Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Interview with Children's Book Author Bethany Ramos


Bethany Ramos is a children’s book author, editor, and blogger. She is a regular contributor to SheKnows.com. Bethany’s first children’s book, Lions Can’t Eat Spaghetti, was published through 4RV Publishing in 2016. Her second children’s book, There’s a Bumbie Under My Bed, was published by Saturn’s Moon Press, also in 2016. Her first chick lit novel, 5 Stages of Grief, was published by Black Opal Books in 2011; her second chick lit novel, Adventure to Love, was published by Soul Mate Publishing in 2013.

Bethany works as Editor in Chief for Naturally Healthy Publications.

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About the Book:

Title: There’s a Bumbie Under My Bed
Author: Bethany Ramos
Publisher: Saturn’s Moon Press
Pages: 24
Genre: Children’s Picture Book

There’s a Bumbie Under My Bed tells the story of a boy who can’t go to sleep because of all the monster bunnies keeping him up at night. Told in the first-person narrative, the little boy delays bedtime, using his flashlight and hand to create scary and silly bunny shadow puppets on the wall. According to the boy, friendly, spooky characters like the Bumbie (bunny zombie), Were-bunny (werewolf bunny), Bunny-stein (bunny Frankenstein), and Count Hop-ula come to visit him in the night. At the end of the book, his mother comforts him to sleep by telling him to let his imagination rest — and put the flashlight away.

Amazon


Thanks for this interview, Bethany.  I’ve always wanted to write children’s books.  When did you determine that writing for children was for you?

I have always loved writing, even as a child and a teenager. But I didn’t start writing until I started blogging for a job about eight years ago. Around that time, I got the first idea for my first children’s book, which was Lions Can’t Eat Spaghetti that finally came out this year. I actually started writing children’s books just before having my kids, who are now 3 and 4.

What was the inspiration behind your children’s book, There’s a Bumbie Under My Bed?

This was a really fun one because it was directly inspired by my 4-year-old son, who has gotten into the notorious stage of putting off bedtime. A little while ago, we gave him a flashlight because he started getting scared of “ghosts” and other characters that he saw in cartoons. I taught him how to use the flashlight to make little characters on the wall, like rabbits, which turned into using the flashlight to make scary characters so that he wouldn’t be afraid of the dark anymore.

How do you get into the mind of a child to create a fun reading experience?  Are you around kids?  Are you a kid at heart?

I’m around kids almost all the time with my own two sons at home, and beyond the regular parenting frustrations, I love it! I think this is my favorite stage so far, the toddler and preschool age, because they are learning so much and have such wild imaginations. And that also works out well to inspire my children’s books.

What was your favorite book as a child?

I am all about Shel Silverstein — I love his books. And as a child, I was a huge fan of Dr. Seuss and all of his nonsensical rhymes that actually make perfect sense.

What kind of advice would you give writers who would like to write children’s books?

I would tell other aspiring writers, and especially those who want to write children’s books, to read, read, read as much as you can. Some of my best inspiration came about recently when I was spending time in the children’s section of the library, something I loved to do as a child. Get back to that place where you are reading for pleasure, and then writing is easy.

What are your goals for the future?  More children’s books?

I definitely hope to write another children’s book next year! I have had so much fun with this process and in my partnership with the illustrators. This is also a great time in my life to pursue children’s book writing since my kids enjoy reading my books — for now. J


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