A Conversation With Donald Slater & Kenny Shaw Authors of It's A Brand New Day
Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2007
by ngoldman
Norm Goldman
Authors: Donald Leslie Slater and Kenny D. Shaw
ISBN: 978-1-4327-1398-0
Good day Donald and Kenny and thanks for participating in our interview.
Norm:
What are your backgrounds in children's literature?
Donald & Kenny:
Our backgrounds are not in formal academia. Our experiences come from each being a father, a generation apart but each seeking to nourish self esteem in our children through redeeming literature and family heritage.
Norm:
Please tell our readers what motivated you to write It’s A Brand New Day?
Donald & Kenny:
We are in unison in wanting to improve every child’s sense of self confidence and self esteem. We see nature’s complexity and diversity as gifts from a generous and inimitable God.
We want children to see and value nature for its true beauty and significance. In addition, we feel that parents have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in the outcome of a child’s life effecting the stability of their child’s sense of self confidence and feelings of being significant.
We see the importance of parents taking time right now, not some day, to impart elements of love, faith and family values into their child’s life. With input such as this a child is better equipped to maintain a solid sense of self when encountering the myriad of temptations that present-day society presents.
In addition, it is literally shocking to see how short a window parent(s) have to imprint these elements of the heart and mind into their child before the whir of sophisticated marketing and society morals take over and potentially change everything a parent may have hoped for or intended for their child.
Norm:
Is there an underlying message in your book for kids?
Donald & Kenny:
The message of our book can be augmented, multiplied if parent(s) will focus on creating time together with their child to bond and read together, to discover together the beauty that our loving Creator has placed all around us.
When a child has the luxury of being surrounded by love, life’s most meaningful gift, it sets the tone for their entire life. This will have a direct and positive effect on the shaping of the child’s personality and aspirations.
Norm:
What was the most difficult thing that you encountered while writing your book?
Donald & Kenny:
Donald’s poem "It’s a Brand New Day " is in both English and Spanish. Translating Donald’s poem into Spanish required the able assistance of a colleague and he had his hands full to translate certain words adequately. The Life Lessons section of the book is in English.
Norm:
Was writing your work improvisational or did you have a prior set plan when you put pen to paper?
Donald & Kenny:
That’s a very good question Norm. Donald’s poem came to him, through him. In our opinion, it is a gift from God to be shared.
When Donald handed me his beautiful poem “It’s a Brand New Day" a step-by-step process seemed to reveal itself. Revelations came days and weeks apart but literally just in time as a matter of fact.
Many people have various passions, talents or directions they delve into. Many of my passions enjoyed over the past 25 years seemed to very naturally present gems, almost like they were orchestrated long before today.
Photography, original music compositions, writing the Life Lessons section of the book all seemed to dovetail into a nice experience, one worthy to share. The defining starting point of all of these elements coming together into this book was undoubtedly started by Donald writing the poem “It’s a Brand New Day." This is an artistic collaboration that feels right and shines brightly from within both of us.
Norm:
Whom do you believe will benefit from your book and why? As a follow up, what are your hopes for your book?
Donald & Kenny:
We feel that every child and family will benefit from the book because it is about love and love is the most powerful tool available to each of us. If love, kindness, respect for others can be shared early in a child’s life we feel it will imprint and become part of what the child will one day share with their own child.
We feel that we can encourage, lift and launch one heart, mind and soul at a time when parents will do their utmost to impart love and leadership in their child’s life. Once the fruits of time spent like this take root, the child will be better equipped to handle the life that awaits them.
We hope our book will bring an increased awareness and appreciation of the beauty that surrounds each of us and we hope the world will value ever more the generosity our Creator demonstrates by having given these amazing living gifts of love to each one of us, big and small.
Norm:
I understand It’s A Brand New Day is filled with natural scenes and wildlife. Which one of you was responsible for this aspect of the book and how did you go about blending in these scenes with the book’s words?
