NSYNC superstar Lance Bass joins Zibby to discuss TRICK OR TREAT ON SCARY STREET, a quirky and surprising children’s book inspired by his love for Halloween. Lance shares how trick-or-treating was an adventurous, magical experience for him and his friends—and how spooked they were by a mysterious, dark house in the neighborhood! He shares the real motivation for this book—creating content that his kids will love!—and then delves into his plans for the season, from elaborate family costumes to immersive pop-up book events. Finally, he touches on his creative process, the challenge of balancing creativity and parenthood, and his dreams of bringing another childhood project to life.

Transcript:

Zibby: Welcome Lance! Thank you so much for coming on Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books to discuss trick or treat on Scary Street.

Congratulations! 

Lance: Well, thank you. 

Zibby: Very exciting. Okay, why did you write this children's book? 

Lance: You know, this is a long time coming. You know, I've had this idea for, you know, Trick or Treat on Scary Street because as a kid, I loved Halloween. I still love Halloween, but Trick or Treating was such a magical time, which I think might be a little dying breed right now in a lot of towns, but we took it so seriously as a kid.

And, you know, I, I came from a place where it was very safe to go around your neighborhood with your friends, with no parents. And it was, it was that adventure that I always craved. It was kind of like that Goonies adventure with your friends. So, uh, you know, being a fan of movies like the Goonies and like what happened, what happens if a magical street just appeared one night when we were all trick or treating and, you know, I've had this idea for years, but it wasn't until I had my kids.

That I was like, you know what, now's the time to bring out this book. My brain is all about family friendly content right now, and it'll be that way for years to come. So might as well start making stuff that my kids will enjoy. 

Zibby: Yes. Once you have kids, it's like work has to somehow overlap, or else, you know, where is the time?

Was there a particularly scary street for you growing up, or this is all in your imagination? 

Lance: There wasn't a particularly scary street, but there was always that house. So you're like, Ooh, I don't know. Because, you know, there was this one, we called it a mansion, you know, but now I know what a mansion is.

It wasn't quite a mansion, but it was a bigger house than the rest of our houses. And it was definitely up on a hill, um, long driveway kind of stood out, but it was always such a dark place and they never decorated. They never decorate for any holiday. So it was just kind of scary. So it was really, you know, it took a lot of nerve to finally go and try to knock on the door of this house for trick or treating, and they never would come to the door.

So uh, it was always just kind of like one of those dares to who's going to go up there and knock on the door, but they never would come. 

Zibby: Oh my gosh. Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? What are you going to be? 

Lance: Many times over, yes. You know, it's, my kids are finally at the age where. Holidays are so fun and they know exactly what is going on.

And I've always dreamt of asking my kids, Hey, what do you want to be for Halloween and actually get an answer. And I finally got that a month ago. I got to ask them, what do you want to be? And they told me what they wanted to be. But we have about eight outfits that we're going to be going through this season because with this book, you know, there's a lot of book signings and different parties that my kids will be hosting.

So they're excited to get all dressed up and have costume parties a lot with their school friends. 

Zibby: Any costumes that are particularly clever that maybe my kids should steal? 

Lance: Uh, well, I mean, it's just kind of very on the nose for us were one of our costumes, family costumes is going to be the Flintstones because my, my kids are pebbles and bam, bam.

I mean, they're, they're the, I mean, you, they could not be a better pebbles and bam, bam. So that is one of ours. You know, we have my gosh, the Incredibles. Pixar was nice enough to send us to, uh, Uh, mode, you know, from the movie and they made us our own incredible outfit. Uh, and our, my kids are obsessed and I hope within a month they don't outgrow this very tight spandex suit because I really want to wear these things with them.

Uh, but yeah, I mean, we, we have lots of things that we're, we're thinking of. We just have to start getting going, uh, designing them. 

Zibby: What's your favorite Halloween treat? 

Lance: Mmm. I mean, I love a Reese's peanut butter cup. You know, the pumpkins, of course. Yep. Yep. And, you know, I like, I like peanut butter. I like peanuts.

You know, there's a candy called log cabins that I was obsessed with as a kid. And I haven't seen those around in a very long time. But, uh, yeah, give me a Reese's peanut butter cup, a Snickers. Yeah, I mean, those are, I'm more of a chocolate and caramel guy. Over kind of like a sweet, uh, like gummies, I'll, I'll get my gummies to my kids.

