Just One Question for Lindsay Zier-Vogel

Lindsey Zier-Vogel, photo by Phillipa Croft.

When I think about writers I look up to, Lindsay’s at the top of the list. This is because her writing is sharp, honest, and warm, but also because she’s a tireless champion of community. She’s constantly sharing something, whether it’s her grant-writing expertise, her enthusiasm for a friend’s book, or one of her famous snacking cakes. Simply put, Lindsay shows up for others. I’m thrilled to be able to repay the favour in a small way by shouting out her second novel, The Fun Times Brigade, which hits stores and libraries May 1st.

While I’m always excited to read Lindsay’s work, I’m especially intrigued by this particular book, as it deals with a dynamic that hits close to home—the challenge of trying to make art while navigating the foggy, panicked, exhausting days of early motherhood. Though my kids are older now, and finding the time and energy to write no longer feels quite so impossible, the difficulties of balancing creative and care work never totally go away

Also, like Lindsay, my mom was a kindergarten teacher in the 80’s and 90’s. I, too, grew up with Sharon, Lois, and Bram, Raffi, and Fred Penner— listening to them on cassette tapes, watching them on TV, and going to see them in concert at the local high school. Watching re-runs of the Elephant Show brings me back, not only my childhood, but to my mother in her glory days. Though she hated being the center of attention and was afraid to speak in public, she was totally at home in front of gaggle of four-and-five year-olds, singing, and strumming her guitar, and performing stories. For her, that was success. As a writer of picture books, that’s a helpful thing to be reminded of.

Lindsay’s new book, The Fun Times Brigade, is available May 1st from Book*Hug Press. Buy it from your favourite indie, or find it at your local library!

Q. Your new novel, The Fun Times Brigade, has one of the best hooks I’ve seen in a long time: It’s about a woman who rises to fame as a member of a member of a children’s band. What was it about this premise that felt ripe for exploration? Like me, you’re also a picture book writer, and I wonder if that contributed to your interest in depicting the life of an adult artist creating work for a child audience. Or, was it more about taping into powerful memories of similar musical acts from your own childhood?

I got a book deal for my kids’ book, Dear Street, in 2018 and in the year and a bit before I signed a book deal for my first (adult) novel, peoples’ faces would light up when I said I had a book coming out, and when I would follow up with the fact that it was a kids’ book, people’s faces would fall. The “Oh, a kids’ book” that would follow became so predictable, and was so disappointing every single time. As you know, it’s *really* hard to get a picture book deal, and it was so exciting to me to be publishing a book for kids, and it was wild to see peoples’ reactions. Because of this, I started thinking about what artistic success looks like, both internally and to the broader public. I felt successful as a soon-to-be kids’ author, but in the larger world (including, perhaps even especially, the literary world), this was not considered success.

I knew I wanted to explore definitions of artistic success in novel-form, and also knew that I wanted to write about grief, and early motherhood, and the sometimes impossibility of having an artistic career and parenting young children. These ideas rolled around in my head for a while until I was swimming (where all my ideas happen!) and mid-deep end, I realized that my character would be in a very successful kids’ band. (The name of the band, which also happens to be the title of the book also appeared during that swim!).

Lindsay, with Canadian music icons Sharon and Bram.

Also, my mom was a kindergarten teacher, so I listened to Sharon, Lois & Bram, and Fred Penner and Ken Whiteley and Eric Nagler and Raffi for a lot longer than most kids—I’m pretty sure I was still watching The Elephant Show in middle school. It was so much fun to dive into the world of kids’ performers and I had the great honour of interviewing Fred Penner, and Sharon and Bram, which really brough the story to life.

Connect with Lindsay online:

Instagram: @lindsay.ziervogel

Website: lindsayziervogel.com

You can also celebrate with Lindsay in person at her launch party in Toronto this Sunday, or catch up on tour with Teri Vlassopoulos this spring!