Q&A with kid-lit author, Jeanette Stampone!

Thank you to JEANETTE STAMPONE, children's author extraordinaire!, for stopping by my blog on her promotional tour celebrating her new junior fiction release "Ghost Detectives: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost" - written by Jeanette, illustrated by Jasmine Berry and published by About Kids Books (Publisher, Di Bates). 

Visit Jeanette online here!
Visit illustrator Jasmine Berry here! 
​Visit the publisher About Kids Books here! 

1. Jeanette, your debut chapter book Ghost Detectives: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost was recently released, published by About Kids Books and with fantastic illustrations by Jasmine Berry. Where did the idea for this book originate and what was the process like of writing and rewriting it?

I grew up in an old English house which is believed to be around three hundred years old! As you'd expect, it was very spooky and a little bit scary. More so as I lived in an area full of stories about ghosts, fairies, pixies, and other supernatural beings. I became fascinated with this subject matter and knew it was only a matter of time before I wrote about it myself. So, that's where the ghost element came from! As for the bakery part, that's also very personal. My parents owned a small bakery and I also have a sister in Perth who runs her own bakery business. So I spent many years being surrounded by delicious baked goods. By the way, in case anyone wants to know, my favourite is carrot cake. ;)

It's been really fun to combine these two parts of my personal history to create a story. Once I had the idea, it really took off and felt very natural to write. Saying that, there was plenty of editing afterwards but thankfully, the main plot was pretty solid. I think the most major change was completely writing the first chapter. I originally spent most of chapter one describing the protagonist, but after having an editor look at it, I realised I should jump straight into the action. I'm so glad I took this advice on board as it's so much better now.

2. How did it come to be with About Kids Books? What was the experience like?

Di Bates put a call-out in her newsletter, Buzz Words. She was specifically looking for middle grade or chapter books. I already had written the story so I thought I would try! And much to my delight, she took it on.

The publication experience was so fast! My last two books were picture books and there was a wait of two to three years before they came out. This time, it was a matter of months so it whizzed by. The editorial experience was also fast but very thorough. I learnt a lot about sentence length and word choices for younger readers. 

3. It seems Ghost Detectives is intended to be a series. Will there be further sequels? Did you plan for the story to be first in a series from when you first began writing it? 

Yes, Ghost Detectives is the first in a series of three. So I have my fingers crossed for books two and three! I definitely intended to write it as a series from the start.  The first reason is that junior fiction books are quite skinny due to their lower word count, so by having multiple books, they stand out on the shelf better. The second reason is that I think kids love to love a character! If they have invested in a character, they want more! I remember this myself from reading books such as The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy and My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards.

4. What made Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost such a great read, in my opinion, is the humour, the mystery, the friendships and the light spookiness of your story and of course the wonderful artwork by Jasmine Berry: who is the best audience for your book, and what do you want readers to take away from your story? 

The book is primarily aimed at children aged 6-9 years but could certainly be enjoyed by any primary school aged child, depending on their reading and comprehension ability. 

I hope that readers will enjoy the spooky mystery element and relate to the fun characters. I aimed to create a story that combines ghosts, fun and friendship. Something that's spooky but not scary for young readers.

I would love readers to come away with the simple enjoyment of a silly book, but also understand the key messages of bravery and supportive friendships. It is a book with both slapstick humour and heart-warming moments. 

5. Do you have a typical writing process? What is your writing space is like? 

It depends on what I am writing as picture books are quite different to junior fiction. I actually struggle to write longer works - even a junior fiction is intimidating for me! I overcame this by setting myself a small daily target of only 150 words per day. This is literally a maximum ten minutes work so it was always manageable. Even on those days when I wasn't really in the mood to write, I told myself that it's only ten minutes and I got it done. And most of the time, once I got going, I ended up doing much more.


6. What is in the pipeline? Can you share anything you are working on next?

As well as writing, I am also love to draw. I have a big dream to one day become an author-illustrator! So, at the moment, I am squirrelling away of a couple of illustration projects. Fingers crossed!

7. Anything at all you'd like to add? :) 

I would just like to say thank you, Brenton, for your time and effort in supporting other creatives. I look forward to seeing your new release with Riveted Press, The Prime Minister Problem AND your picture book with Wombat Books! You're on fire!