More Fall Fun with Dawn Babb Prochovnic

I’m excited to celebrate fall with Dawn Babb Prochovnic. She is a multi-published award-winning author, potty humorist, ASL, literacy & library enthusiast, and blogger. Her 20th book, Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!) a board book for expectant families, was published earlier this month.

Me: Do you have any special plans for the fall?

Dawn: I love going out to live music. One of my favorite bands, Blind Pilot, has a couple of fall shows scheduled in the beautiful, historic Liberty Theatre in Astoria, Oregon, about a two-hour drive from Portland. My husband and I are planning to extend the visit for a few nights, so we can explore the local area.

Since my most recent book, Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!) released in October, I have a myriad of book-related events and activities scheduled throughout the coming months. One event I’m especially excited about is a school author visit for a school that’s participating in National Novel Writing Month. My visit is timed about mid-way through the event with a mission to inspire students to keep on writing! In terms of traditions, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays to share with family and friends, so I’m looking forward to that, as well.

As for a favorite season, what I most enjoy is the changing of the seasons; moving into fall is definitely one of my favorite seasonal transitions. We have a home in Central Oregon, and now that my husband is retired, we visit that area regularly. The yellow aspens are stunning this time of year.

Me: How long have you been writing?

Dawn: I loved writing short stories back when I was a young child, and I authored a hand-written poetry book as a Mother’s Day gift for my mom, back when I was in middle school. Sadly, at some point along the way, high school essays, college term papers, and corporate white papers slowly overshadowed my creative writing.

I’ve always been a diligent journal writer whenever I travel, (and in fact, long before travel blogs were a thing, I dreamed of publishing my detailed journals to help other travelers). When my kids were young, I journaled about their experiences and milestones, and I wrote them love letters on their birthdays.

Despite all of this writing, I didn’t start thinking of myself as a writer until I attended my first writing conference back in 2004. I was teaching early literacy workshops for young families and wanted to develop some of my curriculum into picture books to reach more learners than I could reach via my workshops. It was at this conference that I began to think of myself as a writer, and I set out to learn how to craft stories for children.

So, I guess the short answer to your simple question is, I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember!

Me: What or who inspired you to write this book?

Dawn: This story began as a poem that I jotted down on a scrap of paper as I watched my preschool-aged son blissfully engage in imaginative play at our local children’s museum.

Me: Tell me a little bit about this book’s journey to publication, were there any bumps and bruises along the way, obstacles you had to overcome, aha-moments? You can share the good, bad, ugly lol, or not.

Dawn: Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!) is a 95-word story that took 20 years to become a book! For context, the son who inspired the original poem that I referenced above graduated from college a couple of years ago.

I loved the original inspiration for this story—the delight of a joyful, play-filled childhood—and although the story itself transformed in many ways over the years, the emotional core from the original inspiration still rings true in the published book.

Over time (LOTS of time!), I experimented with a variety of different approaches for this story. Early on, I envisioned it as a novelty book that incorporated American Sign Language. Although this approach generated interest, it did not lead to book offers. I continued to experiment with a variety of different themes, entry points, and hooks (e.g., the special vibe of Saturdays; enjoying time with an active boomer-generation grandparent; the anticipation and excitement of reconnecting with a parent (specifically a mom) after they’ve needed to be away from home for a time, etc.) Eventually, with some spot-on editorial guidance from the team at Familius, the plot shifted to capturing the experience of welcoming a new sibling and the enduring bond between parent and child, set to the backdrop of joyful family life and childhood play.

Me: What is one piece of advice you can give to writers who are just starting out, or who are still in the query trenches?

Dawn: The single best piece of advice I can offer is to find a writing buddy, and exchange writing goals/goal reports with your buddy on a weekly basis. I’ve been exchanging writing goals with fellow author, Sara T. Behrman for about twenty years now, and I can’t tell you how much this one practice has factored into my ability to consistently move my creative work forward. Over the years, there have been times when I’ve felt uninspired or too busy to write, but I’ve intentionally stopped doing whatever it was that was keeping me from my writing in order to DO SOMETHING to move my creative goals forward, just so I’d have a little something to share with Sara for my goal report! Bit by bit, those little somethings gradually add up; small steps forward eventually lead to completed projects, and in some cases, published books.

