Welcome to the 2024 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close four days after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 5th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

Nishita Roy-Pope  will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo   

 

On to the Showcase! 

 

 

What name do you like to write under? Nishita Roy-Pope

Where do you call home? Rhode Island

What genre(s) do you write? Children's Fiction

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? Was there a reason that genre(s) appealed to you the most? 

Fiction - mostly adventure and mystery books. I was a pretty adventurous kid -- I had the chance to travel all over the world with my family and was known to be pretty curious and bold. 

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why?  

I loved the Nancy Drew series -- the fact that there was a young girl so curious about the world and so daring really resonated with me. I wanted so much to be like Nancy Drew when I grew up!

What are some of your favorite books today?

As a parent of two school-age kids, I spend a lot of time reading what they read. I really appreciate books that have a hint of really educational content but are still really interesting and fun to read. My younger child (who is in kindergarten now) introduced me to the "Who Would Win?" series by Jerry Pallotta and I love them because you learn so much about different types of animals, but it's always set up as an intense battle between the creatures, so it's very stimulating for kids. My older son (a third grader) loves sports and will read sports biographies - I love having conversations with him about the athletes he admires and for him to appreciate what they do on and off the field and how they overcome challenges in their lives. Books have been a great way to have important conversations with my kids, but framing them in a way that is relevant to them.

What inspired you to become a writer? 

I wanted to combine my ability to be creative and create compelling messages from my professional business life and offer something valuable to the next generation. Since becoming a parent, I have witnessed the range of books that are promoted to kids -- some are fantastic and inspiring. And others are really terrible with very little to offer kids in terms of learning or empowering messages. I wanted to do my part to create characters that appeal to a wide variety of kids and to create stories that teach about core skills that I know are important in life -- teamwork, problem solving, working with technology, having empathy and cultural appreciation, etc.

 

Courage Kids : Robots, Sharks, and the Missing Glow

 

Boring Elementary is in trouble. Someone or something has stolen the glow from the school…and without it, the first-ever talent show will be canceled and the school may shut down forever!  To save the school, the Courage Kids will have to follow clues tofind the missing glow. On their important mission, the group meets amazing robots, super cool sharks and makes new friends all around the world.  Will they be able to use their teamwork and problem-solving skills to save their school in time? Will they be able to overcome all the challenges they face along their journey? There is only one way to find out…read this adventure-filled book!

Tell us a little about how “Courage Kids : Robots, Sharks, and the Missing Glow” came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? 

This book was a really interesting challenge for me because I wanted a way to talk about an industry -- the "Blue Economy" (ocean-related economy) that people still don't really know about. I wanted to create a story that talks about this growing sector but in a way that's really fun and has all the elements of a great fiction book - adventure, hard problems to solve, lovable characters, etc. I took pieces of conversations and learnings I've gained over the past year about the blue economy and wove it into the story - everything from ocean robotics to learning more about underwater sea creatures, such as whale sharks. I also wanted to offer a global adventure - it's important to me that kids believe they can travel the world and this book offers them a way to visit a few different countries that they may not always learn about in school. 

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? 

There's not one specific element that changed the most from start to finish - it really was an iterative process. I would meet people and learn something new about the ocean or underwater robots and modify the book. My connections would share more about their cultures and that would influence where my characters went in the book and the types of experiences they had. I would be speaking with my kids or watching cartoons with them and understand what types of messages and activities really resonated with them and adjust the story based on that. It really was a constant learning and growth journey for me and one of the most challenging projects I've had because it combined so many things I believe are important - STEM exposure, global cultures, diversity, etc.

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why?  

As this book is the second in the series, it was a little easier this time around to develop the characters as a lot of their personalities already came about in the first book. However, one new character -- Noriko -- is a little girl the team meets during their visit to Japan. I had to work closely with a friend who has a deep understanding of Japanese culture to make sure I was being authentic to her cultural identity, look and experience. 

What do you like best about being a writer? 

I know how powerful words are. I know how important what we teach our kids is. As a writer, I have a unique opportunity to influence thousands of kids and the hope that even a piece of what I share resonates with them, maybe inspires them to pursue a path they had never considered, engage in a culture they had never known about before or have the confidence to solve problems that they face, that's really exciting and fulfilling.

If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb.  

This is a great question....! Well, I mentioned Jerry Pallotta and the very popular "Who Would Win?" series. I would love to collaborate with Jerry to teach about both sea creatures and underwater robots. I know we could come up with some epic battles together...creature vs. creature, robot vs. robot, creature vs. robot, human vs. creature vs. robot!

You can follow Nishita D. Roy-Pope here - 

Amazon - Courage Kids On Amazon

FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/nishita.roy.9 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nishitaroypope/ 

LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishitaroypope/ 

Nishita is giving away a signed copy of - Courage Kids : Robots, Sharks and the Missing Glow

 

To enter, comment below → If you could team up with two children's book characters for a grand adventure, who would you pick and why?

 

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