Your children's
book, The Adventures of Smitty looks magically. Tell us about
it.
It's the story of
a magical island of little creatures called Smilies and the mischievous little
main character, Smitty. He's such a naughty boy. Haha! All the moms and kids
I've shared it with have been giving me such a wonderful reaction. I cannot
believe it. I have to tell you how excited I am to finally have a life-long
dream come true. Writing The
Adventures of Smitty was really about
finding a story that I would want to read to my children at night. It has to be
exciting but not scary so that my two daughters can go to sleep. Basically, I
was looking for that perfect blend to read to my kids at night and decided, "Why
not try writing my own?"
We've had a lot
of changes in our life recently, so I want to make sure that when I put my
daughters to sleep that they feel safe. I have short chapters because I know
how busy we moms are but if you can just sacrifice 5 minutes at night reading to
your kids, it makes a world of difference. Your kids will never forget it. And
although we're running around the whirlwind of life, our kids grow up so fast,
and that time that we'd rather finish watching what happened in our favorite
soap opera instead of reading to our kids will never come again. I hope
that The
Adventures of Smitty and books like
it help moms do exactly that.
And it's only 99
cents this week. That's what I love about it. Now, You are recently divorced.
How have you been able to continue writing when going through such a
change?
Yes, it is by far
one of the most challenging points in my life. To see a marriage you thought
would last forever to not last forever was difficult for the two of us. I really
learned a lot about myself and most importantly, it's brought me closer to my
daughters. I think that's what really motivated me to finish this children's
book no matter what. When you're going through changes in your life like this,
you need something to hold on to. There's a part of you that wants to prove that
you can make it, that you will be a success even if it's not with the partner
you originally imagined building a life with. I had to keep writing, for my
kids. I want to show them that they have to keep strong, no matter
what.
We as women, as
moms really need to stick together to support each other and our dreams. We're
living in an age when I think we're finally realizing, although we want love,
the men in our life aren't the answer to everything. We have to stand up on our
own two feet and keep going. True love will happen, but until then, we have to
keep moving forward. Our children depend on us and we depend on
us.
In addition to
being a children's book author, you're also a small business owner. How do you
juggle taking care of two daughters and at the same time running a
business?
Yes, I am a
fashion designer and have a retail store. Any type of creativity is what I'm
passionate about. That's why writing The
Adventures of Smitty was so important
to me. Let me tell you, running a small business in today's economy isn't easy
especially when raising two girls at the same time. But somehow, it seems
someone's watching over me because my dreams are coming true no matter what. To
have that many moms glowing about my children's book, means so much to
me. And I know my girls are proud.
When do you ever
have time to write?
You mean, in
between laundry, running a business, chasing my girls around the house, cleaning
the house, and flying back and forth from Miami to New York? Haha? That's one thing I've learned, when you
really want to do something, you find a way. Things fall into place if you just
go for it and that's what I want to encourage all the moms who are reading this
right now. Whatever your goal is, you can do it. Don't let the challenges in
your personal life stop you from going for your dreams. Just go for it and it's
almost magical how things fall into place.
Where can we get
a copy of "The Adventures of Smitty"?
Right now, it's
available online by going to: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94655 You can also
visit my website:http://www.AnnaDeskins.com where you can
read more about my writing process, my recommendations for other books and my
own adventures in Mommyhood.
I'm so grateful
for your support and the support I'm getting from so many wonderful moms who
dream of writing children's books one day too. Writing The
Adventures of Smitty has been such an
emotional experience for me, a true journey as I was going through so many
changes while writing it. It's truly been a blessing in my life. It, along
with my daughters, and that guy upstairs have really pulled me through a
challenging time.
Thanks for the
interview, Anna.
