I characterize my genre as creative nonfiction. I chose it because it demystifies challenging subjects for children and makes them approachable, interesting, and fun. It appeals to me because it allows me to share my lessons learned as an adult with the next generation, our future.
What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?
The most challenging aspect of the writing process for me is finding the time to do it. I am the CEO of a children’s media company and the mother of three young children. That doesn’t leave a lot of extra time to write. I’ve written all my books on long-haul flights. I’m heading to Venice (to celebrate a milestone birthday) and Bologna (to attend the book fair) in April, so I’m planning to generate a draft of my next title soon!
What have you learned about promoting your books?
Authenticity sells.
What are you most proud of as a writer?
My kids dig my books.
If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
I’d love to have dinner with Kwame Alexander because he’s talented, charismatic, inspirational, and funny; and he exudes positive mojo. I think we’d talk about being entrepreneurs—the good, the bad, and the ugly—our children, the cast of (wild) characters that is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (scbwi), and the project we’ll work on together to make the world a better place(!). I hold out hope that this might actually happen at the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Publishing University in Salt Lake City in April. Kwame is a keynote speaker, and I will have the honor of sitting on a panel with him. As I like to say . . . live your dream!
Author Bio
Rana DiOrio has written her way through life–as a student, a lawyer, an investment banker, a private equity investor, and now as an author and publisher of children’s media. Her interests include practicing yoga, reading non-fiction and children’s literature, dreaming, effecting positive change, and, of course, being global, green, present, and safe. She lives in San Francisco, California with her three Little Pickles.
Emma D.Dryden lives in the home in which she grew up in New York City, where she was raised by entrepreneurs. Her father was a self-employed actor and her mother a self-employed writer/researcher. A longtime children’s book editor and publisher, Emma spent over twenty years working at a large publishing company before starting her own children’s book editorial and publishing consultancy firm, drydenbks LLC, in 2010. Books Emma has edited have won numerous awards, she’s an Advisory Board member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, and she speaks extensively on the art and craft of writing for children. Her blog, “Our Stories, Ourselves”, explores the connections between the human experience and the writing experience, and What Does It Mean To Be An Entrepreneur? is her debut picture book. Visit Emma at www.drydenbks.com.
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Buy Links
http://www.littlepicklepress.com/product/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-entrepreneur/
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781939775122