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We Are Not Promised Tomorrow
The Long, Lazy Summer follows a young boy who spends one last summer with his terminally ill mother, which deepens into lessons about love, loss, and the beauty of small moments. What made you write a story about this topic? Anything pulled from your life experiences?
Most of the children books I write are fiction fantasy with a lot of humor. The last few years, I’ve watched the Newbery Awards, and the books that won usually have a more serious tone to them. That really is the main reason I tackled this subject matter. I’ve had friends and family who have died of cancer, so that’s mainly why I focused on this area.
Surprisingly, real life ended up imitating art. My illustrator ended up finding out she had cancer when I was ready to start this book. She’s fine now, but this book almost didn’t happen. Then I faced my own mortality as well when I had heart problems this year. The ending of the book reflects the kind of thoughts running through my head at that time period.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
The main ideas that were important to me were:
- Honesty of emotion. How would any adult feel going through that – facing their mortality and how do you explain that to a child?
- Love – what do we leave our loved ones after we are gone?
- Legacy – if you have a limited time left, what would be important to still do before you go? What do you want to be remembered for?
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from your story?
None of us are promised tomorrow. Look around you – are you living the life you truly wish to live? What do you think your loved ones will remember as being the most important part of your life?
I hope the Wonders of Childhood & Beyond series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
This series is intended to be unusual and perhaps unexpected. If the reader can learn to look at the world in a way different than they have before, then I will have done my job well as a writer.
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For some of us, the greatest love and memories that we will hold in our hearts our whole lives through are the ones we experience and share with our parents.
They are part of our earliest memories and shape the lives we learn to live. They are our whole world, and when they leave us – when they pass over to the other side where pain and death can no longer touch us, we are left with an emptiness we can never again fill. To lose a parent is like losing a limb – you remember it being an essential part of your life even though it is no longer there. In many ways, you can still feel their spirits nearby, but they have moved beyond this realm where our five senses reign supreme and register into other senses of extraordinary perception we never knew we had.
For Raymond, it’s simple. He spends a beautifully long, lazy summer with his mother that he will never forget. His last one with her.
Nobody is promised forever. Any of us could leave this world at any moment. That being the case, what kind of memories would you leave your loved ones if you had a choice?
The Long, Lazy Summer (Wonders of Childhood & Beyond)
The Long, Lazy Summer is a tender and heart-tugging children’s book told through the eyes of a young boy named Ray, who spends one last summer with his terminally ill mother. What begins as a string of playful, simple days filled with scavenger hunts, zoo games, gardening, and homemade forts slowly deepens into lessons about love, loss, and the beauty of small moments. The narrative captures both the joy of being loved and the ache of knowing that time is running out. The season ends with the mother’s passing, but Ray carries her words, memories, and love into adulthood, forever changed by that golden stretch of days.
The writing is warm and straightforward, but the emotions beneath it are rich and deep. I could feel the sunshine in the happy scenes and the heaviness in the quiet ones. What I loved most was how the story balanced light and shadow. It never wallowed in sadness, but it didn’t shy away from it either. The metaphors, like sunflowers and butterflies, weren’t just pretty images; they stuck with me. And there’s something about the way Sayre writes dialogue between mother and son that’s simple, but the love comes through so strongly.
This is not a picture book you can read with dry eyes. The pacing lingers in places, and at first I thought it might be too gentle for my taste, but that rhythm fits the story’s heart. This isn’t about rushing to a twist or a big finale. It’s about letting each moment breathe, like the last summer evening before school starts again. The ideas like living fully, making memories, carrying love beyond loss aren’t new, but the way they’re told here feels fresh because they come through a child’s eyes. That innocence turns the whole thing into a bittersweet reminder of how fragile and beautiful life is.
I’d recommend The Long, Lazy Summer to parents, grandparents, teachers, and anyone who believes in the power of stories to start conversations about love and loss. It’s especially good for families looking to help children process grief in a gentle way. It’s also for grown-ups who need a reminder that even in goodbye, there’s a kind of forever.
Pages: 113 | ASIN : B0FG23Y128
Believe in the Impossible
Oh, No, Bunny – You’re Still Not Funny! follows non-identical twins who each wish for a different pet and are visited by their father’s imaginary bunny friend. What was the inspiration for your story?
