Interview Friday: Dennis Marcoux - Children's Picture Book Author

Dennis Marcoux lived in Worcester, Massachusetts for most of his life and now resides in Cape Coral, Florida. He has been writing children stories and poems for many years and is passionate about children reading to expand their imagination. In his spare time, you can find him reading books as a volunteer in elementary schools and children's hospitals. He is a member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association of Fort Myers, Florida

VS: What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life?

Dennis: I do not have a typical routine. I write whenever ideas and thoughts enter my mind. My imagination is like a jig saw puzzle. Sometimes the pieces do not always fall into place easily.

It has been a humbling experience, especially when children and parents express to me how much they enjoyed my book.

VS: What inspired you to write your book?

Dennis: I was inspired by my Granddaughter Molly's imagination. We often walked together in the woods and the animals there fascinated her...namely the squirrels

VS: Can you share with us a little about your current book?

Dennis: Nutty and his sister Twittles set out to play a fun game of hide "n" seek with their friends. When Twittles is the only one missing, the game quickly changes. Nutty has to find his sister because she may be lost in the dark and dangerous Forrest.

VS: What did you find to be the most challenging part of writing your book?

Dennis: The publishing process. I sent my manuscript to Halo Publishing Int., and received a response from Lisa Umina the CEO. I had no idea what getting a book published entailed and really learned a lot about the process. Lisa guided me through each step of the process beginning with editing, finding an illustrator, marketing and the final print. Lisa went above and beyond my expectations and made the challenges of getting a book published a good experience.

VS: Do you have any other works in progress? Can you share a little about them?

Dennis: I'm currently working on a series of books with Nutty and Twittles that will include a teaching element, as well as open up their imagination and develop their creativity.

VS: What do you feel as parents we need to do to help our children see success?

Dennis: Reading is important because it ultimately leads to greater creativity. I compare my philosophy on reading like playing dominos. Reading leads to imagination, which leads to ideas, and ideas lead to creativity. You can't get to the last domino until you start the first one.

VS: Where can the readers of The Writing Mama find out more about and your writing?

Dennis: Places where available for sale: Halo Publishing International, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

e-Book Available Nook & Kindle

Follow Dennis Marcoux at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dennis-Marcoux/286869338186554

Interview Friday with J.D. Holiday

J.D. Holiday is the author and illustrator of two children’s books: Janoose the Goose, picture book and a chapter book for six to eight year olds, THE GREAT SNOWBALL ESCAPADE. A chapbook of her short stories called, Trespasses was published in 1994 and she has had short stories printed in literary magazines and numerous articles about writing and publishing published. She is a member of both The Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators, (SCBWI) and Small Publishers of North America, (SPAN.) J.D. Holiday lives in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania. VS : I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. It is so exciting because you are my first World of Ink Tour Guest. It’s been a fun couple of days and the tour is only getting started. Okay, so I know your children are grown and out of the house, but I’m sure you’ve had to balance your writing life around them at one time or another. I know being a parent and writer can be hard and I find ...

I'm a Guest Blogger on The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Picking the Right Words for a Picture Book by VS Grenier First, let me say there are four types of picture books. Story Books: Most of us grew up on this traditional picture book. This type of picture book is by far the most popular and is usually fiction based. You will have a series of events with strong character development. Story books tend to have more text on each page vs. other types of picture books. Concept Books: This type of picture book helps to promote a child’s understanding. You see this type of picture book for toddlers or as a “My First” book series. These books can be fiction or nonfiction and have very few words. The illustrations tend to be the focus. Novelty Books: A great example of this type of book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This picture book relies on some short of gimmick to tell the book’s story. Modern Picture Books: This type of picture book is a lot like the story picture book, but uses both the illustrations and ...

Guest Post by Author Mary Cunningham

Cynthia's Attic - Inspiring Young Readers and Writers Writers love to write. It's a passion. But, I discovered another benefit writing for children that I didn’t anticipate. Who knew how much fun I’d have visiting schools and interacting with my target audience? I’ve created several slide presentations that are informative and fun, but the question/answer session is most entertaining. For instance, I'm amazed at the number of elementary and middle-school students who not only love to read, but want to know what it takes to become a published author. Questions like, “How did you find your publisher?” or, “Who edits your books?” One of the most asked questions is, “Who did your cover?” I love sharing information about one of the best graphic artists in the business, Nathalie Moore. Although the artist and the publisher have the final say, my ideas are always considered. Naturally, the inevitable questions come up; “How much money do you make?” (Don’t quit your day jo...

VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Search This Blog