Children's Books Author
What was your favourite subject at school?
I had two favourite subjects at school: Maths and English. I enjoyed Maths because I was good at solving equations. Sometimes it took me a while to figure them out, but I got there in the end.
My other favourite subject was English. I loved reading books and writing essays. I enjoyed English so much that I graduated with an English Literature degree. The degree was fun because I got to read books, write a story, and watch movies!
What is your favourite book?
My favourite book is The Bible. My favourite section is the Book of John, one of the four gospels. John 14 is my favourite chapter in the whole Bible because Lord Jesus Christ mentions the gospel, our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit. I like picturing the Holy Trinity together in Heaven, watching over us. I’ll get to meet them someday because Jesus Christ saved me.
When I was a child, my favourite book was Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson. It’s about Ruby and Garnet, twin girls, who learn to accept that they’re growing apart. I was a big fan of real-life twins like the actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. I used to wish that I had a twin sister! I wanted to do fun twin things like swapping places to trick people.
Where do you get ideas for books?
Sometimes my ideas come from life experience e.g. The Mean Girl Who Never Speaks. The story is about Selective Mutism, a type of social anxiety I struggle with.
Other times my ideas are based on interesting places or animals. Crocodiles inspired The Blue Crocodile, an African mystery adventure.
My ideas also come from wanting to teach readers important lessons in a fun way e.g. Booger King Fights Back. The story shows how nose-picking is a gross habit.
My non-fiction books are based on topics that interest me e.g. 1500 Writing Prompts for Kids. It’s about writing stories, poems, speeches, etc. I would’ve loved a book like that when I was younger.
I have so many ideas that I always have something to write next. It can be hard to decide which idea I should go with. My solution is to stop trying to pick an idea. When I do that, one idea starts to develop by itself. Without trying, my brain starts expanding the idea. Characters and their problems develop, and even the story’s ending might appear. That’s when I sit down and start planning the story…