These are all questions creative people and students have, and they can be answered during an author visit.
Author visits are also a great opportunity for me to discuss how I work as a illustrator/author and the specific process I go through when creating a book. Here are a few things I am often asked to cover:
The options for discussion are endless, and can be tailored to meet your students’ own questions about writing and illustration. Either way, I find that when a young person identifies with my struggles, they can understand their struggles are the same kind of thing. And it doesn't mean that they end in a struggle. It means that struggle is something you work through to get to something you're happy with.
I focus on the process of creating a book via multimedia presentations which chronicle the steps from my journal entries through initial sketches to the creation of the final artwork
I share information about my work with your students via a 30-minute author videocast.
I follow up with a 15-minute live, interactive Q&A / drawing session.