Author Spotlight June 2021
Author Spotlight 2021
Book
Review
“Ishkabibble unafraid”- I read
this book and overall found it was an interesting idea and a good play on the
famous saying that kids are told “That monsters live in their closets or under
the bed.” That
concept made this book surprising and rather interesting. The illustration by
Jack Foster were incredibly good and used simple colors and shapes to bring the
main character to life. Yet. I found that the book had several forced rhymes
and might be confusing for some children. It also lacked what we call a story
arc where the main character goes through a full circle and grows in some way.
In general, this book could be fun read, but it certainly needs some
development and clarity. Also, many picture books I have read while working as
a free-lance book reviewer for Scholastic for two years were not written with
moral lessons but written to be just fun stories. I would give this one three stars.
Cindi Handley Goodeaux lives in Florida with her husband and muse. She is a
proud mom, graphic designer wannabe, and sometime poet. She is a member of the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and a professional
member of the Cat Writers Association (CWA). Crimson Cloak Publishing publishes
her children’s books.
As a lifelong disability advocate, she serves on the board of her employer’s
disability affinity group, advocating for rights for people with disabilities
(PWD) in the workplace and statewide.
Cindi is the author of six children’s books, with a seventh currently being
illustrated. Her Jellibean Adventures series seeks to normalize disabilities
for children. She accomplishes this through positive characters with invisible
and visible disabilities and simple language that correlates things like
“dancing on feet or wheels”, and “singing out loud or signing with happy
hands”. Grandpa Moon is a healing story that can help families with small
children coping with loss. Her book Bunky & Lulu: Find Their Place shows
that perseverance pays off and everyone has a purpose in this life.
Her most recent book is Ishkabbible Unafraid, a story about a monster afraid
of children that encounters a human afraid of monsters. Ishkabibble Unafraid is
a fun rhyming story about overcoming fears and making new friends that differ
from us. Aside from her children’s books, Cindi has an eBook collection of her
poetry on Amazon Kindle.
Cindi’s book Mama’s Map: Jellibean Adventures Book 2 won a Certificate of
Excellence from the Cat Writers Association. A lifelong lover of the written
word, Cindi often finds herself working with various boards of directors and
editing newsletters. She was the newsletter editor of two clown organizations,
one local and one regional. She is the editor for her employer’s departmental
newsletter and has written as a cub reporter for their internal news channel
and blog.
Her dream to become a published author began at 12 years old after an
anthology included a poem she had written. It was then that the dream of
holding a book in her hands with her name on the cover was born.
In another life, Cindi was a professional clown by the name of Giggle
Blossom. She worked hard to create an approachable and non-threatening
character that was based on a 6–8-year-old child. It was during this time that
she rediscovered the magical world of children. She loved viewing the world
through the eyes of a child and found this would later provide inspiration for
her stories.
Last year, she started a small business, WriteCute Author Services, serving
the author community as a copyeditor and graphic designer. She has designed
bookmarks, activity books, business cards, and more. Cindi loves to find fresh
ways to help authors promote their hard work. To promote her own, Cindi has
handmade necklaces, hair clips, and backpack charms that feature her
characters. She has a natural talent for finding creative and inexpensive
marketing methods. Cindi’s next book in line to be published is The Art of
Friendship, book 4 in the Jellibean Adventures series.
Interview
As a child, I discovered poetry
written from my father to my mother and felt inspired to write my own. One of
my poems was published in an anthology when I was 12, and the dream to become
an author was born!
2. If you can go back in time
and meet someone who would that person be and why? Leonardo da Vinci.
He was so talented in so many areas! A true multi-passionate creative! I would
love to spend time in his presence and think we could have challenged and
inspired each other creatively.
3. Who was the biggest
inspiration in your own life? My husband is legally blind and uses a
white cane. He is also an amazing amateur chef, handy man, web designer, and
can build computers. He is my muse and has encouraged me since he discovered my
dream of holding a book in my hands with my name on the cover.
4. If you can change something
in your past, what would be? Early on I got it in my head that the
only way to be published is to pay to subsidize. This sidelined my dream for
many years and eventually lead to me being the victim of fraud.
5. Tell us a bit about your
current business and what does it do? Besides working a full-time job
for the last 23 years at the same employer, I have started a side business as a
copy editor and graphic designer. I offer my services to my fellow authors and
have a lot of fun reading their stories and helping them find creative ways to
market their book!
6. Talk about the process or
routine you go through before you write each book? Even though I write
fiction, I do a great deal of research before I put pen to paper (or fingers to
keys). When I wrote a STEM book, I researched for months on end and really took
a deep dive into the topic to ensure an authentic story.
7. What wise words of wisdom can
you give to inspiring writers? Writing is non-linear. You do not have
to write a book from start to finish. Write the middle, write the end, cut part
of the story out and rewrite the ending. It is what you want to make of it!
8. Are you working on any new
projects right now, and what are you plans for the future? I have the
fourth book in my Jellibean Adventures series being illustrated that will
release in the coming months and am editing another book that will come out in
the next year. I have also started writing my first book or adults that is a
romantic self-help story.
9. Share one inspirational story
that happened in your life and tell us how this event changed you? I
almost died in 1993 from a mystery illness. I said that if I lived, I would
work to live a more positive life. That journey has not been easy, and it took
me years before I really took that challenge seriously. I started by forcing
myself to give genuine compliments to people with whom I crossed paths. That
was difficult since it felt unnatural and went against my otherwise negative
mindset. What it did was get me outside of my head and help me see the good in
all. Complimenting is now my superpower. I love to see the way a simple kind
word can light up someone’s face.
10. What advice can you give to your community, family,
and friends? Anything else you want to share with us. Life is too
short to waste your time thinking about what you will do when you lose weight,
when you get more money, or when you have more free time. Start with the here
and now. Everyone is born with a spark of something in them that contributes to
the world. Find out what that is and give it generously! The world needs your
light!
Thanks so much for spending some time with us.
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