Ryan SanAngelo grew up in Connecticut and received his B.A. in Media Communications at Western CT State University in December 2000. But as a sophomore in college, Ryan took a Children's Literature class that would forever change his life. The result of the class was a wonderful picture book titled, Spaghetti Eddie, illustrated by the amazingly talented Jackie Urbanovic.
Since the book’s publication, Ryan has conducted author visits at venues throughout New England and beyond. He has delighted audiences with his charismatic performances showcasing both his book, his discussions, and his music. Ryan is also a teacher, who has a masters degree in Elementary Education and is certified to teach grades K-6. I had the fortunate opportunity to attend one of SanAngelo's performances and asked him a few questions about his unique path to publication and musical background.
Tell us about your path to publication.
I wrote my story, which was originally called 'A Boy Named Eddie, Who Shared His Spaghetti,' for a project in a children’s literature class I took in college. I didn’t have any thoughts of publication at the time. It wasn’t until my parents read it and urged me to try to get it published that I thought of its potential as a real book. I sent it out to a bunch of publishers and they all sent me back rejections letters. Eventually, trying to learn more about what I was trying to do, I took a one night class called ‘How To Get Published.’ The teacher ended up being Clay Winters, the president of Boyds Mills Press. On my way out of the classroom that night I gave him a copy of my story. To my surprise he called me up a week or so later and said his company wanted to publish it. Best phone call I ever got!
How long after you wrote 'A Boy Named Eddie, Who Loved His Spaghetti' was it published?
It took a year or so to find a publisher. Once I found my publisher it took 3 long years for the book to come out. I had no idea about anything related to publishing at the time, so I didn’t know it would take that long. People kept asking me when was it coming out and I really didn’t know.
What was the inspiration for Spaghetti Eddie?
Well, I really just wanted to have fun with the assignment and write something really great. I didn’t know what to write about, but I eventually decided it should be based on a good moral. I chose sharing as my moral and wanted to show it in a brand new way. To get inspired I thought back to the stories I loved as a child and one of those was “Watch Out For The Chicken Feet In Your Soup” by Tomie dePaola. For some reason, when I read the part where the two boys ate spaghetti, it struck me-- my story would be about sharing spaghetti. From there I brainstormed some silly ways spaghetti could solve problems and then I had my story. It was very fun to write and very innocent because I wasn’t trying to be an author, I was just trying to write something fun and get a good grade in my class.
What was your reaction when you learned Jackie Urbanovic would be the illustrator?
I had no idea who was going to illustrate my book. Boyds Mills Press made the choice. I didn’t know Jackie and I didn’t know what the book was going to look like. So I was pretty worried. It was definitely an odd experience having someone bring their talent to something I created and be in the dark the whole time. Luckily she did an amazing job. The first time I saw the black and white galleys I was blown away. I couldn’t believe that this was my book! It was right around Christmas time so all my friends and former classmates were home from college, so I brought the pages out one night to show everyone. I was so happy. I still haven’t met Jackie, but I’ve emailed her a few times telling her how much I love what she did. We talked about the possibility of doing some performances together, but nothing ever came of it. 
A part of your school and library visits is your music. Tell us a little about your musical background.
I love to write stories, but really my favorite thing to do is to write songs. I’ve been writing and recording songs at my house since I was 16. There’s so much freedom in music and I just love making things up and sharing them with others. I used to be kind of shy about sharing my songs, but I’m a different person now than I was at 16.
I play the guitar and bass guitar. I was always more interested in writing my own songs rather than master other peoples. I really absorbed a lot of sound and emotion that was coming out of my speakers and it helped me to feel free to express myself in any way that I felt right. I’ve been very influenced by a lot of bands, especially Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Pink Floyd, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name a few. I used to write songs aimed at people in my age group, but after getting “Spaghetti Eddie” published, I easily made the transition into children’s music. It was the perfect fit for my personality and creativity. I think having the kind of influences that I have makes me different from other children’s performers. A lot of children’s music is folk based and mellow, but I would rather rock and rap for kids. I want to pump them up and get them moving. I also want the parents to enjoy the songs to. Whenever I hear someone singing one of my songs- it’s the best thing in the world.
What do you like best about being a children's book author and why?
My favorite part is being able to share something I created with others. “Spaghetti Eddie” changed my life and helped me to become the person I always wanted to be. I’ve met so many people and have had so many amazing experiences all because of this book. People seem to really love my book and it makes me so happy! Being a children’s author has also helped me to find an audience for my music. It’s the perfect avenue for my creativity and personality. Children are the best audience to play for. My favorite thing to do is to do presentations where I read my book and play my songs. It just means so much to me to get these things out of my head and to express myself. The smiling faces I see are the proof that I’m doing the right thing.
For more information, please visit: www.RyanSanAngelo.com where you can order an autographed copy of Spaghetti Eddie and SanAngelo's 12 song CD, Play All Day.
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