Are there any secrets to being a perfect parent? Let’s sit down with author Rachael Perez and learn more about the how, why, whats of her writing journey and all that inspired her books. She has a wealth of knowledge as writer and parent and has been kind in her authentic sharing.

Please share a little bit about your cultural journey. 

Cultural journey….? Well, I am, what my parents called, a Heinz 57 variety. My cultural background includes Sicilian, Polish, Russian, German, French, and maybe other European ethnicities. Essecially, I am caucasian from an observers point of view. I always wanted to have a specific culture that I could be part of and be able to identify with but that was not the case. So my cultural journey has really just entailed me looking introspectively at myself and figuring out how I want to be perceived by others (personally and professionally). 

How did you come to do the work you do? 

Well, I’m a parent and a marriage & family therapist (MFT) and so my original inspiration came from toilet training my youngest daughter. She had many moments where objects (mostly toys) would get dropped into the toilet either on purpose or accident and I thought to myself that there had to be other parents dealing with this similar issue. I know most potty training books focus on helping young children to be comfortable on the toilet and feel like a potty superhero. I wanted to focus on it from a different angle. I created my cartoon character, Gia, who is a 4-year-old girl that is quirky, curious, funny and loves to learn. Then I started learning the digital drawing and put together my manuscript. I laugh at my original illustrations but they are kind of cute in their own way. 

Please share a life-changing moment and how you overcame the struggle. 

Parenting is such a complex and diverse subject. Everyone parents their children differently and hopefully comes out with positive results (obviously smart, well-adjusted, and strong individuals that grow into adulthood without any major problems). Learning how to be an “awesome” parent has been a constant struggle for me. I do my best to be as involved in my children’s lives without being weird or intrusive. My efforts to supervise and keep them safe have been more on the overprotective end of the spectrum (which can be seen as good or bad by others). The area I live in is highly populated and we don’t have a safe place for the kids to play outside. I’ve had to navigate my experiences with my own parents (and their parenting styles) and do my best not to act in the same ways.

Since parenting is a journey and a very intense learning experience, it is important to always reevaluate what and how you are doing. It is good to be part of other parenting groups so that you can observe other parents and choose which parts of the parenting process you want to adopt as your own.

1. Don’t compare yourself to other parents – you may be better at some things and not as good as other parents. All parents have to have their own style and be true to themselves.
2. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you feel like you did something wrong. The only really wrong things are abuse and/or neglect. As long as you are providing for your children financially and emotionally (in your best capacity), you are doing fine. We are not perfect and will “mess up” at times. You just teach your children that even parents make mistakes and give them love.
3. Be open to learning new things or ways of parenting. It is important to be open to learning because even when we think we have things together…something falls apart. There is so much stress in modern day life that we can get caught up in it and maybe not do our best. Podcasts, YouTube videos, parenting classes and even going to parenting groups can be real eye openers. You may learn better ways of doing things but also things you definitely don’t want to do as well. 
4. Always remember that your children are only young once. You may have a demanding job, be a single parent, have family members that need extra care, etc., but it is so important to give your children your time. Make sure that whenever you are able to spend quality time with your kids that you do so because this solidifies your connection and relationship with them. It is important for your children to grow up knowing that you made them a priority and showed them that you thought they were (are) important.
5. Teenagers need attention too! Lots of parents think or believe that when their children grow old enough that they don’t need as much supervision or attention which couldn’t be further from the truth. Teens need love, guidance and attention from their parents. This is the time in their lives when they are developing their habits, personalities, preferences, and self-esteem. When teens are left to their own devices, they tend to be influenced more by their friends. It is crucial to make sure that you know your teen’s friends and stay involved in their social media usage. Show your teens that you love and respect them so that they will take those things with them into their adulthood.

What topics do you write about? Why do you write about these topics?

So far, I’ve written 3 children’s picture books focusing on learning life lessons. My first book focused on teaching young children what can and cannot go into the potty. Most children’s potty training books focus on helping children feel comfortable using it and encouraging them to continue practicing until they get it right and build confidence. I decided to put a different twist on the potty training and help kids to learn the 3 things that are allowed into the potty and did my best to make it entertaining.

After that, I wanted to make a rhyming book about food and thought this would be a fun type of children’s book. So Food is Fun came to be and it has Gia on each page with lots of different kinds of foods around her with sight words. I decided to make this book a learning tool and not just a cute picture book.

Next I thought it would be fun to introduce some new characters and so I felt like focusing on friendship was a good way to do that. My book, Are We Friends dives into what it takes to be a good friend for a young child and how can they learn how to do this. Gia and her new “friends” learn how to share things, to take turns, and to be kind & show compassion. Each step of the process in the book focuses on a different aspect of friendship in  a way that young children can understand.

Benefits to teaching life lessons:

1. New skills
2. New ideas
3. Helpful tips
4. Increase strengths
5. Improve self-confidence

Please share a little about your journey as an author/creator/educator etc. What tips would you give to someone starting in this field?

