Meet Author Diane Kredensor

Welcome to day one of Diane Kredensor’s 6-day NWFCC April Author Showcase tour. Enjoy your time with Ms. Kredensor as she provides a glimpse into her creative world.

Well, in my opinion there’s nothing better than sitting down with a good picture book, a child in your lap, and having their rapt attention while you read them a story. Picture books capture kids’ attention like nothing else I’ve ever seen. And the thought of being able to create something that could grab a child’s attention and imagination like that has been a dream of mine for a long time. Besides, I’ve always been a huge fan of picture books, as a child and as an adult. I’m drawn to the incredible artistry and variety of styles you can find in picture books. I appreciate the simplicity of being able to express one moment or story in 32 pages. I used to write and illustrate my own books as a kid, and I don’t think that passion for creating characters and stories ever left me. As a grown-up, I’ve been fortunate to create a career in Children’s TV Animation. While animation is a wonderfully creative and collaborative art form that I love and continue to work in, I wanted to challenge myself to try something new. Writing and illustrating a picture book is a whole new way to share a moment, a relationship, and a story. One of my favorite things to do is to create new characters. I love to come up with silly names, and then create a personality and a form that goes with that name. My animation experience has been invaluable in helping learn how to create a memorable character. Over the past five years or so, I’ve gotten more involved in creating and pitching TV shows and I’ve learned that character is key! If you don’t create a strong character, you’ve got nothing. The character drives the story. Once you’ve got a character that you know really well, you can put them in any situation—in the middle of a blizzard or the middle of a desert and you’ll know exactly how they’ll react.

Ollie & Moon came about while I was visiting my dear friend Sandra in Paris. Sometimes being in a new location stirs up the creative juices. I’d been toiling with two characters, two best friends, (they were actually a cat and a dog at the time) and I was wondering what would happen if they were in Paris together. I wanted to create characters that had child-like qualities that kids could relate to—like wanting to surprise your best friend with something or being overly curious and impatient and wanting to guess your surprise. I’ve also always wanted to try illustrating cartoon characters over photo backgrounds of real places around the world. Sandra makes her living as a photographer, so it was a natural fit. On my flight back to NY, I wrote my first draft of Ollie & Moon on some pieces of scrap paper I found on the plane.

Follow Day 2 of Ms. Kredensor's tour tomorrow at http://www.nancyisanders.wordpress.com/