Many are familiar with Whitney Houston’s timeless role as the fairy godmother in Cinderella. In real life, there is Simone Gordon, whose generous deeds around the world earned her the moniker Black Fairy Godmother, which spawned her award-winning nonprofit foundation of the same name. The New Jersey-based organization is holding its 3rd annual Purple Diamond Awards on November 5 at the Newark Museum of Art, which will honor 8 … Read the rest
When you write a story, you not only hope it will resonate, you also hope that those involved in the creative process will do it justice. So, how did children’s book author John Bray feel when he could not communicate with illustrator Josh Cleland during the development of The End (Starry Forest Books, September 13, 2022)?
“It was nerve-wracking because you’re handing over–kind of a child–a thing that … Read the rest
A goal for the new picture book Ambitious Girl (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, January 19, 2020) by New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ niece, Meena Harris, is to cease the limitation of girls’ expectations and opportunities, says the illustrator Marissa Valdez.
“This whole book, Ambitious Girl, is kind of based around Meena’s aunt Kamala Harris and how people … Read the rest
What would legendary book editor Maxwell Perkins (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe) tell his great-granddaughter, public relations guru and debut author Jane Owen today? “I think he would say ‘Keep working at it,'” she tells So Booking Cool. “I definitely don’t think that I’ve done my best work yet. I’m very, very proud of the book that I’ve written. I think that it’s great; I actually read … Read the rest
Before becoming a hit songstress and newly Soul Music Hall of Famer for Best Female Artist, Alyson Williams once felt she had to hide her love for music from her school peers. “I realized at an early age the music that I was surrounded by and the music that I loved was different than the music that all my other friends were into,” the “Just Call My Name” singer recalls … Read the rest
In Ashley Thompson’s second book The Art of Joy from the children’s brand and Ella’s Greatest Adventures (October 23, 2020, eBook and November 6, 2020, print) book series, the beloved protagonist Ella McCutie learns to stay positive despite being bullied. Some of the experiences depicted in the picture book are based on Thompson’s childhood.
“They would pick at my physical appearance,” the scientist shares with So Booking Cool. “And … Read the rest
The advice Booki Vivat, author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling series, Frazzled, has for other authors and illustrators is to not discredit their creative work. “… Doodling, I totally dismissed it as not being creative,” she tells So Booking Cool. “I grew up writing fanfiction, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not writing, that’s not really writing.’ But it is. And all of these things people … Read the rest
A lesson that 15-year-old entrepreneur, storyteller, performer, and podcaster, Ssanyu Lukoma, has embraced amid the journey of her nonprofit organization, Brown Kids Read Inc., is that the worst thing someone can say is ‘no.’ “Whenever I want to ask people to help support Brown Kids Read or I want to ask people to get people involved in this contest or do something, I always think that it’s best to … Read the rest
In his own words, DJ, producer, record label owner, radio host, and Free the Music Business: Tips and Tales from an Indie Music Nerd author, Adam Cruz, wants to write music that heals. Having recently lost several friends to the pandemic, Cruz is reminded of how short life can be. “I am talking about the feeling of people dying,” he tells So Booking Cool. “I am talking about politics. … Read the rest
With his book, Unoffendable: No Offense. None Taken, executive coach, speaker, author, podcaster, and viral documentary-maker (The Surprise Wedding), Ryan Leak, seeks to help people change the way they handle an offense, and ultimately, not stay offended. He references author Brené Brown’s ‘generosity hypothesis’, which encourages the offended to consider the most generous assumption for something one did or said. “Because all of us are Christopher … Read the rest
