Q&A with Martha Rodriguez discussion

I would love to answer any questions you have about me, the book, self-publishing, etc. Ask away!

"Aaaaah, That New Book Smell" is today's post on my blog. It's a little "behind the scenes" of our book journey. Hope you'll stop by, read it and comment here or there:

http://areelcoolsummer.blogspot.com/2...

Martha

What inspired you to write the book Martha? And when it was finished did you feel that you'd met your initial goals or did they change as the book took shape?

Donna wrote: "What inspired you to write the book Martha? And when it was finished did you feel that you'd met your initial goals or did they change as the book took shape?"

Thanks for your question, Donna.

My kids (now 25, 21 & 17) have always been an inspiration to me. They are what my husband and I call "real kids." They preferred playing in the street to playing on organized teams; they preferred making up their own obstacle course to going to one of those huge indoor places with the ball pit and rope ladder, and they had (and still have) wild imaginations. One of the things we loved most was that they had "adult humor." They could watch a Bugs Bunny cartoon or a Marx Brothers movie and find the humor in both.

A Reel Cool Summer is loosely based on a true story. I came home from work one summer day and the kids told me how boring their day had been. I think they thought they had exhausted their creativity. I knew better. I handed them an old video camera and gave them a suggestion, "Why don't you make a movie?" So, they did and we still have it in our collection, right next to our favorite classics. All these years later, I was inspired to write a picture book based on that event.

My goal for the book was to make it silly and wacky and to portray the kids as "real kids." I knew I had met my goal when several reviewers mentioned how the kids "talk like real kids" and how "The story was really fun and captured siblings playing and conspiring together just like I remember it." One 7-year-old reviewer put it this way, "My favorite part of “A Reel Cool Summer” was when they were pretending that there was hot lava. I liked that because we pretend there is hot lava sometimes too!"

A fellow blogger and author, Bob Brooks, has interveiwed me and is hosting a giveaway of a signed copy of my book, a kid's t-shirt and a script. Stop by and enter or tell two friends or 2,000 friends, either way. http://bit.ly/mYfvss

Good luck!

I was just about ready to publish A Reel Cool Summer in late 2009 when a temporary move and life in general got in the way and I changed my plans. I decided to wait a while. I was a bit disappointed at the time but I let it play out.

When I felt I was ready to get back to work on the book, everything changed. I decided not to contract with the illustrator I have originally planned to work with and instead asked my son, Joey, to illustrate the book. When he said he'd do it I felt a sense of freedom to make the story a little wackier because I knew he would understand where that wackiness was coming from... after all, who knew the characters better than Joey?

I revised the story and Joey got to work on the illustrations and six months later our little book was born.

Working with Joey was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am proud to have his artwork in my book. We knew his illustrations had made their mark when we heard from reviewers...

"The computer-generated illustrations are colorful and fun. Joey Rodriguez did a wonderful job creating illustrations that complement this story."

"The illustrations reminded me a lot of the graphics of a video game and they really worked for this story."

"Fun ’paper cut-out dolls’ style of illustrations with muted colors that just seemed to pop out the right way with a story telling power of their own."

I've written a very short story about "Leaving" Cuba. I was born in Cuba and came to the United States at the age of three. I don't really remember the move but I do remember the stories I heard from family members and friends. The short story is told from the point of view of a little girl on her last day in Cuba. Please stop by and read it here: http://bit.ly/pAJQQf

I have a new blog post, another short story for children that I think adults will also enjoy. It may remind you of an angel in your life. Hope you'll stop by to read it.

An Angel Without Wings: http://bit.ly/r97fai

Hi folks,
We're giving away 3 copies of A Reel Cool Summer right here on GoodReads. Enter today and good luck! http://bit.ly/n2VRtG

We've had three 5-star reviews for A Reel Cool Summer in the last two days. Two reviews were from Charity (who is in this group) and her 12 year old son. They reviewed it on GoodReads. The other one is on Amazon from fellow children's book author, Kelly Hashway (@kellyhashway on Twitter if you want to follow her).

We're so excited to have these three new reviews! Thanks a million!!

Sounds like a good book!

Martha wrote: "Donna wrote: "What inspired you to write the book Martha? And when it was finished did you feel that you'd met your initial goals or did they change as the book took shape?"

Thanks for your quest..."

For some odd reason I thought your children were still young and at home.

Lynn

Lynn wrote: "Martha wrote: "Donna wrote: "What inspired you to write the book Martha? And when it was finished did you feel that you'd met your initial goals or did they change as the book took shape?"

