Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Author Interview: Chris Pedersen for The Next Big Thing

Tag... I'm it! As part of The NEXT Big Thing blog event to bring awareness to authors books, I'll be sharing about my next book release. I received my tag from author Karen Robertson and just as Karen did, at the end of the interview I'll tag a few of my friends so you can see what they have written when they blog NEXT week.

1) What is the working title of your next book?

The Prisoner of Carrot Castle, already an iPad app, is arriving in print January, 2013. In this first book of the Veggie Chronicles series, kids discover that eating vegetables is what heroes do, that is, if they want to eat their way out of a wicked King's clutches. The book is beautifully illustrated by Kate Jeong. With vivid colors and new discoveries at every turn, readers quickly become invested in Aiden's delimma and want to help him along in his adventure.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

A late-in-life discovery found me with cancer from a genetic condition. Believing that my healthy lifestyle had saved me from a more serious prognosis, I radically changed my diet, beat the odds and returned to a healthful state. Now I want to make others aware of healthy eating, especially at this time of alarming childhood obesity trends. I love crafting stories for kids. Out of that love I wrote the first in the adventure series The Veggie Chronicles, called The Prisoner of Carrot Castle.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

A children's picture book AND interactive digital iPad app.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I think the child actors Gattlin Griffith or Jake Vaughn look a lot like Aiden in the story.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book series?

Aiden's dislike for vegetables takes him on adventures to far away places across the globe and throughout history.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

All future books and apps are being published by Possibility Media Group and their collaborative partners.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I wrote the first draft of The Prisoner of Carrot Castle in about 20 hours over a two-month period.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Here are a few picture books that may inspire healthy eating in kids: Jody's Beans: Read and Wonder by Malachy Doyle, Pickin' Peas by Margaret Read MacDonald, Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin. Different from these books, The Prisoner of Carrot Castle is the first in a series about Aiden and his imaginative adventures involving vegetables that subliminally encourage kids to eat vegetables.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I desire to teach kids about the life-giving qualities of vegetables and fruits in a fun and engaging way that doesn't feel like teaching. After I wrote the story, my husband and son spurred me on to pursue publication of the book as an interactive iPad app.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

The book will include curriculum for teachers and parents emphasizing aspects of the story as well as the health benefits of the featured vegetables, which are carrots and broccoli in The Prisoner of Carrot Castle.

Now passing it on to the following authors for their Next Big Thing blog post.

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