Tell us about Suzy Snowflake
Our latest children’s book, Suzy Snowflake, has just been released. Suzy is a snowflake fairy who starts to notice that she looks different than those around her and this worries Suzy. When one of her friends sees Suzy praying to God he becomes curious. Suzy shows him how to pray so he can talk to God. Both friends realize that all of us are unique just as God intends.

That’s sweet. What genre is it?
Children’s Christmas

So it’s aimed at very young children?
This book will especially appeal to young children and adults alike. The message in this book is something that parents can relay to their children. All of us are unique and special in our own way and that is something to be celebrated.

How long did the book take to write?
This book took a few months to write. My daughter came up with the title, but it took me a little while to formulate the story. I wanted to have a good message parents can share with their children and I wanted some adorable characters that would captivate kids. The illustrations of the icicle friends and the snowflake fairy are fantastic.

Who is your illustrator and how does the creative process work between the writer and the illustrator?
The illustrator we used on this book was Isella Vega.  I gave her some general text descriptions of what I wanted for each picture and then she produced a rough sketch for review.  Isella was given creative freedom to add things to each picture to make the images more complete.  Once I approved the sketches she created the digital images and then colorizes them.  I reviewed them once again to see if anything should be changed or tweaked.  Once the images are finalized they were delivered electronically to me so I could put the final book together with the text images that we created.

You say your daughter came up with the title; how old is she and is she proud of the book?
My daughter, Caitlin, is six years old and she is extremely excited about this book.  We just completed the paperback version and she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Suzy in the mail.  She has some aspirations to be a writer too.  Guess it runs in the family.

Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
I was born in California to a military family. This meant that I was always the “new kid” in school every couple of years. It was hard always trying to make new friends, but I discovered I enjoyed writing. I started writing poetry in high school and really enjoyed expressing myself by using pen and paper. In 2009 I wrote and published my first children’s book aimed at toddlers. I never had any intention of creating any more. I had written several other children’s stories that I told to my own kids, but I never thought I would pursue my writing any further. My son actually encouraged me to create books for my other stories so I made it a goal for 2012 to accomplish that and see where my writing would take me. The response to our stories has been great so far and I could not have done it without the encouragement and support I have received from my family.

You’ve had to face challenges?
Being an indie writer can be a real challenge. The easiest part for me is completing this wonderful little story, but nobody knows about it yet, so you really have to put your marketing hat on to get the word out about it. I love being able to create characters that children can respond to and entertaining them or imparting a good message to them through that story. The worse thing is not getting that immediate feedback on your work. You have to be patient and sit back and wait to see reviews come in or feedback on your blog. Writing and publishing indie books is a process all of it’s own.

You mention a blog? And do you use social media?
Our website is http://www.4eyesbooks.com. I’m on Twitter (@Amuse663) and on Facebook.

Where can we buy Suzy Snowflake and your other books?
Currently our books are sold exclusively through Amazon in kindle and paperback form. What’s next? I’m toying around with an idea of writing a book about monsters, but nothing is nailed down just yet. Stay tuned for what’s happening next at 4EYESBOOKS