My journey as an author/creator/educator really just came about by chance and without much processing, planning, or research.I just basically got the idea in my head that I wanted to create a children’s book with my own personal character and charged forward with it.  I am a bit embarrassed to admit that part but here we are. It would be more beneficial to do research on the topics that you would like to write about and if there’s a market for those topics. Another thing that would be good is to check out your competition to find out how well the books in your preferred topic/genre/niche sell and how successful you may be writing those types of books. The children’s picture book is extremely over saturated and there are so many fantastic books that don’t get much attention because, as self-published authors, we have to do all of the work (including marketing) ourselves.

Next, a new author would want to look into the three options for publishing (self-publishing, hybrid, and traditional) and determine the pros & cons of each. Traditional publishing is what most people think of when coming up with the idea to publish a book but it is not the only one. Traditional publishing may get you more attention but you still have to do most of the marketing yourself depending on the publishing house and what they offer. Also, with traditional publishing you don’t have the ability to choose your illustrator or printing house. Hybrid, from what I undersand, provides more flexibility with different things. Self-Publishing is you (and only YOU) doing all of the work.However, you can choose your book style, cover style, printing house, illustrator, and everything else. So it is just a matter of choosing the right method for you.

I have not given up on publishing great books even though my books are not flying off the shelves (ha ha). I know that with the right connections, decisions, and content that I may see more success in the future. This is a great thing to do because you are providing important messages and information to children. Books are so important for kids to learn from because the lessons can be so profound. In my experience, picture books provide lessons about feelings, self-confidence, loss/grief, friendship, finding your passion, helping others, helping the environment, learning about animals, space discovery, history, and so much more. 

So it is important to take a chance if you think you have a good (or even great) idea to share with the world. Even though there are so many books out there right now, there is always room for more. Share your ideas and don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the way. Join groups with other authors and content creators so that you can get advice and helpful tips that can help you on your journey. 

And be aware of scammers on the internet & social media because there are too many individuals/agencies/companies that make claims to help you reach more people or get more followers. Many of them are not worth your time. It is best to set up your own website, start an email list (something I’m still working on doing), and get out there in the community to share the benefits of your creations. Good luck!!

To learn more about her books, head over to her author central page or Instagram.

Hi, my name is Kelsey Clark, and I am the author of the Animal Tour Guide book series. I am a full-time author because I want to create stories and books that will excite children to want to read and want to travel around the world. I want to create that book, which when a parent asks their kids ‘what do you want to read?’, then they instantly say one of our books in our series. I absolutely love when I get text messages, emails, reviews, or posts from parents telling me just how much their child loves the books and how they have read it 5 times in the last week and are acting out scenes from the books. I write these stories about different parts of the world because I want children to dream about exploring these places and I want the children that live there to be excited that they live in such an amazing place with so much to offer! I love being able to use my travel experiences and mix it with my imagination.

Please share a little bit about your cultural journey. 

I was born and raised in Orlando, FL, which is known for bringing in a lot of people from all around the world. At my high school, I participated in international programs and had the opportunity to travel to other countries. Also, I got the opportunity through the program to talk with children that were my age to discuss each other’s cultures and viewpoints. I have even created lifelong friends through some of these experiences! I also worked at City Walk at Universal Studios and a lot of summers we would get international students that would come and work abroad for a couple months.

It was great to get to know them and make more friends from around the world. As I got older though, I found myself moving to Washington D.C. where I worked for a few years. I would always make it a point to go every year to the Embassy Open House events in May and any other international events in the summer, such as the Folklife Festivals. Overall, it was great living in DC because it was such an international hub. Then my husband and I got the opportunity to move to Italy, where we stayed for a few years!

The first year and half we found ourselves traveling all over Europe. However, COVID hit during our second half of our time there and we found ourselves grounded for a lot of our next 2 years, but we took this as an opportunity to get to know Italy. I always say that living in a country is so different than vacationing. We really got to understand a lot and found an appreciation for a lot of what Italy has to offer. I think, if given the opportunity, more people should live in another country, so that we might better understand each other.

My husband and I for the longest time wanted to live in Europe and we were able to make that dream come true! We are now currently living back in Florida to be closer to family! Now, I am taking everything I have learned in my travels and making books come to life through my experiences, with the help of my amazing and talented friend and illustrator. 

How did you come to do the work you do? 

Growing up, I always had a big imagination, so I love that I get to use that when writing my books. With a topic like travel, there is just so much to explore and so many amazing places in the world to write about and highlight. For this reason, I am so excited to be an author and that I get the chance to make my dream come true. I always wanted to be a children’s book author, but I didn’t have the inspiration for my book series until I traveled. While on one trip, I met a cute cat that walked alongside us, meowing and stopping at all of the scenic lookouts. I thought ‘what a cute animal tour guide’! I knew this would be a great way to introduce children to the world as well, through the eyes of a cute animal friend. Each book introduces a new location and a new animal tour guide friend. We also feature one character from a previous book in each new story, to showcase that these are real places and that we can all learn from one another. 

