Children and Young Adult Books

Interview with Author – Peter Solomon

Interview with Author – Peter Solomon

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Peter Solomon is a physicist and an entrepreneur who is devoted to passing on his love for the many wonderful science stories to the younger generation. The birth of his twelfth grandchild was the inspiration for his first book and the STARDUST MYSTERY project that has created companion video games, science videos, and Expert Avatars that will answer questions about their lives and work. The theme of the Stardust Mystery story is that we are made of STARDUST that was once in the body of Albert Einstein and the last T-Rex. That is true. We each have more than 300 trillion carbon atoms that once belonged to and were exhaled by Einstein and more than 5,000 trillion that were once in each T-Rex that roamed the Earth. Those atoms were created in the end-of-life explosions of stars.
His new book, The Race to the Big Bang, set in the coronavirus pandemic, continues that story. The same child characters make the best of their new life constraints and enter a new contest, The Race to the Big Bang. They, and hopefully the reader, will learn lots of new science. Peter lives in Connecticut with his wife, Sally Moshein Solomon. Sally and Peter have had their vaccine shots and are now visiting with their grandchildren again.

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Interview with Author – Jamie Campbell

Interview with Author – Jamie Campbell

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Jamie Campbell grew up in the New South Wales town of Port Macquarie as the youngest of six children. She now resides on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia with her husband, two-year-old daughter, and two dogs, Bella and Ralph.

Writing since she could hold a pencil, Jamie’s passion for storytelling and wild imagination were often a cause for concern with her school teachers. Now that imagination is used for good instead of mischief. Writing mainly Young Adult, Jamie loves nothing more than sharing her stories of angels, demons, aliens, ghosts, faeries, and everything in between with her readers.

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Interview with Author – Sunshine Rodgers

Interview with Author – Sunshine Rodgers

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Sunshine Rodgers is a Best Selling Author, Blogger, and Entrepreneur. Her fiction novels, children’s books and nonfiction books have been made into audio books and translated in different languages. Sunshine hopes her stories show off the beauty of Friendship and Love. She enjoys writing about the oh-so-good parts of life, always concluding her pages with a happy ending. Sunshine’s social media sites and personal blog reaches thousands of readers a week. Her merchandise line and author events can be found on her website: sunshinerodgers.com. Sunshine is married to Travis Rodgers, the love of her life and they live in the sunny state of Florida.

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Interview with Author – Gail Aldwin

Interview with Author – Gail Aldwin

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Gail Aldwin is a novelist, poet and scriptwriter. Her debut novel The String Games was a finalist in The People’s Book Prize and the Dorchester Literary Festival Writing Prize 2020. Her first children’s picture book Pandemonium was published in 2020. Gail regularly appears at literary and fringe festivals. Prior to Covid-19, Gail volunteered at Bidibidi in Uganda, the second largest refugee settlement in the world. Her home overlooks water meadows in Dorset.

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Interview with Author – Stephenie Wilson Peterson

Interview with Author – Stephenie Wilson Peterson

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Stephenie is the author of Grace’s Ghosts and the Nellie Nova series. Semi-nomadic, Stephenie and her family currently live near Raleigh, North Carolina. Her kids are Texans at heart. Stephenie and her husband grew up just outside of Seattle. Stephenie writes, teaches creative writing, and homeschools her three amazing kids. Stephenie is represented by Jessica Reino of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.

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Interview with Author – Kathleen Dixon

Interview with Author – Kathleen Dixon

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Hypothetically there are endless amounts of information one can write about oneself in a bio. But practically speaking, what would others want to know? Where one lived, how one grew up, what type of education a person had, what kind of work they did, and their life experience would say a lot about someone. Yes, those are things about an author I would wonder about too or any public figure for that matter. It would say quite a bit about his or her character and orientation.

With that in mind, I will best describe myself succinctly. First off, although college education is desirable, I have had no college education. It is not because I was unable to do so, but rather, it was unnecessary for a successful and happy life, which was my goal. I had an excellent elementary and secondary school education and was fortunate to participate in the Fine Arts, abundantly taught in most schools I attended at that time. My father, a cartoonist, painter, and guitar player was also in the US military and put a request in for a transfer overseas. Soon after, our family transferred to Spain during my middle school years. These years were probably the most illuminating and happy years of my life. Spain was an artistic country. There was art everywhere I looked. And the people were the best part. From that point on, I was self-taught. I loved writing, reading, and English classes, as well as history, but creativity was always my passion. I taught myself to paint with oils, sculpt, dance, cook, sew, and just about anything else of interest. Thus was my education.

Being in a military family, I never lived in any one place as a child for more than three and a half years. This experience taught me the value of growing up in one place, surrounded by the same individuals. And I learned that to have friends you have known all your life is worth gold. Although it is an esteemed quality of life I didn’t have, I am content to be part of such a community and graciously accepted.

