E: Hi Bruce! Thanks for doing this interview. Let's talk about the book: you've mentioned that the original idea came from a story you illustrated in 2nd grade, but a were-hyena?? That seems pretty unique! Tell us more about the idea behind the story and deciding to have a were-hyena be your star monster. Any special research go into it?B: My second-grade story was called “The Two Brothers in Monstertown,” and it was basically these two boys meeting and fighting various monsters, including my favorites at that time, Wolf-Man and Frankenstein’s Monster. For years, I would show that original book in my author visits, and for years, kids would tell me, “You should turn that into a real book.” I tried a few times to make a rhyming picture book out of the concept, but it just wouldn’t fly. Then, on one California school visit, a kid told me, “You should make it a mystery series, with kids solving mysteries that have to do with monsters.” Bingo!
As I mulled over the idea while visiting more California schools, it struck me that the Latino kids I spent time with there don’t have that many representations of themselves in the kind of books I write. That led me to making Carlos a Latino main character.
I was originally going to have the teacher turn into a werewolf, but Stephanie Lurie, my delightful editor at Disney-Hyperion, encouraged me to come up with something fresh and different. After some time spent Googling were-creatures around the world, I settled on the were-hyena as one of the creepiest. (Although a were-shark would’ve been cool too!)
