Q: First tell us something about yourself.
From a young age, I have been drawn to art and all things color. I’m always on the lookout for new creative projects to attempt. One day, you might find me refurbishing a vintage piece of furniture, while the next, I’m hand painting wallpaper on my living room wall. It’s these creative projects, including my book, that bring me so much joy.
Q: How and when did your journey start as a writer?
Believe it or not, Detective Stan the Crayon Man all started with an 8th grade class project. We were assigned to write a story and illustrate it. My teacher encouraged us to put time and thought into these books. I loved dreaming up my crayon characters and creating their colorful world. Little did I know that story would one day be in the hands of children around the country.
Q: When did you write your first story? Is it published or not?
The original concept of the story was written in 8th grade, but it underwent a lot of fine tuning before it was published. It was on my 40th birthday that I got a call from my publisher that they wanted to publish the book. It was the perfect birthday gift, especially since the story revolves around a missing birthday cake!
Q: Tell us something more about your books.
My hope is to engage with the reader. The intent is for the child to look for clues and use their critical thinking to figure out which colors mix with the other colors to create a new color which ultimately helps crack the case of the missing birthday cake. Children will learn about color mixing while playing detective themselves and solving the mystery.
Q: How did these stories and characters come to your mind?
The crayon characters of Colorful County were dreamt up when I was a kid. I always had crayons on hand, eager to draw, so why not bring those crayons to life? In the original 8th grade version, Detective Stan was a crayon character. After working through the story with my publisher we decided that it would be more fun for kids if the detective be a young boy. I wanted to leave it up to the reader to interpret if Detective Stan is really living within the crayon world or if it is all his colorful imagination.
Q: Do you want to leave any message for your readers?
Honestly, I didn’t think Detective Stan the Crayon Man and The Missing Birthday Cake would ever be published, but what I DID KNOW was that it was a good story and concept. Enough that Colorful County never left my head since it was dreamt up as a kid. My hope is that it will inspire kids to believe in themselves and their own creations. That what they are passionate about today matters and can truly shape their future.
