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Book: Brandon and His Mask

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

My name is Katherine Morbán-Smith, author of the bilingual children’s book “Brandon and His Mask.” I am an educator and mom to a 2-year-old boy from New York City.  Recently, I’ve been enjoying spending all of my time with my family.  I also love building my 2-year old’s language in English and Spanish through everyday activities and sensory play.

Q2.  What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Brandon and His Mask’?

The process of writing the book was pretty simple.  In fact, I would say that it was very fun watching an idea written down in my phone’s “notes” come to life was.  I think that the most challenging part came after the book was published- marketing.  It is very time-consuming, but I have learned so much from the overall process.  Connecting with parents, teachers, and other authors around the world has been my favorite part.

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

As a teacher and mother to a little one, I have read many books and look up to lots of authors, from Eric Carle, Roald Dahl to Ezra Jack Keats.  There’s so many to mention, but I have to say, however, that I gravitate towards multicultural/bilingual texts. Our most recent favorite book is Junot Diaz’s “Island Born.”  He takes such a poetic and colorful approach for the theme of connecting with one’s culture.  There is a need for more Latinx authors and for more multicultural/bilingual books, so as a multicultural family, I always try to get my hands on those.  It is empowering for little ones to see themselves, their families in characters and stories.

Q4. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?

The best thing a children’s book author can do is dive right in when you feel the inspiration to write. There was a reason that idea or story came to your mind.  It could’ve been a memory or something you just experienced that inspired that idea.  Don’t wait. Write it down.  It will not be perfect right there and then, but you will have more opportunities to come back to it.  However, that moment of inspiration and passion may not happen again.

Q5. How long did it take you to write ‘Brandon and His Mask’ book?

The story itself did not take long to write.  I wrote both the English and Spanish text of the story in about an hour.  Editing, working with the illustrator, formatting, and publishing took about a month and a half to complete.

Q6. On what all platforms readers can find ‘Brandon and His Mask’ book to buy?

The book is available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover formats on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online. 

Q7. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Brandon and His Mask’?

The illustrator did such a beautiful job capturing all of the essential elements I wanted on the cover.  It was important for the book cover to feature the main character of color, a New York City setting, and the characters’ emotions.  Because the illustrator was not familiar with New York City, I provided pictures of a surrounding NYC neighborhood’s skyline, other real-life images of our community, and our family’s photo.   It was also crucial that the main character’s emotions were reflected, precisely the feeling of confusion, which is vital to the story’s theme.  The illustrator did such a great job executing my vision.

Q8. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I think that the stories based on real-life experiences will help everyone relate.  I tried to focus on my own family’s experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, which allowed my readers to see themselves in the characters’ experience.  I believe that no matter what you write, you leave a little bit of yourself to the world to relate to.

Q9. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

The story was inspired by my young son’s experience during the height of the covid-19 pandemic. I was inspired to write the story after one afternoon at the park. Much like everyone else, we did not know much about Covid-19 but tried to take the precautions necessary to stay safe. One of those was keeping a distance from people and other children at the park and wearing masks. My son is a very social boy who loves to play with other children, but we just couldn’t let him get too close to those he saw at the park, even though he wasn’t too happy with the idea.  Seeing him upset truly broke my heart but I used that afternoon at the park for inspiration to write “Brandon and His Mask.”

Book Is Available On Amazon

Brandon and His Mask

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

Greetings everyone, my name is James Mitchell. I was born in 1982 and grew up on the south-side of Chicago. I’ve been with my soul mate Sarah for fifteen years and we have two wonderful children Damian and Terry. I’ve always dabbled in the creative side including film making, being in a band, podcast, drawing and writing. I love the ability to create and share my unique views to the world.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘The Death of the Rebellious Smart Mouth Nonconformist Millennial’ book?

This book is a culmination of writing poetry since I was fourteen years old. It took quite a while to create my own style of writing. For the longest time my poetry remained unshared until I joined the Poetry Community on Instagram and began sharing them. As I began to notice people relating and appreciating my work, it was only a matter of time to focus on presenting those poems in a literary format such as a book.

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

The most influential person was my Grandmother Betty Hughes. She had a gift for writing poetry and bringing her words to life. I was always amazed at that talent and it only led me to explore writing poetry for myself. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep the few poems she had written because it would have been great to be able to share them. I dedicated my book to her and her memory.

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

I’m heavily influenced by growing up in the city of Chicago. It’s one magnificent backdrop that helped enrich my words and develop the tone and atmosphere of my writings.

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

When I finally decided to make that transition to putting a book together, I was faced with some hard decisions in what to include and to omit. Roughly there were over 700 poems to shift through and ranging from 1996 to 2020. Unfortunately I felt older poems had to be removed and mostly used poems written within the past few years.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘The Death of the Rebellious Smart Mouth Nonconformist Millennial’ book?

I’ve been actually piecing it together for years. But like I said, some things would stay and other pieces would have to be removed. So roughly I’ve been plugging away at this project for fifteen years.

Q7. On what all platforms readers can find your book ‘The Death of the Rebellious Smart Mouth Nonconformist Millennial’ to buy?

I’m a strong believer in print and paperback. Nothing is better than holding an actual copy of a book in your hands. I find it distracting to read ebooks since I can easily switch to some other form of media such as Netflix or Facebook. I don’t have a long attention span.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Death of the Rebellious Smart Mouth Nonconformist Millennial’?

I used a line from one of my poems for the Book Title. It’s had other titles throughout the length of putting the book together but I found this title the most fitting for the subject matter. As for the book cover, I had been searching for an artist to do an art commission for the book for a long time. Fortunately I came across an amazing talented artist named Evgesha Brooks on Instagram. I requested that he create an art piece based on the title of the book with freedom to do whatever he wanted. I loved how it turned out and the rest is history.

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

I don’t restrain myself to a certain style of writing that is currently popular in poetry. I draw from many inspirations such as life, dreams, emotions and experiences. Whether it’s just an image in my head, rhyme scheme I created or story I want to tell, that’s what will influence the creative process for the poem. The subject matter can be anything; frequently I even task myself with taking on challenges from readers by allowing them to pick subject matter. I always want to push myself to become a better writer and never feel comfortable in my abilities.

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

Sounding a bit , but I’m an open book. This is a prime example of that, there isn’t much censored and it’s the most vivid telling I can produce in exploring myself and my perspectives on the world. I want the reader to not only see what I am saying but put them in the front seat to experience it first hand. I want my words to feel authentic, I’m not writing to fill up pages with meaningless fluff. Each poem has a meaning, theme, purpose and is meant to leave an impression on the reader.  

Book Is Available On Amazon

The Death of the Rebellious Smart Mouth Nonconformist Millennial