I’m so excited to celebrate this season of late fall into winter with Brian Gehrlein. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Brian both as an author and a person. I have worked with him on several of my manuscripts and highly recommend his critique services. I was fortunate to be part of the advanced reader team for This Is Not a Sleepy Bear Book, which was published on November 11th of this year.
Welcome Brian. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your writing journey. I know this interview is going to be fun!
Me: Do you have any special plans for the fall or winter? Or are there any activities that you participate in related to these seasons? Do you have a favorite season?
Brian: I love when the fall comes in and refreshes everything after the muggy heat has been lingering far too long. We live in Kansas City, so May and June are wonderful, but July and August are just ick. You walk outside, and that shower you took is completely wasted. There’s so much to look forward to in the fall, and as a teacher, I do tend to look forward to the routine and resetting effect of a new school year. Between Christmas and spring, I’m a bit of a grumpy bear. I LOVE the anticipation of summer break and when the thaw of winter seems imminent. So…all that to say…I think I mostly love the anticipation of fall and the anticipation of summer. That change from extreme hot and cold is lovely. This book is all about the anticipation of a coming change—fall into winter. The snow is on the way. That approach of something makes us anxious. Bear has to hibernate and fast! There’s just so much to love this time of year. We get really into spooky season as a family. Halloween to Christmas is magic.
Me: How long have you been writing?
Brian: Forever. Left a nice in-utero message for my brother to find as a fetus. In all seriousness, I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t like to write. That’s a lie. There was that time when I was working on my Master’s in Education, and I had to write a twenty-page statistical analysis essay. Yepp. You read that right. A twenty-page math essay. It was my Everest. Never again. Aside from the occasional academic writing that wasn’t sunshine and rainbows, I’ve always enjoyed playing with words. I saw their impact on people from an early age and that I could exert social power over people through making them laugh. Not in a manipulative sort of way, but I loved the cause-and-effect process of experimentation. The timing of a joke. Listening to my audience respond. Sometimes it was a classroom of my peers. Sometimes a teacher. My family and friends. Words entertain and can elicit emotion like magic. I think I realized this very young. Part of that was a survival mechanism. My father was a soldier in the United States Army, and we moved around a lot. I learned how to make friends and be “liked” as fast as possible so that I felt in control when life felt out of control. But sometimes I don’t need words for others. Sometimes they’re for me. To make sense of my thoughts and feelings. Journals are very important for my mental and spiritual health. Even though I had been keenly aware of my use of language in both written and oral expression, I didn’t take my writing seriously until college. I was a Theatre Education major, and so I was reading and writing plays constantly. Hyper-focusing on language and all the amazing ways one can tell a story theatrically was life-changing for me. This is an already longish response, so I’ll end with a specific memory. My junior year of college we were going to do Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, and I remember staying up until about 2 AM by myself in the student union while it was storming and pouring rain outside. I just had to finish this gut-wrenching autobiographical family drama because I needed to know what was going to happen to Edmund, Jamie, James, and Mary Tyrone. The beauty of O’Neill’s prose (I ended up playing Edmund) still impacts me today. All in all, I think literature and language can be transformative. I’m addicted and I don’t see any end in sight.
Me: What, or who inspired you to write this book?
Brian: My tendency to push against things and be silly inspired me to write this book. Back in 2019, I was working as a librarian and happened to notice a decent amount of wintery bear hibernation stories. Or maybe there was just two. The exact number isn’t important. What matters is I noticed a pattern. These winter bear stories were usually cozy and lyrical. They were gentle and sweet. The kind of story that might lull a child into their own form of hibernation. Kids are fascinated by bears and hibernation, and I don’t think that’s going away. It made me curious about my own version of a sleepy bear book. I wondered what it might be like to make it seem like it was a more typical hibernating bear book but then totally go in a wild and unexpected direction. So much of comedy is rooted in a dynamic chaos and order—unexpected juxtaposed against something expected. In other words, I wanted to do a bear book that was THE OPPOSITE of this pattern I was perceiving. I thought kids might enjoy a bedtime book that refused to behave like the other books.
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.
