Our very own Janel Spiegel sat down with two very talented local individuals, Author Larry Deibert and Illustrator Ashley Reigle. The duo teamed up to bring a new Christmas classic to life, “Santa’s Day Jobs”. Everything about this book from its inspirational conception to the collaborative work of Larry and Ashley are sure to make this book a popular story for generations to come.

 

Interview with Larry Deibert

Please tell us the process you took to create “Santa’s Day Jobs?” 

Larry: My wife had been after me for some time to write a children’s 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, “Santa!” 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, “You must have Ashley be your illustrator. So the collaboration began.

 

Did you always want to write?

Larry: No, I wasn’t 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’t good enough, but the dream of writing a book didn’t 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’t write for years before rewriting Bravo, but since then I have written 7 more books, with more on the way.

 

What was it like working with Ashley Reigle (Illustrator)?

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’s Day Jobs 2017.

 

Did you face any challenges while working on the book?

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.

 

Who has inspired you professionally?

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.

 

What would you like to say to the readers of “Santa’s Day Jobs?”

Larry: I hope you enjoy reading and coloring Santa’s 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’s art work is what really made the book special.

Click Here to learn more about Larry Deibert and his other works.

Interview with Ashley Reigle

How did you become involved in “Santa’s Day Job?”

Ashley: I am a licensed cosmetologist. I was working at a salon at the time and my boss cuts Larry’s hair. So my boss at the time got us connected. I did all the pictures for the book.

 

What was it like working on “Santa’s Day Job?”

Ashley: It was great. I love art and I love kids so putting the two together was awesome.

 

Did you go to school for art?

Ashley: I went for cosmetology and in high school I was in advanced placement classes for art but I didn’t 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.

 

What was it like working with Larry?

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.

 

What would you like to say to the readers and the people who will be buying the book?

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.

 

Why did you decide to add the coloring book in the back of the book?

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.

When you were working on illustrating? What type of process did you and Larry go through?

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.

 

How did you feel when you first actually saw the book?

Ashley: Shocked! It was very cool. I was excited and my children were excited.

 

What was the most memorable experience working on the book?

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, “hey! That’s me!”

 

ASHLEY REIGLE ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/xnothing.gold.can.stayx?fref=ts

 

ASHLEY’S ART PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/artfromtheash/?fref=ts

 

 

 

For more from Janel on The Valley Ledger Click Here

 

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