The Sick Bug is a book written by author Suzie Bazil and illustrated by Shawn McCann. It is a recipient of the 2009 Gold Mom’s Choice Award. We recently spent some time with Susie to ask her more about writing the book.

What was the inspiration behind writing your book “The Sick Bug”?

It was from a conversation with my daughter, who was 3 at the time. A year ago November, she was laying in my bed with a terrible cold/flu. I felt her forehead, which was burning up and said “Oh babe, you have a bug.” She immediately sat up, FREAKED OUT, and started looking under the covers yelling “A BUG!! A BUG!!! WHERE IS THE BUG?? GET IT OFF OF ME!!!” To which I replied, “No honey, it is a ‘sick bug’ – it’s like a tiny germ inside you that makes you feel yucky.”

She asked what they look like, and how long they stay, and we started using our imaginations to dream up what sick bugs look like and do, and how to send them back to Bugland where they come from. She eventually drifted off, and the story literally spilled out of me from there.

Tell us a little about the book and why parents would want to buy it

As a parent of three kids, now 8, 6 and 4, we do a lot of reading at our house. I am amazed at the amount of books we have. Some are fantastic, but some can be hard to read as a parent. After I had the basis for “The Sick Bug” story, I realized it had many of the traits that I, as a parent, enjoy in other children’s books: a good rhythm and tone that comes from the rhyming sentences, engaging text (and later, the illustrations) that spark the imagination, and a POINT to the story that ties things up nicely while leaving a message with the reader. Not to mention the subject matter – HOW IT FEELS TO BE DOWN WITH A COLD – is something every parent and child can relate to.

“The Sick Bug” helps parents explain, in a way a CHILD can understand and enjoy, why they feel badly when they have a cold. I know I will jump through hoops to get a smile out of my child when they are sick. “The Sick Bug” helps you to do that.

What has been the greatest lesson or two you have learned about the process of being an author?

It is how many pieces it takes for a book to come to fruition. The storyline and illustrations are the main pieces to the puzzle, but there is also the design piece – which includes what the cover looks like, where the text should be placed on each page, what font and color to use for the actual text, what color the endsheets (the pages on the inside of the cover) should be, and so on and so on.

There were so many decisions I had to make it got overwhelming at times. Luckily, I had a pretty clear idea of what I hoped the finished product would look like and I have to say I wouldn’t change a thing now that the book is out!! The other lesson I’ve learned is that everyone wants to know when the next book is coming out…so never stop writing!! (see my answer below)

Did you face any obstacles and if so how did you overcome them?

Finding the right illustrator. I knew from the very inception of “The Sick Bug” that this could be a really special, top-notch book if I found the right illustrator. I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted on most of the pages – whimsical, quirky images of the characters and the bugs that were silly and goofy but not scary. I also wanted the illustrations to have ‘depth’, so that they would DRAW the reader into the story by playing upon the text and bringing the words on each page to life.

I struggled to find the perfect artist and after rejecting 5 or 6 suggestions, I finally found my “dream illustrator” in Shawn McCann, a local artist and illustrator who’s amazing work speaks for itself. He really brought the book to another level all together and he has been a joy to work with.

What are your future plans as an author?

“The Sick Bug” just came out in September 2008 and I am still busy promoting it locally. My next step is to introduce it to the national market because I believe every school, library and especially school nurses’ office should have a copy, let alone every house across the country!!

I’m nearly finished with another Sick Bug story; this one is directed towards an older audience – say ages 5-9 or so – and basically tells the story of how Sick Bugs (germs) make their way through school. I’ve enjoyed the process so much that I’m also kicking around ideas for a novel, but I have no idea how I’m going to make THAT happen…we’ll see!!

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Community Board. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.