Brian: This book really evolved from early drafts to its finished form. There was always a narrator trying to get a bear to sleep for hibernation and there was always a disrupting element to that process where things were not going to plan. At the beginning, Bear’s den was magical. It was a “magical den of infinite possibility.” But when EVERYTHING is possible, nothing is possible. It’s too much chaos. Too much abstract and the mind hungers for the concrete. So the disruptions to Bear going to sleep needed to be grounded in something real—something with purpose. That eventually turned into Bear’s friends throwing him a surprise party to send him into hibernation with a bang (and some delicious jazz flute, too!) The first draft sent to Little, Brown caught their attention, but they weren’t satisfied enough to buy. They asked for a revision and I was reluctant at first. Through the encouragement of my agent, Jennifer Mattson, I attempted to execute their notes and mildly adjust the story. While they appreciated my attempt, it still wasn’t working enough to acquire. I let the story incubate in the creative crockpot for several months so that I could work out what needed to be changed unconsciously. I firmly believe taking breaks from a project for several months is not just healthy but vital to the process of solving creative problems (if you’re stuck, you should give this a try!). Eventually, I was able to come back to the manuscript and revise with more gusto (and an open heart to their feedback). Nearly a year after we initially sent the manuscript, they offered the book deal. Start to finish, from initial draft to book deal was 3.5 years—it would be 3 more years before the book came out!
Through this second book, I’ve learned to be patient in the acquisitions process and that revision is the secret ingredient to good writing. Effective revision cannot be rushed, and it won’t be just a one-time thing. Thinking about the finished product, and the AMAZING illustrations by Jenn Harney that help tell this hilarious story, I am fully convinced that nothing worth having comes easy. Take your time. Listen to feedback. Take a walk. Do the dishes a thousand times.
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?
Brian: The word “NO” can either crush you or push you to create. We can’t control whether we get a YES or a NO, but we can control our response and that next step after we’ve had a chance to feel whatever we need to. I vividly remember getting rejections and then re-doubling my motivation to write new work or to send out new queries to regain my confidence and sense of control. It was the only positive thing I could do with all that emotional turmoil. Expect “NO” and be ready for a show of force to wow yourself. Don’t stop reading. Don’t stop writing. Don’t stop knocking on doors. Doors open to the ones who knock! You got this, friend!
Also, keep that fire burning that’s part of why you’re putting yourself through this torture. That means you need to know what fills your tank and inspires you. A rejection will empty your tank. How will you refill it? This is part of the creative life—even on “this side of things.” (psssssst…hey, you! It isn’t all that different on this side of things. I know I’m not supposed to say the quiet part out loud, but it really isn’t all that different. It’s still a lonely road filled with anxiety and self-doubt. People say “NO.” So, you have to get good at self-care and riding out the seasons like a good farmer. There will be feast. There will be famine. Just don’t sit on your hands while you wait for seeds to sprout—there’s barns to clean!)
Most importantly, be kind to yourself and be patient. This endeavor is sssssllooooooow.
Me: What are your plans for the future? Writing or otherwise, traveling, hobbies, etc.
Brian: I have a new book coming out. It’s called THIRD KID… ; ) No, it’s not a book—it’s a baby! We have a third kid on the way (hitting shelves, April 2026!). I’m thinking this bundle of joy will take over all my future plans and prevent any traveling or personal hobbies from happening for a while! But this is a very good thing that we’re excited about. Boy or girl…we’ll see! I definitely feel the anticipation for our family, but while we wait, I’ve always got books cooking up and in various stages of development. Of course, with this third child, the provider instinct in me is coming in pretty strong, so I’m feeling a strong desire to make some book deals happen. All good things!
Me: Congratulations! It’s wonderful that your beautiful family will soon have a new addition!
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.
Brian: One of my favorite meals my wife, Katherine, makes pairs really well with This is Not a Sleepy Bear Book and fall into the winter season. It’s guaranteed to warm and fill you up for hibernation! Enjoy, sleepy bears!
Ingredients:
4-32 oz boxes of chicken broth (+1 extra)
1 tbs of chicken paste (add more if needed)
3-16 oz bags frozen egg noodles
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tsp nutmeg
Pepper to taste
1 rotisserie chicken (de-boned)
Recipe:
Combine chicken, broth, cream of soups in large pot & bring to boil.
Add nutmeg, chicken paste, & pepper at any time.
Once liquid is boiling, add the noodles & cook until done.
Serve or freeze.
When de-thawing, add chicken broth to soup.
Thank you Brian! As always, you have inspired me and made me laugh. And I can’t wait to try the cozy recipe you shared with us.
You can connect with Brian here:
Pat Brown Books 