iP: How long have you been creating books together?
Monroes: In the fall of 2000, we had our first book together published, the bestseller Wish to be a Christmas Tree. We had spent the year prior working on it.

iP: Tell us about The Christmas Humbugs.
Monroes: The Humbugs are actually an idea that Mike came up with 20 years ago in a doodle. He wrote a little poem about them and then tucked them away for 20 years until the owner of Sleeping Bear Press saw them one day when he visited our shop. In Mike's poem they were actually a little mean so when I rewrote the original idea I changed them to be more fun-loving pranksters.

iP: Do you have children?
Monroes: We have three children, who are, of course, angels! They actually were very inspiring when it came to thinking up Humbug pranks! We have 6-year-old twins, Natalie and Matthew, and our 18-month-old handful, John.

iP: What would you say is the true spirit of Christmas?

Monroes: We feel that true Christmas Spirit is felt in the time spent with loved ones and in doing things for people you love around the holidays. It isn't the presents and all the trappings, which is why the Humbugs can't destroy it; it is that intangible feeling of warmth and love when everyone is together.

iP: What are you working on now?
Monroes: We are throwing around some new ideas for books, hoping that something will start to gel the more we talk about it. We would like to have a new book that we worked on together published every year, but every two is probably more realistic, considering that Mike also illustrates for other Sleeping Bear Press authors. He actually has eight books that he has illustrated with another one to two due out next year. On top of that he is a wildlife artist and we do art shows all over the country all year long.