Me: What are your plans for the future? Writing or otherwise, traveling, hobbies, etc.

Dawn: Writing-wise, I always have several picture books at different stages of revision rotating through my to-do queue. More recently, I’ve started stretching my wings to experiment with developing my voice in longer-form works. I’ve come to realize that several of the stories I have percolating in the back of my mind are for a bit older reader, so I’m trying to lean into that instead of struggling to fit those ideas into the picture book form.

Traveling is one of my very favorite things to do—both the travel itself and the research, planning, and anticipation for an upcoming trip. I don’t have any “big trips” on the calendar right now, but I do have several smaller trips in the works, including a trip up to Victoria, B.C. for an ice hockey tournament my husband is playing in. As I mentioned previously, I really enjoy live music, and now that my husband is retired, we’ve started scheduling little trips to see our favorite artists somewhere other than our hometown. One of our absolutely favorite musicians, William Topley, is based in the U.K.—I’m hopeful we will be able to plan a trip to the other side of the pond to see him play . . . soon!

Me: I’d love for you to share a recipe with me; I have a collection of recipes from friends and family that goes back many years. I would love to include yours, as well as share it with my readers.

Dawn: What a fun idea! I think I’ll share my Turkey Meatloaf recipe with you. It’s my personal take on the more traditional ground beef meatloaf recipe from my well-worn Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, and it’s a dish my own mother especially loved for me to make for her. Bonus: It’s a GREAT recipe to make and share with a friend or family member welcoming a new baby into their lives—it can be eaten hot with mashed potatoes and gravy, chilled and sliced for sandwiches, or easily frozen for later—so it’s a good recipe-match for Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!). Enjoy!

Turkey Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey (or however much ground turkey comes in a tray from Costco)

3/4 cup dry oatmeal (I personally use regular oats, not quick oats)

1 cup milk (I typically use non-fat cow’s milk, but I’ve substituted non-dairy milk when needed)

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon salt (I’ve used less then this on occasion)

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (I’ve substituted basic yellow mustard in a pinch)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground sage

1 clove crushed garlic (I often use 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of pre-chopped “refrigerator garlic”)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients and spread into an ungreased traditional-sized meatloaf pan (9x5x3 or so). Bake, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool for 10 minutes or so, before slicing. (It’s not uncommon there will be a white-ish layer of ‘film’ on the top—I just scrape that off with a spoon before slicing and serving.) I almost always make two loaves (mixing up each batch separately to keep the ingredients distributed as intended), to share with others, or to ensure plenty of leftovers. (Meatloaf sandwiches are DE-LISH! Two slices of bread—one of the rare occasions I prefer white bread—a bit of mayo, and a couple of thinly sliced pieces of cold meatloaf. Yum!)

Thanks so much for your time, it’s always fun getting to know writing friends. I think it’s wonderful how you are combining your love of traveling and music and wish you the best on all your adventures!

You can connect with Dawn here:

Blog: www.dawnprochovnic.com

Substack: @dawnprochovnic.substack.com

Instagram: @DawnProchovnic

Bluesky: @DawnProhovnic.bsky.social

LinkedIn: @DawnProchovnic

Pinterest: @DawnProchovnic

Facebook: @DawnProchovnicAuthor

YouTube: @dprochovnic

Celebrating Fall with Megan Woodward

I’m so excited to have Megan Woodward with us today. She is the author of the hysterical interactive picture book THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY NOT CURSED and will talking about her newly released picture book NO IFS ANDS OR BUTTS, which was published today.

Welcome Megan and thank you for taking the time to chat with me. And happy book birthday to NO IFS ANDS OR BUTTS!

Me: Do you have any special plans for the fall? Do you have a favorite season?

Megan: This fall I will likely be participating in a lot of bookstore events, school visits, book festivals, and other literary events due to the release of my book. My fall traditions mostly revolve around food. I’ll start making hearty soups, casseroles, pies, and lots of pumpkin baked goods. I also have tons of family birthdays in the fall (including my son’s), so we’ll be celebrating those, as well as Halloween, of course, which is one of my favorite holidays. However, I am a wimp when it comes to cold weather. So summer is my favorite season, hands down.

