What I Would Wish to Be follows Trey and his father on an adventure where they use imagination to become anything they want. How did you come up with the idea behind this story?

I had decided that I wanted to try my hand at composing children’s books. What I Would Wish to Be was the first one I was able to put together. I don’t know what it is like for anyone else, but I often have moments when I wonder what it would be like to become something else or someone else. I mean, you see a bee sailing through the air, and you wonder – is their life as hard of yours seems to be? Yes, they’re working all the time, but do they have to live with any sort of expectation for their life other than to just being a bee? The beauty of imagination is that we open ourselves up to the world around us.

Do you think all children have a good imagination, or is that something they need to work on?

I think that all children have the potential to cultivate wonderful imaginations. Now whether they will depends on the encouragement they get from the people they are surrounded with and love. If you’re not encouraged to think for yourself, to find your own solutions to problems, then your imaginative journey has been cut short before it has begun. I lived on a farm when I was a kid, so I was miles from any of my friends to be able to play with them. Imagination became my friend. As long as I could entertain myself, I was never truly lonely.

What do you hope young readers take away from your book?

It would be great if my book taught young readers to think outside the box. Yeah, everybody wants to be an astronaut at some point, but not everyone is going to get that chance, and yes, none of us will ever have the ability to turn into a bee, but neither of these things prevent us from imagining that we can have extraordinary lives. Empathy starts when we can put ourselves into other people’s shoes. Cultivate wonder around you about the amazing world in which we live.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

The next children’s book I’m currently working on is about luck and Leprechauns. It will become available at the beginning of March – just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. May the luck of the Irish be with us all! 😉

Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website