Creator Corner: Meet author Bree Galbraith and illustrator Lynn Scurfield
Welcome to Creator Corner! Every month, we’ll be interviewing the creators of our new and upcoming books. This month, we interviewed Hold That Thought! author Bree Galbraith and illustrator Lynn Scurfield. Their inspiring story about how ideas form, grow, and connect us all published in August 2021.
Owlkids Books: When did you both know that you wanted to write and illustrate?
Bree Galbraith: I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was about 10 years old, and I spent a lot of my time writing adventure/mystery stories. I wanted to write “choose your own adventure” books because they were my favorite.
Lynn Scurfield: I knew I wanted to be an artist at a very young age, but I didn’t know I wanted to be an illustrator until high school. My high school teacher, Mr. Milne, showed us pictures of Alphonse Mucha’s work in class, and I knew I wanted to make the type of art he was making. Turns out he was an illustrator, and once I found that out, everything fell into place.
OKB: Bree, tell us about the inspiration for Hold That Thought!
BG: I was inspired to write Hold That Thought! when I had the questions in my head, “what does an idea look like?” and, “what does an idea need to flourish?” From there, I knew I needed a character who was kind, open-minded and nurturing, and Finn came to mind. When I combined the two, it was magical!
OKB: Lynn, what was your reaction to reading Bree’s manuscript?
LS: I loved it after my first read! The flow of the story was effortless and every moment where people would tell Finn to “hold that thought!” felt warm and exciting. It was also very cool to have a main character in kidlit that used they/ them pronouns. I knew instantly I had to say yes!
OKB: Bree, what was your reaction to seeing Lynn’s illustrations for the story?
BG: When I first saw Lynn’s illustrations, I was blown away. I never in my wildest dreams thought that someone would be able to capture the essence of the story in the way Lynn did. The book feels like it is alive – everything jumps off the page, and that’s thanks to Lynn’s vision and talent.
OKB: Lynn, what’s your favorite moment in the book?
LS: I think my favorite moment from the book is the whole beginning where Finn is telling everyone about their initial thought. I LOVE the energy Finn has and the different reactions all their friends have to this idea. Everyone is curious, excited and even a little overwhelmed at times. They’re such real reactions people have when you’re sharing something big, and Bree wrote them in such a loving and positive way.
OKB: What is a fun fact people may not know about both of you?
BG: I am horrible at spelling! I would be nowhere without spell-check and an editor.
LS: People may not know that before wanting to be an artist, I wanted to be a doctor! It wasn’t until I watched a medical show on TV that showed some kind of gross details about surgery that I realized I was not cut out for that kind of job.
