Last week, Laura Sassi visited my blog and shared about her new book, My Tender Heart Devotions. Everyone who commented on that post had their name put in the hat – er, pretty purple bowl – and I closed my eyes, spun them around, and pulled out the winner.
The winner is . . .
KIM A LARSON!
Come on down, Kim! Congratulations! Please message me with your mailing address so Laura can send you a copy when My Tender Heart Devotions comes out on October 1!
Thank you, everyone, for your kind comments and for visiting this blog. If you did not win a copy, you can find it at Paraclete Press, Amazon, and other places where books are sold.
If you missed out on the author interview, you can read it here.
Thank you, everyone! And thank you, Laura, for sharing your new book with us! Congratulations!!
Today I’m blessed to have author Laura Sassi stopping by for a visit! She’s going to share about her new book, My Tender Heart Devotions, which is coming out on October 1 from Paraclete Press. Be sure to read to the bottom to learn about your opportunity to win a copy of My Tender Heart Devotions!
Now, let’s get right to it!
Welcome, Laura! I’m so excited to have you visit today. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a former teacher and children’s ministry director who is now blessed to be able to spend my days writing books, poems, and other pieces that offer messages of hope, faith and joy for little ones and the grown-ups who love them. My books include Goodnight, Ark, Love is Kind, Little Ewe, Bunny Finds Easter, Happy Birthday Christmas Child and the My Tender Heart series. I live in New Jersey with my husband, two young adult kids and a sweet little cockapoo named Sophie. And, every day, rain or shine, in my living room or on my porch, I write! I also love visiting schools, churches and more with a variety of book-themed programs.
It’s so nice to meet you and learn more about your life.
I did a Book Share on my blog about your last book, My Tender Heart Prayer Book, back in January. Tell us about your newest book, My Tender Heart Devotions. It is gorgeous!
Thank you, Angie. My Tender Heart Devotions is the third in the My Tender Heart series. Clocking in at 112 pages (my longest book yet!), it’s a collection of 52 age-appropriate devotions for little ones. Each fully illustrated devotion includes an opening poem about a fun, kid-friendly topic followed by a short message that includes a Bible passage, a “Heart Moment” activity, and a prayer. It’s the kind of devotional I wish I’d had to read with my own kids when they were small — so I decided to write one!
So amazing! I’m saving My Tender Heart Prayer Book for my new grandbaby, and I think he/she will need My Tender Heart Devotions as well!
My Tender Heart Devotions is published by Paraclete Press. Tell us more about your book series with them and how you connected with Paraclete Press.
The My Tender Heart Series consists of three books. The first to release was My Tender Heart Bible, a collection of 12 rhyming Bible stories that all point to God’s redemptive love. Each is paired with a Scripture citation and a Heart Moment of response. My Tender Heart Prayer Bookserves as a companion but with a focus on prayer. It contains 23 prayers to take a young child through the day and foster conversations with God. Like the Bible each prayer concludes with a Heart Moment of connection and response. That Heart Moment carries through to the Devotions as well because when we encounter God’s love and God’s truth we can’t help but respond with our whole heart!
As for Paraclete Press, I had seen and admired their books for children. And when I read their mission statement, I knew that we shared the same heart for God. It reads:
“In all times, in different branches of the Christian family, there are people who have written or sung or spoken things that encouraged us to give our lives to God and to listen to His voice. At Paraclete Press, we gather and share these treasures.”
I LOVE this! What a beautiful connection!
Laura, I love how My Tender Heart Devotions is going to be the perfect gift for little ones! I have a new grandbaby coming in December, and I know this baby and the parents need a copy! (I’m trying really hard not to say he or she, since the reveal party is AFTER this blog post!) The 52-week schedule is exactly right. Share more about how you decided on this format and what you include in each devotional spread.
Actually, when I started the project, it was for forty devotions, but then as I got rolling, I realized I had enough for fifty. But, then I thought, don’t stop there! Make it fifty-two so that there can be one for each week of the year. But even though there are fifty-two, they are not dated and they can be read and enjoyed in any order. In fact, the book includes a handy topical index at the end so the devotions can be paired with a particular theme or situation in a child’s life.
