Interview with children’s author Carole P. Roman

Today’s guest is children’s book author Carole P. Roman and we’re chatting about her new young adult novel, Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex.

During her virtual book tour, Carole will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of over fifty children’s books. Whether it’s pirates, princesses, spies, or discovering the world around us, her books have enchanted educators, parents, and her diverse audience of children of all ages.

Her best-selling book, The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids: 800+ Jokes! has reached number one on Amazon in March of 2020 and has remained in the top 200 books since then.

She published Mindfulness for Kids with J. Robin Albertson-Wren.

Carole has co-authored two self-help books. Navigating Indieworld: A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing with Julie A. Gerber, and Marketing Indieworld with both Julie A. Gerber and Angela Hausman.

Carole is the CEO of a global transportation company, as well as a practicing medium.

She also writes adult fiction under the name Brit Lunden and has created an anthology of the mythical town of Bulwark, Georgia with a group of indie authors.

Writing is her passion and one of her favorite pastimes. Roman reinvents herself frequently, and her family calls her the ‘mother of reinvention.’ She resides on Long Island, near her children and grandchildren.

Welcome, Carole. Please tell us a little bit about your new release.
Here is the blurb:

Templeton Academy – the superhero high school is finally open!

The prestigious academy is recruiting the best of the best to enroll in its student body.

The school is as mysterious as it is exclusive.

Grady Whill thinks there is nothing special about him to make the grade.

However, his best friend, Aarush Patel has been selected and thinks Grady has the right stuff.

Even school bully Elwood Bledsoe is attending.

If Grady is fortunate enough to be picked, his guardian has forbidden him to attend.

Will a family secret prevent Grady from becoming the superhero he was destined to be?

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.
I adore this book. I fell in love with the characters and every time I read the book, I end up getting teary. They have doubts and challenges. They have baggage and as unbelievable as the book is, it’s a fantasy; their problems are both relatable and real.

 

Excerpt from Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex:
I’d like to say that life improved, but I’d be telling you a lie. Elwood Bledsoe continued to bully Aarush. While Aarush constantly cautioned me to rein in my reaction to him, I could not. It landed me in two more detentions, and the last one finally cost me my job at the supermarket where I bagged groceries.

“You’re coming for dinner,” Aarush informed me one afternoon.

I shook my head. “Can’t.”

Aarush neatly packed his brown bag with unfinished food and said, “You have to come over. You’re not working. Tonight they are announcing the winners of the Find My Power Essay on television. Devon Neely has to win. Imagine losing your sight and learning— ”

“Aarush, they’ll never accept a blind kid.”

“They took that girl Lydia,” he blurted.

They had indeed.

“She’s not blind,” he retorted.

I raised my eyebrow. She hardly looked like someone people expected to make it into the Temple. All I could recall was she seemed most unremarkable. Most of the kids who were accepted had a rare talent. They could run the fastest or do math without a pen or paper. I couldn’t remember what made her special.

 

Do you have any tattoos? Where? When did you get it/them? Where are they on your body?
Nope, no tattoos. But I do love them.

Is your life anything like it was two years ago?
It’s getting better now that the pandemic is over. I am social again, and it’s wonderful.

How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since 2011. I have written over 60 award-winning books. One of my books outsold every book on Amazon for a week. Nobody was more shocked than I. lol

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?
Don’t quit your day job. Join a Goodreads group and talk to other authors. Learn as much as you can.

Links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Amazon Author page | Amazon buy page

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