Me: How long have you been writing?

Megan: Well, really since I was a kid (my parents still have a novel that I started in the 3rd grade!). But I didn’t discover I wanted to do it professionally until I took my first screenwriting class at college in the early 2000’s. After undergrad, I got an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA and pursued that for many years, before having my son in 2015 and rediscovering my true love: kid lit. That’s when I started writing picture books. So short answer: I’ve been pursuing writing for about 23 years, and writing kid lit for a little over 10.

Me: What or who inspired you to write this book?

Megan: For this book, the title came first. I was playing around with puns and idioms as titles —which is a method I sometimes use to come up with new story ideas. And the phrase “no ifs, ands, or buts” came into my head. And then I was like well, what if it was “butts” like the body part. And that really tickled me. So, I imagined that there was a narrator in charge of having a nice wholesome book (with no butts allowed!) And of course, the characters were going to be difficult about it, even if it was somewhat unintentional on their parts. I love a good, hilarious misunderstanding, especially when it comes to wordplay. So this is sort of my ode to “who’s on first” in picture book format… featuring lots of butt jokes. I also was inspired by the current horrific issue with book banning… and how ridiculous it is that some books have been banned because the illustrations showed a character with a bare butt. Not to mention all of the even more important diverse books that are currently under attack. So even though this book is pure silliness, it has a subtle message about the problems of censorship.

Megan: I wrote this book several years ago, when I was with my first agent. She was planning to sub it in early 2024, but then… we parted ways. I queried agents with this a LOT in 2024, and most of them replied that it was hilarious but not right for their lists, or whatever. Basically: we love it, but we don’t want to rep it. Ugh. Then I queried Amy Nielsen at Purcell, and she loved it AND wanted to rep it. She wrote me this wonderful email about how it was the funniest thing she’d ever read and how it made her and her family laugh out loud during a time they all really needed it. She made an offer for rep in the fall of 2024, the same time I got another offer from another agent for a different manuscript. I, stupidly, went with the other agent, who turned out not to be a great fit for my body of work. So after 6 months with that agent, we parted ways and I emailed Amy again, asking if she was still interested. Thankfully, she was. Anyway, she subbed NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTTS in October 2025, and we had an offer by December. I should have known all along that someone with my same immature sense of humor was the perfect agent for me, and for this book.

Me: What is one piece of advice you can give to writers who are just starting out, or who are still in the query trenches?

Megan: Have thick skin. Rejection is a HUGE part of this industry. Just take it and use it as fuel to keep writing. If you let it get you down, you’ll never get anywhere.

Me: What are your plans for the future? Writing or otherwise, traveling, hobbies, etc.

Megan: Mostly writing more kid lit. I have another picture book (unannounced that should be out within a few years), and I’m rewriting a middle grade novel, which will hopefully be submission ready later this year. I’m also working on getting more copywriting, editing, and critiquing work. So, if anyone is interested in those services, contact me through my website! www.meganwoodward.com

Me: I’d love for you to share a recipe with me, I have a collection of recipes from friends and family that goes back many years. I would love to include yours, as well as share it with my readers.

Megan: I am mostly vegetarian these days, but do occasionally eat chicken and fish. As an ode to my Taco character in the book, here’s my favorite taco recipe:

2 lbs poblano peppers

6 garlic cloves (unpeeled)

1 TBS chili powder

3 tsp cumin seeds (toasted and ground)

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 TBS brown sugar

2 lbs free range skinless boneless chicken thighs

2/3 cup heavy cream

16 corn tortillas (I actually prefer corn/flour blend if you can find them)

Arugula

Queso fresco or cotija

1. Halve peppers lengthwise, removing seeds and stems. Arrange peppers skin side up and (unpeeled) garlic in a foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with vegetable oil. Broil 4 inches from heat for 8-10 minutes or until peppers are blackened. Wrap in foil or seal in container to steam.

2. Stir together spices, sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt. Rub over chicken. Arrange in the baking pan and broil 10-12 minutes, turning once. Remove and slice.

3. Add cream to the hot baking pan. Peel and slice peppers and garlic and add them to the cream in the pan with 1/2 tsp salt. Broil 1-2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Add sliced chicken back in and mix around. Broil again for 1 minute if necessary to reheat. The cream should be mostly absorbed so it’s not liquidy.

