Isaac’s Treasure looks like a great kids’ book. What can you tell us about it?
It was inspired by my sister and her family. It’s about a little boy who dreams of treasure and his realization that the love of his family was the real treasure after all.
My nephew died tragically in his teens, so I wanted something dedicated to him.
I want to tell a
story that reflected the life I knew being a parent myself. I wanted a strong
family unit with a strong father and a lot of love.
How long did it take you to write Isaac’s Treasure?
The process actually took longer than expected. This being my first children’s book, I wanted the content to send the appropriate message yet still connect with the young reader/listener. Writing less is always an issue.
How were the
illustrations done in Isaac’s Treasure?
It was a
collaborative effort between myself and the illustrator. Capturing the correct
tone was important to me. It is a labor of love so I wanted to make sure I
conveyed the warm and beauty in an everyday household with the simplicity of
the forms.
What inspired you when writing Isaac’s Treasure?
This book is really a tribute to my late nephew and his family. He had a strong family unit with a solid middle-class black father and mother. He always was trying to find his “treasure” his meaning, his worth, his validation in the outside world. What he didn’t realize is he had it the whole time.
Hopefully, we can
instill in young readers that they have that “treasure” in the love and support
of their families.
Can you tell us a little about Isaac?
Isaac is an adventurous, ambitious little boy with the spirit of an explorer. He is at that age when you just start to be a little more independent of mommy and daddy and want to do it your own way, on your own.
He wants to prove he
can be an explorer and be independently successful.
What will readers get out of your book?
A positive
representation of an Black (African
American) Family. That lives, loves, and learns together. Also the underlying
meeting that you already have all you need.
How did you come up with the story in Isaac’s Treasure?
It is a stylized and
symbolic account of what I believe occurred in the mind of my late nephew, of
course put into the proper context for Young readers.
Did anything stick
out as particularly challenging when writing Isaac’s Treasure?
The part of the
process where you have to pare down all of the wonderful things you want to
include in a work. It’s hard to “choose amongst one’s children”.
What do you like to
do when not writing?
Learning, I love to
learn about all sorts of things. I find that the more you learn the more
connections you can make and there is power in those connections. I can use
those connections to help my readers.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
All of my works can
be found on the WSD Publishing Amazon Author Central Page (amazon.com/author/wsd)