Meet Suzanne Lang | Children’s Book Author & Animation Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzanne Lang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzanne, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My impulse is to play it safe when it comes to my career. I worked for years as a development and current series executive because the thought of trying to strike out on my own as a writer was too terrifying. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of not knowing where my next paycheck was coming from. For a while I was happy to be creative-adjacent, helping talented artists and writers to shape their visions. But as the years wore on, I found myself growing more frustrated. My job was to help everyone else get something made, all the while stifling my own urges to write and create.

When I met my husband, we had a creative spark, and he began encouraging me to prioritize my own writing over the steady paycheck. It took years for him to convince me, but I am glad he never gave up. Finally taking that step to put my own ideas first – and our ideas as a creative team – ultimately led to a truly fulfilling work life. It didn’t happen overnight, but it was absolutely worth the risk of walking away from more steady work.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
First and foremost I am a children’s book author, most known for the Grumpy Monkey series of picture books which I make with my husband, illustrator Max Lang. To date we have written close to twenty Grumpy Monkey titles spanning formats from board books to picture books, young graphic novels, and early readers. Our work has been translated into more than twenty-seven languages, and there is even a Grumpy Monkey musical now, which was produced by the Pasadena Playhouse!

When I am not working on books, I write for animation, most often for a wonderful production company in the UK called Magic Light Pictures. Max and I have adapted several Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture books into scripts for animated specials for Magic Light. Titles include Zog, Zog and the Flying Doctors, Stick Man, The Snail and The Whale, and Tabby McTat. I’ve also done some development work for Magic Light including the written development on their first TV series, Pip and Posy.

My career began in animation as a development and current series executive so writing for animation came naturally to me once I allowed myself to leave the comfort of a steady paycheck and try out the far scarier but ultimately more satisfying existence of freelance writing and producing. Max was key to my taking these risks; he believed in me as a writer more than I believed in myself, and his relentless encouragement to the point of nagging is what ultimately forced me to take what was for me the very difficult step of prioritizing my own ideas. He knew that together we would be great creative partners; he just needed to convince me. Having worked for well over a decade as an executive whose job it was to shepherd other people’s creative visions, I somehow lost the idea of myself as a writer and creator, both because as an executive the companies I worked for put me into a box and also because I started to buy into that narrative, telling myself the artists and writers I hired were the talented people, and as an executive I had to accept I was not one of them.

Even when I finally took the plunge and decided to try out a freelance life, I focused first on creative producer jobs over writing jobs. Those jobs felt safer to me, and I felt more comfortable in putting myself forward as a producer than a writer. But over time I put myself forward for more and more writing work in animation. This coincided with our first child being born, and the timing surely helped me to see the benefits of a freelance life as a working parent. When our daughter was getting ready to start preschool, I wanted to find a book for her that would show her that not all of her soon-to-be classmates had families that looked like ours. We were living in London at the time, and I couldn’t find such a book. Eventually Max said we should just make the book ourselves. And so we did. It was really just intended for our daughter, but making it opened the floodgates, and Max also mocked up the skeleton of what would eventually become the first Grumpy Monkey book. So we had these two books we printed ourselves for our daughter, but since we both worked in animation we thought it couldn’t hurt to show them to a few people to see if anyone felt they had legs. One of the people we showed them to came out of the publishing world, and she felt she could sell the books. She did. The families book was made first; it wasn’t a big success, but the publisher still ordered a follow-up to it. That title went out of print almost instantly. On the heels of that failure we assumed Grumpy Monkey would be the last book we ever made. But it struck a chord and found an audience.

And now I find myself regularly moved when I hear from children, parents, and educators about how the Grumpy Monkey books impact their lives. Max and I as a creative team are good at striking the balance between silly and heartfelt. Our books always have a message, often on a social-emotional theme, but we try not to hit the readers over the head with it. If a parent and child are laughing together it can often make it easier to open a discussion about other, less easy feelings.

And so now Max and I get to work together every day. We get to keep making Grumpy Monkey books, and we’ve even got a book coming out next year that isn’t Grumpy Monkey. It took a long time to get here, and while there are lessons to be learned – believe in yourself, take risks, stick with it – I also know that for me at least, it’s much easier to give advice than to follow advice. I also believe in the importance of the journey. There were clearly things I needed to learn in my pre-writing career in order for me to cultivate and appreciate my current life as a writer.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If someone is visiting LA, they want to see the beach. My favorite is Abalone Cove in Palos Verdes. It is not necessarily what people picture when they think of a Southern California beach, but its rockiness makes me think fondly of beaches I visited when I lived in England. Of course The Getty is a must for anyone visiting LA, and I like that it is equally fun for young kids all the way up to grandparents. I am an author so I will encourage any visitors to LA to check out some of the great, independent bookstores around town such as The Last Bookstore, Children’s Book World, Annabelle’s Book Club, Diesel, a special shout out to Vroman’s in Pasadena and extra hugs to Once Upon a Time in Montrose who have always been so supportive of Max’s and my work. I always take visitors exploring in Los Feliz and Silver Lake, making a particular point to stop in at Wacko, which has been one of my favorite LA shops since long before I lived here. Foodwise everyone needs to visit The Apple Pan for the atmosphere as much as anything. I am originally from the east coast so bagels are important to me. All my visitors get treated to Belle’s Bagels in Highland Park. And everyone who comes to town must try a cheese roll from Porto’s, though has anyone ever just had one Porto’s cheese roll? I love checking out local supermarkets when I travel, and I assume many visitors to LA might like to do the same. H Mart in Arcadia is particularly fun. There are so many more places and eats to shout out, but I worry if I don’t stop myself now, I’ll prattle on for too long!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not have my career were it not for my husband and creative partner, Max Lang. His support of my writing has been unrelenting from the early days of our relationship. Thank goodness he is tenacious because it took years for him to convince me that my ideas were worth prioritizing. I am challenged and inspired by him constantly, and I am daily grateful that we get to work together.

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-lang-33a04562

Facebook: @SuzanneMaxLang

Image Credits
All images credited to Ericka Kreutz EXCEPT “grumpy monkey 6” which is credited to Samantha Smith