Jill Sheet's Blog

 Chit Chatting with Rebecca Wenrich Wheeler  Interviewed by: Jill Sheets J: When did you decide that you wanted to be an author? R: My 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Hodge, encouraged me to enter the Young Author’s Contest, and as they say, that’s all she wrote! I was hooked on writing. Since I was a little girl, I knew somehow I would become an author.  J: Tell us about your book When Mama Grows With Me. R: In When Mama Grows with Me, a mama and her son create their own garden, starting with just a few small seeds and ending with a beautiful display of flowers. They observe how pollinators help the earth stay healthy, learn how to care for plants, and meet other critters that live in their garden, all while playfully shaping their bodies into yoga poses inspired by nature. Not only do Mama and her son learn valuable lessons about their garden, but along the way, they also learn to practice patience.  By pairing lessons with movement, Rebecca Wheeler helps young readers make connections betwe

 Chit Chatting with Alle C. Hall Interviewed by:  Jill Sheets J: Tell us about yourself. When did you decide that you wanted to become a writer? In my early- to mid-20s, I lived in Japan. I’d been there almost three years, teaching English to support myself but not doing anything career-wise and starting to feel it. A friend of mine who had just left the editor-in—chief position  at an English-language monthly, Tokyo City Life News, mentioned that they needed an article on the Tai chi options in Tokyo, and she knew I had a serious practice. I spoke with the new editor, who told me they would pay me 30,000 yen for the piece. That was close to $300. Immediately, I thought, well, this is something I could do for the rest of my life.  J: Tell us about your book “As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.” A: It’s about Carlie, a teenaged survivor of ongoing sexual trauma who steals ten thousand dollars from her parents with a plan to run away to Asia, travel cheaply until she turns

 Chit Chatting with Claudine Wolk Interviewed by:  Jill Sheets Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing? Hi there, and thanks for the interview, Jill.   I’m probably like every other writer in that I’ve always liked writing and kept journals from the time I was a kid.  As an adult, I was an accountant.  I threw myself into it, became a CPA, worked for many small businesses in the Philadelphia area and then, whammo…. I became a mother.  Heck, I thought creating a cash flow statement was hard! Being a mother knocked my socks off.   The new mom phenomena that really surprised me was that no one was talking about how hard newborn care is.  I quickly learned that moms were supposed to say things like, “I’m blessed, I’m lucky, motherhood is the best thing that ever happened to me.”  Of course, in a sense, all of those things were true, but it was far from the entire story.  I loved my baby, but the hard work that went along with him, not so much.    So… I did what I

  Santa’s Slip Up Reviewed by: Jill Sheets I am a first-time reader of author Raven Howell and cannot wait to read more.  Santa’s Slip Up  is a cute book, and I feel that any age would like this children’s book. It is a fast read and great for a bedtime story, no matter the time of the year. Savannah Horton illustrates the fantastic pictures in this book. 

 Chit Chatting with Raven Howell Interviewed by: Jill Sheets J: Tell us about yourself. R: When I’m in a classroom visit, as I was this morning, I usually introduce myself to the children with “my favorites”. My favorite season is summer, my favorite place is the seashore, my favorite sweet treats are warm chocolate and butterscotch chip cookies, my favorite color (for today, and in synch with the upcoming Halloween spirit!) is purple. I like to read, write, draw, and craft, play music, do Word Finds and Scrabble puzzles, and hike daily. I love to laugh, and hug our cat, Lilac. J: When growing up, what did you want to be?  R: As far back as I can remember, I was always writing, creating rhymes and poems. That always has been just who I am. When I was in elementary school, for a brief month or two I imagined being a veterinarian would be wonderful because I loved animals and our family always had a load of pets. I used my love of writing toward songwriting aspirations and had dreams of