When I first came up with the idea to do the Happy Tails series, I planned to have animals feature just as prominently as the humans did. Since everything is mainly featured around a holiday, well – bunnies came to mind. A good portion of the antics in the first bunny book were from real life experience. That story about the spaghetti – that was from an actual pet rabbit attacking my plate. Until then, I had no idea that bunnies could like spaghetti. Maybe it’s not good for them, but that rabbit wanted the pasta badly . . . and it makes a really good story!
What were some ideas that were important for you to personify in your characters?
A good portion of us have had imaginary friends or have used our imagination in play to entertain ourselves. I wanted this book to hold on to the precious land called “Childhood” where we can believe in the impossible and use our imaginations to enjoy the world around us. I wanted the twins to be like any other brother and sister – they annoy each other, but they are also capable of working together to achieve a common goal, which – in this case – was to contain Yakov the rabbit’s insane zest for life that could often go more wrong than right sometimes.
Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your characters’ lives?
Well, the bunny story. We had bunnies on the farm, but they were outside bunnies. The bunny spaghetti story actually came from an indoor pet bunny.
Because I lived on the farm when I was a child, our house was located too far from any of my school friends to visit, so I spent a lot of time by myself entertaining myself. How did I do that? Imagination. I made up my own stories in my mind, and I read lots of books.
Will there be a follow-up book on this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
It’s funny that you should ask me this question. I honestly thought after this book, that I couldn’t take it any further, but I was wrong. I have come up with a really great idea for the third installment that will keep all the current characters and add 2 new surprising ones. If you thought the first two books were insane, the third one gets even better.
I’m not sure what the front book cover will look like. I usually watch what illustrations Christina Cartwright, my illustrator, produces to see if I like any of them for the front cover, which, eventually I do. As for the back cover, I like ending it with everyone sitting under the old oak tree, like a family.
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Sascha’s twins – Sorcha and Dmitry – have heard tales of their father’s imaginary bunny friend (Yakov) for years, and all they did was laugh at the tales that their father shared with them. At least that’s all they believed it ever would be – just funny stories to entertain.
Imagine their surprise when they meet Yakov in person for themselves. There are not enough words in the English language to prepare anyone for meeting such a wildly crazy hare!
Before they have time to prepare, Yakov is racing out the front door of their home and is set loose upon the neighborhood. Can the two kids stop him from creating more havoc than any one person should ever be allowed?
Everyone thinks at some point in their life that they would like a pet, but absolutely no one is prepared for the unbelievable trouble into which a bunny like Yakov can get! Oh, bunny, here we go again!
Personal Power
Along Came Spider: The Making of a Superhero follows an elementary school boy who, along with his friends, is being bullied by two boys who terrorize students. What was the inspiration for your story?
There were several factors that inspired me:
1) I grew up with comics, but they were always on a higher level than I probably should have been reading at the time. I really wanted to write a comic for kids that was age-appropriate.
2) I was bullied several times when I was kid, so that was a factor in writing this book because I often was a little bit different than some of my classmates.
3) As a child, it’s very easy to feel like no one notices you. I thought I’d take that inadequate emotion of feeling invisible and turn it into a superpower instead.
Spider has to learn to stand up for himself and his friends, and that is a hard thing to do, especially with bullies. What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?
When you’re bullied, you lose some of your personal power. I wanted to give power back to the main character Spider. I also know, from my own experience, that it can be hard to do the right thing – to stand up for one’s self and others, that requires all of us to find courage and personal power to stand out and stand up for what matters.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
I think a lot of bullying occurs because 1) teachers either don’t know what to look for or they, too, have a tendency to not see some things that are right in front of their eyes. 2) There is often a herd mentality going on in schools – especially when we are young and are trying to find a sense of ourselves. Anything different is to be avoided because it can often draw negative attention to us. We all want to stand out in a positive way, not a negative way. I wanted this book to give a sense of empowerment to all kids.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
This is the first book in the Web Society series. There will be 11 books total. The next book is actually about Lacey’s superpower. It will probably be next year before that book comes out. I currently work a full-time job and write in my free time, and Alex, my illustrator, is in the same boat as I am, so we can’t devote all our time to just working on this one book. Plus, I do work on other genres as well. The more heavily illustrated a book is, the longer it takes to finish it, but, I assure you, that when it does get finished, the next book in the series has a little more action and danger and Spider will be in that one as well.
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Bullies exist everywhere! Everyone has met one. It’s hard not to – there are so many of them in the world. Even with that being the case, it doesn’t mean they should always get to win.
But if you don’t step up to stop them, then who will?
