The Night the Moon Ate My Room by Jesse Wilson

Welcome to Author Jesse Wilson

Jesse Wilson is an author, motivational performer, illustrator, and teacher. A life-long involvement with theatre and film as both performer and writer began early, growing up in Hollywood, CA, where he performed in plays, TV shows and commercials. A graduate of the LA High School for the Performing Arts, Jesse traveled east to attain a BFA for theatre in the prestigious Juilliard School. Remaining in New York, and later Philadelphia, he developed material for his one-man shows, performed throughout the region. His most recent production, “Face the City,” written for high school and college audiences, combines visual and animation projections in a multimedia presentation of the artist's journey to find themselves in the "real world." “The Night the Moon Ate My Room!” written and performed with music for young audiences to experience self-discovery, is created with the support of The Kennedy Center’s Imagination Celebration and Pikes Peak Library District.

Coming soon this year, building upon the success of “The Night the Moon Ate My Room!” a series of empowering books for children, written and illustrated by Jesse Wilson, will be published under the title “Brilliant Mistakes!”

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Interview

What is one book everyone should read?

Catcher in the Rye. Everyone will experience loneliness on this planet, and this book will help you make a friend with loneliness like no other book will. I'd also add this book to the “what would I take on a desert island with me” question, so I just killed two birds with one stone. And I just realized what a morbid expression that is.

If you were a superhero what would your name be?

The Compartmentalizer. Because I seem to do well with compartmentalizing a lot of the craziness in my own life mainly because I'll do anything to avoid stress, though some people might call me a work-a-holic. So if I could do that magically for other people, I'd be both humanitarian and superhero. I'd be the Dalai Lama of stress management. What a calling!

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

“The Night the Moon Ate My Room!” will allow you to look at fear as the greatest gift in the world.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

2013 is shaping up to be a rich, fat, juicy, creatively thriving new year. A series of books that I've written and illustrated for young readers will be released to the public under the heading, “Brilliant Mistakes.” The first two books to make their way into the world are “The Fear Parade,” and “giANT.” 

What inspired you to want to become a writer?

This is an important question and one that's easy to forget about when you're chasing that dream of “literary success.” I'd have to say what inspired me the most to become a writer is the idea that I could actually make my incredible movie in my head appear on a lot of white pages... that would make other people spend their days living in that movie. There are many different moments of inspiration through my early development as a writer, but this, I believe, is the main idea.

What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Play it loud. Be open to advice, but be willing to put earplugs in when you feel that the best part of you, your own unique voice, is being ripped at the seams.

What is your favorite Quote?

I got notebooks filled with great quotes-- one of my trillion hobbies-- but my current favorite quote is the most relevant for what I'm sharing with audiences with “The Night the Moon Ate My Room!”

“Fear is like fire. It can either warm your house or destroy it.” I can't remember who said that. If anyone can look that up and let me know, that'd be great.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?

Every single face that was on my wall. I wanted to be every single writer, actor, painter, musician, and Bruce Lee. 

Favorite smell?

A new book.

Do you prefer to write in silence or with music?

Sometimes when I find that I'm (painfully) taking myself way too seriously, I will blast music. But in general, I have to work with silence. And I say “work with silence” deliberately, because not to sound too arty, I believe silence is a tool, a vehicle, to open up the floodgates of other kinds of sounds that are lying dormant inside you.  And the more you delve into the silence, the louder the sounds inside you are. Until you're taking yourself too seriously and then you have to blast a good Ramones album.

Favorite childhood book?

Maurice Sendak's “Outside Over There.” Haunting and brilliant.

Who or what inspired your last book?

My step-daughter, Autumn, who struggles with perfectionism. She's so talented, but wants so badly to get from A to Z without the rest of the letters.

What's your biggest challenge as a writer? How did you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?

Perfectionism. That music is so perfect in my head, what will happen to that perfect music once I begin to put it on the page? (You see, Autumn, I got it, too, kid). The best way I've found to “overcome it” is to do what I share with audiences: use it. Make this obstacle a creative opportunity. So I find the more I use the theme of perfectionism in my work, the more productive I'm able to be. Funny how that works, isn't it?

If you could ask any author (alive or dead) one question, who would it be and what question would you ask?

I'd ask all the famous dead authors, as many as I could, if self-publishing were as popular then as it is now, would you self-publish or go the traditional route?

Do you like the spotlight or lurking in the shadows?

Both. When I'm not on stage, I love lurking in the shadows. But I don't like to be in the middle. Like being stuck in a crowd.

If you could leave this world for your "book world," would you?

You mean I'm not in my “book world?!” AHHHHHH!

The Night the Moon Ate My Room

The moon was bright and full that night, bigger than I could ever even remember it.

Maybe because it was moving towards me...

After giving the worst violin recital of his life, and being laughed at by the entire school, the boy vows to never play music again. Later that night, when the moon swallows up his bedroom, it shares the secrets of being a true artist, helping the boy re-claim his self-confidence, overcome the pitfalls of perfectionism, and believe in his own dream.

Each of the five stories in The Night the Moon Ate My Room! is designed for young readers to experience the joy of self-discovery, valuable life lessons, and the adventure of turning their greatest dreams into reality.

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Signed paperback copy of The Night the Moon Ate My Room along with an "11 x 15" custom illustration

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