Over the course of her career, Jamie Lee Curtis has received an Academy Award, a BAFTA, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Her work in a plethora of horror films — among them, Prom Night, The Fog, Virus, and of course, numerous installations of the Halloween franchise — has earned her the title of “Ultimate Scream Queen.” Her cameo appearance in season two of The Bear was a highlight of the already fantastic series, and her 2023 Oscars acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress in Everything Everywhere All at Once was a joyful tribute to the many people who have helped her along her journey. What some people may not know is that in addition to her 46-year acting career, Curtis is a New York Times best-selling children’s book author.
Since her debut 1993 book, When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth, Curtis has published a total of 13 children’s books, as well as a graphic novel, Mother Nature, based on her script of the same name. Now, she’s promoting her latest picture book, Just One More Sleep: All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait … and Wait … and Wait. Featuring illustrations by her longtime collaborator Laura Cornell, the book is a reminder to children that patience is a wonderful virtue, particularly when it comes to exciting holidays and events.
Curtis tells Shondaland that when it comes to writing, she doesn’t have a master plan for her books but instead waits for them to come to her. Speaking about her 1998 book Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day, she says…
On a video call from her home, Curtis spoke with Shondaland about her writing career, book bans, and why she’ll never publish a memoir.
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What advice would you give to someone who aspires to write children’s books?
JLC: The beautiful thing about human beings is we can all do anything. Aspire? Just write. My husband [Christopher Guest] is an artist and musician and an actor, and he has people say to him, “I’m thinking about learning how to play the guitar.” And he’s always like…