Bridging Worlds: Andrew Zettler's Literary Evolution

Andrew Zettler is making a bold leap from children's book author and illustrator to novelist with his debut series "Between the Chairs." Drawing from his background as a comic strip artist and cartoonist, Zettler creates a unique hybrid that weaves illustrations and comic interludes throughout his young adult novels, creating a fresh and engaging storytelling experience.

Inspired by his experiences as the youngest boy in a family of eight, Zettler's first novel in the series, "Between the Chairs: The Race for Space," follows an eight-year-old boy buried seven deep in a family hierarchy. Through a combination of prose and visual storytelling, we witness the protagonist's ambitious plan to gain NASA's attention by flying a drugstore kite into outer space. The story, told through first-person narration and comic strip interludes, captures both the humor and heart of a young dreamer determined to stand out in his crowded world. For Zettler, who describes his childhood as "an absurd nature documentary playing out with both predator and prey mingling under one roof," the series represents not just a personal journey, but a universal story about dreaming bigger than your circumstances.

Is this your first book?

My books thus far have all been in the children’s book genre, both as an author and an illustrator, but this will be my first foray into the full-length novel space. My earliest roots were as a comic strip artist and cartoonist though, so the Between The Chairs series, although full-length novels for the young-adult and adult market, will be a gentle marriage of the two worlds with lots of illustration and comic interludes woven in throughout for fun. 

What inspired you to write Between the Chairs?

I grew up as the youngest boy in a family of eight, and without a doubt my childhood experiences, and the eco-system of my diverse neighborhood, was a major source of fuel and inspiration for the plot line. 

I wouldn’t trade my time buried in those family trenches for anything, but day-to-day life was a bit like a nature documentary playing out with both predator and prey mingling under one roof – it was non-stop older and younger siblings competing for food and resources to often outlandish extremes.

On the one hand, it's the story of a young dreamer scheming ways to stand out and be noticed, but at the same time, I think it’s also the story of anyone who feels trapped by their environment and is yearning for a way out.

Is it a series?  Will we meet these characters again?

Yes, on both counts. The first book in the series, Between the Chairs, The Race For Space, is scheduled to come out this coming year, but in the books that follow we’ll continue to follow the main character and his world as he continues his plotting, scheming, and comic nonsense through middle school and his teenage years for sure.

How would you describe the story?

Between The Chairs chronicles the daily life of an 8-year-old boy who struggles with the constant indignities of life at the bottom of the family totem pole as told through his first-person narration and comic strip interludes.

He’s buried seven deep in a family of eight, surrounded as far as he can see in all directions by the bland cookie-cutter streets of planned suburbia, and to make matters worse, he sits every night at a table that was sold to his parents with only six chairs for some inexplicable reason. It’s ultimately a numbers game based on seniority, so at every meal he’s forced to sit on a little stool wedged between older siblings who all outrank him.

He doesn’t exactly take his lot in life sitting down though, and is a dreamer at heart, so is constantly scheming ways to stand out and be noticed. In this first book in the series, Between The Chairs - The Race for Space, we find his latest plan is to gain the attention of his entire town, and ultimately NASA, by flying a simple drugstore variety kite high above the clouds and into outer space. He’ll need a dump truck’s worth of extra string and has a host of other challenges in his way, but he’s blessed with a pretty self-delusional belief in the mission which makes him fun to write for and observe.  

What would you like readers to take away from this story?

I think no matter what your age, but particularly if you're a child or young adult, the biggest lesson from the book is that nothing can prevent you from dreaming bigger than your circumstances.

Specifically for younger readers though, the truth is your day-to-day outcomes are generally not fully under your control yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own voice, which is an underlying point of the book.

You both wrote and illustrated the book, which art form calls to you the most?

I’ve been asked this before and I always take the easy way out and call it a tie! In my process it seems one is always informing the other. When I’m writing, my mind will tend to wander off on its own to ponder a playful image that will tie in and add visual color to the words, but the same seems true in reverse, if I start sketching characters and settings first, a storyline often seems to flow.

Which illustrators/artists have most inspired you? 

Starting out in the world of comic strips as I did, I’d have to say probably my biggest influences growing up were Bill Watterson, who was the creator of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, and any and all of the old Disney animators.

Where Watterson is concerned, he has long since retired and the medium of newsprint has faded in the rear-view mirror, but when he was given the space to fully roam in the full-color Sunday comic section back when I was a kid, Calvin and Hobbes was something you could lay out on the floor and just fully immerse yourself in. The illustration was just so innovative, clean, and playful.

If this were to transfer to the screen, would you prefer to see it as a film or a series?

A hard one to answer. With the setting for the story featuring such a colorful cast of household and neighborhood characters to draw from, it does lend itself to an ongoing series. At the same time though, each individual novel in the Between The Chairs series also finds the main character seeking some form of grandiose resolution to something he perceives as a problem in his world, which could also unfold neatly into film format. I could truly could go either way.

What are you currently working on?

The first book in the series, Between the Chairs, The Race For Space, is scheduled to come out this coming year, but in the books that follow I’ll continue to chronicle the main character as his plotting, scheming, and comic nonsense makes its way through middle school and into his teenage years for sure.

Zettler's distinctive style promises to bring a fresh voice to young adult literature. As he continues to develop the series, following his protagonist through middle school and teenage years, readers can look forward to more adventures that blend humor, heart, and the timeless message that circumstances need not limit imagination. Whether it eventually finds its way to screen as a series or film, "Between the Chairs" marks the emergence of a unique storyteller who seamlessly bridges the worlds of visual and narrative art.

Learn more at: AndrewZettler.com