An Interview with Author, Jennifer Buchet

When in the laundry room, most people wonder about that lost sock. But, not Jennifer! She comes up with fantastic book ideas, like the one for her debut picture book, LITTLE MEDUSA’S HAIR DO-LEMMA. Jennifer has an eclectic background and vivid imagination which translates to her writing. Join us at On the Scene in ’19 in congratulating her on the release of her first book. Kudos from all of us!
 




Where were you when inspiration struck for your story:
I’d love to say somewhere exotic, like the Grecian coast, or someplace magical, such as an ancient castle draped in fog. Actually, the place was much more mundane. Inspiration for LITTLE MEDUSA’S HAIR DO-LEMMA struck in my…..
laundry room!
 
Several years ago, I brought my daughter to see a reptile show at our local library. It turned out to be really fascinating! Snakes have always given me the slithers—I mean, shivers, but during this presentation, I learned a ton. For instance, snakes are not slimy, but very smooth to the touch. And they smell with their tongue! 
 
Later that day, I jotted down some ideas for a picture book story revolving around snakes. I was reworking a particular sentence while folding the laundry when I thought, “This is it! This sentence here is the golden nugget!” And from there, I filed away my first premise and began working on LITTLE MEDUSA. 
 
How did you get started writing for kids?
I’ve always loved to write, whether it’s advertising copy, business proposals, articles, or letters to Santa. When I left my marketing career to start a family, I decided to take my love of the written word to a different level. I immersed myself in kidlit writing classes, read a lot of picture books and frankly, just wrote stories. Then I began building my resume by writing both fiction and non-fiction articles for kids. I started writing for Apple Seeds magazine (now defunct) and today, still write for Faces magazine (Cricket Media). When I decided to segue into picture book writing, I made sure to take specific classes on the craft, and I joined awesome communities like Julie Hedlund’s 12 x12, SCBWI and the Children’s Book Academy.

Did you always want to be a writer?
No, not always. In elementary school, I was determined to study wolves in the Artic. That later changed to studying dolphins (less mosquitoes, better weather!). By the time I got to college, I was smitten by television and film. And while my onscreen roles have been few, my storyboards have been many & I have written a commercial or two!
 
What would you like readers to know about you?

• I write a lot of articles about food for kids, especially international dishes. So I’ve become something of a foodie or “cuisine connoisseur.” I love trying new dishes, but you’ll never find me eating frog legs nor jelly fish again—bleck!
• I’ve been teaching little kids for nearly four years. One of my favorite things to do is have them walk down the hallways “ninja-style” (it’s amazing how quiet they become when turned into ninjas!)
• I love creating wildly difficult treasure hunts for my family. The end treasure is usually worth the puzzling! 
• I used to live in England, and in the summer afternoons, I ran around the grounds of an ancient castle. Best playground ever!
• And while I may write about snakes, I don’t want one for a pet. My chocolate lab is just right for our family and perhaps a cat or two in the future.

 
 Are you working on something new at the moment?
I recently completed an article about Nepalese cuisine (mmm, yak butter!). I’m also working on a companion piece to LITTLE MEDUSA that is very STEM-oriented, and I’m writing my first chapter book series. 
 
What is your favorite pizza topping--
You may think that this self-proclaimed foodie would either love a classic pizza topping, such as pepperoni, or something far out, like kimchi and seaweed. Neither is the case! My fave pizza is a pesto chicken pineapple, all the way!

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