My husband and I were married in Portland, Oregon. Starting with nothing, we established and grew a residential remodeling and restoration company, which we continue operating for the last thirty-eight years while raising our children.

In 2011 we purchased a beautiful 1890 Queen Anne Victorian House in North Carolina, which is where we live now with our Irish Terrier, Samwise. I raised my youngest son there, and it is where I began writing my first book, “Frederic & Cassandra Book One The Sinister House.” It was slow going at first, but once I decided to complete it, I persisted until it was finished and published.

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Interview with Author – Candace Nadine Breen, Ph.D.

Interview with Author – Candace Nadine Breen, Ph.D.

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Candace Nadine Breen is of West African (Benin, Cameroon ) descent and wears many hats. She taught English in Providence, Rhode Island for eleven years for grades seven and nine. During that time, she tried to find her place in society while being driven away from various religious organizations for her inability to conform to their standards. While raising a family, she returned to school and earned a Master’s in Human Services with a focus on Marriage and Family Counseling. She was later a real estate agent for a few years but found it unfulfilling , stressful and time consuming. After taking time to open up herself to her true path, she buried herself in metaphysical studies, earning a Master’s of Science and Doctorate in Metaphysics. She became a Spiritualist Minister which seemed like the perfect occupation for her, at first, but she gradually felt that she was outgrowing the Spiritualist community and was told by a medium unknown to her that her path would not end with the Spiritualist Church.

It was very difficult for Candace to fit into societal boxes and , after, falling into depression, she threw caution to the wind and decided to follow her true calling. She embraced her psychic talents, wrote and published three successful memoirs, threw herself into her art and began working on children’s books, young adult fiction books and sci-fi novels.

Although Candace is a Master Gardener, she has always loved gardening and just being outside in nature. She has found satisfaction in earth-based religions and solitary spiritual practices despite the fact that she refuses to be labeled as any particular religion. She enjoys being in her garden, meditating in her wooded and quiet backyard, painting, art, and spending time with her family. She studies earth magick, gives Spirit messages via intuitive tarot reading, runes, herbal medicine and her mediumship abilities. Candace also devotes herself to speaking, helping and healing for the highest and greatest good.

Candace resides in Barrington, Rhode Island with her loving family consisting of her devoted husband, two very talented and creative children and their two loving and mystical cats.

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Interview with Author – C. R. Stewart

Interview with Author – C. R. Stewart

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I am originally from Newport Beach, California, and have twenty years of experience writing fiction, nonfiction, and movie screenplays. My areas of expertise also includes film and media production, global strategy, and international marketing.

Britfield & The Lost Crown was conceived as an idea over 10 years ago while I was enduring a boring finance seminar. It started as a sketch of a hot air balloon with a young boy and girl trapped inside. From this simple drawing sprang the entire concept and story for Britfield.

I received a Bachelor of Arts in British Literature and European History from Brown University; did post- graduate work at Harvard University; earned an MBA from Boston College; and am pursuing a Master of Science in Advanced Management and a PhD in Strategy.

Now based in San Diego, I am a strong supporter of education and the arts. I enjoy world travel, reading, riding, swimming, sailing, tennis, and am currently on a National School Book Tour with Britfield & The Lost Crown speaking to students on the importance of creativity!

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Interview with Author – Tatiana Handfield

Interview with Author – Tatiana Handfield

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Tatiana Handfield is a trained teacher of English Language and Literature at the secondary level. She enjoys writing short stories, poems, plays and children’s books. Tatiana is passionate about teaching others to write and encouraging children to unlock their creative potential. In addition to teaching and writing, Tatiana is also a proofreader/copy editor and created her own art production company Let’s Create TCI!

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Interview with Author – Tanya Preminger

Interview with Author – Tanya Preminger

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Tanya Preminger has moved to New York city at the age of 27 to start a writing career. She spent wonderful years in the big apple, waiting tables, writing stories, submitting to literary magazines, studying martial arts and meeting wonderful people, eventually becoming a … web designer.
Life had led her to a 9-5 marketing management career, and only after her son was born, she rediscovered her first passion – writing. This time around she wrote juvenile fiction and chose to self-publish. Her children’s book series “Sean Wants To Be Messi”, about a boy who dreams of becoming a famous soccer player, has sold tens of thousands of copies in the US, UK, and Germany.

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Interview with Author – Jennifer Priester

Interview with Author – Jennifer Priester

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Jennifer is self employed as an author, publisher, artist, and photographer. She enjoys all forms of storytelling and probably spends a little too much time in fictional worlds. Much of her free time is spent reading books, watching tv and movies, and playing video games. She also has many other hobbies and interests as well. Some of her other hobbies include; building jigsaw puzzles, riding her bike, spending time outdoors, listening to music, and daydreaming. Jennifer is a former bowler and horseback rider. She does still go bowling for fun sometimes, but not enough for her to consider it one of her active hobbies. Jennifer loves animals and has had many pets throughout her life. Although none of her pets have been unusual, they have all been very unique. She’s had a rabbit that she taught to play dead, a dog that would do anything for a blanket, a bird that liked to hang upside down from her swing, and a fish that would let her pet it. Several of her pets were adopted from animal shelters, beginning with her second rabbit. Jennifer grew up with, and still has, a highly misunderstood anxiety disorder called selective mutism, which leads people to believe those with it choose when not to talk when that’s not the case. She also has social anxiety disorder, so she is a big supporter of mental health awareness.

