Henry H. Neff

The Basics:
Today, I teach at a San Francisco high school and write/illustrate children's books, but that wasn't always the case.

I was born in 1973 in Massachusetts to art historian parents, but my family would soon move to a suburb of Chicago where I grew up alongside my older brother, John, and my younger sister, Victoria.
After completing New Trier High School, I was off to college at Cornell University, where I majored in history and sustained my interest in art by penning political cartoons for The Cornell Daily Sun. As graduation loomed, I postponed thoughts of law school (thank god) and accepted an offer to join McKinsey & Company in their Chicago office. I was going to be a 'management consultant' despite having little sense of what management did or how consultants could help.

Four and a half years later, I said fond farewell to McKinsey and decided to rediscover some apects of myself that I feared might go permanently dormant if I didn't try to create something. I really credit my brother, John, for my decision to pursue teaching and storytelling. When I had complained of work once too often, he asked me what I would do if I had all the money in the world. "Easy," I replied. "I'd teach and write children's books." "Good," he said. "Go do that." If you're a disgruntled student or someone who hates my work, blame him.

And here I am sixth year of teaching, enjoying the publication of my very first novel while working on the second. I can't say if I've been a good teacher or crafted worthwhile books, but I've enjoyed both tremendously and hope to continue teaching, writing, and drawing as long as they'll let me.

Random Facts about Me:

I am simultaneously terrified of/fascinated by great white sharks (yes, I know that great white sharks are not really a pressing issue for young boys in the midwest, but I have an active imagination). The occasional nightmare almost always involves sharks.
Steak is my favorite food and thus I could never marry--or even date, frankly-- a vegan. It's also probably why I'm still single; my soulmate somewhere is undoubtedly a vegan. I'm not even entirely sure what is required to be a vegan.... Can a vegan eat another vegan?!?
According to Miers Briggs, I'm an ENTP. It's very unnerving to find one has been assigned to a bucket, but apparently that's my bucket. Psychoanalyze away!
I am a loyal and volatile fan of the Chicago Bears. This results in endless grief from my students who savor every Bears' setback and are eager to discuss them in excruciating detail on Mondays.
I love San Francisco and northern California, but do miss Chicago--particularly the warmer seasons, the lake, the people, and affordable housing.
I'm a terrible dancer. If you ever see me cavorting on a dance floor, please call me a cab.
I have an uncanny memory for faces, jokes, movies/popular culture, and anything I've ever read. I have a terrible memory for wines, names, and personally embarrassing incidents (see Dancing, above)....
In the next few years I'd like to broaden my horizons and live abroad-- Italy, New Zealand, the UK, and France are my leading candidates.

Random Facts about How I Work:

I squint when I draw--so tightly, in fact, that you'd think my eyes are closed.
I consume absurd amounts of coffee when writing or illustrating. It's my chosen vice and it has a Pavlovian effect on me: coffee = "work mode".
I brainstorm and doodle in sketchbooks, but do my writing on the computer. I write in bursts--several brainstorming sessions might result in an intense day or two of pecking away, which might result in a finished chapter. Like most things, some days are better than others.
As soon as I finish a chapter, I email it off to my mother, who is a very good sport about my needling demands for instant feedback. She's a saint and a very smart, insightful one at that. Whatever we miss will ultimately be spied and snagged by my editors at Random House (Nick and Jim) who intuitively grasp what I'm striving for and manage to sharpen my work without making me feel as though they're mucking with it.
My writing is a combination of planning and improvisation. I'd compare it to a travel itinerary: I know the major destinations and their sequence, but allow for snippets of spontaneity and improvisation along the way. I find it's a good balance--it keeps the process fresh and exciting as opposed to feeling as though I'm simply writing wraparound prose for bullet points of plot.
I sketch in pencil. Once I've gotten the 'OK' on a sketch, I use a lightbox to copy the drawing onto a sheet of Arches 140lb. hot press watercolor paper (there's something deeply satisfying about carving a clean sheet off the block with a palette knife). I complete the final illustration using dip pens with sharp, scratchy nibs and and brushed washes of india ink.
All of my illustrations are currently in black and white (I like the look and it fits the tone of the books), but I look forward to splashing some color around on future projects. No Photoshop; I like my art with a bit of sweat and fingerprints.