Read a Q&A with Eva Amores and Matt Cosgrove!

Eva Amores has worked for the Sydney Opera House and the ABC. She was born in The Philippines and moved to Australia in high school. She likes shoes, travelling, and shoes. Matt Cosgrove is the best-selling author/illustrator of Macca the Alpaca. He was born and raised in Western Sydney. He likes chocolate, avoiding social interactions, and chocolate.

Today, Eva and Matt are on the blog to answer a few questions about their first ever book together: Worst Week Ever!: Monday. Read on!

Eva Amores & Matt Cosgrove

Welcome! Can you please tell us a little bit about you?

E&M: We met twenty-five years ago when we were randomly placed together for a group assignment at University and we’ve been collaborating ever since. We’ve made dinner, cakes, a mess, the bed, mistakes, memories, poor fashion decisions and two actual humans, but Worst Week Ever!: Monday is our first book together.

And can you please tell us about your new book, Worst Week Ever!: Monday?!

E&M: It’s the start of a side-splitting, heart-stopping, gut-wrenching, bottom-clenching middle grade book series about one very unlucky 12-year-old kid’s worst week ever – where absolutely everything that can go wrong does go outrageously, hilariously, unbelievably, jaw-droppingly wrong!

This is your first children’s book project together. Who came up with the concept and how did you work on it together?

E&M: Our oldest son claims it was his concept originally… but we’ll see him in court! The idea for a seven book series based on each day of one terrible week has actually been floating around our house for years. When we went into lockdown we were stuck inside together and suddenly had a LOT of time on our hands so it was the perfect opportunity to finally collaborate on the book. It gave us something to channel our creative energy into while we couldn’t get out and do anything else!

Your hero, Justin Chase, has a fair bit to deal with – vampire stepdads, toilet cars, school bullies and rapidly unravelling swimwear! How much fun did you have coming up with all of the horrible things he has to deal with?

E&M: It was a tonne of fun to come up with all the preposterous situations in the story. It’s called Worst Week Ever, not Pretty Bad Week, so it was a constant creative challenge of trying to one-up each other to push things to their most ridiculous or hilarious extreme.

Describe the worst Monday you’ve ever had!

E&M: A genuine worst Monday in real life is probably touched by tragedy. Our book ISN’T about those worst things. It’s a silly, funny book filled with completely ludicrous situations like alien cat abductions and exploding toilets! We’ve definitely had our share of amusing (in hindsight!) bad Mondays though where it feels like everything is going wrong and you’re starring in an insurance commercial – phones dropped in toilets, accidentally smashed fishbowls, scratched cars, torn pants etc, etc.

What was the best part about writing this book?

E&M: Without wanting to be too vomit-inducing schmaltzy about the whole thing, collaborating together and sharing the experience of creating the book was actually really special. We do complement each other well creatively and it was very nice to spend that time with each other. We’re really proud of what we’ve made together – and unlike our kids, the book can’t back chat us!!

Do your kids read and review your books before anyone else sees them?

E&M: Our sons are involved in the creative process the whole time. It’s like we live with our own focus group and we get constant feedback. The problem though is that they don’t sugar coat their critiques to spare our feelings so we get some very honest and brutal reviews! However, if they want to reread it and they keep talking about a scene in the book, we know we’re on the right track!

Have you always loved reading? Tell us about one of your earliest reading or book-related memories!

E&M: We had totally different experiences with reading growing up. Matt was a voracious reader, surrounded by books and a library card locked and loaded. He had read Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes so many times he could recite it off by heart. Eva, meanwhile, grew up in The Philippines without that same access to books. When she arrived in Australia in high school and all the other girls were reading Flowers in the Attic she definitely could NOT relate!

What do you hope readers will discover in Worst Week Ever!: Monday?

E&M: Lots of laughs! We tried to pack as many funny situations into the book as possible, in the most creative and surprising ways. We also aimed to make the book as visually exciting as we could. We know kids love video games, YouTube, and internet memes and we’ve tried to inject that same fast-paced, irreverent humour, high energy, explosive entertainment into our pages. We also genuinely hope readers relate to Justin Chase’s resilience and realise that even during the ‘worst week ever’ you can still find goodness, positivity and something to laugh about, especially with the help and love of your friends and family.

And finally, what’s up next for you?

E&M: What follows Monday? TUESDAY! We’re already busy working on the next book in the Worst Week Ever series and things are about to really blow up for Justin Chase! (And from Matt, there’s more Macca the Alpaca and Dharma the Llama adventures on the way for the picture books fans)

Thanks Eva and Matt!

Thanks Booktopia!! We love you!

We love you too!

—Worst Week Ever!: Monday by Eva Amores & Matt Cosgrove (Scholastic Australia) is out now. Signed copies are available while stocks last.

Worst Week Ever!: Monday

Limited Signed Copies Available!

by Eva Amores & Matt Cosgrove

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A BAD WEEK? Justin Chase sure has and THIS is it!

His mum has just married a vampire.
His dad is driving a giant toilet on wheels.
His cat has probably been abducted by aliens.
A psychotic bully is making his first day at a new school miserable...

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