Please share a life-changing moment and how you overcame the struggle. 

Growing up, I started out as not the best or quickest reader. I found myself falling behind and when my teacher approached my mom about it, my mom was shocked because we always read books together. However, the teacher asked her, ‘do you always read the same books?’

My mom answered yes, and the teacher told her that I was memorizing the story and that was how I was reading it. My parents spent a lot of time trying to help me. I found myself crying to my mom because I felt like I was not good enough and that I just wasn’t as smart as the other kids. My parents were always there to reassure me that I could do it. I kept trying to read and would watch other students’ techniques to try and do the same thing to get better. I was still a lot slower though with reading. Then Harry Potter came out. My mom and I first started reading it together, sharing the books back and forth.

Then I started to get faster because I wanted to know what happened in the book! My mom and I made it a competition and if one of us put down the book, then the other would get it and start reading where they left off and the other had to wait for the book again. This competition and the story really helped me. After that, I started reading a lot more and found myself writing poetry, writing play scripts with my friends, and writing stories.

This made me want to eventually write my own books one day. However, I kept that close to my heart for a lot of years because I knew I still had a lot to learn in school and again I just didn’t have the inspiration for my stories yet. I wanted to write stories for children because I struggled with reading growing up and, just as Harry Potter was the book series that helped me want to read more, I am hoping that my books will be the same catalyst for other children starting out to read! 

What topics do you write about? Why do you write about these topics? 

In terms of writing, this is a long process within itself and everything I write is constantly looked over multiple times. I start out by thinking of three things: what is my character (or animal tour guide) going to be, what location do I want to feature, and what is the story going to be. Once I understand that, then I make a layout of all the places I want to highlight in my location, whether it is an island, town, or an entire country.

I use pictures and stories which I’ve gathered from my own travels and then I do research on the animals and locations which make that location unique, and I compile them in a document. Then I start writing. Once I am done with the story, then I stop and think about which words from my text I could convert to the language of that country or area. I try to pick words that I feel would be helpful for children to learn before they go to visit that country. For example, ‘thank you’ or ‘hi’ are always important words to learn. Then I research and listen multiple times on how to say the word in that language and I write the phonetics for what I think I hear.

For each book, I send my recordings and phonetics to a local from that area or someone that speaks that language. I ask them to make any edits they feel need to be made and they will correct me if they feel like I need to improve on the word. We often go back and forth many times to get the pronunciation just right! I take this information seriously because I know that when I go into schools to read my book, then I want to be as authentic as I can be when teaching the children to pronounce these words. I want them to feel comfortable saying the words, so they can use them when they travel to these countries.

Then I give what usually turns out to be over 100 pages of text and images to my illustrator to look over and draw inspiration from. We talk about the feel and look of each book and try and make it feel and have the same tones and colors as the area we are portraying. We are very deliberate with our choices for the colors in each book, and each book features a different color palette. Every area is beautiful and has its own personality, which we try and convey as best as we can.

Please share a little about your journey as an author etc. What tips would you give to someone starting in this field?

Before the first book was published and before I started posting on social media, I made a business plan for myself. I did this to help me focus and keep me cognizant of where I started and where I want to go. I also wanted to always make sure that I stay on topic of why I am doing this to begin with. I wrote out my mission statement and my vision for the series. This helped me look into what I wanted to get across on social media and with my marketing strategy.

I decided to self-publish for a couple reasons: I wanted to have creative control, and I wanted to be able to use my own talented friend and illustrator. I did a lot of personal research, video research, online research, and discussion research trying to figure out how to best go about putting this series together. When I first shared my idea for a children’s book series with one of my childhood friends, and told her about wanting to open up the world through stories and to get children excited to travel, she instantly was onboard and wanted to illustrate it! She also loves to travel and this helped us both, and we have ended up putting a lot of ourselves into each story and page of the book.

My tip for other authors is to understand starting out that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for every author.

Each author is going through their own journey and experience. What could work for one author might not work for you. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to other authors and ask for feedback, but just understand that this is a slow process and there will be a lot you will learn each day. I am still learning and as my mom says “we all are always lifelong learners”. Be sure to have a good family, friend, and author support group. There will be times when you might need to lean on them when things aren’t going your way or when it is not going as quickly as you might want it to be going. This will take time and a lot of patience.

Just be aware that a lot of the authors in the community you make have been in your boat. Also, I would say to be sure to celebrate every accomplishment. Make sure, before starting out, that you make a list of realistic goals you want to accomplish for the year and go out and accomplish them. It can be as simple as writing, ‘I want to go and do an author visit at 5 locations’ or ‘I want to get 500-1000 followers this year.’ These milestones you pass can also be a good motivator.

Lastly, be sure from start to finish that you always believe in your product and understand why you are an author. This will resonate with others and they will be more inclined to want to share your journey with you. 

Check out her books on Amazon 

More tips for parents raisings kids with confidence here. 

RWC CATALOG AND FEW BOOKS WE HAVE HELPED PUBLISH