Behind the Pages: A Conversation with Children's Book Author Bronwyn Spencer

I recently sat down with Bronwyn Spencer to chat about her debut picture book The Great Chilli Chase, which I had the pleasure of illustrating and designing.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me Bronwyn. Let's start with a little bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Bronwyn. I’m a communications professional by trade, and recently put those skills to use writing and self-publishing The Great Chilli Chase. I spend my spare time exploring the world around me. Whether it's walking my long-haired dachshund Chilli through the green spaces or along the river of Brisbane or travelling the world on my holidays - I love getting out and about.

I love music, reading and the arts and regularly attend theatre shows, concerts and other events. I love to line dance and am learning to play the piano in between reading whatever is next on my to-be-read list.

At what point did you realise you wanted to write a book?

I have wanted to write a book for as long as I can remember. I remember writing a book in early school years about pineapple pizza so technically that was my first book! It wasn’t until I became an Aunty and my friends had kids that I got the chance to read plenty of children’s books and realised just how much fun storytelling in that format can be and how important it is for a story to be engaging not just for kids but for parents and carers too.

Tell us a bit about The Great Chilli Chase and what inspired you to write it. And what is might be the next Chilli adventure?

The Great Chilli Chase was inspired by my very real, and very cheeky dachshund Chilli. When he was a puppy he had a habit of stealing socks (undies, pyjamas, bras and once even a pair of reading glasses) and escaping around the house with them.

While he has calmed down a bit and the chases are less frequent, it always made me laugh when it happened and I knew a lot of families with cheeky dogs of all sorts would relate.

I was inspired to finally put pen to paper and write it down after my sister Alison (mum in the book) encouraged me to do something creative when I was on a break between work.

The next chilli adventure is already in the works and is about a great game of fetch. Chilli loves playing fetch with tennis balls and sometimes doesn’t know when enough is enough. Watch this space!

What is your favourite spread from The Great Chilli Chase and why?

My favourite spread is the one that starts with “take him for walks”. I love it because it features all three of my niblings but as individuals and plenty of cute pics of Chilli - including one of my favourite illustrations of him in the bathtub.

What about a favourite small detail?

I love that on the spread with the rules on the fridge there are six letter magnets that feature the initials of everyone featured in or involved in the book.

What is the most challenging part of the whole self publishing process? And what is the most enjoyable? 

The most challenging part of the self publishing process was probably working out what order to do everything in to make sure that I was setting myself up for success. It took a bit of research, chatting to other authors (both self-published and traditional published) and a whole lot of figuring it out as I went but I got there in the end! Half the fun was learning about the process though and figuring it all out!

The most enjoyable was seeing the illustrations for the first time. Every milestone was so exciting. From the first sketches of the characters to the storyboarding it felt like what exactly was in my head was slowly coming to life. And when I got the first colour roughs. Wow. Mind blown.

Finally, what is one piece of advice you'd give to inspiring children's book authors who are looking to self publish their book.

I would say to just start! It took me about 18 months from when I wrote the book to when I decided to publish it and then another 18 months for the book to be finished. If you don’t start now, you are only delaying the amazing feeling of having something that you created bring joy to people.

Anything else you’d like to leave us with?

I am forever grateful for the experience of working on the book with Janet. It truly felt like a partnership and I really appreciated all of the guidance and support throughout the process. I regularly get feedback about how fun, colourful and joyful the illustrations are and so many people have agreed that you absolutely nailed Chilli and his cheeky essence.

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The Great Chilli Chase is available to purchase via the Little Red Chilli Books website

Follow Bronwyn on Instagram at @littleredchillibooks

Read more about the illustration and design of the book here