VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Come join host Virginia S Grenier on BTR’s Featured World of Ink Network Monday January 27th at 2pm Eastern - 1pm Central - 12noon Moutain - 11am Pacific The topic this Monday on The Writing Mama Show - Gluten Free Kids. This week come meet author Christy E. Bykowski and learn about her kid friendly celiac disease awareness picture book, Gluten-Free Me: Beckmin Goes to School January 2014. “Beckmin Goes to School” is Bykowski’s first children’s book and was inspired by her middle son Beckmin, who was diagnosed with celiac disease at 18 months, after extensive sickness and a series of hospital visits. Since then, Christy has worked with Beckmin through the everyday challenges of being a kid with this disease, dealing with his frustrations and his own learning curve as to what celiac disease is, how to explain it and what it means in his day-to-day life. Beckmin’s stories, written to help children define, understand and explain celiac disease, are meant to be both empowering an

Christy E. Bykowski is an award-winning public relations and marketing practitioner, as well as a wife and mother. She lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband, Benjamin, raising their three boys and spreading awareness about celiac disease and the need for a gluten-free environment for individuals diagnosed with celiac disease. VS: I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. To get this started, Christy can you share what do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Christy: I wrote this book when my children were sleeping.   I do most of work after-hours, so I can spend most of my personal time with them. VS: How long have you been writing? Christy: I’ve always enjoyed writing, since high school.   But this is the first children’s book I’ve published. VS: What inspired you to write your book (if this is a personal story about you, please share about the decision to open up about your life)?

“Beckmin Goes to School” is Bykowski’s first children’s book and was inspired by her middle son Beckmin, who was diagnosed with celiac disease at 18 months, after extensive sickness and a series of hospital visits. Since then, Christy has worked with Beckmin through the everyday challenges of being a kid with this disease, dealing with his frustrations and his own learning curve as to what celiac disease is, how to explain it and what it means in his day-to-day life. Beckmin’s stories, written to help children define, understand and explain celiac disease, are meant to be both empowering and educational for kids and their parents.  Title of Book: Gluten-Free Me, Beckmin Goes to School   Author: Christy E. Bykowski                     Publisher: Halo Publishing, Int. ISBN Number: ISBN 13: 978-1-61244-228-0 Genre: Children Publication Date: January 2014 Synopsis of book: “Beckmin goes to School” is meant to raise awareness for celiac disease and the everyda