Thanks..."

That's because I'm so young and beautiful! :P

Well, the boys are 25 & 21 and done with college and all that. And my little girl isn't so little, she's 17 and will graduate H.S. in the spring.

I think it's because you are so young at heart that you come out online as younger than you are. Most people who see me don't believe that I have a 30 year old son and a 28 year old daughter.

Seriously, I guess I thought that your children were still little and you wrote it with them. So when I was asking the questions of Joey, I was thinking he was little boy well a little older than my Godson.

Now I'm all straight and things make a lot more sense.
I'm not sure why I didn't see this before but I didn't though.

Oh well it is late and I should be in bed. Night for now.

Hi Lynn,
That's funny! I want to stay young-at-heart no matter what my age so I'll just keep being silly! I see you are doing the same!

Joey's been very busy with the video game he's making so he hasn't been able to edit the video of the interview I did of him. I hope to have it sometime this week. Fingers crossed!

Martha,

Yes, I'm young-at-heart too. I live with a 4 y.o. as well as a 14 y.o. and they keep me young.

Lynn

I like to think I'm young-at-heart even though I don't have any kids. What I do have are nieces, nephews, great nieces & nephews & a real appreciation for kids!

Lynn wrote: "Martha,

Yes, I'm young-at-heart too. I live with a 4 y.o. as well as a 14 y.o. and they keep me young.

Lynn"

When my daughter was 4 she kept me young. When my daughter was 14 she made me old. Now she's 25. Time flies!

I write books for ages 3-10 because those are my favourite ages (no that's not a spelling error, I'm Canadian). You can check out my website at http://www.susanross.ca . If you wish to buy THE GREAT BELLYBUTTON COVER-UP or SAY PLEASE TO THE HONEYBEES buy them through Barnes and Noble. Amazon has a 6-9 wk wait on those two books!

Heh Martha. Have you checked your books' availability? This long wait just showed up last week.

Hi Susan,
The way I have my Amazon account set up is that I ship the books directly to my customers so I would not have that problem.

Thanks for the tip, though. Other authors should check in to be sure they are not having that availability problem as well.

Hi folks!
I'm doing my first school visit tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

I look forward to reading A Reel Cool Summer with the kids, talking about writing books and we're even going to act out a few scenes from the book with these costumes http://twitpic.com/82uoww.

It's like the first day of school! I'm sure I won't sleep tonight. So excited!!

That's awesome Martha. Can't wait to hear how it goes. I'm up way too late as usually. Need to get some sleep so I can be up with my Godson. I hope that you are sleeping so you can keep up with the little darlings you're going to read to.

Lynn

Lynn wrote: "That's awesome Martha. Can't wait to hear how it goes. I'm up way too late as usually. Need to get some sleep so I can be up with my Godson. I hope that you are sleeping so you can keep up with th..."

Hi Lynn,
It was fantastic! The girls are so smart and sweet and they loved my book. All the excited little faces just made my day... not to mention the great hugs, the beautiful lei, adorable notes and the cookies I got. I'll be reading to two more classes tomorrow and two others on Friday.

It's the best day so far in my book journey. I feel so blessed! Probably won't sleep tonight either! :)

That is awesome news Martha. Maybe one day I can read for my Godson's class. Just to read to little kids can be fun.

Hugs from young ones are the best non-monetary reward...next to chocolate that is. :)

Lynn

I'm so glad to hear your class readings went well. Congratulations!

Lynn wrote: "That is awesome news Martha. Maybe one day I can read for my Godson's class. Just to read to little kids can be fun.

Hugs from young ones are the best non-monetary reward...next to chocolate that..."

Hmmmm. Hugs and Chocolate. That sounds like a great children's book title!

Susan wrote: "I'm so glad to hear your class readings went well. Congratulations!"

Thanks Susan. I have two more readings tomorrow and then off to find more schools to visit. This was just what I needed, that instant feedback from my audience. Dressing up as the characters in the book is so much fun. One day I even got to be the pirate! How fun!!

Move over Jack Sparrow!

Martha,

Okay, you want to be co-authors on it. :)

Hugs and Chocolate by Martha Rodriguez & Lynn Hallbrooks

Picture...Kids hugging Adults with Chocolate all over their face and hands.

(That's just off the top of my head)

Lynn

Heh Lynn. That sounds like my book The Kit Kat Caper. The mother disguises herself as a witch, walks on her knees and goes around trick-or-treating just for Kit Kats! She ends up with chocolate all around her mouth. I guess she should have picked M & M's, "stays in your mouth, not on your hands (or face)."

