Author Interview: Jess Bradley

This weeks author interview is with Jess Bradley. Jess is an amazing writer and illustrator. We read I Know Sasquatch by her, and I was very surprised by the combination of pictures and illustrations. 

If you haven't read anything by her, she does amazing children's books. I highly recommend checking them out.

First let's get to know a little bit about what makes you, you..

Where are you from? 

I live in the South West of England by the sea!

Is your name a pen name? If so what inspired you to pick that name?

I've always just used my own name, although if I had a pen name I'd like something ridiculous like Count Von Blunderbuss.

3 facts about yourself?

I worked in a comic book store for 4 years, I'm a bookaholic, I really do know Sasquatch!

What are some of your favorite things in general? (Food, shows, movies, anything you want to share with us)

I'm a huge book and comic fan; I love films - horror is my favourite genre, especially horror films from the 80s; I draw every day and I also write a lot too; I like to watch and play video games with my son!

Now let's talk about you as an author...

When did you start writing and what was the first thing you ever wrote?

I've always written and writing stories in school was always one of my favourite things to do. I can't remember what the first thing I wrote was, but I was always making little books and illustrating them too!

What inspired you to start writing?

I've just always enjoyed writing and drawing stories and reading lots of awesome books and comics just makes me want to write and draw something that other people might find awesome too!

What is your writing process? Do you make a timeline first? Or just write what comes to your mind? Do you do a lot of research?

I love sketchbooks and notebooks and I usually just start doodling and build on things from there. It helps to make a rough mock-up of the book I have in mind to get an idea of the page count and layout too. Depending on what needs to be drawn, I'll make sure to do any research. It's different for every project!

What are some of your favorite authors/favorite reads?

Where to begin! I love the Hilda books by Luke Pearson, the Moomin comic strips by Tove Jansson, Hellboy by Mike Mignola - the list is long! I draw and write a comic strip for a weekly UK comic called The Phoenix. There are some amazing creators in there and I highly recommend looking up any work by Jamie Smart!

What do you have planned for the future? Any other book or series ideas?

I have a lot of ideas but getting the time to write and draw them is the issue! I'm currently working on a couple of comic book pitches as well as a self-published horror comic.

I recently read I Know Sasquatch to my four year old, and he (And I!) absolutely loved it. It was such a cute concept and I love the mix of the photos with the illustrations.

What gave you the idea for I Know Sasquatch?

I've always loved cryptids and the unexplained and wanted to create something fun along those lines. I have a lot of fun putting my characters into photos of real places and it just seemed to fit! I self-published the book first and used to sell it at comic conventions. One of my art directors saw it and liked it so much, they asked if I'd like to re-work it as a children's book!

What got you into drawing and the illustrations? 

I've always loved drawing and went to art college and studied Illustration at university, so I always knew I wanted to draw for a living. I draw all the time though and have a lot of sketchbooks that I like to keep!

Which is your favorite book you've written and your favorite character?

I have a soft spot for Sasquatch! I also like Red Panda: Nature's Jerk, which is a character I draw for The Phoenix. He's a bit of a meanie but he's a lot of fun to write and draw!

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About Jess Bradley found on Goodreads

I'm an illustrator and character designer based in Bristol, England. I graduated from UWE Bristol in 2003 with a BA HONS in Illustration (First) and have been doodling a living ever since. My clients have included Capstone Publishing, Igloo Books, Top That! Publishing, Quarto, UK Apparel, Genki Gear, Tick Tock Books, UK Greetings, Air Emirates and Carlton Books.

My work is cute, colourful and quirky and I love nothing more than designing ooddles of characters. I make a lot of my own goods including stickers, postccards, prints, greetings cards, keyrings, badges and original paintings. I can be found at several UK comic book conventions.

Although I use digital colouring in my work, I still hand-draw everything before scanning because I think wobbly lines are awesome.

I enjoy whittling away the hours by drawing, playing video games (Bomberman and We Love Katamari are my favourites), watching films, reading real books and comics and drinking as much tea as my puny bladder can hold