EPIC EIGHTEEN
  • Home
  • Creators
  • Books
  • Blog

Epic 18 Reads

Epic 18 Members Share Their Writing Tips, Personal Experiences and Fun Facts!

Archives

November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017

The Inspiration for I AM FAMOUS and SHARK NATE-O" by Tara Luebbe

10/26/2017

3 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

I am in the serendipitous position of having two debut picture books. I also am a bit unusual in that I co-write with my sister, Becky Cattie. I owned a children’s toy and book boutique in my previous life so I read and bought a lot of picture books. Because I was trying to merchandise books alongside toys and certain themes, I would see holes in the offerings. I always said I would try to write them myself someday, but three kids, a store, and a husband traveling for work, kept me too busy to do so. When my family relocated to the Charlotte area for my husband’s job, I no longer had the store and decided to try my hand at writing picture books. I sent my first story to my sister, who returned it half-changed. So, I realized I had a co-author on my hands.

Our first book is I Am Famous, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, which will have a sequel, I Used to Be Famous, releasing in spring of 2019.  It is about a young starlet, Kiely, who is convinced she is famous. The paparazzi (her parents) follow her every move, documenting it all on cameras. It’s exhausting being famous, but someone has to do it. Then she gets her big break, performing at her grandfather’s birthday. When she flubs her performance, Kiely’s worried she’s lost her audience forever. But it turns out that her loyal fans still love her.

I am going to publicly concede my nerdiness here and admit that the idea spark for this book came from a Weird Al song, TMZ. It’s about the paparazzi harassing stars set to the tune of Taylor Swift’s You Belong to Me. There is a line about flashing your underwear and it made me think of today’s parents, constantly sharing pictures of their kids on social media. Becky was a drama major and has worked in casting in Hollywood so this story came naturally to us.  
 
Our next book, is Shark Nate-O, illustrated by Daniel Duncan. Shark Nate-O is about a shark- obsessed boy, Nate. He reads shark books every day, watches sharks on TV, and talks about them nonstop. He even likes to pretend he’s a shark wherever he goes! However, there is one small problem …. Nate can’t swim.

When his older brother makes fun of him, Nate works hard to overcome his fears and learns to swim, finally making the swim team—the Sharks.

I had been considering writing a book about a shark-obsessed boy that I remembered from second-grade. He used to try to eat us as recess. I didn’t have the whole story, however, so the idea just hung out there for a while. Then my own son, Nate, really got into sharks and I found myself reading tons of non-fiction shark books to him every night. We had a shark-themed Christmas that year and my brother called my son “Shark Nate-O.” That was the spark I needed—a great title. And, combined with the fact my son was also in swimming lessons at the time, it all came together. 
 
Thank you for reading!
​
Tara Luebbe
I Am Famous written by Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie. Illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vreithoff
Albert Whitman March 1, 2018
Shark Nate-O written by Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie. Illustrated by Daniel Duncan.
little bee, April 4, 2018.
3 Comments
Jessie Oliveros
10/26/2017 11:47:52 am

I love that your sister returned it half-changed. It's such a sister thing to do! And I love, love that your shark book addresses fear.

Reply
Lisa link
10/26/2017 12:39:12 pm

These look awesome! I can't wait to read them. Thanks for sharing your story.

Reply
Tina Cho link
10/26/2017 02:48:02 pm

Oh, I love the premise for the I AM Famous book. How fun. And I love that you used your son's name in the book. I've done that also. It's wonderful to get inspiration from our kids!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017

    Categories

    All
    A Day In The Life Of
    Agent
    Author/Artist Influence
    Author/Illus Resources
    Collaboration
    Critique Group
    Editor
    Educators
    Epic18 End Of Year Giveaway
    EPIC Year End Giveaway
    Favorite Illustration
    #GEEepic18
    Inspiration
    News
    Publishing Goals
    Resolutions/Goals
    Revision
    SCBWI

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Creators
  • Books
  • Blog