The Backstory: SOMETIMES STORMY

The Backstory welcomes back my friend Amanda Davis with her author-illustrator debut, SOMETIMES STORMY. Amanda has a special talent for taking important, yet challenging topics and telling them in a kid-friendly way with beautiful lyricism. Keep reading to discover the inside scoop on how this latest book came to be.

AH: Welcome to The Backstory and thank you for joining us and sharing the inspiration behind SOMETIMES STORMY.

First off, please tell us a little bit about your story.

AD: Hi Andrew! Thanks for having me back on the Backstory! I’m excited to share more about Sometimes Stormy, which is my debut as author and illustrator. The story explores what it’s like to live with a parent struggling with alcohol use disorder. A young boy named Ezra realizes his dad is plagued by a troubling storm—the Sometimes Storm—that sometimes visits their home and changes Dad. When the storm persists, Ezra turns to caring adults, who help him discover how to live with the Sometimes Storm instead.

AH: You handle difficult topics with such care and beauty and this story is no different. Thank you for tackling this needed topic that we know kids are dealing with but that I think is not often discussed. This book will create a child-friendly way to help families in this situation feel seen.

AH: What’s the story behind the story? What was your inspiration? Where did the idea come from? How did you approach going from this seed of an idea to what is now SOMETIMES STORMY? Was it something undeniable you had to write immediately or did you need to sit with this idea and let it grow for a while before it found its way to the page?

AD: Sometimes Stormy started as a rhyming poem that I wrote my freshman year of college called, Sometimes Monster. The poem explored the idea of what it was like to live with a father who struggled with alcohol use disorder. That’s part of my story and an experience that has shaped who I am today and my passion for telling stories that some might consider difficult. I see them as essential. Throughout my journey trying to make sense of this experience, I’ve done much research on the topic to better help me understand the disease and its repercussions on those who it affects. Also, as a former educator, this lived experience helped me relate to my students who were going through similar situations in their homes and helped them use art and writing as a way to navigate the challenges and cope with a situation that is out of their control. All this to say the story took over twenty years to germinate and grow into the book it is today! It releases October 7th with Free Spirit Publishing/Teacher Created Materials and signed copies are available for preorder through the Silver Unicorn Bookstore.

AH: I love the reframing of "difficult" to "essential". You are so right! Thank you for finding ways to share this part of yourself through your teaching and now through this book, which will be such a wonderful resource to help kids and families.

AH: This is your first book as author and illustrator. How was this process different for you compared to your previous author-only publishing experiences? What did you like best about it?

AD: I’m so excited that I was given the opportunity to write AND illustrate Sometimes Stormy. It’s taken me a while to debut as both author and illustrator and I think this book is perfect for my style. My wonderful editor, Deidra Purvis, at Free Spirit acquired the story and believed in the need for it in the market.  In comparison to my author-only works, this process felt like a lot more time and work, ha! When I’m author-only, I spend time editing the script with my team but then once those changes are finalized, we send it off to the illustrator and they do their magic. I’ll offer insights on the sketches, etc. throughout the process but a lot that comes after submission of the text is waiting in anticipation to see the art. When you’re doing both the writing and the art, you don’t have that in between time and because this was my first time illustrating as well, there was a learning curve. BIG, BIG thank you to Courtenay Fletcher at Teacher Created Materials for her art direction. She was so patient with me and gave me wonderful guidance along the way.  Although it was a lot of work, I enjoyed the whole process. I love learning new things and am thrilled with the outcome.

AH: It sounds like there was no rest for you taking on both roles. I am so glad the opportunity to be both author and illustrator finally arrived for you and it seems like a perfect story for that given your personal connection to the concept.

And speaking of your art, I LOVE the style and your use of color and texture to support the storytelling. It is a perfect match for your words.

AH: Did SOMETIMES STORMY undergo any major changes/revisions from the original version? If so, what led you to make these changes?

AD: One major change was the title and visual concept of the alcohol use disorder. As mentioned earlier, my original version of the story was titled, Sometimes Monster--the monster being a metaphor for alcohol use disorder. The publisher thought the concept of a monster might be too scary so we threw around other ideas such as shadow, trouble, storm/stormy. We decided to change it to ‘storm/y’, which more accurately captures the unpredictable nature of addiction and is more relatable to all. This is how we landed on Sometimes Stormy as the title. They wanted to add the sub title in as well so it was clear upon seeing the cover that the storm was referring to alcohol use disorder. This also changed the look and feel of my art from something that looked more shadowy to something more stormy/storm cloud in nature.

