MY BOOK ADDICTION AND MORE PRESENTS….
SANDS HETHERINGTON!!
Welcome Sands!!
Good morning Sands and welcome to My Book Addiction and More!
Hello April and readers and thanks for having me!
MBA&M: Give our readers a few tidbits about Sands Hetherington.
I am an old man with big feet -J and lots of white hair and have lived in North Carolina most of my life. I went to U.N.C.-Chapel Hill and U.N.C.-Greensboro. I have two Saint Bernards from the same litter, Maggie and Dudley. Maggie is short-haired and Dudley is shaggy and they are very attached to each other. We live beside a lake in the country. The one you really want to know about is my son John. He lives in Spain now and, like the character in the stories, he doesn’t have a middle name. I raised him by myself from the time he was six and read to him every night. All of the kids’ stories out there.
MBA&M: What made you decide to write NIGHT BUDDIES AND THE PINEAPPLE CHEESECAKE SCARE? Or where did the idea come from?
During our nightly reading sessions, John joined in the enterprise and invented Crosley the zany red crocodile. We collaborated on John-and-Crosley adventures. Years later I decided to take the thing further and put the characters in a book. First I had to sit down and figure out why Crosley was red. You can’t just spring a red crocodile on somebody and not explain! Once the answer came to me (one of those eureka moments), everything started to fall into place. Crosley had become such a family member that I felt I owed this to him.
MBA&M: What are the challenges in writing juvenile fiction?
I read a lot of literature in college and graduate school and wrote adult short stories off and on for a number of years. I never thought much about juvenile fiction until John and I got into it. Like a lot of people, I considered it a distinct genre with its own peculiar features. Like sonnets vs. novels, or sonatas vs. symphonies. These both use words or musical notes, but they do it with very different structures and rules. I don’t think this about adult vs. juvenile fiction anymore. After digging into the machinery of both, I find the forms nearly identical, as alike, say, as English and Springer spaniels. The only difference worth mentioning is that children’s writers get to use magic. This shouldn’t be done promiscuously, but it tends to free the imagination from certain real-world constraints and makes the writer’s life easier.
MBA&M: What is a favorite comfort food for you? Why?
You may need to give me a pass on this one. I watch my weight and avoid comfort foods because they make me feel uncomfortable.
MBA&M: Who is your inspiration in writing juvenile fiction?
John, I suppose.
MBA&M: What author would you say inspired you to write juvenile fiction?
No single one, really. I like Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll and Frank Baum and Mark Twain (if I can wedge the last one in). Oh, and Tolkien.
MBA&M: Who is your favorite juvenile fiction author?
Maybe Roald Dahl.
MBA&M: What is your favorite genre to read for pleasure?
I’m very eclectic about this, but find myself defaulting to the American Civil War these days. I’m thinking of raising a regiment.
MBA&M: Please tell our readers where to find you and where NIGHT BUDDIES AND THE PINEAPPLE CHEESECAKE SCARE is available?
The book is available on Amazon.com, BN.com and can be ordered at any fine bookstore. There are links to the online bookstores at www.nightbuddiesadventures.com
Sands, do you have anything else to add?
That’s all I’ve got right now.
Thank you for visiting with our readers and us today!
Thanks again for having me!
****
NIGHT BUDDIES AND THE PINEAPPLE CHEESECAKE SCARE
SANDS HETHERINGTON
http://www.nightbuddiesadventures.com/
Paperback:128 pages
Publisher:Dune Buggy Press; One edition (June 1, 2012)
Language:English
ISBN-10:0984741712
ISBN-13: 978-0984741717
Genre: Juvenile Fiction/Chapter Books
Thanks for visiting with us. What an interesting story. A must read.