This month’s interview is with Katie Mazeika, an award-winning author and illustrator “who can’t imagine a better job than making books.” She’s especially passion about highlighting disabled voices in her work and her work as a creator and advocate creates a space to openly discuss disability and neurodiversity.
She’s the author/illustrator for Beulah Has a Hunch! and Annette Feels Free, though she’s illustrated numerous other books for children. Katie’s fiction debut is coming out in spring 2025, so we’ll be sure to ask about that!
Katie lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her family and two dogs. When she’s not drawing, writing, or visiting schools and libraries, she likes to spend time at the theater, in her garden, or getting lost in a good book.
RVC: Rumor has it that it was a coin flip whether you were going to study writing or art in high school? True?
KM: It was a little more than a coin flip, but those were the two subjects I was torn between studying in college. When I learned about illustration it seemed like the best of both (storytelling with images). So, I started at Miami University (of Ohio) with a major in Art and a minor in Creative Writing. But when Miami stopped offering illustration classes, I transferred to Columbus College of Art and Design and majored in illustration.
RVC: Talk a bit about your time at Columbus College of Art and Design. What were the best lessons you learned, and how did your experiences there prepare you for a career in kidlit?
KM: CCAD had a wonderful illustration program when I was there. The foundation year was intense with classes in anatomy, color theory, perspective drawing and design. I still use many of those skills today. After that we got into our majors, and I loved my illustration classes. CCAD was also when I first started using Photoshop.
RVC: Let’s jump ahead to your first published book. What’s the story behind your that story?
KM: I’m going talk about my first book as an author and illustrator. That was Annette Feels Free: the True Story of Annette Kellerman, World-Champipn Swimmer, Fashion Pioneer, and Real-Life Mermaid. I came across a photo of Annette, with her hand on her hip staring into the camera filled with attitude and self-assurance and it piqued my interest. I started researching Annette and her life and the more I learned the more I wondered why I hadn’t heard of her before. That was the beginning of what eventually became Annette Feels Free.
RVC: Most of the time, a nonfiction picture book is all about shaping, condensing, and trimming. What cool things didn’t make it into the final version?
KM: There are so many! Annette was the first person to do a nude scene in a movie (that was left out for age appropriateness, but I love that fact because it sums up Annette’s boldness so well.) She was a major force behind the movement to make swimming a popular sport. She toured all over the US touting its benefits. Annette proposed to her husband (something ladies didn’t do in the early 1900’s.) She was a vegetarian and teetotaler her entire adult life and could hold her breath for 2 minutes and 30 seconds well into her 70s.
RVC: If you had to do that book all over again, what’s one thing you’d handle differently?
KM: I can get picky about the art, but I refuse to. I am very proud of that book.
RVC: You’ve written both fiction and non-fiction. Do you have a preference, and what are the unique challenges and rewards of each genre?
KM: I don’t know that I have a favorite. There is a level of freedom in fiction that can fun to play with. At the same time, I enjoy the challenge of looking for the narrative arc within a set of facts.
RVC: Your fiction debut comes out in 2025. Give us the elevator pitch please!
KM: I’d love to! Maybe Just Ask Me! (S&S/Beach Lane Books, March 25, 2025) is a story loosely based on my childhood experiences. Mazie wears an eye patch and a head scarf, and on her first day at a new school she’s prepared for her classmates to wonder why. But wild rumors fly around the classroom that she’s a pirate or burned off her hair in a circus. The rumors continue to build and grow until Mazie gets the courage to tell the other kids to just ask.
RVC: Where are you at in the process of making/editing this book?
KM: It’s just about done. I finished the art and last I heard the book is with the copy editor.
RVC: What about this new book excites you the most?
KM: This book is very personal. I was written, very intentionally, for the kid I’d been with the hope that there are other kids like me out there who need it today.
RVC: Discuss your process. Do you “see” things first, do you start with words, or does it change depending on the project?
KM: I tend to handwrite text and scribble out pictures at the same time until I have an idea of the story structure. Then I write it (and rewrite it) until I have a text I like enough to paginate and think about illustrations.
