DRESS LIKE A GIRL - A Fashionable Interview with PATRICIA TOHT about her latest PB, including a BOOK GIVEAWAY

Patricia Toht talks girl power, two new books releasing in 2019, and some wise writing advice she received  . . .

By  Eileen R. Meyer

Welcome to another TAKE FIVE interview. I hope that you’ll take five minutes to get to know more about our fellow GROG BLOGGER, Patty Toht and her latest picture book, DRESS LIKE A GIRL.

Patty's new picture book released just yesterday, January 22nd! Her book birthday also happened to coincide with Patty's actual birthday, too--what a great birthday gift! Cake and ice cream for everyone. :) Now on to our Five Questions for Patty:

   1. What was the inspiration behind your new picture book, DRESS LIKE A GIRL? Did your 3-year old granddaughter have anything to do with it?

The book is dedicated to my smart and feisty granddaughter, but the inspiration actually came from Twitter! Early in 2017, a story circulated about a new White House dress code, reportedly stating that female employees should “dress like a woman.” As a result, women began to post photos on Twitter, wearing professional garb that was anything but traditionally “lady-like.” There were astronauts, firefighters, soldiers, construction workers, scientists, etc. After I re-tweeted several images, my agent dropped me an email with a little nudge: “What about Dress Like a Girl”? BRILLIANT! The text came together and was submitted and sold very quickly. (So unlike me - I can be The Pokey Little Writer sometimes!)

2.  This is your third picture book. You’ve previously released: All Aboard the London Bus, 2017 and Pick a Pine Tree, 2017. Tell us more about your writing process. As an author who also works a full-time job and manages a busy family life, how do you work to squeeze in writing and revision time?

I’m anything BUT consistent with my writing, especially with new projects! Although I’m obsessed with recording new ideas in tiny notebooks or on a phone app, I often carry these ideas around in my head for months until I finally get started on them. It’s like a pitcher being filled, and until it reaches overflow level, I’m willing to let it keep filling. But the positive twist is that my first drafts tend to be very well-developed.

As for revisions, I can be grumpy about revising, (my critique partners are angels for dealing with my grousing!), but I love working to an established deadline. I dig in and get the work done. The text for Dress Like a Girl was almost completely rewritten twice, so there was a lot to do!

3. What is the best writing advice that you ever received?  Did it encourage you during a time that you felt stuck?

The best advice I received came from fellow Illinois author Carol Grannick. We both had begun writing for children during the days of snail mail subscriptions, when editors actually sent correspondence in return – either acceptance or rejection letters. But this practice sadly disappeared, to be replaced by a bit of a black hole, with no word unless editors or agents wanted to acquire your work.

Carol had grown discouraged by this and had written a post about putting aside thoughts of publication to focus on craft and writing that brought joy. I decided to do the same. After a few years of doing just that, I discovered that I was enjoying the journey again and my writing had taken a leap forward. I was then ready to start submitting again.

4.  Share something surprising that people don’t know about you.

Most people outside of the Chicago area don’t know that I’ve been writing for over 20 years! It wasn’t until recently that I’ve been published, so many folks see me as a “new” author.

5. Tell me a little bit more about the artist for your book, Lorian Tu, and about how her style was the perfect fit?

My co-creator for Dress Like a Girl is illustrator Lorian Tu. Lorian has illustrated two books for a small press; this is her debut picture book with a large publisher. I’m excited that HarperCollins teamed up my words with Lorian’s illustrations! Her girl characters are adorable, and I love how the overall theme of a sleepover holds everything together. Some pages were a wonderful surprise, like the penguin outfits in the Arctic scene. My original thoughts about the outfits were to keep them quite literal, so I was happy to see the girls in the book being more creative and whimsical. You can check out Lorian’s work on her website, www.loriantubooks.com.

In closing – Patty, you have another book releasing later this year – Pick a Pumpkin! 2019 will be a very exciting year for you. Where can readers and fans find you on social media?

I do have another book coming out in 2019! Pick a Pumpkin (July 2019) is a companion book to Pick a Pine Tree, which came out in the autumn of 2017. Jarvis has illustrated them both in a rich, nostalgic style. I am completely crazy over his illustrations! Lucky me, he will also be illustrating a future book of mine, Together With You (date TBD).

Readers can find me in several places:

My website = www.patriciatoht.com

Facebook = Patricia Toht

Twitter handle = @patriciatoht

Instagram = patricia.toht

Thank you Patty! For readers - leave a comment below and you'll have a chance to win a copy of Patty's new book, DRESS LIKE A GIRL! We’ll announce one lucky winner from those who comment by Saturday, February 2nd.

Thank you for having me, Eileen! I’m so happy to be part of the kidlit world!

Patty is involved with the #KidsNeedMentors program. 
Here is Patty visiting with students and sharing a sneak preview 
of  PICK A PUMPKIN, due out later in 2019.