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Interview with Author – Jason R Lady

Interview with Author – Jason R Lady

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Jason is an army brat who grew up moving around a total of seven times on military bases from Germany to Fort Knox, Kentucky. From a family of avid readers, Jason was encouraged to read fantasy and science fiction, and write his own stories and comic strips from an early age. Jason wrote his first novel-length story in high school–a parody of Robin Hood that starred all his friends, and got passed around on the bus and read on the way to cross-country races. When he’s not writing, Jason works in Training and Talent Management. Jason has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University and a Masters of Education from Cleveland State University. He is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. In his free time Jason can be found talking about and enjoying 1980’s music and popular culture, watching Marvel movies, working on visiting all the MLB baseball stadiums, and following the Cleveland Indians. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife and many great friends. Monster Problems is his first novel.

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Interview with Author – Gigi Sedlmayer

Interview with Author – Gigi Sedlmayer

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Gisela (Gigi) Sedlmayer was born on 19 May 1944 in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin in Germany.
Her family escaped to the West just before the infamous wall went up. They moved around in Germany, following where her dad got work. That meant she had to change 9 times schools. In the end she never had friends again, of fear, she will lose them again.
Finally, they settled in Munich where Gigi studied architectural drafting and met Albert in 1965, marrying in December 1967. She worked as a civil drafts-person in various private consultancies in Munich.
Since her uncle was a writer, she tried to write short animal stories herself. Nothing further came of it, but she developed a love for the written word and started to consume books.
In May 1975, Gigi and her husband moved to New Zealand. Because of language challenges, she started a handcraft business. As a specialty, she made colourful parrots in several sizes of which she sold thousands in a few years.
In 1988, they decided to adopt and became adoptive parents of twin girls the year after. They lived in New Zealand for eighteen years and moved to Australia in September 1992.
One year later Gigi was diagnosed with cancer. After operations and radiation, she withdrew, thinking that she would probably soon be dead, like her friend who died of cancer, but her two little girls gave her the courage to keep going. After a few years, still among the living, her brain started to work again, so she thought, ‘Get a grip on yourself and do something good with your life’.
She remembered the time she wrote short stories and got inspired again, seeing her husband Albert writing the story of their adoption. Her English became increasingly better so she pressed on to develop her creative writing.
Albert taught her how to use a computer and she wrote many short stories. She entered them in competitions and often got very good reports back, which gave her confidence to go on writing. One day the idea for the TALON series came to her and she spent the next several years bringing the story and the characters to life.
She now loves writing and spends most of her time at the computer, developing new story lines. She also loves traveling, 4×4 touring, swimming, gardening, handcrafting, reading, fossicking and enjoys good adventure DVD’s or going to the movies.
Teaching Children Self-Confidence Through Service to Others

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Interview with Author – Ron Roecker

Interview with Author – Ron Roecker

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It was the perfect storm one day in kindergarten when I got teased once again for the birthmark on my neck that looked like a hickey AND I had nothing to share for Show & Tell. I thought things would work themselves out until Scott Sherman pulled out his pet iguana and the class went insane. There were 13 classmates ahead of me so I had to use that time wisely. At last it was my turn. I stood up and proceeded to tell everyone that it was not actually a birthmark on my neck (I apologized profusely for leading them astray and let them know I did it with their best interests in mind) for it actually was a skin graph from a burn I received while selflessly saving a kitten from a burning building on the way to pre-school one random Tuesday. Mrs. Dodd, my canary-haired teacher, sent me home with a note that afternoon which said, “Ronnie has a very active imagination and quite a competitive nature, but…” blah, blah, blah. I was over the moon at the tremendous kudos I had been given. That’s when I knew I was going to be a story teller. (FYI, I still tell the skin graph story whenever anyone asks me about the birthmark…when it works, it works…)

Award-winning writer and artist Ron Roecker recently released the first in his series of books for children of all ages titled, “Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other,” which is based on well-known adages and idioms. “Why Ball Wouldn’t Bounce” is the first in the series and the first to be written, illustrated and published by Roecker. “Why Christmas Is Cancelled: Santa Spells it Out,” is based on a holiday letter Roecker wrote in 2017 that was published and syndicated by the Kansas City Star newspaper. He decided to develop it as a book for the entire family with new, hand-drawn illustrations and published this second book October 2019. Originally from the Midwest, Roecker has lived in Los Angeles for the past 20+ years and moonlights as a brand marketing consultant, executive coach, media spokesperson and professional public speaker.

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