have a book to listen to I hit up my play list on Pandora. “I’m Yours Radio” is one of my favorites. 

Konstanz: Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself! 

Mikey: Oh, 3 fun facts. I don’t know how fun these will sound. Most likely they will make me look lame, but here it goes.
 
1: I sew. Yes, I admit it I sew! And I’m not a closet sewer either. In fact I used to work for the Utah Shakespearean Festival and for Ballet West a long time ago. I sewed 5 different wedding dresses, one of them my sisters, and I make Halloween costumes every year for my family members. Yeah it sounds really girly, but it’s fun. One of my favorite costumes I ever made was Queen Narissa’s costume from the movie Enchanted. The gal I made it for went to Disneyland for their big Halloween party and was stopped a bunch of times by people to get pictures with her—they didn’t know she wasn’t part of the show. 

2: I sing. Not that I do it much anymore, but musical theater used to be a big part of my life. I used to be in community theater productions and I even first started as a theater major in school. In high school I was a theatre nerd. I got a bunch of scholarships to different schools, but went back to writing and illustrating—it just wasn’t for me. I still sing occasionally in church or if a family member can get me to. I do get the opportunity to sing to my girls every night before bed. That’s always the best way to end a day for me.

3. I married a fantastic cook. Yeah I know talking about her isn’t really talking about me, but it’s true none the less. She is the reason I have such a healthy figure, and by healthy I mean fat. Really she is amazing. We are actually working together on an ABC cookbook for kids that will be coming out in a few months. It will be book 2 in the ABC Adventure series that comes out this month. She has a terrific recipe blog: http://ourcreativekitchen.blogspot.com/ that I do all the photography for. Oh there you have it. The third fun fact, yes I am a photographer; although I only photograph my family members and my wife’s amazing food. 

Thank you, Mikey for stopping by!