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Interview with Larry Deibert<\/h1>\n
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Please tell us the process you took to create \u201cSanta\u2019s Day Jobs?\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Larry: My wife had been after me for some time to write a children\u2019s book, but I had no idea what kind of story to write. Shortly before Christmas last year, I was delivering mail at my part-time job at Lehigh Valley Hospital, and my beard was a little longer than I usually keep it. A little girl looked at me and exclaimed, \u201cSanta!\u201d I smiled and nodded, but all day long I was thinking about Santa working at normal jobs. I came up with a few occupations and then I wondered how I was going to find an illustrator. I was getting a haircut at Louise and Company and I told Louise about my idea. She told me about Ashley, so I gave her some ideas to pass on. A few days later, Ashley dropped off her watercolor of Lifeguard Santa. I took it home and Peggy, my wife, said, \u201cYou must have Ashley be your illustrator. So the collaboration began.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you always want to write?<\/strong><\/p>\n Larry: No, I wasn\u2019t even much of a reader until I went in the service. In Vietnam we would receive a box filled with novels every month or so and I started reading on my free time. When I came home, I kept reading. I married my first wife in 1973 and the following year she was pregnant. I began hearing all the horror stories about the effects of Agent Orange, so I wrote a 40 K book for my child or children to have in case I would die young. 23 rejection slips later, I figured I wasn\u2019t good enough, but the dream of writing a book didn\u2019t wither. In 1990 I joined a Vietnam vets group and over the years, the guys shared many stories with me. Carrying their tales was a small burden, considering what many of them had to do to stay alive. In 1999, my mentor suggested I rework my book to include these stories I carried and I also wanted to pay tribute to the nurses. I wrote 95 Bravo, which 10 years later, became Combat Boots dainty feet-Finding Love In Vietnam. 95 Bravo was published in 2004 as an eBook and was out in paperback in 2014. I have since gotten the rights back and hope to republish it someday. I also wrote my first vampire novel, Requiem For A Vampire, published in 2007. I pulled that book and I intend to republish it again someday. I didn\u2019t write for years before rewriting Bravo, but since then I have written 7 more books, with more on the way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was it like working with Ashley Reigle (Illustrator)? <\/strong><\/p>\n Larry: She is a great illustrator and, although most of our collaboration was done via email, I had an opportunity to have breakfast with her and get to know her al little early on in the process. When she completed the water color originals, my wife and I met her entire family. Since then we have met on a few occasions and we have a book signing together coming up tomorrow at Moravian Book Shop, Bethlehem. I look forward to working with her again soon, hopefully on Santa\u2019s Day Jobs 2017.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you face any challenges while working on the book?<\/strong><\/p>\n Larry: Yes, trying to get the text properly written for children and trying to get kids to participate. My cover artist had a difficult time meeting the specs that www.createspace.com uses for covers and we had to resubmit it many times before it was perfect.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who has inspired you professionally?<\/strong><\/p>\n Larry: My mentor, Mark Graham, Edgar winner for The Resurrectionist, encouraged me to write, so I wrote two novels in one year. I also enjoy the styles of Stephen King and Clive Cussler.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What would you like to say to the readers of \u201cSanta\u2019s Day Jobs?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Larry: I hope you enjoy reading and coloring Santa\u2019s Day Jobs and I would ask that you tell your friends about it. I think I had the easy part to do, the incredible talent of Ashley Reigle\u2019s art work is what really made the book special.<\/p>\n Click Here to learn more about Larry Deibert and his other works.<\/a><\/p>\n How did you become involved in \u201cSanta\u2019s Day Job?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: I am a licensed cosmetologist. I was working at a salon at the time and my boss cuts Larry\u2019s hair. So my boss at the time got us connected. I did all the pictures for the book.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was it like working on \u201cSanta\u2019s Day Job?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: It was great. I love art and I love kids so putting the two together was awesome.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you go to school for art? <\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: I went for cosmetology and in high school I was in advanced placement classes for art but I didn\u2019t pursue it after high school. It has been more of a hobby. I have sold some art. This is my first real illustrating job so it is exciting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was it like working with Larry?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: It was wonderful. He was willing and would give me an idea for each picture and then I would go from there. I would insert little things that I thought and he liked all the work so I had a chance to be creative.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What would you like to say to the readers and the people who will be buying the book? <\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: I think that the book really gives kids a perspective on what Santa does the rest of the year. It is a lot of fun. It is something families can do together. There is a coloring book in the back so it gives kids a chance to be creative and see what they will do with things.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why did you decide to add the coloring book in the back of the book? <\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: It was an idea that Larry had. When I had originally given him the pictures, I would show him the copies in black and white before I colored them. He had the idea to do that then.<\/p>\n When you were working on illustrating? What type of process did you and Larry go through?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: He actually gave me the concept for all the different pages. I know he had a vague idea of what he wanted each scenario to be so I would come up with the drawing itself and he would go from there to write the pages.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How did you feel when you first actually saw the book?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: Shocked! It was very cool. I was excited and my children were excited.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was the most memorable experience working on the book?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashley: My favorite moment working on the book was probably that there are children and I actually made two of them look like my daughters. They were excited seeing the book and going, \u201chey! That\u2019s me!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ASHLEY REIGLE ON FACEBOOK: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/xnothing.gold.can.stayx?fref=ts<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ASHLEY\u2019S ART PAGE: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/artfromtheash\/?fref=ts<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “May your nightmares inspire you.” JMS<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more from Janel on The Valley Ledger Click Here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nInterview with Ashley Reigle<\/h1>\n
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