As for the format for each spread, I thought about what I, as a parent of young children, would want the components to be and went from there. Thus, each devotional spread includes a title, a Bible citation (so children can practice digging directly into Scripture), a fun poem that serves as the spark for the devotion, an anchor verse (so tired parents don’t necessarily have to look up the verse right then and there), a short kid-friendly message that links it all together with God’s Word in an applicable way, and a Heart Moment of response.
Here are two examples from the book:
I really like all you have included with each devotion. Every family should be able to choose and adjust to what their young ones need and can handle at any given time.
Your author voice is just right for this book. And Sandra’s illustrations are a perfect match. How did the two of you hook up? How much feedback do you give Sandra? Did you send art notes? I must say, you make a great team!
Thank you so much. I totally agree about Sandra’s darling illustrations and think they are a lovely match to the text. She is amazing! The team at Paraclete Press paired us together.
In terms of art notes, editors really discourage including art notes in a manuscript unless absolutely necessary. That being said, for the Devotions I did send my editor a couple of photos in the hopes that Sandra might use them for inspiration as she illustrated. The first, to pair with the devotion “Toy Sailboat”, was a photo of me and my sister as children pushing toy sail boats in a city fountain. The second to go with “Clock Trust” was a picture of the lovely nineteenth century steeple clock we have on the mantel in our living room. And she did!
More great connections! You work well together!
My Tender Heart Devotions will be released on October 1. Happy book birthday! Do you have any special plans for your book release day?
I don’t have anything planned yet for the exact release day, but here’s an event that’s almost on release day! If any of y’all live in the Oklahoma City area, please join me for a pajama story time with the Devotions on Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 6pm at Best of Books in Edmond, OK.
And please do check my website in the next few weeks for other fall events because I’m building a little book tour as we speak. It will include visits to bookstores, schools and churches.
A pajama party! How fun! If only Oklahoma was not so far from Washington state, I would be there with my jammies on!
What’s next for you, Laura? Any new projects in the works or anything else you want to share?
I’m delighted to share that I have a new picture book releasing in early January. It’s called FAITHFUL FEET. Learn all about it here.
And if you’re curious about the My Tender Heart series, or want to download the free printables that go with each book, head on over to mytenderheartbooks.com.
Congratulations on all of your books and upcoming books! Wow!Thank you, Laura, for stopping by today!
Friends, Laura and Paraclete Press have offered to give a copy of My Tender Heart Devotions to one reader once it is released on October 1. To put your name in the hat, please comment below and give Laura some love! Please make sure to leave your email so I can contact the winner after the drawing.
A winner will be drawn Monday, August 12 (US only).
Hello, friends. I have exciting news this morning! Darlene Beck-Jacobson invited me to visit her blog and talk about my new picture book, Be Kind, Make Friends. Such an honor!
I hope you can hop over to visit Darlene’s blog and read more about how Be Kind, Make Friends came to life. Make sure to leave a comment on Darlene’s blog to get your name in the hat for a chance to win a copy of Be Kind, Make Friends!
First, just look at that handsome guy hanging out in his office at work. That’s my honey and God has really blessed me with a wonderful husband and best friend. ❤️
Second, check out the background. My honey is such a strong supporter and cheerleader for me. He’s proudly displaying and showing off Be Kind, Make Friends, my new picture book. What a great guy! I love you honey!
I’m excited to have my friend and fellow critique partner, Kim Larson, interview me today. Her debut picture book, Goat’s Boat Won’t Float, will be released Oct. 1 (The Little Press). You can learn more about her at KimALarson.com.
And here’s my guest host, Kim!
Congratulations on your beautiful book, Angie! It has such an important message. I’m thrilled to interview you today so your blog readers can learn more about this amazing book. Please tell me where you got the idea for it?
In January 2023, I was at a WMU (Woman’s Missionary Union) preschool affinity group meeting—a group of leaders who love and teach preschoolers. We discussed what resources the leaders wanted or needed, what they would like to have for their classrooms. The idea of a picture book about friends and kindness came up. The topic of kindness and friendship is evergreen for everyone, especially preschoolers who focus on practicing kindness and skills for making friends every single day. Be Kind, Make Friends came out of that discussion and sharing of ideas.
I should back up a bit and share that the name of the WMU preschool-aged missions discipleship program is called Mission Friends. More on that later.
That is such a fun backstory! I love that you found a need and filled it. Was this always the title for the project?
Be Kind, Make Friends has been the title from early on in the process, with a few tiny variations. I LOVE how Gayle West, our illustrator, turned the comma into a paper heart!
