Book Give-Away Oct 8 - 15: To win a children’s book, If Horses Had
Feathers and Pigs Could Fly or
Mrs. Mouse's Garden Party in
Giggleswick Village, leave a comment about
this interview with your e-mail. For an additional entry, post this
contest. Choose which book you would like. U.S. and Canada.
Gail Westover has a little secret. Today the secret
will be revealed. Gail is author Tika Newman. For the past seven years, she’s
hidden under this name. You see, Gail is an online Backgammon Tourney Director
for GammonSite. She’s been hosting tourneys for almost nine years. Everyone
knows her as Tika, so writing under that name seemed the logical thing to do.
Gail is also the owner and operator of Thistlewood Publishing, since its
conception in 2008. She is the author of The Eyes of Innocence
series and a historical novel called
For the Love of Anne.
Welcome back to my blog, Gail. You are the author of the
popular series The Eyes of Innocence, which is about a girl growing up with psychic
abilities and the power to heal. I read it and was very impressed with the
story. You have now turned to children’s books. Please tell us about your
books.
Thank you so much, Linda.
I’m happy to be invited back. As grandmother to two large, and five little ones,
they’ve reminded me of some things that we tend to forget as we grow older and
adult things get in the way. One is to laugh with joy and wild abandon. I’ve
also relearned to notice the small things, like a butterfly flitting across my
yard and landing on one of my flowers. I appreciate the squeal of laughter as
the kids go barreling down a slide or jump into the lake. Basically, they’ve
taught me not only how to love them with every fiber of my being, but also to
enjoy my life again. Yes, I still work seven days a week, but it’s more fun now.
Mrs. Mouse’s Garden Party in Giggleswick
Village is the first book of the
Giggleswick Village series. The book teaches children that it’s ok to be
themselves and to make the best out of a plan that goes wrong. Each book will
teach life’s early lessons. The next book will be about bullying.
If Horses Had Feathers
and Pigs Could Fly sounds silly, and that’s
a good thing, because the entire book is silly. Kids laugh as they learn to use
their imagination, when they read about the horse that has wings, the duck that
flies upside down, and the little boy who is on the ground squinting his eyes at
them. It’s a wonderful “feel good book” and is perfect for bedtime because it
leaves them with happy thoughts that will encourage pleasant
dreams.
Compared to novels, I assume Children’s stories are
simple. Is this true?
If you write only novels, you would think that statement is
correct, but it is not. The stories may be short, but we have at least eighteen
months in the first Giggleswick Village
book.
What kind of research did you have to do?
As of yet, I have not had a whole lot of research, but that
will change with the bullying book. I did search online for a silly name.
Giggleswick Village is a real place in
North Yorkshire, England. The minute I saw the name, I knew it was perfect. The
illustrations were hand drawn by a very talented woman in New Zealand.
Coordinating and designing the characters took a very long time because the
characters in this first book will probably be in every Giggleswick book to
come. We had to keep merchandising in mind, as well as coloring books, puzzles,
and some other things. The other difficult thing was that the mouse is modeled
after my real life best friend, who really is a nurse, loves the color pink, is
incredibly polite, kind to everyone, etc. The animal characters? They’re all my
grandchildren.
Thanks to these two children’s books, Thistlewood
Publishing had its best month ever. I couldn’t be more pleased.
Congratulations! That’s wonderful. And I really love the
name Giggleswick. By the way, I love it when authors add real life situations to
their stories. Do you ever put real experiences in your books?
I haven’t done it yet in the children’s books, but in The
Eyes of Innocence series, yes. The deer in the woods, the snapping turtle, and
some other things were true life experiences.
Thank you, Gail, for this fun interview. Your books
sound fascinating. To learn more about these books, visit http://www.thistlewoodpublishing.com.
However, if you want Gail’s autograph, you must order your book from her
website.