Zibby: I mean, a certain type of gummies. 

Lance: Yeah. 

Zibby: Lest this be taken out of context. 

Lance: Yeah. 

Zibby: Yeah. Can you believe what Lance Vance does with his kids? Oh, 

Lance: he's using gummies. They're vitamin gummies. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Zibby: Yeah. Okay, so you had this idea for the book, you've always wanted to do it, you decided it was the right time, and then what?

You just sat down and whipped it out or how, how did it go? Was it easy? Was it harder than you thought? What was the process like? 

Lance: It was very natural. Uh, you know, just because I had been thinking of the story for so many years, it was, you know, it came about quicker than normal. Uh, I compare it to, you know, like your freshman album as a musician, you know, your freshman album, you've been working on your whole life.

It's that sophomore album that you've had to whip together quickly, and that's, that's the test. So I think my next book is going to, you know, it'd take probably a little longer just because I haven't had the years to really plan it. But as you know, I mean, books, it take, they take a while to get out. I've done that particularly once we started writing it and looking at illustrators, it took us probably three years for it to hit stores.

And I hope it doesn't take that long for this next one, because my kids, You know, I want these books to grow with my kids, uh, and I don't want the next one to come out when they're, you know, 20. 

Zibby: Do you already have the idea for the next book? Is title and all that? 

Lance: I do. I have several ideas for, you know, family friendly books.

Too many ideas. But you know, this one really inspired me because I love the holidays and I just love this This world that I've created with scary street that has inspired me to expand this world right here. So, uh, I'm thinking of some really great, uh, spinoffs already of this book, because Right now, Trick or Treat on Scary Street is kind of a snapshot of what happened the whole night of this particular Halloween, but we don't know what happened in between the pages and what happened before they got to Scary Street.

So there's, there's a lot of things that have just started. I mean, I'm, I'm writing like no other, I got really creative just in the last two weeks because we started promotion, you know, promotion for this. So yeah, I've already, I've already mapped out a few spinoffs from this book and they're, they're really fun.

You 

Zibby: immersive experiences, you know, how they have like The Peach Pit pop up and all that in L. A. and stuff. You should do like a Scary Street thing. Oh, 

Lance: and we are. Yeah, we're doing that. Yeah, uh, a lot of these bookstops, um, they're, they're creating the Vampire Lair, the Gingerbread House. Oh my gosh. All these little pop ups that they're, they're creating and they're bringing the characters to life, uh, outside Orlando, uh, in a couple of weeks.

And I just think that's incredible. So, yeah, every year I want this to be an annual thing where we bring this book to life because again, I just think it's. It's so fun to trick or treat with your friends and so many people don't get to do that in their neighborhood. So I want to create a safe space for you to, to come and have fun.

Zibby: So you are obviously a super creative person. You have the music. You have this book. I'm obsessed with your social media. I mean, I watched all of the things and I'm like, everything is more creative than the next and it's the mix of everything. And I was like, wow. I don't know. What do I do? I'm so boring.

But your brain is clearly super creative. Have you always been like this? And what were some of your earlier creative endeavors, maybe when you were a kid? 

Lance: Oh my gosh. Yes. I've always been creative. Always, you know, coming up with silly ideas. I mean, I mean, Halloween was always my favorite. So I was always that kid that, that hosted the Halloween party every year.

And one of my favorite Halloweens was Clue is my favorite movie of all time. And in sixth grade, I decided, you know what? For my Halloween party this year, I'm going to recreate the movie Clue with my friends. So I sent out the invitations to my friends, everyone came dressed up as the characters, and we literally recreated every line of that movie, and it was so much fun.

And I think that's what inspired me to, you know, really go into entertainment and film, the film industries because of that thing right there. But one thing that I'm excited about that I've been really trying to create for Almost 30 years now, there was a character that my very first job was Poofoo the dog, which was kind of like Barney.

Uh, it was a book that my, my, my uncle created this, this character. And it was a book where, you know, during the holidays, you go to the mall and we would make this book. So your kid would be in the book. So, you know, it would print out where your kids in the book and all that kind of stuff. So I always thought, wow, I really want to bring Poofoo to life.

And that's happening. Finally, you know, I've gotten some really great people and, uh, We're turning it into a TV series and a bunch of books, but that's been my kind of lifelong dream is to bring this first job of mine to life again. And, uh, I can't believe 30 years later, we're actually making it happen.

