Monday 8 September 2014

Guest Author Interview - David Paul

Monday means that it's Guest Author Interview day! This week I am joined by David Paul to talk about himself and his latest release 'Snippy the Square Backed Snail: The playground hero'. Discover more below:


Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?My name is David Paul. I've spent my whole life passionately working with all types of "art". I have sold hundreds of oil paintings, dabbled in just about everything.

What first inspired you to start writing?
I think one of the most rewarding things I have experienced with my art, is to see it make a positive impact in other people's lives. Sadly, I was at a viewing with a friend who had recently passed away. I noticed my painting was sitting next to him. The family told me a story that I will never forget. They told me the painting meant so much to him, that he held my painting in his hands while he was passing. Often he would just sit and stare at my painting, and it would give him a lot of comfort during hard times. Knowing that was the last thing that he held, and knowing that it gave him comfort, as he was passing really warmed my heart, which, to me, makes it's all worthwhile. 

And where did the idea for Snippy the Square Back Snail come from?
I first wrote Snippy the Square Back Snail about 10 years ago, when I found out my niece was autistic. I knew she was feeling different than other children and would have to find a way to understand her beauty inside. Her mother, who was a volunteer at the school, would read my story to the kids and they would beg to have it read over and over. The feeling you get when you know you've helped children feel good about themselves is addicting. It took me a while to get into publishing my stories, but now that I have I'm hooked.

What is your favourite word?
My favorite word is "why". I think sometimes we never get to the solution of the issues we face because we are always focused on the problem. 


If you could spend a day with anyone from history, who would it be and why?
If I could spend time with anyone in history it would be Jesus Christ. I feel he could tell me things that no one else ever could. He has always inspired me to do my best.


What challenges do you face when writing a story for children?
My biggest challenge with writing is spelling and grammar. Thank goodness my wife helps me with that. We make a great team. I'm the creative artist who draws and write stories and she structures them for me. My next biggest challenge is finding time alone to do it. I think I'm going tape a "Do Not Disturb" sign on my door from now on.

What do you find most rewarding with your writing??
When I received my first book in print, "Snippy the Square Back Snail" I was thrilled. Nothing really described seeing all your hard work finally put together in a book. When I see children completely absorbed in the pages of my book it always gives me such a rush! I hear stories of children begging their parents to read my story to them over and over again and, it just feeds the fuel I need to continue writing and drawing more books. 


What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
My advice to struggling authors is this. Writing children's books is a rewarding and hard road. It is not a get rich quick option for most. What helps me, is to focus on my goal, which for me is, to enrich the lives of children who read my stories. There's nothing more rewarding to me than to watch children enjoy my books. Don't ever give up on your dreams. Leaving my books for my children's children when I'm gone, is reward enough for me.


What are you working on at the moment?
I have quite a few stories that I'm working on right now. I have an educational coloring book for kids to enjoy that ties in with the Snippy the Square Back Snail story. I also have a new story called Morend-Master of the Rainbows end. It is a fairy tale about a whale that has special powers. The kids learn a valuable lesson of friendship and unconditional love for others. I also have a bully book being published this Halloween 2014, that has a magical twist in it. Includes a witch and a man who is cursed by the witch by turning into a tall clumsy pumpkin man every Halloween. The pumpkin man helps a little girl who gets bullied by his pumpkin patch. I'm very excited to see these in print.


Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
All my books are published through Createspace in Amazon. You can find Snippy the Square Back Snail on amazon.com in print and kindle format.

Click here to buy Snippy the Square Backed Snail from Amazon US / Amazon UK

No comments:

Post a Comment