After taking a leap, Wake Forest author/illustrator and dad builds successful picture book career

"Art was just something I did; it had always been there," Voss tells me.

That eventually translated into a career in graphics for packaging and marketing materials. As Voss says, he traded in his paints and pencils for a mouse and a keyboard. But he returned to traditional art and illustration nearly a decade ago and has turned his love of creating into a successful picture book career.

I checked in with Voss, who lives in Wake Forest with his wife and two children, to learn more about his work. Here's a Q&A.

In 2004 I saw the film adaptation of "The Polar Express." I loved the movie (I love all things Christmas!), but I had never read the book. When I did, I fell in love with the format—combining words and pictures to tell a story. I had not been exposed to a great number of books when I was young. "The Polar Express," then, was a great awakening for me.

Fast forward to 2010. This was the year I actually verbalized my intent to pursue books. I was on a date with my wife, and I said, “I think I want to do this.” She was very patient and supportive as I spent the next two years building a portfolio and learning how to write for kids. Then in 2012, I signed with my wonderful literary agent Catherine Drayton.

We spent the next year submitting to publishers and revising works in progress. We couldn’t get anyone to bite. Honestly, I was beginning to worry. It was toward the end of that first year that my family and I made the move to North Carolina. Then three weeks after unloading the truck, I got the call to do "Winnie." At that point I would have taken anything thrown at me. But really, one should never turn down any project having to do with Winnie-the-Pooh.

To that point in time, I had never illustrated anything more than singular flashes of my own imagination. I had never worked with an editor or art director. I had never created a complete dummy book. And I had little to no understanding of picture book pagination. I was jumping into the deep end, and I was going to sink or swim.

Fortunately for me, the team behind "Winnie" was absolutely wonderful. They were kind and exceedingly patient. They graciously helped me figure out the ropes as I bumped along. In the end, they were pleased; and the book did very well. It was this success, then, that opened the door for "Hoot & Olive."

That introduction came by way of a conversation with an editor. They had noticed a quote I had placed on my website. It was from the "Velveteen Rabbit:" “Everything that is real was imagined first.” From that conversation I began to play with the idea of a child and their stuffed toy and what it would be like if the stuffed toy was alive. When I was young, I would do things like pack a wagon with a cooler and blankets and pretend to go on great adventures somewhere. I think Hoot and Olive get to do some of those things that I just imagined.

In that moment, I began to really focus on all the little details—the way her hair fell in her face, the way her eyes darted about, the expressions she made. Time seemed to slow down. I felt I had discovered something important. And I think it’s the small details from moments like this that inform my work the most. Certainly I recall some things from my own life as a child. But I think I draw at least as much from watching my own kids explore and interact with the world around them. It’s particularly amazing to watch and listen when they don’t know anyone else is there.

I try to engage them on their level. I also try to relate individually when I can. If there’s a child who interrupts with a question, I try to listen and answer instead of pretending like it’s not happening or trying to shut it down. Kids are smarter and intuit more than we often give them credit for. I just want to make sure, as much as possible, I give them all of my focus and attention when we’re together.

As for reactions? I was at a school, and I had just finished reading "Brave Enough For Two." We were beginning to transition from story time to drawing, so everyone was moving around. All of a sudden, two little arms came from behind and wrapped around me. It was a little girl. She didn’t say anything. She just wanted to give me a hug. I hugged her back. I never know where these kids are coming from—what their lives are like. So I try my hardest to make sure what they get from me is real.

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Currently I’m working on a book about a little girl who discovers, despite what she thinks, she has inside herself all that is needed to transform her little corner of the world. There is no title for this one yet, but it’s tentatively scheduled for publication in fall 2020.