The Raindrop follows the journey of a tiny little raindrop who wants only to bring others joy. What was the inspiration for your story?

The inspiration for this story lies entirely on the shoulders of my seven year old son Jonathan, and my five year old daughter Brooke.  On a foggy morning while driving them to school, they both asked me numerous questions about fog, rain, and clouds.  It was during that Q&A session when I felt that God placed an idea on the inside of me. While it is hard to explain, in short, I felt highly encouraged to somehow put this discussion into an inspiring story. 

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?

Life and society as a whole, has a way of wanting to place limitations on us.  At times, these limitations try to give us reasons why we may or may not see a dream happen.  If we are not careful, we all can allow these limitation to take root not just in our thoughts, but also in our hearts.  It is for that very reason, I wanted children to have a story that encourages them to keep pursuing their dreams no matter how big they are.

The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Ayan Mansoori?

Ayan is wonderful and very easy to work with.  With the addition of the new story coming out soon, he will have illustrated 4 of my 5 books.  The art collaboration process begins with me finalizing the books design and layout.  Once that is complete, I begin making a list on each illustration.   In short, these lists are giving Ayan a few basic parameters to work with.  An example of these parameters would be something along the lines of which characters are to be included in the illustration, and what the background should look like.  The rest is completely up to Ayan.  I truly want him to unleash his creativity to the fullest.  I don’t know how he does it, but Ayan works his magic and somehow gives life to my ideas.  Ayan then sends me a simple black and white sketch of each illustration for review.  Once any adjustments are made, he’ll then send me another sketch to review.  After that, it’s all about adding the color and making the pages come alive.    

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

I am in the final editing steps of the third book in my “Oliver the Oyster” series.  The new story is titled, “Oliver the Oyster and the Lost Lab.”  If you are familiar with my book series, Oliver the oyster and his friends come across a lost Labrador puppy named Mac. The group of friends then go on a fun-filled adventure through their town of Wellfleet to help Mac reunite with his family.  For a teaser, have you ever seen a dog and a crab go into a restaurant’s kitchen only to have it engulfed in a flurry of powdered sugar?  If not, I hope you will give this story a read when it is set to release in the fall of this year.

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