1. I hear you have animals in your children’s book. Tell us about the book, which you both wrote and illustrated.

Pudgy Possum and the Porcupine is my first book. In this book, Pudgy is fascinated with Peter Porcupine’s quills. Pudgy figures out a way to put fake quills on his back. But, when Felix Fox shows up, things don’t go very well. Just being yourself is the lesson Pudgy learns from this experience.

Pudgy Possum and the Porcupine Amazon Buy Link: https://tinyurl.com/26nc4jve

I now have 4 “Pudgy” books, and I’m working on number 5, which is 2/3rds done.

{NOTE FROM MARCIA: If you’d like to check out Kathy’s other “Pudgy” books, here’s the link to her Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/mrx5ftzj}

 

2. How did you come up with the idea of a possum and porcupine for your book?

I had written a story about Pudgy years ago when I was taking a correspondence course in children’s literature. We were milking goats at that time. One morning when I opened the grain can, I found a possum inside. I’m not sure who was more surprised, the possum or myself. So Pudgy and I have been friends for a long time. On my own, I created several Pudgy books for my grandchildren. I was very excited to get this one professionally published. I’m not sure where the porcupine idea came. Maybe it was because of the alliteration with Pudgy’s name.

Once I get the main idea for a story, the story seems to write itself. The hardest part is editing the story down to 500 words. Pudgy Possum and the Porcupine’s grandkid version was 1,500 words, so I had to do a lot of cutting. The final version was much better, so it was worth the effort. I have a list of titles for future Pudgy books, so I guess that’s where my ideas start.

 

3. Do you have pets and other animals on your farm?

I grew up on a small farm with dogs, ponies, and sheep, so I have always loved animals. My sister and I had to help buy our first pony, Skyrocket. I was 5 at the time and took half of my life savings, $1.50, for my share. My pony and my dog were my best friends. I’ve written stories about both of them, again for my grandkids.

After my husband and I got married, we started collecting animals, mostly dogs in the beginning. Once we moved to our farm, we added most farm animals that you can imagine. Someday I plan to write a novel about that whole process. It will be hysterical, because we really learned by trial and error. We had dogs, cats, horses, chickens, geese, ducks, goats, pigs, a sheep, calves, and probably something else I’ve forgotten.

Now that we are older and our kids are grown, we have downsized. We only have two dogs at the present time. But our yard is overrun with rabbits, squirrels, and even the occasional possum. My husband was tired of trying to keep the fences in good shape, so he said no more horses. In spite of the fact that I had had a horse or pony since kindergarten, I said, ‘Okay.’ But, I told him we would always have a dog. I can’t imagine life without a dog. This is Blue, not my first dog but the best:

 

4. Why did you decide to write children’s books?

I have always loved writing. I started my first book when I was in 4^th grade. It was called Mystery at Sandy Beach. I’m not sure what happened to it, but I know I never finished it. I would love to find it. I’m sure it would be a hoot to read. We had a Carnegie library in the town I grew up in. I loved the library and read extensively. I can close my eyes and still feel myself right there.

I wanted my children to love reading too, so I read to them all the time. My son was in a book club when he was 5. He got a book in the mail once a month. One of the books he got was really stupid. I’m not telling the name of it, but I thought if someone could get that book published, I ought to be able to publish one. So I took the correspondence course I mentioned earlier. Not long after that I went back to teaching.

Having a fulltime job, three children, and all those animals left little time for writing. Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House books, is my hero. She didn’t start publishing until she was 65. I figured I had time to become an author in the future. Once I retired from teaching, I started working at writing more seriously.

During the years I was teaching elementary school, I read many books to my students. That was actually my favorite part of the day. That gave me a lot of exposure to all kinds of children’s books, which I’m sure has helped my writing. The first book I ever sold was to one of my former 4^th graders! Getting grandkids was definitely an inspiration to get stories written and books made. That all led to where I am today.

 

5. Tell us about your kudos or reviews.

I will never forget when I got my first book award. I was a finalist for the Feathered Quill book awards. I was so amazed that someone liked Pudgy Possum and the Porcupine that much. I remember thinking maybe I really am good at this. I don’t always win an award when I enter my books, but I have often enough to keep my confidence up. I still have to tell myself that I am a real author. I especially appreciate my friends who wrote reviews for the back of my books.

{NOTE FROM MARCIA: Kathy just won another contest and is now a “Story Monster Approved Winner” — https://tinyurl.com/3wbj7vte — and has wonderful reviews!}

Marketing is not my strong suit. Luckily, my publishing company, Monday Creek Publishing (www.MondayCreekPublishing.com), does a wonderful job helping all of its authors with that. This is a sample of what my publisher does to help with marketing. She is awesome!

 

I do enjoy going to book fairs and meeting some of the people who like my books. I especially like the times I have gotten to go to schools to talk about being an author. The kids make me feel like a rock star.

One year at church camp, I was going to use one of my books. One of the boys there got excited, because he said that author had been to his class. He had missed meeting her because he was out sick. I was so happy to tell him I was that author. He missed the day at school but got to spend a whole week with me.

Another time I told the students that if they wrote to me, I promised to write back. Three teachers used that for a class assignment. It was two weeks before school was out. I had nearly 90 letters to answer before the end of the year, as I had no other addresses [for the students]. I did manage to get the letters finished.

 

6. Where can readers learn more about your books and connect with you online?

Like I said earlier, marketing is not my strength. I do have a Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094002676469), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kathyelasky/), and Amazon Author page (https://tinyurl.com/mrx5ftzj) for Pudgy, but I’m not good at keeping them updated, something for me to work on. I am also available on Barnes and Noble. Doing a web search for Pudgy or me should get you to us. I did a search once and was surprised about all the places that offered my book. I’m not sure how that works, but I’m delighted for people to have access in any way possible.

I am happy to have people email me at kathyelasky@yahoo.com or call me at 740/541-1363. I promise to respond, just maybe not 90 emails in two weeks. If you contact me about mailing you a book, I’d be happy to sign it.

 

WIN a Pudgy Possum and the Porcupine book!

Kathy will gift one lucky commenter on her interview a copy of her first book. So don’t forget to comment!

 

MARCIA: Thank you, Kathy, for being my May interviewee!

MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!

Each month, I’ll randomly pick one blog commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!