Author Laura Sassi: Inspirations Behind LOVE IS KIND & Special Giveaway!

Laura Sassi, the author of LOVE IS KIND, is guest blogging for me today. You’re in for a special treat! Not only is she sharing her inspirations for writing the book, but she’s also offering a very special giveaway prize! This is the first prize of its kind on my blog, and I’m so excited.

Laura, thank you for generously sharing with us. May the Lord continue to bless you and the work of your hands.

Inspirations Behind LOVE IS KIND

By Laura Sassi

At school visits, I’m often asked by students and teachers alike what inspired me to write a particular book. The former teacher (and homeschool mom) in me loves that question because it provides the perfect opportunity to lay an important foundation to good writing which is seeing the world through writer’s eyes. As a woman of faith, that question of inspiration is also a good reminder of God’s goodness in planting story seeds in my heart that – because I was intentional about listening and looking for them – I was able to nurture and develop into compelling stories that in turn plant seeds of hope and goodness and – in the case of LOVE IS KIND- love and kindness in others.

So what were the seeds that inspired LOVE IS KIND? There were three.

LOVE.

I was inspired to write LOVE IS KIND because love is essential and in my personal life journey I have always sought to demonstrate love towards the world around me according to the wonderful Biblical guidelines found in 1 Corinthians 13. However, as a mom of two children, I discovered that teaching my kids this concept of love is hard using just words. Indeed, words like patient, kind, truth-loving, self-controlled are hard to convey to children – except through action. So one of the inspirations for this book was to express -through kid-friendly situations – the many forms that love can take. I wanted children to see through story that showing love is much bigger than a box of chocolates (which is how Little Owl set out to show his grammy he loves her.)

LAUGHTER.

My kids make me laugh and in the process bring me much joy. And some of the humorous situations Little Owl finds himself in are inspired by things that have happened in our family. A couple of times, for example, when my kids were little, the tooth fairy forgot to come (can you imagine!!) and confused antics and clever follow-up ensued. My kids each came up with their own solutions to make sure that didn’t happen again – and miraculously – just like happens to Beaver in the story – some coins delightfully appeared.

Another situation in the story which didn’t actually spark laughter – at least not until years afterward when my son found joy in the retelling – was the time he found money just blowing in the breeze in our backyard. He wanted very much to keep it – just like Little Owl – but not when he discovered that it belonged to someone else.

LOVE OF STORYTELLING.

One of my grandmothers, to whom the book is dedicated, was a storyteller and I remember spending hours listening to her wonderful stories. She’d tell tales at dinner, in the car, as we were getting ready for bed – and they were funny ones that me laugh, but they also taught me about what it means to be a thoughtful person. That love of storytelling was passed on to my mom (who told her stories through art) and then to me. Storytelling is in my blood- and that passion definitely inspired the creation of LOVE IS KIND… and all my stories.

BIO: Laura Sassi has a passion for telling stories in prose and rhyme. Her picture books include GOODNIGHT, MANGER (Zonderkidz, 2015), GOODNIGHT, ARK (Zonderkidz, 2014), DIVA DELORES AND THE OPERA HOUSE MOUSE (Sterling, 2018) and LOVE IS KIND (Zonderkidz, 2018). She lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children, and a black Cockapoo named Sophie.

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Learn the three seeds of inspiration for writing LOVE IS KIND from children’s book author, Laura Sassi. Plus, win a free virtual visit for your group! [/ctt]

Special Giveaway!

Last week, Laura and her publisher, Zonderkidz, kindly donated a copy of LOVE IS KIND for me to review and give away to one of my readers. Congratulations to Carly L. Murphy for winning the book!

This week, Laura has graciously offered another giveaway!

The Treat:

One, free 15-minute virtual visit with your group. It might be a homeschool or children’s group, a Bible study group, a writers’ group, etc.

Laura will discuss with the winner what will work for your group, but one idea for her online visit could be her reading one of her books, talking about what inspires her as a writer, and/or hosting a brief Q & A.

The name of one winner will be randomly selected on October 31, 2018. No Halloween tricks here, just one special treat!

Everyone can comment on Laura’s post. But if you’d like your name in the drawing to win a free, virtual visit with Laura Sassi, be sure to mention that.

You can also connect with Laura in these places:

https://www.facebook.com/LauraSassiTales
http://laurasassitales.wordpress.com/
twitter.com/laurasassitales

Congratulations! P. Diann Buie, your name was drawn to win the free, fifteen-minute virtual visit with Laura! I’ve sent you an email so check all your folder, including the spam folder, just in case! If you don’t see anything, use the contact form on this website to connect with me about the details.

Thanks to all who participated. Stay tuned. More giveaways are coming!