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MEET JAMES OTIS THACH
by Bonnie O'Brian

Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

James Otis Thach

I remember, in about fourth or fifth grade, loving it when the teacher gave us “creative writing” assignments. Most of the kids in the class would groan at the task, but for me it was an opportunity to invent some fun or adventurous yarn. I loved sharing my stories with the class. When I was young, my mother worked for a while as a professional storyteller. I used to love it when she read us stories at bedtime. She would sometimes bring us with her to storytelling conferences, and I remember listening to great storytellers like Jay O’Callahan and Jackie Torrence. I liked the way they could create whole worlds with just their voices, their words and their movements. I was in junior high school when I decided I wanted to be a screenwriter and director. I started writing stories that I imagined would be made into films. Some of the stories I wrote in junior high school are ones I’d like to return to now. Film has had a huge influence on me, more so than books, because until fairly recently, I was a reluctant reader.

Where do you get your ideas?

Ideas can come from almost anywhere. For me, often a phrase or an image or a little detail will pop out at me. And I’ll have the sense that this is a corner of something bigger. And then I set about trying to write it. And there, with the pen or the keyboard, I sort of fumble my way around that little corner of an idea until the whole thing fleshes itself out. To me, that’s the most fun part of writing. A CHILD’S GUIDE TO COMMON HOUSEHOLD MONSTERS came to me quite suddenly and took hardly any time to write. I was working with David Barneda (an illustrator) on the dummy for THE TICKLE MONSTER IS COMING…. We would meet each Saturday at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. One day, as I was driving over the hill, I started thinking, What are the other monsters I could write about? And I thought about the under-the-bed monster, and the basement monster, and pretty soon the title, A CHILD’S GUIDE TO COMMON HOUSEHOLD MONSTERS popped into my head, and I loved the title so much that I knew it was a book. By the time I got to Krispy Kreme, most of it was written in my head.

What gave you the idea for THE SEAL PUP?

THE SEAL PUP was the first children’s book I wrote, even though it will be the third to come out. I got the idea from that from a documentary. I was at a party, and a television tuned to the Discovery Channel, showing a documentary about seals. So I started watching. A great white shark was threatening a seal colony, and it looked like it was about to attack a little group of seals. And then another seal came to the rescue, and did the most amazing and heroic thing I’ve ever seen any creature do. And I knew right away I had to tell that seal’s story.

Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you find one easier than the other?

I prefer fiction, because I like making stuff up. And I prefer poetry, because it forces me to explore things in a unique way. When you’re trying to make things rhyme, it forces you to search for words and different ways of expressing an idea, and that often opens up whole new worlds you hadn’t imagined before. When I was starting out, everyone told me that rhyme didn’t sell. My publishers regularly encourage me to write something in prose, but it’s not my passion, and I don’t think the result would be as good. I’m a big believer in doing whatever it is you’re passionate about, and not accepting discouraging advice. Every great book (and every great everything, for that matter) has been heckled by a chorus of naysayers during its creation.

When is your next book going to be in book stores?

My next book, THE TICKLE MONSTER IS COMING…, is due in stores in the Fall of ’08. I stress the word “due” because publishers are notorious for moving deadlines around, either because of delays in the process, or to better suit their own launch calendars. I really hope they hit that deadline because I love that book and I can’t wait for it to come out. After that, THE SEAL PUP will come out in the spring or summer of ’09, and I’m already excited about that.

Do you like to include humor in your stories? Or adventure? Or mystery?

Yes to all: humor, adventure, and mystery. I think all three are essential. Humor is like hope or humanity, and it bubbles up even in scary or dark stories. Adventure is the part of the story that takes you someplace you’ve never been, makes you face something you’ve always avoided, and maybe even makes you learn something new about your world and yourself. And mystery is what makes you want to turn the page. I think every story should have all three. In my favorite book, Primo Levi’s memoir SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ (not a kids’ book), the subject could not be darker. But in this nightmarish world, Primo delivers human portraits filled with humor and hope and dreams. That’s the beauty of writing—it can go to the darkest places, and still illuminate the soul.

When you do school visits, what question do children ask you most?

My favorite question of all time came from a little girl, on my very first school visit. Her teacher had read her class the manuscript of THE SEAL PUP, which is a pretty long story written entirely in verse. And this little girl asked me, “How come people don’t talk like that all the time?” I thought that was so sweet. I get asked how I get my ideas, and how I learned to rhyme, and what made me want to be a writer.

What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?

I like to encourage kids to be creative and pursue their interests. If you like to write, write; and if you like drawing, draw! I worry that kids aren’t supported enough in developing their artistic or imaginative talents. I tell them that whatever they enjoy doing now, they should stick with. I think a lot of people abandon the passions they had when they were little kids, and they don’t have to.

What other jobs you had before you became a writer/illustrator?

My first jobs were all in the entertainment business—in production, development, and casting. My heart was not really in the business side of things, though. I really just wanted to tell stories. After I decided to stop working in show business, I started working with kids. My twin brother and I eventually started a tutoring company, which is what we still do, and which I love.