Welcome to day four of the Back to School Blog Tour. First up, still time to enter the giveaways and pick up your free children’s book. Just a couple more days to enter or pick up your book!
Our first featured author for today is Patrice Shavone Brown. Patrice is a mental health counselor, small business owner, mother, speaker and life coach along with being a children’s author. She has counseled and coached many lives for twelve years and operated her own mental health facility for over six years. She likes to transform people that feel stuck and unable to move forward in their lives, relationships or business.
I had the chance to talk to Patrice about what inspires her, the stories behind her books, and what children can learn from them.
- What inspired you to write your first children’s book?
Patrice Shavone Brown: I was inspired to write my first children’s book based on my life experience and the world around me. I was a girl that continuously did the wrong thing rather than the right thing. My daughter currently is always into different things and I find myself always redirecting her. So this book is a representative of her and she loved reading it.
- Do you feel that your own childhood influenced the stories behind your books?
Patrice Shavone Brown: Yes. My childhood and environment are what shaped me into becoming a storyteller and writer. If it were not for my experience and looking at the world around me, my books would have never been birthed.
What would you like children to learn from your books?
Patrice Shavone Brown: Children will learn lessons about misbehaving in the book “The Day Momma Made Me Dance”. In “We Blend Well Together”, children will be able to learn the importance of a blended family dynamic. Children will be able to relate to both books depending on their environment and background.
- Do you think parents can learn from your books as well?
Patrice Shavone Brown: Parent’s will be able to laugh and learn some of the thoughts and emotions their child could potentially experience.
- Are you planning on writing any more children’s books?
Patrice Shavone Brown: Yes, I have three more children’s books in the works. These books focus on family, relationship and parenting issues. In each one of my books, they will all focus on these matters of the heart.
Patrice Shavone Brown’s books are available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Her first book, The Day Momma Made Me Dance, is a story of a little girl who is defiant in school and her home life. One day, her mother decides to teach her to dance as a way to show her discipline and how to follow the rules. In her second book, We Blend Well Together, Caleb goes on a journey to understand why his parents are not still together. Living in two different homes in North Carolina, he feels frustrated by his parent’s divorce and having two homes. Should he voice his feelings about being trapped? Join Caleb on his search to understand why they a new normal of blending families can be something special.
The Day Momma Made Me Dance
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Day-Momma-Made-Dance-Unstoppable-ebook/dp/B075KLRNLQ
Barnes and Noble Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-day-momma-made-me-dance-patrice-s-brown/1127162033
We Blend Well Together
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578203375
Barnes and Noble Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-blend-well-together-patrice-shavone-brown/1128433423
For more information on Patrice Shavone Brown and her books, visit her Amazon Author Page.
Our second featured author is Jacquelyn Simone. She is the author of a fabulous YA book called Outlier. Her debut novel has recently been released, and Jacquelyn goes into the details of her journey to writing her novel HERE ON HER BLOG. Jacquelyn was born and raised in San Jose, CA. She always enjoyed science fiction and fantasy growing up, and loves to watch anime and googling pictures of cats when not writing.
I had the chance to find out about her childhood memories, writing process, and what are some of her exciting new projects ahead.
- Who was your favorite children’s author and how did they influence you?
Jacquelyn Simone: My favorite author when I was younger would have to Madeleine L’Engle. A Wrinkle in Time was highly influential to me when I first read it at age eleven, both because of the rich, exciting worlds L’Engle painted, and because of its strong female protagonist. A Wrinkle in Time was the first book that really got me interested in Science Fiction as a genre. I became enthralled by this idea that I could re-write the laws of science and the universe to fit my imagination.
- Do you have a writing routine? Share what works for you.
Jacquelyn Simone: Since I work full time in a demanding engineering job, it can be difficult for me to find time to make progress writing. However, I’ve recently begun to prioritize getting writing in each day by setting a word count. Currently, I’m sticking to 500 words per day. Even with my hectic schedule, I find it’s fairly easy to manage on even the busiest of days. It can actually be a therapeutic exercise to take a break during work, bring my laptop outside for a while, and escape from the stressful realities of the day-to-day. I hope to soon work my way up to 1000 words per day once I better learn how to fit my writing goals into my daily schedule.
- Was there anything in school that was difficult for you?
Jacquelyn Simone: In school, though I always did well academically, the hardest struggle for me was making friends and fitting in with my peers. I was shy, awkward, and nerdy, so I wasn’t exactly welcomed into the popular cliques with open arms. During recess and lunch, I spent a lot of time on the sidelines watching others and reading alone. It took a few years for me to feel comfortable enough in my own skin and confident in who I was before I could begin to open myself to others. Still, to this day I feel I made the right choice in never pretending to be something I wasn’t just to fit in. If I couldn’t be accepted as the fantasy-loving geek that I was, then I didn’t want to be accepted by anyone but myself.
4) What is writing to you in one sentence?
Jacquelyn Simone: Opening doors to the unknown and painting new realities
5) What advice would you give young writers?
Jacquelyn Simone: Start writing as soon as you can, even if you don’t think you’re good enough. I knew I wanted to be a writer ever since I was ten years old, but I never really pursued it until I was a bit older. At a young age, I was well aware that I wasn’t nearly as skilled a writer as my favorite authors, so I would often get discouraged and stop trying. Even when I was a little older and started submitting my work for review, I would interpret rejection as a sign that I wasn’t meant to be a writer.
It wasn’t until the past couple of years that I realized that no one else’s opinion was going to matter more than my own. No one was going to hold my hand and teach me the secrets of becoming a great writer, so my only option was to write and keep writing, and stop worrying whether or not I was creating the next great American novel. So while ultimately I think there’s nothing wrong with having high standards, it’s important to remember that even the greatest authors had to start somewhere.
Jacquelyn Simone’s debut novel, Outlier, is a Science Fiction/Fantasy Young Adult novel. Elle Varlette’s life is less than perfect. Her family has been torn apart by tragedy, and all she wants to do is escape her mundane world. But when she starts to discover her new mental powers that open her up to new Outer Spheres of our universe, the mystery starts to unfold about her family. She has to look to herself to save her brother and find out the mystery that tore them all apart in the first place.
Outlier is available on Amazon.com and is a Kindle Unlimited title.
For more information about Jacquelyn Simone, please visit her website at: https://jacquelynthezone.wordpress.com/.
Thank you for stopping by the Back to School Blog Tour Day 4. Please be sure to continue your tour by visiting the author’s websites and checking out their fabulous books!
**There is one fabulous day left! Please come back tomorrow for the last day of the blog tour.
Check back for more author interviews and their featured books tomorrow. And for more information about my new release, The Lost Secret of Time: Bk 4 in the Crystal Keeper Chronicles, please check out its listing on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.
-Tiffany Turner
Planet Zero: Book 3 in the Super Science Squad series is an innovative story about kids using real science to help in fun, filled adventures. Join the squad as they help out the king of Planet Zero. Enjoy the fun twists and the real science experiments that you can try at home too. Maybe you can help save the universe with science.
The Indie Children's Authors Connection 