Donald & Kenny:
Here’s a meaningful tidbit about Donald. He was a respected ranger, caring for the trails and habitat of the desert and his affinity for nature helped to distill the words he was blessed with in his Poem. Once he handed the poem to me a progression of visually matching the archives of my decades-long photography passion began.
Searching to appoint the stanzas before me with a worthy image took many man hours. There were treasures of photographs that some day would find their purpose and this book, at last, is the perfect medium.
Renowned sculptor Ron Head of Scottsdale, Arizona allowed me to use three of his sculptures as backgrounds in various sections and very capable stock photographers’ shots filled in beautifully when my images didn’t fit the definition of a stanza. Credits are on the last text page of the book.
Norm:
I also understand that the book comes with an optional CD of songs. Who wrote the songs and how are they related to the book’s text?
Donald & Kenny:
Donald wrote the beautiful poem “It’s a Brand New Day" and it is really a poem for all time. He blessed me, Kenny with the gift of turning it into melody and song in my digital studio.
Track by track, instrument by instrument, vocal by vocal, the song came to life and we felt in our hearts and souls that the song is worthy of the words Donald was blessed with. We hope children will sing them coast to coast. It became song number one of the four songs on the optional CD.
Believe it or not, the second song on the optional CD “Lord of Love" was written by Kenny in 1983 but I felt compelled to rewrite a verse and the chorus in 2006 prior to having any knowledge that Donald would ask me to convert the poem “It’s a Brand New Day" into song.
The third song “Master of the Universe" is a pretty worldly song and the forth song “A Song that Has No End" was written to honor the love my parents shared getting six of us kids through all of the stages of life. Excerpt: “only now we have a baby so it’s my turn to sing, the songs you sang for me and some day she will sing the songs you sang for me and we will know the meaning of A Song that Has No End."
Norm:
What has been your experience with self-publishing, as I believe It’s A Brand New Day is self-published.
Donald & Kenny:
Speaking in present tense, this is an invigorating process, augmented by the fact that we know it will enhance people’s lives so we are driven to learn, share, excel so all of us, authors and readers and the children listening or reading will all be blessed now not some day.
The actual process of self-publishing is a paradigm shift that enables ideas to turn into tangible literature here and now. That is powerful and unleashes so many voices that might not otherwise have the opportunity to share their skills, talents, epiphanies, knowledge, wisdom, whit and more.
This process catapults ideas, skills, divergent labours of love into a single vibrant experience that now lives between two covers and thousands of people can now experience what we were allowed to meld together. These are elements of love and value that can make a difference in how people treat each other every day, beginning today. That’s a win/win for all of us.
Norm:
Where can our readers find out more about you and It’s A Brand New Day?
Donald and Kenny:
Thank you for asking Norm. We encourage people to purchase our book through the Bookpleasures and we hope you will visit our website (which is our book’s title followed by .net) to purchase the optional companion CD or you may send in an order to the address on the outside back cover.
Norm:
Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered and what is next for Donald and Kenny?
Donald & Kenny:
If we may, we want to thank you personally for the internal drive that you possess to have created such an author-friendly website and literary-based community, complete with talented Book Reviewers. Your business is a garden for authors to grow and harvest and your readers get to feed their hunger to grow and learn so what you’ve created here has limitless redeeming value.
As for Donald and me, Donald has a new great grandson who is the apple of his eye and he has grand children, sons and daughter all get to flourish in the love and pride they share for their gem of a leader Donald L. Slater.
Donald has other writings that are works in progress that we intend to take to the next level. Kenny has another book started that will lift people’s spirits in ways that will once again leave the reader buoyed up, visually and spiritually.
Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.
Click Here to read a review of It’s A Brand New Day that was written by Kristin Pace, a reviewer for Bookpleasures.com
You can also find out more about Donald and Kenny and It’s A Brand New Day by CLICKING HERE
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