I agree! Gayle did an amazing job on the illustrations. I bet you were thrilled when you saw them. Tell me more about the writing process. Did you go through many revisions of the text?
So. Many. Revisions. From large picture down to tiny word changes. I think as authors, we are pretty hard on ourselves, aiming for the very best manuscript we can write, but also we are so close to the work, we need fresh eyes that haven’t spent nearly every waking minute writing, revising, thinking, and rearranging our manuscripts. It was an important part of my process to involve feedback from others. I had feedback from the preschool team at WMU, critiques from my critique partners, critiques from the 12×12 Picture Book Writing Challenge community—and all of that was to get it as close to perfect as possible.
And THEN we sent the Be Kind, Make Friends manuscript out to preschool leaders (who would potentially be using the book with preschoolers) and others in the WMU audience, a group of readers who regularly read preschool materials for feedback, preschool writers, and even higher education experts.
Getting fresh eyes on my manuscript was so important and helped me see words and ideas that might not be as clear to others as they were in my mind. Be Kind, Make Friends is nonfiction, so accuracy is vital. I am so thankful to ALL the readers. Writing something like Be Kind, Make Friends really is a team effort. Thank you, team!
For new (or any) writers, sending out our work can make us feel nervous. EEK! But when we have others read and critique our manuscripts and then we carefully choose how to implement the comments, this only makes our work better. But we need to remember that we are the creators of the work, so we do not have to use all of the suggestions, only those that fit with our vision for the work. I did find that if several readers mentioned the same section of the manuscript, then I knew that there was a problem I needed to work on, something to fix so the idea was clear.
I couldn’t agree with you more about the importance of feedback. As one of your critique partners, I’ve appreciated your honest, helpful suggestions and the encouragement you always provide. When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
I knew Be Kind, Make Friends was ready after I went through all of the above steps. Revisions. Critiques. Addressing comments. Rereading. Allowing time for the manuscript to rest. And then a final round of reading by our preschool team. I did not have to submit at that point since the project was already approved. In the kidlit world, Be Kind, Make Friends is called a work-for-hire project, so the process was a bit different. Gayle West was working on the illustrations right along with me as I worked on revisions. After I paginated (this is SO helpful) and made a thumbprint board of what text went on which page, she was ready to go. We came roaring down the finish line together! Ready to go to the printer.
You laid out the steps beautifully, whether it’s a work-for-hire project or otherwise, it takes a team to get a book into print.It sounds like one of your first steps was to find a publisher.How did you connect with the publisher of Be Kind, Make Friends?
About 30 years ago, my husband and I were attending First Baptist Church in Wapato, the church my husband grew up in and we were married in. Our family had grown by two babies, both preschoolers at the time. Wednesday night meetings were great for youth and adults, but there was nothing offered for preschoolers. Our pastor at the time suggested I try Mission Friends, a preschool missions discipleship curriculum. From the get-go I was in love with Mission Friends and the curriculum! Missionaries around the world, international excitement, fun activities, engaging stories, loads of hands-on learning. It was exactly right for us.
I loved the curriculum so much, I cold-queried them! LOL That’s what I’d call it now. Back then, in the dark ages of technology, I sent a typewriter-typed letter introducing myself and asking if I could write for them. I was soon invited to a writer’s conference in Birmingham, Alabama, and I was on my way. I’ve been writing preschool curriculum (stories, activities, session plans), picture books, articles, and other resources since then. I’ve been blessed to have a connection with WMU for many years. When this project came up, I was still (and still am) writing and editing preschool resources for WMU. I was very excited to write Be Kind, Make Friends!
I loved learning about your connection with the Mission Friends organization! I hope that continues. Tell me, what’s next for you?
I will continue writing and editing for WMU. I also write picture books and submit them to publishers and editors. I enjoy penning haiku poems and sharing them on my blog. There are always ideas swirling around in my head. I will have to see what happens next!
You are very creative, Angie, and I look forward to reading your future work. Please let your readers know where they can buy a copy of this beautiful book!
I would love to share where to find Be Kind, Make Friends!
Kim, thank you so much for hosting me today on my blog! You are a truly gifted writer and a special friend and critique partner! I appreciate you. I look forward to interviewing YOU soon about your upcoming debut picture book, Goat’s Boat Won’t Float!
Love, Laughter, and Life 