Hi everyone, after a whirlwind of an October, I am welcoming a guest poster from Silver Dagger today to my blog.
This is a interview with author, Sherry Ellis, who is speaking about their latest book, The Legend of the Lost Pearls.
Welcome to my blog. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network
What inspired you to write this book? Bubba and Squirt’s The Legend of the Lost Pearls is
the final book of the Bubba and Squirt Adventure series. The first book, Bubba and Squirt’s Big
Dig to China was inspired when I was a kid trying to dig a hole to China from Florida. I wondered
what could happen if I succeeded. The rest of the books in the series were either set in places
I’ve visited or places that interest me. Legend of the Lost Pearls is the latter.
What can we expect from you in the future? Good question. I wrote another picture book
manuscript called Happy Birthday to US! I sent it to an agent and entered it into a writing
contest. We’ll see what happens with that. I am playing with the idea of writing an adult or YA
novel—historical fiction, set during the time of the Civil War. The working title is Return to
Sapelo. I’m still in the research stage.
Do you have any “side stories” about the characters? Bubba and Squirt are roughly based
on my two kids who are now adults. I started writing these Bubba and Squirt stories when they
were about 7 years old.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Bubba and Squirt’s The Legend of the
Lost Pearls? Bubba is a precocious fourth-grader, and his sister Squirt is a responsible sixth-
grader. Throughout the Bubba and Squirt series, both characters grow. Squirt gains confidence
and Bubba learns to be more responsible and not so impetuous. Other characters are people
Bubba and Squirt meet on their journey and some creatures from Japanese mythology.
How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book? I thought it would be
fitting to end the Bubba and Squirt series in Japan, since that’s where the father had been doing
his magic show during the second book, Bubba and Squirt’s Mayan Adventure. It was also
another Asian country, and I thought it might be fun to compare and contrast China and Japan.
Where did you come up with the names in the story? Bubba and Squirt were nicknames for
my kids when they were little. I got the names of the Japanese characters by Googling
Japanese names and picked a few that sounded good.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book? Learning about Japanese mythology.
Most of us know a lot about Greek mythology, because that’s what we learn in school. (I covered
that in my last book, Bubba and Squirt’s Shield of Athena.) But we don’t learn much about
Japanese mythology. In my opinion, it’s just as colorful.
Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick? Bubba is always up for an
adventure. He loves joking around and often gets himself into sticky situations because he has
trouble controlling himself. Squirt is the cautious one, and she feels great responsibility in
looking after her younger brother.
How did you come up with the title of your first novel? When I was an eight-year-old kid
living in Florida, I tried digging a hole to China. Of course it didn’t work. The hole quickly filled
with water. But this was the inspiration for my first novel, which is called Bubba and Squirt’s Big
Dig to China.
Who designed your book covers? Dancing Lemur Press’s in-house illustrator designed all the
Bubba and Squirt book covers.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? At this
point, no. But inevitably as time goes on, I may reread it and say, “Darn, I wish I would’ve have
done this differently.”
Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book? Every time I write a book
that requires research, I learn something. The writing of Bubba and Squirt’s The Legend of the
Lost Pearls was no exception. I learned more about Japanese culture and customs, as well as
some interesting stories about Japanese mythology. And of course, I learned some Japanese
words and how to make a recipe called mugitoro which you can find in the book.
If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead? Maxim Swinton
might be a good choice to play Bubba. He’s a funny kid.
Anything specific you want to tell your readers? Even though the intended audience for the
Bubba and Squirt books is for middle-grade readers, many adults have told me they enjoyed the
stories and learned a lot by reading them. They also enjoyed trying the recipes included in the
books. I’d like to add that teacher guides can be found on my websites. If you don’t see one for
my recently-released books, come back. I’m still working on them and will have them up soon.
How did you come up with name of this book? The Legend of the Lost Pearls is taken from
Japanese mythology. Two demigod brothers got in a fight related to tide jewels—pearls with the
power to raise and lower the tides. After the pearls were lost, tsunamis and other horrible natural
disasters began to happen. The story I created in Bubba and Squirt’s Legend of the Lost Pearls
is very much based on that story with my own Bubba and Squirt twists.
What is your favorite part of this book and why? I like when the frogs come to life. It’s
completely unexpected and turns the story into an underwater fantasy. I also had fun with some
of the humorous dialog between the frogs and Squirt.
If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what
would you do during that day? Well, I kinda did spend time with characters in my book:
Bubba and Squirt. If I could turn back time and have my kids be Bubba and Squirt’s age again,
I’d probably take them on one of our adventures. We used to pick places we’d never seen and
visit them. Places like gardens, museums, farms, Indian settlements, historical sites, etc. Then
we’d have to stop for ice cream. It’s the best treat after an adventure.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your
imagination? Bubba and Squirt are based off of my children who are now all grown up.
Grandpa Joe is based off of my dad. Great-great grandpa Jacob was a great-grandfather of
Bubba and Squirt’s dad. I’m the mom. The rest of the characters are completely fictitious.
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the
story? For The Legend of the Lost Pearls, I felt I had the reins of the story. It wasn’t the case for
the third and fourth books of the series. They were doing whatever, and I was along for the ride.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read. All of the books in the Bubba and
Squirt series are educational. Even adults reading them learn something. I think Japan is a
fascinating country and a pretty cool destination for the last book of the series. This one is the
most action-packed of all. There’s no shortage of monsters and terrifying situations! Of course,
if you’ve read the previous books in the series, you absolutely must read this one to find out
what happens to Bubba and Squirt’s dad and see how it all ends.
Have you written any other books that are not published? Yes. I have two picture books that
are not published: Happy Birthday to US, a patriotic book, and Chickens Sleep on Sunday, a
days-of-the-week book. I’ve written a bunch of other stories, but they are probably not worthy of
publication. LOL!
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be? Cherry blossom. When I think of Japan, I
always think of Japanese cherry blossom trees. So picturesque!
What did you edit out of this book? I don’t think there were any scenes edited out of the
book, but there were plenty of overused words. “That,” was one of them.
Is there a writer whose brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and
why? I’d say Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Tree House series. I’d love to know how
her books became wildly successful, learn her marketing tips, and find out how she managed to
come up with so many stories without getting tired of it.
Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or
the writing process of the book. I write all my stories by hand in a notebook before I type
them into a Word document. It’s a long process but doing it this way allows for an additional
editing round. I also enjoy putting a pencil to paper. Another interesting thing about this book, is
that it is the only one of the series that I had not written any part of the story before the first
book, Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China was published. All the rest had been partially written.
