Saturday, October 16, 2010

Shouty

Shouty was written by Seon Ricks, an Atlanta businesswoman who has now turned her talent to writing children’s books. Below is an interview that was written by Laura Braddick.

Interview:

“You only live once and I’m the only person who could bring Shouty into the world,” said the Chicago native of her main character, which she created 19 years ago as a junior in a cartoon for her high school newspaper.
Her first book, “Life of Shouty: Good Habits,” published by Rixkin, will be available Tuesday on Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. She said she hopes to print 11 more books for the series.
The first book, fully illustrated and written in verse by Ms. Ricks under the pen name NeonSeon, introduces Shouty Mack as a young man who procrastinates and puts off important tasks.
“He has a messy room. He doesn’t prioritize his life and focuses on the least important things,” she said. “By the end of the book, he goes through a transformation. He decides that he doesn’t want to live like that.”
Ms. Ricks, who has a master’s degree in humanities and social thought from New York University, hopes the book will teach children 8 and older important life lessons about setting goals, prioritizing tasks and dispelling self doubt.
“[Shouty’s] an everyman,” she said. “The themes are universal.”
The next book, “Life of Shouty: Food and Fitness,” due out in January, will focus on healthy living.
Even though Ms. Ricks said she is happy to be following her personal aspirations, she could not have done it without her corporate experience as a brand manager and Web developer.
“There are certain reasons why we go our certain ways,” she said. “I couldn’t have done all this out of high school. The experience has been invaluable.”
Wanting to maintain creative control and rights to Shouty, Ms. Ricks used her corporate prowess to infiltrate the publishing market by helping create Rixkin publishing and production company with the help of investors to launch the Shouty series.
“She’s always been a very creative person,” said her brother Hoyland, who helped her get the book to market. “I believed a lot in the character and I think that her book is great and it’s a great beginning.”
With all the irreverent and bawdy cartoon characters on television, Hoyland Ricks said he thinks Shouty is a refreshing alternative.
“I think he’ll be received very well,” he said. “I think the main challenge is not the content but marketing and getting the word out that Shouty exists. I think parents will be pleased with the message not only for their children, but what they learn from him too.”

To learn more about Shouty and Seon Ricks, click here.

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