4. Heat tortillas in slightly oiled pan. Top with chicken and pepper mix, arugula, and some crumbly Mexican cheese like queso fresco.

Thanks so much for your time, it’s always fun getting to know writing friends. I love tacos and have never made them with chicken thighs. I will definitely be trying out your recipe!

You can connect with Megan here:

Website

Instagram

Bluesky

Celebrating the Launch of I’m Busy with Debbie Ridpath Ohi

I’m thrilled to have Debbie Ridpath Ohi with us today. Debbie is a children’s book author and illustrator who has illustrated books for Judy Blume and Michael Ian Black. I’m Busy, the newest addition to the I’m series of picture books, written by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Debbie, launches on February 24^th.

Welcome Debbie, and congratulations on your newest picture book! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me.

Me: Do you have any special plans for the rest of this long, cold winter? Or are there any activities that you participate in related to the season? Do you have a favorite season?

Debbie: My favourite season is autumn. I do love early winter and would definitely miss that season if we ended up having to move somewhere that was always warm. However, winters in Ontario are looooong, and we’re all pretty much ready for it to end by March. 🙂 My plans for the winter: Since I’ve just come back from work travel in NYC and vacation travel in New Orleans, my plans for the rest of the winter consist of cocooning in my cozy basement studio and working on my middle grade novel!

Me: How long have you been writing?

Debbie: I have been writing and wanting to be a writer for as long as I can remember, honestly. I wrote my first chapter book when I was nine years old and was delighted that my teacher liked it and the illustrations I added.

Me: What, or who was the inspiration for this book?

Debbie: I asked Michael why he wrote I’m Busy, and he said, “I wrote I’m Busy as a reminder for the over-scheduled kid (or parent) that even though we’re so lucky we get to do so many amazing things, it’s also important to take some time to hang out with your buddies and just look at the clouds.”

Me: Tell me a little bit about your journey as the illustrator of this book. Were there any bumps and bruises along the way, obstacles you had to overcome, aha-moments? You can share the good, bad, ugly lol, or not.

Debbie: There were definitely some bumps and bruises during the illustration process, at least in terms of challenges to figure out along the way. I’ve learned, though, that this is actually a good thing…it means that the project is pushing me to be more creative, to step outside my comfort zone, that I’m growing as an illustrator. For I’m Busy, the challenge was deciding on how I wanted to draw the background in illustrations that already had a lot of stuff in the foreground. One example: the spread where thegirl is walking away from the “camera”, with a ton of papers, notebooks, scheduling materials, pens, pencils etc. trailing behind her. My solution: to draw the background in a softer and more muted illustration style. That way, it wouldn’t interfere with the foreground elements or making things look too “busy” (despite the title of the book, heh).

Me: What is one piece of advice you can give to writers who are just starting out, or who are still in the query trenches?

Debbie: No matter how busy you are, always make the time to read. On the most hectic days when I barely have enough time to eat, I still always make sure to read for at least 10-15 minutes a day. I read in all formats: print, digital, and audio.

Me: What are your plans for the future? Writing or otherwise, traveling, hobbies, etc.

Debbie: I’m excited about being the cover artist for two Judy Blume titles that are being reissued by Simon & Schuster Children’s! The titles are As Long As We’re Together, and Here’s To You, Rachel Robinson. I’ve been working with Lauren Rille, Hope Kim, and Jin Soo Chun. The new covers are not ready to share yet, but hopefully soon!

Debbie: I confess that this is the question that took me the most time, because I’m not really a natural cook or baker; I rely heavily on cookbooks. One of my favourite breakfasts is oatmeal with a fried egg on top. Does that count as a recipe? I can also share my current favourite recipe website, which is Just One Cookbook at https://www.justonecookbook.com/. A friend pointed me there when she found out I was looking for simple tasty Japanese home cooking recipes. It’s wonderful!

Thank you for stopping by, it’s always fun getting to know writing friends. I feel truly honored to have interviewed you and want to thank you for all you do for the Kid Lit community on Bluesky and through the resources on your website. And thank you for sharing your favorite recipe website, the Japanese fried noodles recipe looks delicious!