An Interview With Blogger, Author Joan Y. Edwards

One of the greatest pleasures of being an author is meeting others in the field. I met Joan Y. Edwards years ago, shortly after moving to North Carolina, at a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference. We both attended to become inspired, motivated and learn from agents, editors, publishers and even other children's authors. There is so much to learn about writing for children. 

When we met, Joan had already published a children's book titled, Flip Flap Floodle, about a light-hearted duck who thought the song he could play on his flute would keep him safe from Mr. Fox! You can just imagine how well that worked out.  

Writers write for different reasons and although Joan's first love was writing for children, she likes to dabble in other genres such as poetry, screenwriting, scriptwriting, early grade and middle grade fiction and romance. 

Joan was one of the first writers I knew who had a Blog. Throughout the years her blog became known for great writing tips, publishing tips, sharing the sucess of other authors, inspirational and motivational ideas and always ended with positive feel-good thoughts. Her blog afforded her the opportunity to try out her many interests, growing an audience that today numbers nearly three-quarters of a million readers!   

In 2016, after years of taking care of her mother, Joan felt her experiences, both good and not so good, could give other caregivers inspiration and motivation to help get them through the day-to-day challenges they were facing. She felt they needed to be reminded to take care of themselves. Caregiving is one of many life experiences you don't realize how difficult it can be until you're in the thick of it. Joan "has a strong desire to share information to make it easier for others to take care of their parents than it was for her."

Joan has two books, hot off the press, for children. The first has an intriquing title, The Day I Turned My Brother Into A Monkey. I couldn't resist asking Joan about it. 

1. Joan, did the inspiration for this story come from a pesky sibling who badgered you when you were young or stories you heard from your students when you taught? 

 "Yes, this story came from my pesky siblings. I am sure I was equally pesky. I had 3. An older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister. In teaching I taught two sets of twins and learned from watching them interact. I also did a lot of babysitting for families where I got to watch  sibling rivalry in action."

2. What age child or grade level student do you see enjoying this book? 

"I think children in kindergarten through fourth grade will especially enjoy it. Adults enjoy it, too. It is a fun read-aloud for families, librarians, and classroom teachers."

3. Did you write this as a chapter book or an easy reader?

"I wrote it as a chapter book similar to Junie B Jones, but I wanted whole page illustrations in color rather than miniature black and white. I also thought having larger text was a way to leap from picture book to chapter book." 

4. If this book were to be traditionally published, you'd have no say in choosing the illustrator or be able to share what you envision. But, since you were self-publishing, you were able to choose your illustrator. Where did you find your illustrator? 

"A friend of mine had used illustrators from Fiverr.com marketplace. So, I went to the website and looked up illustrators for children's books. I found 5 that I liked their style and their pricing for one illustration. I carefully checked reviews. I wrote each one to get a quote and to see if they were interested. I chose Ecaterina Leascenco, known as Tincuta on Fiverr, because she resonated most with my inner spirit, the sense of fun she created in her portfolio, and my pocketbook. After our agreement...I sent her the story." 

5. What kind of instructions did you give Tincuta?

"I told her I needed an illustration for each chapter and the first chapter illustration would also be used for the cover. I told her 6x9 in size and 300 resolution in jpeg format and in color.  She gave me a quote for each illustration....I did each illustration separately. She did sketches in black and white first to see if I liked it. When I was happy with it, she sent me a quote for the next one."

Joan, I have to say I love the bright colors and the detail in the illustrations. They are very eye-catching. Tincuta did a nice job of capturing the essence of the story, especially the monkey! His eyes give him so much personality. Children are going to love looking at the pictures. Who wouldn't want to turn their little brother into a monkey. I know I would have. 

6. The second new book hot off the press, The Golden Arm, is quite a departure from anything I've seen you write. Why the horror and graphic amputation? You're normally such a sweet, humorus, love'em, positive sort of person. This seems somewhat out of character for you. 
"When I was a teenager, I babysat many children. Some of them loved spooky stories. The Golden Arm was a campfire favorite. The children would huddle close and listen...one step, two steps... anticipating the scary part hugging each other more."

"I visited The Apothecary in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where the guide explained that in the 1800's people would come there to get their arms amputated. They would sit you in a chair and lop off your arm! That stuck in my mind that Minerva, poor Minerva, might have had to go through that." 

"In life, each of us, at sometime or another, may get carried away with ridiculous dreams, fears, demands, and expectations. It is good when we can see the humor and find a way to accept ourselves and find a way to dig our way out of our problems. A way to survive and be at peace." 

Okay Joan, now I understand. This story comes from sitting around a campfire telling scary, often gruesome tales. 

7. Once again the illustrations are so intricate and colorful. But, I see you used a different illustrator. How did you find Dazzling Media and how different was it to work with them? Did they read the story? Did you have them do the illustrations one at a time like you did with your other book? 

"The Golden Arm needed illustrations that would be supernatural and have exaggerated detail to bring out both the humor and the seriousness of a story that reflects the trouble we get into when we are trying to control ourselves and/or others. So I chose Dazzling Media on Fiverr Marketplace. Their portfolio online showed me that they could definitely dazzle me. I shared the story with them. I told them I wanted one illustration 6x9 inches, 300 resolution color illustrations for each chapter and that I would choose one for the cover, probably one where Minerva proudly walks through town with her Golden Arm. They gave me a quote for the whole project. I believe they did an outstanding job. I wanted the illustrations to be scary, funny, and magical all at the same time. I believe they delivered that."