Another aspect that changed was the color of the monster/storm. At first, when it was a shadowy monster, the color of it was black. I received feedback from a critique partner that I may want to reconsider the color black as representing something negative. We had a discussion about how descriptions of colors can be used to shape a child’s views and I decided to change the storm to blues and purples instead. There is a great article with examples of this in kids books and commentary on the issue from Jaqueline Woodson here. 

AH: Those changes all seem to have served the book well while not compromising your intention of the story you wanted to tell.

AH: Are there any books/authors that you feel influenced your work?

AD: I knew I wanted the illustrations to be a bit more simple in nature and utilize white space to soften and balance the complex nature of the book so I found myself looking for inspiration in stories that used vignettes and spot illustrations along with stories such as; Me And My Fear by Francesca Sanna and When Sadness Comes to Call by Eva Eland that visually bring to life hard emotions.

AH: Do you have any upcoming projects or news you would like to share with us?

AD: In addition to Sometimes Stormy, I have a Northern Lights inspired picture book titled, Chasing the Light, illustrated by Faryn Hughes, slated for spring of 2026 with Marble Press, a paperback version of my 2021 debut 30,000 Stitches is set to be released in summer of 2026 with WorthyKids/Hachette Book Group and two nonfiction bios in the works: The Memory March, illustrated by Sarthak Sinha, slated for 2027 and another unannounced PB bio, both releasing with Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Young Readers. I’m working on a third PB bio right now that I’m excited about and plugging away at a middle-grade novel-in-verse. Stay tuned!  

AH: Wow, you are busy and congrats on all of the successes! Your books are beautiful and we can all stand to have more of them on our shelves.

AH: Where can people connect more with you?

AD: On my website and Instragram @amandadavis_art.  For local friends, I have several upcoming events. See graphic below! Would love to see you there :)

AH: Readers be sure to connect with Amanda on social media and check out her website so you don't miss any of her exciting publishing news. And while you are at it please consider supporting her books in any way you can.

This could include:

- ordering from your favorite indie

- marking as want to read on Goodreads  

-leaving a review

- making a library request

Amanda, thank you so much for sharing all about SOMETIMES STORMY with us. I loved learning how it came to be.

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GIVEAWAY!

Amanda is offering a copy of Sometimes Stormy to one lucky winner. (US only)

Ways to enter:

1. Comment on social media post about this blog post. Additional entry for tagging friends!

or

2. Leave a comment on this post. Leave a social media tag where I can contact you if you are selected as the winner.

or

3. Post about this interview on social media and tell me in the comments that you did.

Each method earns an extra entry!

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ABOUT AMANDA DAVIS

Amanda Davis is a teacher, artist, writer, and innovator who uses her words and pictures to light up the world with kindness. She is the author of the award-winning picture books, 30,000 Stitches: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag (illustrated by Sally Wern Comport), and Moonlight Memories (illustrated by Michelle Jing Chan).  SOMETIMES STORMY is her author-illustrator debut, and she has three more picture books on the way. Learn more about Amanda on her website,  Instagram, and BlueSky.

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In the mood for more books?

I'd love for you to check out IN THIS CLASSROOM, by me and Arthur Lin, which will be hitting shelves on 6/9/25.

In This Classroom is a heartwarming celebration of the school year, capturing the joy, struggles, and growth of students and teachers as they embark on an unforgettable journey of learning, friendship, and personal achievement.

Ways to support IN THIS CLASSROOM:

Tell your teacher friends

Mark as "Want to Read" on GoodReads

Preorder

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ABOUT ANDREW HACKET

Andrew Hacket  is a writer, second-grade teacher, and father of three. He is the author of Ollie, the Acorn, and the Mighty Idea, Curlilocks and the Three Hares, and Hope and the Sea. 

His next book, IN THIS CLASSROOM illustrated by Arthur Lin, hits shelves next spring!

Andrew recognizes that being a kid is hard and he writes to create ways for kids to see themselves in stories and characters, to accept and overcome their insecurities, or to escape for just a little while through the power of their imaginations.