Interview with children's author Jennie Ross

Author Jennie Ross is here today to chat about her new children’s book, Slicker McQuicker and the Hike (written as Jennie Wren).

Welcome, Jennie. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was born in Austin, TX where I graduated from Austin High School and attended the University of Texas. I've written the lyrics to over ninety country western songs, have written several mysteries, scores of children's books and a lot of poetry. When we moved to Nevada I decided it was time to get serious and get published. My hobbies are traveling, swimming and horseback riding. My husband and I live on seven acres with two dogs, two horses and a spectacular view of the mountains.

Please tell us about your current release.

Slicker McQuicker and the Hike is a book that takes you on an adventure with Slicker and Michael the Pup. They run into a couple of unexpected bears and Slicker comes up with a scheme to outwit the bears.

What inspired you to write this book?

While raising 3 sons and my youngest having learning disabilities, I realized that there were so many important values that were not being taught. I created the character Slicker McQuicker to be someone kids could relate to and look up to. Slicker is a real funny boy. His ears spring out, his eyes change from brown to blue, he has red curly hair, freckles and looks different than the other kids. He teaches kids about acceptance, self love, friendship, safety, and bullying while taking the audience on fun adventures.

Because of my youngest son’s learning disability, he was seeing a child psychologist by the name of Tom Oakland who was world famous for helping children. He read my Slicker books and felt that they had values that children could benefit from.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I just finished writing Cindy the Cow for children. It is being illustrated now and should be out by October 30^th. I am currently writing a mystery novel, A Promise Made that is a sequel to my first published crime/drama/mystery book, Frozen Image.

I have published 3 crime/drama/mystery novels Frozen Image, Outback Murders, and Sea of Death, 1 adventure/drama novel The Wrong Side of the Blanket, 1 American history/short story that is humorous and educational, JENNIE’S AMERICAN SHORT STORIES.

My children’s books are:

Slicker McQuicker and Friends, Slicker McQuicker and the Rescue, Slicker McQuicker and the Eagle, Slicker McQuicker and the Mermaid, Slicker McQuicker and the Hike

(There are about 50 that have been written and will be published. The next Slicker will be Slicker McQuicker and the Swing.)

Children’s books that are not Slicker related:

Mickie the Mermaid will be out soon.

Cindy the Cow will be out by the end of October.

Jargin McFargin will be out before Christmas.

We are also in the process of creating a toy line for the Slicker McQuickers. Slicker character will be out before Christmas and the other characters from the books will follow shortly.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

In high school I won a prize for writing for the veterans. I guess that was the point that I began to feel like a writer.

Do you write full-time?

Yes

What's your work day like?

I start writing at 11am, take a dinner break around 5pm and resume writing after dinner until about 7pm. Some days I find myself working longer and later while other days I take off.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I don’t like to use the same words often so I use a thesaurus, a rhyming book, and a dictionary.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A rancher and a politician.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

My older brother and my parents were both into poetry. They were a big influence on me. When I was in the first grade my older brother introduced me to the works of Robert W Service and Rudyard Kipling. My father and I would walk down the street quoting “Thanatopsis”. I still to this day quote the poems that my parents and I shared while I was very young. At about 4 years I was already reciting poetry by Robert Lewis Stevenson. When I was in first grade I always carried a poetry book in my back pocket. It was by Robert W. Service and was called “The Spell of the Yukon”. When I was in the fifth grade, the teacher read “The Cremation of Sam McGee” and I was so enthralled by it that I went to the library, learned it and still to this day recite it word for word.

I still have the same poetry book that I kept in my back pocket from my childhood.

Links:

Website | Facebook

Thanks for being here today!

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