RVC: Do you have any specific rituals or routines that help you get into the creative flow?
KM: I have a morning routine. When the weather’s nice, I drink coffee on my patio listening to the birds and playing with my dogs before I head into my studio. If it’s not nice out, I usually sit in my family room and drink my coffee while I watch the birds at the feeders.
RVC: You’ve mentioned using Photoshop extensively in your work. What are some of your favorite tools or techniques for creating your illustrations?
KM: When I was a CCAD, we had to learn traditional techniques before we were allowed to take Photoshop classes. So, my favorite PS tools are the ones that look like traditional brushes/surfaces. I have a selection of brushes, some from Kyle packs and some that I’ve made that give me that traditional look I like.
RVC: Let’s talk marketing. You joined a picture book marketing group, PBrockiteers22. Why, and what did it do for you?
KM: That was my first marketing group. It is a wonderful group of creators that’s still supporting each other today. There are some great cheerleaders in that group. They gave me confidence as a newly published writer and were always happy to answer questions.
RVC: What’s your top tip for making the most of a picture book marketing group?
KM: Try to be active. I’m in a couple this year that I haven’t participated much with, and I really notice the difference. We had a house flood right before Christmas and are wrapping up the renovations this week. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to jump in for the second half of the year and make up for some lost time.
RVC: Disability representation is a significant theme in your work. Can you share your personal connection to this topic and how it influences your stories?
KM: Absolutely! I remember being a kid who was aware that I was different and there was no one like me in the media. As a kid I assumed that meant something about me was wrong. I think when I create books, I am hoping that kids with disabilities see themselves in my books, so they don’t feel the way I did as a kid.
RVC: What are some tips for parents and educators on how to foster these conversations about disabilities with children?
KM: I have a list in the back of Maybe Just Ask Me in hopes that parents and educators have these discussions. But most important is to stop teaching kids to look the other way and pretend not to notice someone with a disability. When we teach kids to look away, we are teaching them there is something shameful about being disabled. Instead, I think we need to let kids know that curiosity with kindness is allowed and that it’s okay to talk about the things that make us different.
RVC: What’s a common misconception about writing or illustrating picture books that you’d like to clear up?
KM: It’s a lot of work. I love my job, but that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult.
RVC: The picture book industry is competitive. What advice do you have for aspiring author-illustrators trying to break in?
KM: My best advice is don’t quit. If something isn’t working be willing to redo it and try again. The other advice I have is to listen to feedback, even if it’s hard to hear.
RVC: Who or what has most influenced you as a picture book creator?
KM: I love anything by Felicita Sala. I fell in love with Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor (written by Patricia Valdez) and have followed her work ever since.
RVC: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about the picture book industry throughout your career?
KM: How small it is. Everyone seems to know everyone else.
RVC: One final question for this part of the interview. Brag time! What new, exciting things of yours do you want to alert us to? What should we be on the lookout for?
KM: I’m working on a picture book now about a family building a Sears kit house. Its informational fiction, very different from my previous books with lots of detail. It will be out the Spring of 2026 from S&S/Beach Lane Books.
RVC: Alright, Katie. It’s time for the always-exciting, never-equaled, high-stakes SPEED ROUND. We’re looking for zingtastically fast questions followed by zippy-quick answers. Are you ready?
KM: I’m ready!
RVC: What’s your favorite go-to creative pump-up song?
KM: The Hadestown soundtrack!
RVC: What’s something that will always be in fashion, no matter what anyone says or thinks?
KM: Leather moto jackets!
RVC: What five must-haves do you need to do your work?
KM: My music (or audio book), a bottle of water, cup of tea (Good Earth Sweet and Spicy), a warm cardigan, and my muses (my dogs, Felix and Daphne, who hang out in my studio when I work.)
RVC: If you could illustrate a new picture book version of a classic story, which one would you choose?
KM: The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.
RVC: One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
KM: Be patient!
RVC: What’s the best thing a kid reader ever said about you or your books?
KM: That I made them want to be an illustrator (at a school visit.)
RVC: Thanks so much, Katie!