Official Interview: Great Aunt Rita

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Official Interview: Great Aunt Rita

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Today's Chat with Sarah features Great Aunt Rita author of Roarasaurus.

Official Review

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1. What do you do when you aren't writing?

I spend time with family and friends. I walk or treadmill a lot; have a personal trainer; read; do yoga; knit; paint; and watch TV.

2. Let's talk about your book Roarasaurus. Why did you decide to write a children's book? The reviewer mentions it was based on a true story. Can you tell us more about that?

I never planned on writing a children’s book. Because everything in Roarasaurus The Roaring, Soaring Dinosaur all really happened, the book just evolved on its own.

I bought my 5 year-old great-nephew Jake a birthday present — a toy dinosaur. But when we started playing with it, instead of walking and talking, it took off roaring and soaring, leaving my great-nephew Jake and great-niece Elina terrified.

Even when the batteries were removed from that naughty toy, it kept roaring and soaring. That's when we appropriately named it Roarasaurus The Roaring Soaring Dinosaur.

For three days, that dino roared and soared on my porch, but when I took it to the store to return it, as I walked in the door, the roaring and soaring just stopped! However, the nice salesman believed that the dinosaur had been misbehaving, so he gave me my money back.

When the holidays came, Jake told me his mother had bought him the SAME toy dinosaur!!! When I heard that, I knew we had to write this story up, because you couldn’t make this story up!

So, Roarasaurus The Roaring Soaring Dinosaur basically wrote itself! And now, all the children of the world can learn how this uncontrollable toy dinosaur got tamed. Also, writing my books, is how I spent my time during Covid.

3. What was it like working with an illustrator? Did the illustrations come out as you wanted?

I got the name of my illustrator Mike Sofka from a friend. I was told he had worked at Pixar. He was great and I couldn’t be happier with the illustrations. The illustrations make ROARASAURUS come alive! The colors he picked make the story so much fun!

4. Is there a main message you wanted children to walk away with?

ROARASAURUS the toy dino went rogue, roaring and soaring around the house, scaring Elina and Jake. When Jake followed his mother’s advice to, “make friends with it. Each of us, even a toy dinosaur, needs a friend. Spend time with it. Listen to it. Show it some good loving, and hug it a bunch.” This is a good lesson for children. Making new friends is important and understanding each other with love can help create new friendships.

5. What did your family think of the book?

My family, including Elina, Jake and their mother, loved the book. Of course, they lived through the true event, and loved to see the story in print. In fact, we all got T-shirts with a picture of the cover of the book.

6. What was the most difficult part of the writing and publishing process? What's been most rewarding?

I knew nothing about publishing a children’s book. I had to “fly by the seat of my pants”. Found out early, it is easier to self-publish, so I spent alot of time evaluating self-publishers online. Learning what self-publishing entails was probably the hardest part of the process. Also, marketing the book is a whole new field for me and quite eye-opening. Another difficult part of the process was that I am not so computer-literate. I had to learn more about how to use the computer, which took a lot of time, but was worth it in the end. The most REWARDING part of publishing ROARASAURUS was seeing the book in print and hearing praise for it. It got great reviews (several 4 out of 4 and several 5 out of 5). I am so pleased with how it came out.

7. What's next? It looks like you've written a second children's book?

I have also self-published another book THE TOOTH FAIRY MAKES A MISTAKE, (Outskirts Press) and it is based “loosely” on a true story. This book has been described as an "Awesome, brilliant, amazing“ children’s book, where the "author did a brilliant job”. It shows even the Tooth Fairy makes a mistake by hitting the $50 button, instead of the $5 button, and how this mistake gets corrected. Michael (named after another great-nephew of mine), faces a choice — should he keep the shiny new bike he bought with his windfall or let the White Fairy Rat set things straight? This book has unique illustrations with vivid colors that were described as a ‘’treat for the eyes” drawn by Victor Guiza. The illustrations really make the book special.

I am also in the process of self-publishing another book LET’S GO, WE WANT TO GO! One family vacation, my great-niece Elina and my great-nephew Jake stood by the door in the morning and said, "Let’s Go, We Want to Go!” So, I decided to write a book about all the places I took them to like the beach, zoo, circus, art museum, festival, aquarium, and science museum. This way, we have a written memory of all the places we went, and how much fun we had.

I like to end with fun questions.

8. What was your favorite children's story growing up?


My favorite children’s story growing up was Winnie The Pooh. I would say to my mother, "READ IT AGAIN, AGAIN, READ IT AGAIN!”

9. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I grew up, I wanted to study science to find out how the world works. I guess it worked out as I became a physician and helped many people get well.

10. What's your favorite time of year?

My favorite time of year is spring-summer-fall. Guess what my least favorite time of year is!!

11. Water, milk, coffee, tea, soda or pop?

Water, of course!
A book is a dream you hold in your hands.
—Neil Gaiman
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