The Wisconsin Book Festival collaborated with the Children’s Theater of Madison on Nov. 2, 2024, to host the international bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series Jeff Kinney to commemorate the release of the newest book in the series, “Hot Mess.”

“Hot Mess” was released Oct. 22, 2024, and is available at most major bookstores and online.

The event was hosted at the Overture Center for the Arts and ran from 6-7 p.m. Kinney said it brought together over 1,000 people with registration closing weeks in advance due to it reaching maximum occupancy.

Upon entry, guests were given a free copy of “Hot Mess” and a drawing pad. The drawing pads contained numbers that would later be used in the event’s participatory activities.

The event started with a “Diary of the Wimpy Kid”-themed quiz, where four young participants competed to answer the most number of questions. Kinney was introduced alongside a tape showcasing his global travels as a writer.

Throughout the event, Kinney shared his creative process and the journey of his writing.

Kinney spoke about the book’s title which is (partially) a reference to the 2024 American Presidential Election. He later discussed the process he usually takes to write his books.

According to his oration, he begins by first writing the title and designing a cover, a process that usually takes months. But, “Hot Mess” would provide an exemption ending up as an expedited instance.

Kinney also said the cover and title of the books precede their contents, which he starts by writing jokes.

His process of joke-writing takes Kinney around three months per book and requires a period of isolation to design the gags in his stories. They are written on an old-fashioned computer without internet access due to his attention-deficit disorder.

In recent years, Kinney has found his local cemetery a comforting place to write.

The artistic process begins with sketches, inkings and then the lining of his drawings which he prefers to start with color before transitioning to the black-and-white style frequent in his books.

After his initial discussion of The Diary of the Wimpy Kid’s creative process, Kinney hosted a series of activities centered around his ‘opening’ of an Italian restaurant, Gregario’s. Participants were chosen based on the numbers on their sketch cards accompanying the copies of “Hot Mess.”

The various challenges at the event included participants competing or collaborating in activities relating to the theme of opening a restaurant. The activities took place with the assistance of some children’s parents and the usage of various restaurant-related props.

During the series of activities, three singers from the Children’s Theater of Madison performed for the audience. Kinney concluded the event by thanking the crowd and encouraging them to “keep having fun.”