Meet j.a. (jen) sweeney | author/artist/photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with j.a. (jen) sweeney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi j.a. (jen), why did you decide to pursue a creative path?

in 2018, I had a weird dream. I woke up, wrote it down and then thought about it non stop for about a month. I thought it would be a great children’s book. So after a month, I started writing. I had never written before but the dream was so vivid, it poured out easily. It took about a month and several changes, but after that first one, and there was only going to be one, everything came easily. I have a good friend who has published cookbooks and I used her knowledge to find a publisher. So, after I wrote the first one, found a great publisher and thought “I can’t stop at one”, so now there are 18 in the series. The first 2 are out and the other 16 include a boys series and the prequel to the girl series. There are 6 in each and they all intertwine. I am currently working on another 12, that will finish off the series at 30. The Lollipop Brigade “The Wish” and The Gift” are the first in the series and are available everywhere. The adventures of the boys and the brass coin, is the spin off of the little brother, and the first one will come out in about 9 mos. As I waited forever for an illustrator, the visions while i wrote, constantly swirled in my head. So after 2 years, and at the beginning of Covid, I thought, “how hard can it be”? My good friend from school suggested that I do them myself, I knew that I wanted them painted, so we went and got canvases and a ton of paints, brushes and glitter, so much glitter. lol I taught myself how to paint and painted EVERYTHING. I never mention what the main characters look like, It puts the child IN the character and helps them use their imagination. They go on adventures and learn life lessons that will last them a lifetime. Children are our new adults, and we need to raise them with kindness towards others, and instill the confidence that they can be the best them and make this whole world shine.

And everything came from just one dream

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think that writing my children’s books has been flawless. Coming from a dream, I just felt like everything just flowed. I haven’t known any different, I started in 2018 and was published in 2020 during Covid. I worked really hard during that time and got my books read on story times in the uk, austrailia, new zealand and in Chicago. I even was able to do book signings during covid. Now that the world has opened up, I still work just as hard, but its definitely a lot easier. Right now, I’m working on a wall paper border line for children’s rooms, that is all my original art from the books. I have drawings at book signings for original paintings from the book, the joy that I see when they get the painting is awesome. My house looks like a gallery, lol. With the series at eventually 30, I can’t keep them all.

All of my art, books and photography, come from inside my soul. I want people to “feel”, when they look at a photograph or read a book and see my art. Someone asked recently how I take such good photos. I told them that I “become” the photo. And because of that, my photography makes the people that see it, “feel”. And this gift has spilled over into my children’s books, I have the ability to make the reader imagine themselves in the adventure. Along with my very descriptive writing, I never show or describe the main characters. One reason is because I cannot “draw”, but the main reason is to have the children imagine themselves as the main characters. I describe the characters that they “meet” with detail, but never the main characters.
Children are my “gig”. I want to have the world know that we as adults, have the ability to raise our youth to be the very best that they can be. and we can all be kind, because inside, we are all the same. We are all Beautiful.. I truly think that that is the reason that people find beauty in all my photos as well, because I only want to make people “feel” beauty.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would and DO, go to OB pier. It is my GO TO. I can sit there all day and just chill and take the best photos.Then go for the fantastic Pho at OB Noodle house. Oh, and Salt and Straw! Definitely a must. One of my faves is Goat cheese Marionberry Habanero! Anywhere with sun and sand is my gig. At home anywhere where the ocean is.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to thank my friends, Angela, Maddie and Eve. They have read EVERYTHING and seen EVERY illustration. When I learned how to paint a hill, they knew. When I learned how to paint ANYTHING, they knew. All of the calls and the texts and emails….They were, and STILL are troopers. And another shout out to Eve. She helped me with all of my publishing questions, and that led me to finding and working with a great publisher like Covenant Books. And to my children who are characters in upcoming books that the main characters meet. And especially to my son Alex, who had me stop calling him Ally, when he was 13, (now 25), because now, Ally is a main character in all the books. lol

Instagram: @ourfeettravelwhilereading

Facebook: jen sweeney and j.a. sweeney

Image Credits
J.a. Sweeney