Zibby: That is so cool. Oh my gosh. What a full circle moment. Is this when you were little, like, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

Lance: Oh, I wanted to be an astronaut. Yeah. I mean, like every kid, know, a fireman astronaut, you know, the big things, but yeah, that was my trajectory for sure was, uh, I wanted to become a space engineer so that I could, you know, train and maybe go to space one day.

And of course that kind of got derailed within sync, but, uh, it's, it's ironic that in sync led me to actually becoming a cosmonaut. So, uh, It's 

Zibby: funny how the 

Lance: world works. 

Zibby: It's funny how your massively successful music band just gets in the way of your plans, right? It's so annoying how that happens. Gosh, if only.

So, working on a book is a collaborative process. Being in a band, like, working, you have to work well with others all the time. What are some of the secrets to collaborations, sharing the spotlight, all of that? 

Lance: Yeah, you know, I definitely work better with others. I Everyone always asks me, you know, did you ever want to go solo?

I'm like, no, I, to me, like, I'm just not, I don't like being by myself. I don't like the attention all on me. I'm like sharing the spotlight. I like working with other people and I'm more creative. You know, I'm, my ideas are always like, bam, bam, bam. And I need someone to come around to that. Okay, let's shape that.

And let's, let's fine tune this now. So it's all about your team. And I have an incredible team around me in every facet of my life. So I, yeah, I definitely work well with others and they inspire me. So, yeah, I mean, I, you know, if I didn't have those people around me, I wouldn't be able to get anything done.

I would, my ADD would just be like, and I would have all these ideas, but not one would come to life because I just get my shit together, but so, yeah. So I need those people around me to, you know, organize and, you know, do the things that I'm not the best at. 

Zibby: And is your husband, does he have complimentary sort of skill sets or?

Lance: For sure. We could not be more opposite. Um, so yeah, he definitely, he's a good one, especially with, you know, creating different shows. He'll, he can be the one to kind of calm my ADD down a little bit. And he's actually an incredible writer too. So, uh, I don't like the act of physical writing. I'm just an idea.

I'm like dot, dot, dot, dot. And then he will get all my crazy ideas and me just spit balling and actually get them into writing form. 

Zibby: Interesting. I feel like they have apps for that, too. I know. 

Lance: I need to start learning these. 

Zibby: Yeah, that's true. That does require a 

Lance: certain level. I'm just so old school. I'm old school.

I like pen and paper. 

Zibby: How has having kids affected your relationship? 

Lance: Oh my God. I mean, it just made it better. Uh, I always say, you know, now that we have kids, he's stuck with me, you know, it's like, you can't, and it's, it's, you know, it definitely changes your relationship and the fact that, you know, you don't have the time to do those date nights and, you know, really work on just your relationship.

It's about someone else, but I think it brings us closer together because you're in this together and only us to know. What, you know, how this feels and what's going on with our kids. And he's an incredible dad, which makes me fall in love with them even more. So to see him with my kids and how much love he has for them and how much they love Dada, uh, it just makes my heart, you know, so happy.

Zibby: Oh, I love that. Love that. I feel like sometimes having kids can definitely take things in a different direction 

Lance: with all the stress. Yeah. I mean, moving, traveling, having kids. I mean, it's a, it's a big test on your relationship and so far he has passed. 

Zibby: All right. Excellent. We'll keep close tabs on this.

Is reading to your kids at night, like the go to evening activity and what are some of the books that are in your repertoire? 

Lance: Oh, yeah. It's, uh, you know, we love reading. You know, it's one thing that I really want to instill in my kids is a love for reading, because I didn't really have that as a kid. You know, my parents read to me, but I don't know.

I was always that kid that was kind of like, Ugh, I don't want to read. I never fell in love with it. So, and I think that was probably because I was ADD, and I'm just, you know, I just When you read something, my mind goes everywhere else and it just wasn't enjoyable for me. So I really want my kids to love that and you know the first two years, you know, it's just reading to them They also just get distracted.

I'm like, oh man, they're not really they're not really loving books But for some reason in the last two months They are obsessed with books, and I'm so happy, you know, they still can't read yet. They're only two, but, you know, when they go to sleep, I have to give them a little book. Like, can I have a little book, little book?

Um, so they have to sleep with a book, and I'll look at the monitor, and they, they'll be up for an hour. And they're just opening the book, flipping the pages, and it just, ah, it makes me so happy. And of course, because they're my kids. They love Halloween and scary books ever since last Halloween, when they're, they were able to understand what Halloween was, you know, we went through Christmas, which we also love and we went through that.

