HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK?
I love documentaries and after watching one about the Kindertransport on Netflix, I had to know more. I began my research on my own, but was given a huge push forward when the Billie Levy Research and Travel grant funded my trip to the University of Connecticut to learn more and meet and interview actual kindertransportees. The book would not have come to life without the detail and inspiration they provided.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LINE FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK AND WHY?
"Look, Mutter! The clouds are wild horses today! Can you see them? They are running free!" Mutter smiled back. Helen sighed. "If only we could ride away on them, just for a while."
I love this line as a nephophile, or lover of the clouds. To me, the clouds represent the present and living in it. The clouds never stay the same so observing them in any moment is to live that moment which will never happen again. They are an escape, which is what Helen needed. In that moment of the book, Helen is an escapist. I identify with her need to not be contained, ever.
WHICH OF YOUR CHARACTERS FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING TITLE DO YOU BELIEVE IS MOST LIKE YOU?
In this case, I identify most with the main character, Helen. She is named after my grandmother. On the outside, she embodied feminine qualities, but she was truly tough as nails. She reaches down and pulls out bravery at times others would lose their composure, and still somehow manages to do so with grace. I admire that.
WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HOPE READERS WILL GLEAN FROM YOUR AWARD-WINNING BOOK? I want readers to cling to hope as Helen did, regardless of the situation they may find themselves in. And perhaps more importantly, I want them to remember to help others when they can, because if they can, they should.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A WRITER?
I have always spoken quietly and saved speaking for important things. Yet, in an automatic writing exercise in high school, once the faucet of words was turned on I could not shut it off. I discovered my inner self was quite the chatterbox. I guess the writer in me is my soul speaking. Expressing yourself is so essential. I try to instill that in my kids.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS:
I litter my house with notebooks. I tend to lose them, maybe subconsciously because it is so exciting to find them again and re-imagine things from where I left off the time before. I scribble down things that catch my attention, interesting names, phrases or ideas that aren't ready to be born yet but have potential. Eventually I start putting them together when I figure out what connects them. That is typically how my stories happen.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE AS A WRITER? The waiting! Patience is not one of my virtues and in publishing, there is a lot of waiting between steps in the process. I'm like a little kid when I'm excited. I am ready to share the news or book or achievement with everyone.
CAN YOU OFFER ANY ADVICE FOR WRITERS ON HOW BEST TO PROMOTE THEIR BOOK?
Reach out to anyone and everyone, even when the opportunity is not likely. The worst that can happen is that they can say no. Work your network. You never know which of your connections will prove lucrative.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ACCOMPLISHMENT? Winning this award takes the cake for accomplishment so far! However, I would say getting to tell this particular story and meet true survivors of the events has been so rewarding....
WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ASPIRATIONS?
I can't narrow it down to one because I dream a lot. As for children's literature, I would love to one day write AND illustrate a book. I envy the talent of illustrators. One day, maybe I'll be talented enough artistically to do both.
Ultimately I would like to be a full-time writer at some point, one who encompasses the many genres I enjoy writing. I also write short stories, screenplays, poems and articles as well as travel writing. If I could live on the road and write about it, that would be a mental paradise.
TELL US SOMETHING PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU THAT THEY MIGHT FIND INTERESTING:
As a quiet person, I find power in playing the drums. They speak in their loud voice for me in the language we all understand, music. I have been a western style drummer since high school, and played Taiko for ten plus years now. Only recently I have started learning hand drums and Cajon.
WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED?
My third book was released in 2017 as well. It's a picture book called The Unhuggables by River Road Press.
The Unhuggables is about a boy named Oliver who doesn't want to be hugged. He ducks and dodges his mother's hugs by transforming himself into unhuggable animals. His mother playfully dances and dodges his efforts until he is ready for a hug again. It is mostly about loving someone through a difficult moment, something we can all identify with. The Unhuggables won the cover contest for the website Authors Talk About It, the month of its release in October/November 2017.
My first picture book is called Rey Antonio and Rey Feo. It's about a sibling rivalry in the backdrop of the Fiesta celebration in San Antonio where I grew up. It is a bilingual picture book, full of vibrant colors and scenery.
DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW BOOKS IN THE WORKS?
While I'm shopping my new manuscript around, I'm focusing on other genres, mostly screenwriting.
LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval http://www.clcawards.org
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