It doesn’t matter how small we think we are or how unimportant. When you stand up for what is right, that’s when you find out what you’re truly made up of inside – in Spider Monroe’s case, he finds out he can be a superhero for his blind best friend Lacey.
What’s his superpower, you ask? Invisibility. How does he use it? In every way that stops two bullies in their tracks and restores the world to order.
Bullies beware – heroes exist everywhere . . . but only if we are brave enough to look inside ourselves to find them!
Along Came Spider – The Making of a Superhero (The Web Society)
Along Came Spider: The Making of a Superhero is a children’s graphic novel that delivers a heartwarming message of inner courage. The story centers around Spider Monroe, a student at the local elementary school, and his best friend, Lacey Daniels, who has been blind from birth. Their close bond is tested when they encounter two relentless bullies, Chuck and Elroy, who wreak havoc on the school, terrorizing students and disrupting charity events. With the teachers unaware of the chaos, Spider must summon his inner hero to protect Lacey and their friends.
Despite the title’s potential to be mistaken for a biography about Stan Lee or the origins of Spider-Man, the characters and concepts in this book are entirely original to the author, Michele L. Sayre. Drawing inspiration from popular comic book themes, Spider Monroe and his friends stand out as unique and captivating characters. The low-key superpowers and straightforward narrative style make the comic accessible even for beginners. The text is primarily narrated by Spider through easy-to-follow text boxes, reminiscent of the classic style of Prince Valiant, which adds to the readability.
The diversity of the characters and the deep friendship between Spider and Lacey are particularly commendable. A.P. Perez’s bright illustrations, influenced by popular comic book art, add a gentle twist suitable for young readers. The story’s setup effectively introduces the world and the antagonists, with Chuck and Elroy being memorable villains. Spider’s journey to thwart the bullies is a perfect blend of heroics and vigilantism, delivering justice in a satisfying manner. The narrative wraps up well while leaving plenty of room for future adventures.
Along Came Spider, Michele L. Sayre’s debut comic book, is a high-quality addition to her previous works, suitable for readers aged 7 and up. It offers positive messages about inner strength, friendship, courage, and justice. I eagerly look forward to more adventures in this incredible world.
Pages: 38 | ASIN : B0D2M2Y78Q
The Courage to Change
I Can Do Bad All by Myzelf follows a disgruntled elf who was not hired by Santa, so he decides to get revenge by sabotaging Santa’s workshop. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
It was the month after Christmas in January 2023, and I was trying to generate some children’s book ideas. I was thinking about what the perfect job would be, and working for Santa came to mind. But Santa can’t hire everyone, right? So, even though this book was the fourth one published in the Holiday Tails series, it was the idea for this book that led to the development of all the other books, and, believe me, there will be many. Four are complete, and two more are slotted for this year.
The art in this book is unique and modern, really drawing in the older elementary-level children. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Christina Cartwright?
I always give Christina an idea of what I’d like to see on the page, but I leave it up to her imagination as well. There have been a couple of times that Christina misinterpreted what I was wanting (or more like I wasn’t as clear as I could have been), and I ended up going with what she gave me because I could see it was a better idea. For example, she proposed that we make the other elves’ skin colors be nontraditional human tones, and I thought it was a fantastic idea, so we ran with it.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The main themes I focused upon were:
Disappointment in life. Sometimes we can’t seem to make our dreams come true, no matter how hard we wish for it.
Finding the courage to change. Bad things happen – are we going to let them define us or are we going to listen to our hearts when they warn us we are on the wrong path? Can we find the courage to change?
Unconditional love. No matter what we do, everyone deserves a chance to be loved and do the right thing.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
The next book I’m working on is a follow-up to last year’s bunny book. Yakov is a wild and funny character, so it’s great to revisit his crazy antics. It should hopefully be done by summer and available to read and enjoy by all.
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But what if Santa won’t hire you? He can’t hire everyone. The greatest job in the world will only go to a select few. What do the rest of the rejected applicants do?
Well, if your Myz the elf, you get revenge on Santa. You make him rue the day he ever turned you away from the one thing you’ve ever wished for – working for the big man himself, Santa Claus.
Myz does everything he can think of to make the big guy’s life miserable and when he finally succeeds in attaining his naughty goal? Myz sees a side of Christmas that isn’t very beautiful or joyful.
Will his heart change in time to save Christmas? Sometimes we don’t know the true meaning of things until we almost lose them.
LITERARY TITAN 