But as soon as Christmas was over, it was back to Halloween books and it hasn't stopped. I mean, it is, it's the five little pumpkins it's, I mean, scary street we've had for five months now. And. It's their favorite book and thank God they're a good test, but they make me read Trick or Treat on Scary Street every single night, mainly because they're in the book, you know, they're, they're two of the characters in the book.

So, you know, it's a narcissist thing, I'm sure. 

Zibby: Were you afraid maybe they wouldn't like it when you read it to them the first time? 

Lance: Of course, you're always so scared because they're very picky. You know, they'll tell you, you know, like, Oh, do you want to read? You know, this is like now, now, I mean, they're just very picky on what they want to read.

So I didn't tell them that, you know, Baba wrote this book. I just wanted them to, you know, hear it and they loved it. They absolutely loved it. And, uh, what's fun about it is it's, you know, it's a picture book and there's a lot to look at. So. They're constantly, you know, they won't let me flip the page until they found every single clown, every single dragon.

I mean, they, they make up, it's like, where's Waldo? They just kind of make up their own game of what they're trying to find every day. 

Zibby: The illustrations are amazing. I mean, every page is just more packed than the next. 

Lance: It reminded me, you know, my childhood, you know, where the wild things are. I love that.

That feel I got from that illustration, you know, it was kind of like eerie creepy, but it wasn't scary. That's what I wanted with this book. I think Roland did an incredible job with that. 

Zibby: He did. It reminded me of that also the little costume and everything. Amazing. So do you have any advice for people who are trying to follow their dreams?

This sounds cheesy, but let's say they have all these ideas that you have, but they don't know where to go or they They don't have a team necessarily, but they have the ideas and the vision and they're really creative But life isn't always set up for super creative ideas people. 

Lance: Yeah, I mean the best advice I can give is you know Make your art for yourself.

Don't make it for anyone else because that's when the best stuff comes out Don't try to fit into a certain box if you're happy with it Someone else is going to love it and and you have to be passionate authentic about it and like me where it's hard to get things going and like what is the next step, you know, find that person that can help reel you in if you want to get into books and publishing all that, you know, go talk to people that are in publishing.

If you want to get on radio. Go talk to someone that's on radio. Uh, you know, try to find that mentor that can help, you know, take you through those steps on how to get to the next level because people are always willing to help. You just have to ask for help. And I know it's a little hard for a lot of people to be like, Oh, will you help me?

But no, I mean, people are so willing to give you that hand. Just, just ask for 

Zibby: it. Amazing. And is there anything. That really scares you? 

Lance: Ha ha ha ha, oh my gosh. Um, you know, it's, it's hard to scare me. You know, I'm kind of desensitized to a lot of, especially the Halloween scares. But, uh, I mean, the only thing that scares me right now is how quickly my kids are growing.

Look, everyone, everyone says, Oh, it goes fast. Enjoy every second. It, I can't believe three years has gone this fast. And that does scare me. I just want to make sure that I'm as present as possible, you know, throughout their childhood. You know, I don't, I don't want to be that dad, especially those entertainers that I'm always on the road.

I didn't really get to see them grow up. No I want to be there. You know, every morning when they wake up and every night when they go to sleep, I want to try to be there as much as possible. 

Zibby: So do you not miss the spotlight? Are you happy where you are? 

Lance: Oh, I'm very happy. Yes, I've had enough of the spotlight, you know, and I, you know, I'll have my spotlight, you know, in many ways, you know, in the next coming years, but uh, you know, I, I'm good.

I kind of, I like disappearing a little bit. Me, I like being more creative and behind the scenes, more in front of the camera. Although I love entertaining. It's amazing. I'm definitely better suited being, you know, a creator in the background. 

Zibby: Amazing. Well, Lance, thank you so much. This has been so fun.

Trick or Treat on Scary Street will be delighting my family and is a great gift book too for anyone who has friends with young kids or any of that helps you get in the mood even early on. So thank you so much. 

Lance: Of course. I love your color coordination of books in the background. Thank 

Zibby: you. Thank you 

Lance: very 

Zibby: much.

All right. Best of luck. Goodbye. Thank you. Okay. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. If you love it, please leave a review and follow us on social at Zivy Owens and at Zivy Readers.