How Flowers Got Their Colors follows a young shepherd living in a quiet valley where the world is stuck in just three colors, who dreams of capturing the colors of the rainbow to brighten the meadow. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

This and 18 other stories I made up as nighttime tales for my younger daughter when she was 6 and 7 years old, and is now 36 and has been CEO of the Company! I began the publishing process when I began to have grandchildren!

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

This whimsical tale is intended to convey the power of “sticking to it” or persistence when trying to accomplish something, and a willingness to listen and take a suggestion to heart and follow through to accomplish a goal.

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

When Amplify Publishing and I commenced working together, I was sent a list of 25 artists with samples of their styles. I was asked to pick five, and then those artists sent their interpretation or rendition of a frame or two from one of my stories. Once I had those frames, I was asked to pick two, and Alejandro was one of them. His work is rich and presents the storyline beautifully. He has completed my fifth book, The Lost Locket, and is working on my sixth, Way Up North, a coming-of-age story of a young Eskimo who lives near the North Pole. Alejandro is very accessible and revises and updates his artwork through dialogue and mutual collaboration.

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

I have completed The Lost Locket, a tale about a little girl who loses an heirloom necklace on the Golden Gate Bridge, which is collected by a pigeon and returned 30 years later when the little girl, now a mother, returns to the Bridge with her daughter. This book will be shipped in several months. The next book, Way Up North, is a story about a coming of age for a young Eskimo who lives near the North Pole and learns how to hunt whales. Alejandro is currently working on the artwork frames for this story, and the book ought to be available sometime early next year.

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