Interview with Sherry Alexander

As promised, here's my interview with the author of Oliver's Hunger Dragon, Sherry Alexander.

          Did it take you long to write the story? 

Not really. I wrote the first draft as part of 12X12 in February after meeting a little boy at the library who was crying because he was hungry. I revised it in March, and sent out several rejected queries to agents and publishers. Another revision, and several children beta readers later, I decided to self-publish.

Why did you pick the subject of hunger as the basis for this story?

So many kids in the world go hungry, and in America, it’s one out of every four. That’s unacceptable. As a child, I knew hunger up close and personal, and my family had to reach out for help several times. I thought the problem was getting better not worse, but when I went to look for books to explain hunger to my grandkids, I couldn’t find any. That’s when I decided to write the book myself.

       What made you choose a dragon instead of maybe a tiger or lion?

It just seemed to fit. Hunger is a monster that rumbles and roars. It’s overwhelming and overpowering. I wanted a symbol that demonstrated that, and a dragon was the only creature big enough to illustrate that.

                 The cover design is really cute. Did you design it yourself?

I had the idea, and knew how I wanted to dragon to look, but it was the illustrator, Amy Rottinger, who took my concept to reality. She is absolutely amazing! We went through several drafts from small dragons peeking over Oliver’s shoulder to even one that wrapped around his legs. But, I felt Hunger needed to be enormous when compared to Oliver because that is the way kids feel when they aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from.

     I like how Oliver got rid of the dragon. What made you pick something like that?

Kids share naturally. I wanted to show kids that they can be part of the solution to hunger. They do have a voice, and they have the power to change what is happening in the world. I am always amazed by the open heartedness and kindness of children, but it is their honest approach to problems that makes my heart glow. In Oliver, the problem is hunger, so the answer is food. It can’t be more simple than that.

           Where can we purchase Oliver’s Hunger Dragon? 

It was released to Amazon and Barnes and Noble on the 26^th as a print book, and will be available as an ebook at all ebook retailers by the end of September.

                    Can we expect more picture books in the near future? 

I have several drafts, but I am presently working on two that I hope to finish by the end of the year. One is about a rat and one is about a monkey. I don’t see any more dragons in my future as yet, but then you never know.

 Thank you so much for letting me interview you, Sherry. Best of luck with your writing career. 

Here is a trailer for Oliver's Hunger Dragon.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3rU3kAF9JY

Oliver's Hunger Dragon

I had the privilege of reviewing a soon to be published picture book titled, 'Oliver's Hunger Dragon.' The book is written by Sherry Alexander, who will soon be a guest on here. The story is about Oliver and his dragon named Hunger. This dragon follows Oliver around everywhere and no matter how hard he tries, Oliver can't seem to get rid of the dragon. What will it take to make Hunger go away? You'll have to find out when the book is published. It's cute and can easily hold the attention of its intended readers. I consider it one of my 'must add to your shelf' choices. Here's a picture of the cover. Be sure to check back for an upcoming interview with Sherry Alexander!

Realistic or Not?

I'm in a quandary concerning one of my characters. He has very little vision, but is still able to get around his house because he keeps everything just so and doesn't change anything. He's not completely blind. It's just all he can see is colors and it looks like an artist took their paintbrush and smudged all of the colors together into one blurry mess. Also, I was considering whether or not he could play a game like basketball in his driveway with his brother and dad. Again, the surroundings are something he's familiar with and he knows where the hoop is and that nothing will be in the way to trip him. Now, when he goes out in public, he does use a seeing eye dog.

I guess my question is this. What is the name for this type of blindness? I tried looking it up, but wasn't able to find it. And am I being realistic when I make it possible for the guy to move around the house without the use of a seeing eye dog?

What to do?

So much for my Middle Grade novel being written. All it took was someone to mention something in a conversation and entirely different story idea popped into my head. Not only did it stay there, but it's begging to be written. Names for characters are easily coming to me, so is the genre, as well as how many main characters there should be... The whole package, if you will.

Does this mean I should put my other novel on hold and write this one while everything's still flowing smoothly? Or should I force it aside and concentrate on the Middle Grade novel instead? What do you do in situations like this?