Interview with picture book author Karen Kaufman Orloff … with a 20 BOOK GIVEAWAY of her delightful book, DUDLEY’S DAY AT HOME!!

If you haven’t been following the incredible promotion by Flashlight Press, each month in 2024, one lucky blogger gets to interview an author and offer a 20 book giveaway to their readers. Pinch me, because this month, this amazing giveaway opportunity has come to Writers’ Rumpus! I’m excited to introduce you all to Karen Kaufman Orloff and her delightful picture book, Dudley’s Day at Home, published by Flashlight Press in 2020. Karen’s outrageous imagination combined with Renee Andriani’s engaging pictures will have your entire family giggling, grinning, and joyfully revisiting Dudley’s exploits again and again.

Dudley’s Day at Home starts with a question all dog owners will find relatable: “Mom, what does Dudley do all day when we go out?” Mom tells her son Sam that Dudley does normal dog activities like eating, napping, and exercising … but the hilarious pictures show Dudley wearing a chef’s hat while flipping pancakes, wearing a frilly pink eye mask while sleeping in Sam’s bed, and wearing workout clothes while running on the treadmill! Cat lovers, don’t despair: Dudley’s BFF and foil is Buttercup, the neighbor’s orange cat. The book gets even sillier when Sam poses this question: “Mom, do you think Dudley wonders what WE do all day?”

LFC: It’s my great pleasure to welcome you to Writers’ Rumpus, Karen! I can hardly believe Flashlight’s generosity in giving away 20 books each month of their 20th Anniversary year. Before delving into more personal questions, can you explain to our eager readers how this giveaway will work?

KKO: Sure! Each comment and social media repost will earn an entry into the book raffle. To facilitate the giveaway, please share your name, mailing address, and number of raffle entries with Laura @ cooperlaura@yahoo.com. Laura will notify all winners in two weeks (June 4th), and copies of Dudley’s Day at Home will be sent directly from Flashlight Press. FYI: books can only be sent to U.S. mailing addresses.

LFC: Now that the important details are out the way, I can’t wait to tell you that Dudley’s Day at Home is sheer delight from cover to cover. What was your inspiration for this story and your decision to write it in this engaging style where words and pictures don’t match up?

KKO: The inspiration for Dudley came from a few of the dogs I’ve known. One was the cutest little dog of a good friend. Her name is Rosie (the dog, not the friend!) and I just fell in love with her when I met her. And our family had a Labradoodle named Bailey and she was so human-like I often wondered what she did when we were out. She was a big, goofy, lovable dog and I could just picture her whipping up pancakes! Of course, that image made it easy to concoct the silly pictures. Because of how I conceived the book, I realized that the pictures were really vital to the humor. I don’t draw, as you’ve probably gathered, but Renee Andriani’s great illustrations were exactly what I had in mind!

LFC: Dudley’s Day at Home showcases how words and pictures combine in a well-made picture book to create magic. Did you have a say in choosing your illustrator? How did you present your instructions about the pictures, when submitting to Flashlight Press as well as when working with Renee? I dabble in writing picture books and always find the notion of illustrator notes so confounding!

KKO: My editor at Flashlight, Shari Greenspan, kept me in the loop about illustrators. Not all editors do that. I absolutely loved Renee’s style! I did have to add the art notes because in this instance, the funny pictures relied on the straightforward text. Most of the time, authors don’t add art suggestions. They leave the work of the pictures to the illustrator. But sometimes, like in this case, it was important.

LFC: When did you first catch the writing bug, and what was your path to becoming the award-winning author of 12 (and counting!) picture books? P.S.: Please keep them coming! 

KKO: Thank you, Laura! I’ve had the writing bug for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I was always writing stories. Writing was the one skill I had throughout school. I wasn’t very good at math or science, unfortunately. As I got older, my path in the working world always had something to do with words and writing. I was a magazine editor for several years. But when I had children and started reading books to them, it occurred to me that I’d love to try my hand at children’s books. At first, I didn’t think I could write picture books since I couldn’t illustrate them, until I finally learned that I didn’t have to! I started writing stories and submitting them to editors. Still, it took many years of learning my craft through classes, conferences and critique groups, before my first book, “I Wanna Iguana,” was picked up by G.P. Putnam.

LFC: Happy readers are so glad you persisted! As an animal nut, I noticed with glee that animals typically show up in your picture books. When you submit your manuscripts, do you specify what type of animal you want shown? I fully expect that in your first book, I Wanna Iguana, it was self-explanatory. In our emails back and forth, you mentioned that Dudley looks a bit like Bailey, the Labradoodle your family once owned. Believe it or not, Dudley also looks like my rescue Goldendoodle Skye (so of course, I’ll share a photo.) Can you share a picture of Bailey?

KKO: I’m happy to share my favorite picture of Bailey!

I think that any resemblance to Bailey was purely coincidental. But I suspect that Dudley might look a little like Renee’s dogs. I do love that dogs often show up in my books, but for the most part, that’s also a happy coincidence, although one of my older books, Talk, Oscar, Please, features an adorable dog.

The illustrator for I Wanna Iguana, David Catrow, threw in a cute doggie, which I love! I think details like that really help enhance the stories and make them funnier.

LFC: Awwww! I look forward to reading ALL your amazing picture books. What is your creative process and what advice can you give to aspiring children’s authors? 

KKO: My best advice to aspiring authors is to read, read, read in the genre you want to write in. Then, learn your craft by attending classes and conferences, join a critique group and understand the rewriting process. Rewriting is so important. Changing up a word here or there, deleting parts that don’t add to the story, working on character development – these are so important to making your story the best it can be. I suppose that is my process. Once I get an idea, I jot down some thoughts, then write up the first draft. Then the work really begins. It can take many weeks for a picture book (months or more for a novel) to rewrite.

LFC: Thank you for sharing such helpful tips with our readers. Can you also share a bit about your writing workshops, as well as how readers can connect with you?

KKO: Readers are welcome to check out my websites:  www.karenkaufmanorloff.com and www.iwannabooks.com and to get in touch with me via email at kkorloff@gmail.com. I sometimes offer writing workshops for kids and adults here in the Hudson Valley where I live. I have an author partner who I’ve given these workshops with named Della Ross Ferreri, and she has written wonderful books. You can check her out online. I’m also involved in an organization with Della and a few other writers called “Children’s Writers of the Hudson Valley”, and we offer conferences and other events throughout the year. That website is www.cwhv.org. And thank you, again, Laura, for giving me the opportunity to connect with your readers.

LFC: Thank you, Karen! It’s been my pleasure to interview you, and I will happily welcome you back to Writers’ Rumpus anytime. Thank you again to Flashlight Press for their generosity in donating 20 books to our lucky readers!