We at Game of Books are excited to present a new author interview (GOB A.I.).
Welcome to Part 1 of our interview with the Jonathan Rosen, author of the funny/scary middle grade series that debuted in August 2017 with the Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies.
Congratulations on the publication of Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies and the sequel, From Sunset till Sunrise! We love your books and had as much fun reading them as the younger readers in our lives (perfect gifts for those hard to pick 8-12 year olds). Welcome to Game of Books!
Thanks so much for having me!
It was a pleasure to meet you at the SCBWI Regional Conference when you were on the panel of newly published authors. We can only dream of how great that must have felt! Had you attended any conferences before that? Have you gone to other conferences?
It was great meeting you as well! I’ve been to almost every Florida SCBWI conference since I first started going in 2009. Through the years I’ve been to other conferences as well. In the Carolinas, New York, Niagara. Still hoping to go to more.
When did you start writing and was Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies your first book?
I started writing Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies around 2014. I’d had other books published before then, by an educational company, but Cuddle Bunnies was really my first fiction book. And, even though it was my first book published, it was the fourth book I had written. Hopefully, I can get the others through one day.
Can you tell us a little about your writing process?
I’m not sure that anyone should emulate my writing process. I do try to write every day, and if not, then it’s mostly every day. I write every night until late, since it’s quieter and less distractions for me. The next day, I’m looking over what I wrote the night before and usually researching what I intend to write about next. I’m part of a weekly critique group, and I read a chapter each time and tinker with it based on how the feedback goes. Sometimes, I make changes, sometimes, I don’t. Many writers say to go ahead and write through and go back and make changes later, and that’s what I should do, but I can’t stop thinking about it, if I don’t at least revise partly along the way.
You have a unique ability of combining humor with scary that is perfect for the middle grade readers! How did you come up with the idea of demonic cuddle bunnies?
I’d had the idea to write a story about evil stuffed animals for a while. I’d always wanted it to be dark humor, like Gremlins. They want to kill you, but the way it’s done is almost comedic. That thought had been on the backburner for a while, until right beforehand, I almost sold another story. Ultimately, it wasn’t sold, but in the feedback they gave me, they mentioned that they loved the humor, so I took that and set out to write the funniest book that I could. That brought me back to the evil stuffed animal story, which became Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies.
Tell us about your road to publication. Could you share any lessons you learned along the way?
Well, in the last question, I answered about the breakthrough, but I’d been working at it for years beforehand. Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies was the fourth book that I wrote. Each book I felt I was getting closer. I read books on writing. Went to conferences. Joined critique groups. The biggest debt of gratitude I have is for Joyce Sweeney, whose class I took, and she helped make some fixes and suggestions which got me to the next level.
How can readers connect with you and buy your book?
I’m pretty much all over social media. Twitter and Instagram I’m @Houseofrosen and Facebook, I’m at https://www.facebook.com/JRosen18
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