I am super excited and beyond grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to connect with you all! Lee and I chatted about how we wanted to pass the baton and we landed on a pair of interviews. Last week, Lee answered mine and today, I answer his!
Lee: Tell us about yourself and your journey in KidLit.
Justin: My journey to KidLit has been a real roundabout one, but I feel like it’s always been on the horizon for me.
Growing up in Staten Island, NY, I always loved storytelling. Like most kids, I was obsessed with Disney and would carry my Disney picture books everywhere. I remember drawing from an early age, drawing mermaids in those pictures books before anything else but at that time, I wasn’t a huge reader. Resources were limited and I didn’t have many books as a kid. Not until I was about ten years old or so did I begin reading reading. There was this one book about a dragon on a mountain that I fell in love with. Though I can’t remember the name of it, I can sort of see the cover in my mind’s eye. But that was one of my first library books. Shoutout to the librarians! But before that time, I would just draw characters and torture my family with the stories of whatever protagonist I created that day. When I discovered the expansiveness of novels, I began reading, creating and drawing stories of my own.
In high school, I participated in a collegiate program for Math and Sciences to pursue my first dream of being a Marine Biologist, but I immediately disliked my classes and started doodling in the margins of my notebook. Eventually the doodles in my notes became a WHOLE section in the back of my binder solely for drawing on hole-punched computer paper. Soon my ambition to become an animator/illustrator grew but as life would have it, things don’t always work out the way you plan it. With a life altering experience turning my world upside down, I pivoted into performance, another passion of mine, which was my gateway out of a difficult situation.
Fast forward one hundred years, I’d perform all over the world as a professional dancer with the hobby of drawing and writing. I still had stories in my heart that I’d carried with me from childhood but they were more there as a form of escapism. Until the pandemic, where all performance halted and living in a tiny NYC apartment was not compatible with a lanky dancer like me. So I started to pursue my visual art more. With the guidance of my good friend, Erica Rand Silverman, I was introduced to the SCBWI community which has changed the trajectory of my life, career and creative expression.
Five years ago, I made a commitment to myself to stay open, and meet change/opportunity as it presented itself. So I feel excited and humbled becoming a student again which has allowed me to grow within this community, and find a new and profound way back to the storyteller I was as a kid.
Lee: What are you most excited about within your creativity?
Justin: What I am most excited about within my creativity or what excites me the most is how I can combine all of my interests and sensibilities into one single art form. I love dance, theater, film, nature, cultural histories, cultural expressionism and I love experimenting on how I can filter all of these beautiful things in my life through my lens and share it with others.
Bringing color and life to my many thoughts and ideas is magic. And to know that this career will be a life-long journey, full of constant growth, excites me and presents me with the beautiful challenge of change, evolution and artistic expression.
Yeah, that’s what brings me so much excitement. What a gift it is. And to be able to create stories for kids like me, to make reading fun and accessible feels so purposeful and full circle.
Lee: What are you looking forward to bringing to the SCBWI Blog?
Justin: What I hope to bring to SCBWI is my perspective as a newer author/illustrator. I have always had ambitions to be a author/artist but not until I took the leap was I able to start the journey that I felt I was always meant to traverse. To become the person I was meant to be.
Being at the start of this journey has proven to be both challenging and amazing, and I’m excited to learn alongside those who consider themselves novices and learn from those who are more seasoned. I would love to continue building a community out there that holds each other, supports each other in our ups and downs, and shares collective knowledge to strengthen one another.
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Once again, thank you so much for the beautiful work you’ve put into the blog all these years, Lee. You will be missed but I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you! All the luck!
From your biggest fan and good friend,
Justin
