VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

When I first got the notification that my manuscript was accepted by Halo Publishing, I was overjoyed. It was an amazing feeling when I got the first shipment of books and seeing my name on the cover and my picture on the back. It was really a dream come true. This whole experience has not changed my relationship with any of my friends- many of whom have bought my books for the holidays.  I have found it very difficult to balance writing, the process of publishing, and publicizing the book, with my schoolwork and hobbies. I give Virginia a lot of credit with putting up with me not keeping up with deadlines etc. However, I believe that family comes first, and then school work, and then anything else.  On the side I participate in the Zoo Crew at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which is a group that teaches the public about the animals on exhibit. I also am in involved with the Future Scientists groups at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History that does surveys of wildlife on variou

It’s 5 am, and my house is silent.   With coffee brewing, the fireplace warms the chilly room where I sit snuggled under a blanket getting my hands to work through their cold stiffness to begin typing.   A small loving dog joins me on either side as another story begins, an idea is polished, a word is changed, or a character comes to life.   Before anyone else is awake, before anyone calls “Mom”, before the world begins to glow with the first rays of morning light, this is my writing time.     Of course, then the usual get the kids going, pack lunches, feed the dogs, and make sure anything that needs to have my signature is signed and put in the correct backpack takes over, and the day begins.   Writing continues after the barrage of morning Mom/wife duties has been completed.   It is a definite change from when I actually started this journey. As I read to my kids during Christmas break seven years ago, the ideas of Smarty Pig began to simply flood my thought.   I went to the com