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Book: A Broken Crayon Still Colors

Q1. Please introduce yourself so that the readers will get to know you better.

Hello readers! A bit about me and my background. I graduated from Suffolk University in 2016, with a Bachelor’s in Communications and Public Relations. After graduating, I was working in various Client Service roles in Boston, and eventually, New York City. In August of 2019, I left the corporate world to pursue my dream of becoming an educator. I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education with a Dual Certification in Special Education at Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Last semester, I was student-teaching in a 4s/5s UPK classroom in NYC. This semester, I am student-teaching in a 2nd-grade classroom in NYC.

Q2. What is your inspiration behind your book “A Broken Crayon Still Colors”?

A Broken Crayon Still Colors was inspired by my own childhood experiences dealing with divorce. As I reflected on that time, I remembered how scared and confused I was. I questioned what my family would look like with my parents living apart. However, I did not have books or resources that reflected what I was going through or how I was feeling. So, I sought to change that.

Q3. When did you realize you want to be an author of Children’s Book?

During my 2021 Spring Semester at Bank Street, I was enrolled in the course, Language, Literature, and Emergent Literacy in the Primary Grades. This course truly allowed me to examine the role of literature in children’s lives and understand the role of literature in language development in children’s primary and new languages. Exploring the ways to use literature from a wide range of genres and perspectives, honoring and stimulating children’s storytelling, and deepening their learning across content areas, was the catalyst for creating A Broken Crayon Still Colors. While this book started as a final project for school, it has turned into a dream come true.

Q4. Are you planning to release your next book soon?

I hope to create many more children’s books, inspired by my own experiences, and the experiences of those around me. I am in the process of working on another children’s book, which focuses on autism (ASD). While I am in the very beginning stages of this book, I want to focus on stories that reflect and honor the lives of ALL young people.

Q5. For which age group your books are suitable?

My books are suitable for children 8 and under. However, my hopes for this book are to provide a resource for children, grown-ups, and educators, that acknowledges the complex emotions often associated with divorce, separation, and changes within a family, yet explain that even when we feel “broken” those feelings are not forever. This story also serves as a way for children to recognize that “family” looks different for everyone. As a way for children to express their understanding and how they make meaning of the story, the last page of the book encourages readers to draw their family portrait.

Q6. What is your favorite Quote?

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” – Maya Angelou

Q7. What do you like the most about your country?

Diversity. Without the diverse lived experiences of those in our country, we would have no stories to tell, no traditions to share.

Q8. What suggestion you want to give to parents of little readers regarding a reading habit?

One suggestion I would give to parents of little readers is to really think about the books you are choosing to read with your child and/or books you purchase for your child. Make sure you are choosing books that empower and affirm all identities. Recognition of a child’s identity in books can have a powerful effect on how they view themselves and how they view others.

Q9. What does literary success look like to you?

To me, literary success would be knowing I impacted someone’s life. Whether that “someone” is a child, a parent or guardian, an educator, etc., success is knowing that A Broken Crayon Still Colors positively influenced a life.

Q10. Lastly, who is your inspiration in life and why?

My inspiration in life cannot be attributed to a single person, as so many have touched and influenced my life in so many different ways. However, my inspiration to continue to learn, to grow as an educator, and to keep writing, is simply drawn from all of the children who I have had the pleasure of being around.

Book Is Available On Amazon

A Broken Crayon Still Colors

Book: Black, White, And Gray All Over

Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

My name is Frederick Douglass Reynolds. I am a retired LA County Sheriff’s Homicide Sergeant. Named after Frederick Douglass, an African- American abolitionist in the 1800s, I was born in Rocky Mount, Virginia and grew up Detroit, Michigan where I became a petty criminal and was involved in gangs. I joined the US Marine Corps in 1979 to escape the life of crime that I seemed destined for. I ultimately became a police officer with the Compton police department, working there from 1985 until 2000 before transferring to the sheriff’s department where I worked an additional seventeen years until I retired in 2017. I live in Southern California with my wife, Carolyn, and our daughter Lauren and young son, Desmond. We have six other adult children and nine grandchildren.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Black, White, And Gray All Over’ book?

Facing my own inadequacies and deficiencies. There were so many scenes that were difficult to write, starting with my father’s alcoholism, my upbringing, and the contentious relationship between my parents. I went down a dark path that involved drugs and jail time, I was homeless for a time, and was working the night two of my friends were murdered by a street gang member. I often found myself crying as I struggled to put my feelings on paper.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

I love Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Beck, and Carl Sagen. I also love Ta-Nehisi Coates and Mitch Albom. The autobiography of Frederick Douglass is probably the book that influenced me the most, but I probably learned how to truly write from Marvel comic books. Did you know that Frederick Douglass’s given name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, but after escaping from slavery he changed his last name to Douglass from a poem by Sir Walter Scott titled, “The Lady of the Lake”? Which is also ironic because my sister’s married last name is “Bailey.”

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

My favorite spot if Lake Tahoe, Nevada. It is so serene and beautiful, especially in the winter months. It is also the place where I got my first formal introduction to my wife’s family.

Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

Not for me. When I sit down and start writing, I will write for days on end. Nothing really motivates me. A lot of times I will just be sitting around, watching tv, listening to music, or maybe even reading a book when I just feel the urge to start writing.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Black, White, And Gray All Over’ book?

Probably about two to three, solid years altogether. I had been writing off and on for about twenty years, but I was just jotting down notes and ideas. After I retired, I started putting everything in some type of order. But after I had a heart attack in 2020, I realized that I could have died without finishing my book. After that, when I recovered, I started in earnest and finished in early 2021. Rewrites and editing took about six more months.

Q7. On what all platforms can readers find ‘Black White And Gray All Over’ book to buy?

Amazon, Target, and Barnes and Noble.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Black, White, And Gray All Over’?

I had the title for the book before I even started writing it. I chose the title because my life has never been about just Black, or White. It always seemed like I lived in the gray area. Cop cars are Black and White, there has always been issues between Black and White people in America, and I believed that for us to bridge that gap, we had to somehow become one and Gray comes from a mixture of black and white.

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

Well, this is my first book and the topic I was writing on; my life as a Black cop, was a polarizing one. Because of that polarization, the topic itself always remained fresh due to the climate.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

I would love to share them with my readers, but I won’t. I don’t want to spoil the rollercoaster ride. I want you in the front seat with your hands thrust above your heads in anticipation of that first, ridiculously steep drop. I will say that I have left clues in the book that will lead certain readers to answers to bigger questions.

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Book Is Available On Amazon

Black, White, And Gray All Over