New interview with children's author Karl Beckstrand

Here is a new interview with children’s author Karl Beckstrand. We’re chatting about his newest book, a non-fiction children’s book titled, Muffy & Valor: A TrueStory.

You can read his interview about Butterfly Blink: A Book without Words here.

Bio:

Karl Beckstrand is the bestselling and award-winning author of 19 multicultural/multilingual books and more than 50 e-book titles (reviews by Kirkus, School Library Journal, The Horn Book blog, ForeWord Reviews). Raised in San Jose, CA, he has a B.A. in journalism from BYU, an M.A. in international relations from APU, and a broadcast & film certificate from Film A. Academy. Since 2004 he has run Premio Publishing. His survival western, To Swallow the Earth won a 2016 International Book Award. A college media instructor, Beckstrand has presented to Taiwan’s Global Leadership for Youth, city and state governments, festivals, and schools. Beckstrand's nationally lauded Y.A. stories, e-book mysteries, ESL/ELL Spanish/bilingual books, nonfiction, and wordless books feature ethnically diverse characters—and usually end with a twist.

His work has appeared in: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Border’s Books, Costco, Deseret Book, iBooks, The Children’s Miracle Network, LDS Film Festival, the U.S. Congressional Record, Papercrafts Magazine, and various broadcasts. FB, Twitter, http://KarlBeckstrand.com, http://PremioBooks.com.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Karl. Please tell us about your newest release, Muffy & Valor: A True Story.

Muffy is a little dog who loves people. But after a painful injury she is wary of other dogs. Valor is a lost dog who gets hit by a car. When Muffy’s family brings Valor home to recover, no one is sure what Muff will do. This tender picture book teaches compassion, friendship, trust, and courage. (28 illustrations, 700 words in dyslexic-friendly font by award-winning author Karl Beckstrand. For children 4 – 7; hard, soft cover and e-book, Hispanic characters, illustrated by Brandon Rodriguez, ISBN: 978-0985398842)

What inspired you to write this book?

Muffy was really my dog growing up. She was badly hurt by another dog and REALLY didn’t like dogs. When my brother and I came across an injured German shepherd (that had been hit by a car), we had some hard decisions to make. You can read a detailed account of what happened on my blog.

What’s the next writing project?

The second in a series on immigrant children: Ida’s Witness. My previous book, The Bridge of the Golden Wood, was selected this summer by Vermont’s Treasurer’s Office for financial literacy curriculum.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book (or the biggest challenge with this book)?

Making the book reach readers visually—I spent a lot of time with the illustrator making sure the images of Muffy and the dog we rescued conveyed the emotion of the story.

If your books require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the book is complete and you fill in the gaps?

For true stories, I research as I go. I typically find new details all the way to the end of the writing and illustrating process. It was fun to interview my family about their memories of Muffy and Valor.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

I write on my laptop at my desk at home. Before that, I’m constantly writing ideas on scraps of paper—since they come to me anywhere and any at time—day or night!

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

I love history, so anything by David McCoullugh is ideal. Other authors I love: Tolkien, Harper Lee, C.S. Lewis, Clancy, Grisham, Shel Silverstein

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

The e-book of Muffy & Valor is free for Kindle Unlimited users.

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!

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