Author Spotlight: Kira Bigwood Author of Secret, Secret Agent Guy

Welcome to my new weekly series, Author Spotlight! Today I’m sharing part of a recent interview with Kira Bigwood, author of Secret, Secret Agent Guy. I connected with her through the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge and had a wonderful conversation about writing and publishing. Check out her website to read more about her story.

Where did you get the idea to put Secret, Secret Agent Guy to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?
I knew I wanted to write a book about spies and I knew I wanted it to be really sticky–to get stuck in people’s heads. I also wanted it to be a bedtime book. So, I thought about bedtime and lullabies…I picked a lullaby everybody knew. I knew people had done it in the past. I picked a tune even the little kids would know so it would help them memorize the story a little more and get stuck in everybody’s heads.

Was Secret, Secret Agent Guy the first book you wrote?
No. Funny enough, it was the one that came the quickest to me. It just kind of spilled out relatively quickly in like a month or two. And it hasn’t ever happened like that again.

Do you have any other projects you’re working on at the moment?
I’m just a picture book writer for now. My kids are getting older. My oldest just turned 13. So I do wonder if maybe I’ll dip my toe in middle grade. But honestly I can’t imagine writing a book that long after writing picture books. And I do have a couple that my agent has been waiting on revisions for a very long time. It’s the kind of thing where these just aren’t as easy as the picture book that got published. Sometimes it just takes a long time. So, I’ve got two manuscripts right now that I’d say are 80% of the way there. And I’ve got a bunch of other stuff too. But I had a really hard time during the pandemic with finding the time to write. My kids were home. This year they were back at school and I thought I would get so much done, but life just gets in the way. The first two months were great; this last month was crap and I’m hoping next month I can get back to it. I would like to be able to turn my revisions in, I just haven’t gotten to that step yet. It just takes time.

Are you thinking of switching from writing for advertising into writing books full time?
Yeah. I did kind of leave advertising behind this past summer. I still have a foot in the door but I’m on hiatus with the agency I was working with. Still I’ve found ways to occupy my time. Of course I’m a big procrastinator, it’s just how it goes. But yeah, I think when I had my kids and was reading to them I was thinking, “Oh! You know, I could do this.” Then basically I had reality served up on a platter and realized it’s not going to be easy. But the more I worked at it the more invested I felt and I thought, I’m going to keep trying for as long as it takes. I knew full well it might never happen but I was still going to do it anyway.

When do you write?
It’s the five am writers club for me. When I’m in my zone I get up before everyone else and I write. This year when I was really productive, up until a couple months ago, it was still morning time. It was 9 am. I just took myself to the library or coffee shop every day and got out of the house. That really helps. But once school’s out it’s pretty much a dead day for me. I used to do all my work at night when I was younger and now it’s morning for sure.

Where is your favorite place to write?
I like to actually go to my local Whole Foods and sit in the takeout area. Up until the pandemic there was a bar there and this was when I was writing at night. I would get a glass of wine from the bar and I would sit and do all my concepting and get all the ideas out. When it comes to ideas that works. But when it comes to writing, I need complete silence. So, then I’ll go to the library, get a study carol or something.

What’s your favorite type of book to read?
I love autobiographies. One of my sons is an actor and there was this book out. I don’t know if you know this actress Jennette McCurdy, she was on Nickelodeon. It’s fascinating and made me think, oh my gosh. I’m constantly checking with my son asking, “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to.” I love autobiographies, mysteries, adult fiction, middle grade fiction. My daughter and I were just reading one, it’s part of a series. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage. It’s a really fun mystery. The characters are great.

Who do you write for? I know you mentioned the nos you received and yet, you kept going. What keeps you going through those nos?
Hmmm. That’s a good question. I guess I just want to prove it to myself. I write for my kids, for sure. They are my constant inspiration. They are always my beta readers for everything. I know if I’m not getting a laugh, I have got to rewrite a section. I’m a first born, type A so this might be why. When I set a goal, I will keep going until I reach that goal. I sold the first book and then it was like, “Okay, now I want to make it a career.” It’s been slow. It stinks because the grass always seems greener. You see people who come out with their first book and then they have another and another. And it’s been two years and I still don’t have another deal, I don’t have another completed manuscript. That really keeps me going because the thought of not even trying to reach that goal…I’m not going to let that happen.

If you could talk to many-years-ago Kira before you went to your first kids’ literature class, before you learned anything and were just staring out, what would you tell her if you could give her one bit of advice?
It would be to read. Read everything. Because it wasn’t enough to be a writer, I needed to have really done my homework and to keep doing my homework. And learn about the market and really see what’s out there. Also, this process is not linear. For every step forward, there will be a step back. And for every stumble, there will be a triumph waiting around the corner. Enjoy the ride!

Where can people find your book?
It’s on Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any place that sells books.

What’s the best way for readers to connect with you?
I would say Instagram is the best one.

Stay tuned for my next Author Spotlight with author Alyssa Londoño!