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World of Ink Spotlight - The Brothers Foot

Come sing, dance and play with three rambunctious little rabbits in their happy little briar patch, because.... "that's where rabbits love to play!" They have peculiar names and play peculiar games and always, always together. You'll have a great time singing along to their own special song and you'll learn how powerful one little song can be when something scary, something no rabbit had ever seen before, comes right into their precious little briar patch. Play along with the guitar to the music in the book or email the author at Stephencormey@comcast.net to get your very own copy of the CD and DVD. So hop along and have some fun with The Brothers Foot.

The Brothers Foot   
Publisher: Authorhouse
ISBN Number: 978-1-4389-4269-8
Publication Date: 3-25-2009
Author: Steve Cormey
Illustrator: Ronda Eden


A third generation Coloradan, Steve Cormey has entertained the people of Grand County and Colorado for over thirty years. An award winning songwriter, he has written, produced and released six very successful CDs while playing an always full schedule of live performances.
His background in Folk ,bluegrass, rock and traditional music is evident whether live or on CD. Colorado Blue, Somewhere with a Beach, Never Summer..forever home, Walking Stick and the all solo-acoustic Pure & Simple CDs offer a potpourri of musical styles, and his Old Fashioned Christmas is a Yule Tide favorite. Steve’s live performances show off a talented mix of danceable music, humor and fun!
Steve makes his home in Grand County, Colorado. Although he has entertained in Australia, South Africa, Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii and around the country, you can usually catch his act in the shadows of the Never Summer Mountains of Colorado. 

Ronda Eden was born in Adelaide, South Australia and spent her childhood dreaming about horses. She’s spent most of her adult life wandering around in a state of confusion over what she really wanted to do and now, middle-aged, she’s living her childhood dream. Ronda’s been a factory worker, Chinese cook’s assistant, pharmacy assistant, teacher, storyteller, writer,  waitress, bartender, dishwasher, cleaner, touring art curator, gallery owner, horse trainer and artist A.O.T. (Among Other Things).
Ronda’s hobbies include the joy of  hiking, climbing, wind surfing, belly dancing, jogging, traveling, swimming, daydreaming, listening to music and of course, horse riding. Apart from the later, none of these activities get much of her attention these days. Especially travel! Ronda loves it right where she is, doing exactly what she is doing. Ya’see, Ronda lives in Laramie, Wyoming with her husband Mernie and together they run a horse boarding operation with 60 horses, 2 mules, a miniature donkey and a tough, bad boy tomcat. Ronda still manages to be an artist A.O.T (Among Other Things) in between feeding, riding and shoveling poop, but the horses come first. She does travel during the summers, but a couple of the horses go with her and together they cover hundreds of miles on the endurance trails of the Mountain Region. Ronda plans to be hoisting her creaky ole body onto a horse and riding high well into her old age!
Happy Trails to you, Ronda Eden aka Ronnie Roo. 

~Interview with Steve Cormey and Ronda Eden~
VS: Steve, what inspired you to write?  
Steve: I have always loved music and songs. Lyrics that tell a story and then put to music have always been what I have tried to achieve and into my writing. Some songs without music can still be a poem or a story. Those are my favorites.
VS: Steve, what type of books do you mostly write?  
Steve: I’ve written many songs but only the one children’s book and a sequel to that so far. I do have an outline for a history of my 40 years on my home planet of Grand Lake ( as I recall the years I‘ve spent here) or maybe you might just call it… my memoirs .

VS: Ronda, can you describe your desk/workspace? I'm sure it is very different from what us writers.  
Ronda: A room. A very messy room! I have lots of other studios in the past both in and away from my living space. I can send you some pictures of them if you like.
VS: Ronda, what are your top three favorite books and why?
Ronda: The Places You’ll Go by Theodore Geisel ( Dr Seuss )This is not just a children’s book. On the contrary it is a story of life and how best to get through it. It should be a must for everyone to read.
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, Illustrations by William Steig. William Steig is one of my favorite illustrators. Cuppy is a genius of wit. Very silly!
Jonathon Livingston Seagull . Richard Bach Thought provoking and short.
VS: Steve, what well known writers do you admire most?

Steve: In music-  Pat Conroy, Faulkner, Hemingway and Jimmy Buffett
In books-  Mark Twain, Hans Christian Anderson, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Beatrix Potter, A.A. Milne and of course, Dr. Seuss 
 
VS: Ronda, besides being an illustrator, you also write. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk? 
Ronda: I like to write lots of poems starting with “Have you ever?”
Such as…..
Have you ever seen a goanna
Running up a tree
One day when I stood really still
A goanna ran up ME!  Yikes!!!
VS: Ronda and Steve, it's been great having you here today. Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Ronda: Yes if you go to www.footfootsong.com you can hear the music and order from Steve.Get the book from here and it comes with a DVD and CD so it’s really good value.
Steve: Most songs begin and end with a story. They can be powerful, delightful, happy or sad. A song can be inspiring and lift one out of the lowest valley and up to the highest mountain top.

Songs and books are brothers in that they share hopes and dreams with the people that read them and enjoy the story within a song or the song that dwells within a story.
 
It can start with an adventure that brings mystery, drama, passion, fear, brotherhood and faith. Some may end in tragedy or (hopefully), with a happy ending.

These days, children see and feel so much. The world is out there and so visible for them to witness on TV, the internet, cell phones and technology far beyond my comprehension. A person would have to live in a cave to escape what’s going on out there!

Songs and books have always given me a place to escape reality. To go to a place in my mind where I can be whoever I want to be. A HERO, A DETECTIVE, A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR… WHEREVER MY MIND LEADS ME!

Imagination is a wonderful thing! Books bring that out, in spire and remind us that we are human and not some character in a video game. I thing that young people (kids are people, aren’t they?) can learn and grow through the illustrations, stories and music in a book.

Every story or song start with a beginning. It takes us down many paths and leads to those forks in the road where our destiny lies. We always hope to keep the child we once were within us and hope that the lessons we learned as a child make us better people as we grow older and to choose the right path.

You can learn more about Ronda Eden, Steve Cormey and their book, The Brothers Foot all month long during their World of Ink Virtual Tour. Follow along at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/TheBrothersFoot.aspx.

Also on May 16, 2011, Ronda and Steve will be live on BRT's World of Ink Network show: Stories for Children with hosts: VS Grenier and Kris Quinn Christopherson.

The live radio interview will be at 11am MST (10am PST, Noon Central and 1pm EST)
at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork or call in to listen or ask questions (714) 242-5259.
You can also listen on demand after the show airs!

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