June 2022
SPF- the largest conference for independent authors on this side of the Atlantic, took place in June 2022 in the South Bank Center in London, and I flew in to take part.
Those were an exciting two days filled with inspiring and informative lectures and success stories of other fiction and nonfiction authors.
I got to meet many of my fellow independent authors, including Mark Dawson—whom I’m a big fan of.
“Luna is Missing” is a children’s book about love for animals and nature. It tells a little tale about the friendship between a young girl and her furry friends Luna the cat and Max the dog.
The inspiration to write this book came from the prolonged time I spent at home with my pets throughout the COVID times. I got to reconnect with my two dogs and three cats during mutual afternoon naps and long joyful walks in nature. The cat and the dog characters in the illustrations are based on my dog Bolt and my cat Toby.
How does a friendship of 20 plus years turn into a creative gift? Very naturally...
I had the honor to work with Prof. Vitali Milman on publishing several of his books on Amazon KDP platform.
Prof. Vitali Milman is a renowned mathematician and an avid art collector.
List of books:
I read this book to my 9 year old son and we both loved it. It was too long for him to read by himself, but when I read it to him he was immersed in the story.
The book tells the story of Auggie, a kid with deformed face from New York city, as he starts going to public school for the first time at the age of 10.
I love quotes. We all face challenges and difficult times, and an inspirational quote at the right moment can supply the guidance and advice to help us keep going.
Here is a list of powerful quotes that have resonated with me personally. A few of these I used in my Sean Wants to be Messi book series, and all of them are included in my soccer journals.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't—you're right.” –Henry Ford
“If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough.” –Muhammad Ali
“There is not one path. There is not even the right path. there is only your path.” –Anonymous
Behind the scenes of creating the Sean Wants To Be Messi artwork
The colorful illustrations in the books, by artist Elettra Cudignotto , were based on collages of photos I put togther.
I used photos from the internet and models in order to create the compositions I envisioned.
Feb 2018 - We earned the prestigious Moms Choice Award- for all 3 books in the series.
So now it's officially the best soccer book for boys out there :)
And definitely the best soccer gift for boys!
The Guadalajara International Book Fair is the most important publishing gathering in Latin America.
I flew to meet up with my dear friend Prentice, who lives in Mexico city, and together we took the overnight bus to Guadalajara.
The festival was an amazing cultural experience.
But no trip to Mexico is complete without a visit to the sun and moon pyramids and a Mariachi performance.
(November 2017)