Thank you so much, Joan, for sharing the process in writing and illustrating your two new books. Your writing journey and desire to help others is unique and commendable. You are a fascinating lady! I learned a great deal and I think my readers did also. 

Joan's new books, The Golden Arm and The Day I Turned My Brother Into A Monkey are available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B003KXQ0X0/allbooks

Email: mailto:joanyedwards1@gmail.com
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A COLLABORATION OF WRITERS

Last year, the Adventures in Writing Club, of which I am a member, decided it would be fun to write a cozy mystery novel. The members, five writers--two poets, Annette Larkin, John Stickney; two historical fiction writers Sandra Warren, E.Jax Willoughby; and a sci-fi writer, James Salkeld; gathered to do what some thought impossible. Yes, that's correct. All five were attempting to write a novel. 

Everyone else seemed to think that a collaboration of this type would be challenging, but not one of the writers voiced any doubts. It's safe to say, however, a collaboration of this kind could only happen with respect, something these writers had in spades. They respected each other's imagination, creativity and writing skills. And, even though not everyone had publishing credits, no one writer had more control than the other. 

From week to week, the writers, now known as the Lake Norman Writers Guild, developed interesting characters, created a setting ripe for mischief, produced a crime with many suspects and dropped a few red herrings. 

Inspired by the community in which they all live, the writers gleaned and tweaked their experiences to form a tapestry of guilt and intrigue that you could, but hopefully won't, find in any active adult community. 

The result: Auras of Deceit: A Trivolity Cozy Mystery! 

This cozy mystery marries a lighthearted look at life in an active adult community with daring and intrigue when a "game of murder" goes horribly wrong. 

Auras of Deceit debuted shortly before the Christmas holidays and is available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle ebook. 

Curl up with your favorite drink and Auras of Deceit for a delicious, funny-fun read! 

The Lake Norman Writers Guild is available for Book Talks and Presentations locally near Charlotte, NC or via Zoom. Recommend it to your Book Club and receive one FREE Autographed Copy and a FREE Zoom meeting with one or all of the writers. 

Contact: Sandra Warren                     www.sandrawarren.com 

TO AI OR NOT TO AI: THAT IS THE QUESTION?

 To AI or not to AI? That is the question I, like other writers, are facing. When my work-in-progress is finished, I want to be able to honestly say that artificial intelligence was not used to create the story. That is a question some publishers are asking with submissions. 

So what's a writer to do? 

It's tempting to allow the latest AI version to partially or completely do the work. But if you do, the finished product isn't really yours, is it? I think not. Others may argue that although AI will never be able to compete with the creativity and emotionalism needed in a good story, it can come pretty darn close.  

Personally, I'm against using AI to create a story, but I can see value in using AI to analyze the final product, as long as you take what is written with a grain of salt. Recently, while involved with a collaboration of writers creating a cozy mystery novel, one of the writers plugged the final manuscript into AI for an analysis. What came back was an amazing look at story arc, character development with percentages of time each character appeared in the story, plot development, chapter strengths and weak spots, etc. In short, I'd never seen a critique so thorough yet specific. It gave enough information to allow us to make some changes and beef up parts we felt needed it. It helped us look at the manuscript from a different lense. 

AI can also be helpful to research clothing or setting or products for a period piece. For example, What kinds of things might you find in a 1950's grocery store? Or what would a gravel pit look like? Or what kind of equipment would a blacksmith use? Or what kinds of jobs and equipment are needed to build a skyscraper? Anything you might need to make your characters, your setting, your story more authentic. 

I think it's safe to say artificial intelligence can be used by you in the same way you'd use any other resource. 

Condensing a complete manuscript into a synopsis is another way AI might be of help. It's always a challenge to write a synopsis, especially if only one paragraph is requested.  AI could give you ideas for a long and a short one. 

Any good submission letter includes or should include recent work comparable to your submission. AI might be able to help with that, too. 

It goes without saying that any help received should be put in your own words. 

How do you feel about AI? Are you using it? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

************                                                                                                                                              Recommend one of Sandra's books for your next Book Club read and receive one FREE autographed copy and a FREE Zoom talk!                                                                            

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New Year! New Goal!

 If you've been one of my faithful followers, you know that I've not been consistent in blogging over the years. In this NEW YEAR, 2026, my goal is to share more of what I'm up to on a regular basis. But, since January is already half over and I'm just getting started, I've already earned a C-minus or worse! I vow to be better! 

To be perfectly honest, I've always struggled with what to share. In my mind, posts needed to be meaningful, and to me, meaningful mean't something that teaches or inspires; something that will resonate with you, my readers and encourage you to make a comment, share with your social media friends or talk about it to others. Just writing this make me see my thinking is over-the-top. What others think about what I write is not my responsibility. What I write might be meaningful to some but it's impossible to inspire everyone. And to think I can is not realistic. 

So, scratch the meaningful idea. I'm just going to post whatever I'm mentally processing at the moment. 

If you have ideas or information you'd like me to write about, please share them them in a comment section. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR and Thanks for following me!