Susan,

I remember that book, didn't you post it on Independent Authors and Writers' website?

Yes you did...I found it:

http://www.independentauthors.org/201...

The website is back up and running so if you have anything new out there you might want to post it. Well wait until tomorrow the site was just upgraded so it might take it that long.

Lynn

Thanks Lynn. I have four books which are all posted. I'm presently working on a 5th about a child who loses her hair due to chemo. It's called Emma the Mouse Brings Joy to the House. I'm hoping it will be out end June.

Susan wrote: "Thanks Lynn. I have four books which are all posted. I'm presently working on a 5th about a child who loses her hair due to chemo. It's called Emma the Mouse Brings Joy to the House. I'm hoping it ..."

You're welcome. That should help a lot of children. I'll bet you could read it at Children's hospitals where kids are going through that particular process. Just a thought.

Do keep us posted and if you think of it post it on Independent Authors and Writers.

Lynn

I'm working on that. I'm getting feedback from professionals from all over the world but not enough kids.

PS Can I have the link for Independent....?

Lynn wrote: "Martha,

Okay, you want to be co-authors on it. :)

Hugs and Chocolate by Martha Rodriguez & Lynn Hallbrooks

Picture...Kids hugging Adults with Chocolate all over their face and hands.

(That's j..."

That sounds great! We'll have to collaborate!

Had another wonderful day reading to the kids today. What a great week!

Susan wrote: "Heh Lynn. That sounds like my book The Kit Kat Caper. The mother disguises herself as a witch, walks on her knees and goes around trick-or-treating just for Kit Kats! She ends up with chocolate all..."

Susan,
So funny. I guess we're all really little kids inside, especially when it comes to chocolate!

Chocolate is my drug of choice. The only side effect is fat.So?

Susan wrote: "Chocolate is my drug of choice. The only side effect is fat.So?"

What are you going to do, right? You only live once! :)

Susan wrote: "PS Can I have the link for Independent....?"

Sure, here's the link for the website:

http://www.independentauthors.org/

This is the link for the FB fan page:

http://www.facebook.com/IndependentAu...

That sounds great! We'll have to collaborate!

Sounds like a plan. You know where to find me. ;)

I'm so glad that you had a wonderful day reading to the little ones.

Lynn

I agree...Drug of choice...side affects...what are you going to do.

Research has shown that chocolate is good for the heart...of course, I'm sure the fine print says if taken in moderation. :)

Lynn

Thank you for the link Lynn. Dark chocolate is good for the heart. I like milk chocolate. Oh well. BTW no one ever reads the fine print. LOL

Susan,

Yes, you're right it is the dark chocolate that is good for the heart.

You're welcome for the link.

Fine print...what fine print...I thought that was spots. (lol)

Lynn

Poor Martha. We've ignored her and it's her comment board! We love you Martha. :)

Lynn & Susan,
I love you ladies, too! No worries. I'm glad this is a place where we can talk and especially be silly!

Hope you both had a great day!

Aw thanks Martha. It's good to be silly...and not have to be Mom/Godmom as well. :0)

Love you too,

Lynn

Hi friends!
I had my first school author visits last week (3 in one week in the same school!) and I just wrote a blog post about it. I hope you'll stop by to read it at:

http://areelcoolsummer.blogspot.com/2...

I had such a wonderful time and was truly honored to be welcomed by the students, teachers, librarians and staff!

If you have read your book aloud, please comment on your experience.

Martha,

I've read and responded. What I didn't wish to say was that I'd love to read to a class at my Godson's school. Our book is in no way a children's book. That doesn't mean that I can't read someone else's book to them...does it?

Lynn

Lynn wrote: "Martha,

I've read and responded. What I didn't wish to say was that I'd love to read to a class at my Godson's school. Our book is in no way a children's book. That doesn't mean that I can't read..."

Thanks Lynn! You are such a wonderful friend!

About reading to your Godson's class, talk to his teacher or librarian. I'm sure they would love for you to read to them. Maybe the kids can pick some of their favorite books and you can pick a favorite picture book or grade/reading level appropriate book of yours. You can also talk about your publishing journey and encourage them to read and write!

The school where I read last week has invited me back in February to speak with 4th and 5th graders (too old for my book) about writing and publishing. I can't wait to go back!

Martha,

You're welcome and thanks.

Those are some really good suggestions. I'm sure that I can do that one day when I take him to school or pick him up.

That is great that you've been asked back. Hope that goes well for you.

Lynn