Question: I see that you write children’s books, suspense/thriller novels, and have written faith-based books and educational things as well.  Are there other genres you would like to write in sometime?

Before writing this I took a quick look at my “Big Writing List”, the list I keep with all of the ideas I would really like to write as a book, short story, article, game, or script. That list is now 54 pages long in Word, using an 11 point font. But, I’ve not updated it since last week, so I’m guessing it is more like 56 or 57. Scanning through it, there are more suspense/thriller novels, some old “noir” type “detective” stories, serious and not so serious, comedies, lost more things for young folks, even some some poetry and songs here and there. My hunch is most every other genre is on there somewhere, too. Except for horror. I don’t find any ideas I’ve put on the list for horror stories. I guess I’ve never been much of a fan of that genre; I’m not against it or anything, but just haven’t found myself enjoying it all that much.

But, to answer the question, sometime I would like to try to write something in science fiction, with some humor in it. Keeping the humor idea, I someday I am going to write a collection of stories about some of my, in my opinion, more interesting family members. I’d like to do that in a style similar to the James Thurber stories. Before too much longer I am going to write my first mid-elementary chapter book, maybe a couple of those, as well as a first one for older, teen-types. I have a collection of stories written over the years about family, and specifically the adventure of parenting, and I think I would enjoy turning those into a book. A year ago I started what I thought was going to be an ongoing series about Hap Shuman, but the rest of the world got busy and Hap just made it through two chapters and is yelling for more. I have ideas for more faith-based books, as well as another dozen or so picture books for early readers and listeners.

With that said, I made the decision last night which book is coming next. Before I start the fourth Emily Graham book and the fourth Skwerdlock book, I am going to spend a bit of time in non-fiction again. It’s something I’ve had on the list for quite a while, and I think it’s time to get it done.  More soon.

Overall, regardless of the genre, the goal is to write good stories that will create an experience for my learners instead of just another book to read. The focus is on the power of story.

Thanks for asking!