And we welcome you back to another episode of the solar powered podcast. I'm Ryan Hall from loyal hearts coaching, royal hearts coaching dot com, life and relationship coaching for kings. And it's almost kind of hard to believe that we're already at episode 68. It's just really blows my mind, but we have a really awesome guest today. She's a repeat guest. Her name is April April Goff Brown.
She was one of my fellow authors in the, in The Great Paws, and when we spoke to her about The Great Paws, she was in process on something really remarkable, a children's book called I Hug You in My Heart. And, and let me say since he's released that, it's really taken off. It's won some awards and it's, the, the reviews have been really remarkable, and we're here to talk about that. April Gough Brown, welcome back to the solar powered podcast. Thank you.
A little hard to speak when you can't remember how to unmute. Right? Right. Right. Right. Yeah. No. That's one thing when you know, we just for the people listening, we record these conversations on Zoom, and there's a, you know, there's a bit of a give and take when it comes to that. You gotta make sure that Wi Fi is good, but also those mute buttons get stuck sometimes. That's alright. I figured it out. I gotcha. I gotcha. Well, welcome back.
I know that, I know that on our previous con on the the previous time that we spoke here on the podcast, you were you were in process and just were, like, on the cusp of publishing, what has really proven to be a really remarkable little book. Yes. Thank you. I was. It was, in January of 2020, I had gone to a one day, women's retreat. And at the retreat, the, the organizer had us all write down one big bodacious goal that we wanted to accomplish for that year.
And instead of thinking about my business, the book popped into my head because I had been thinking about it for 6, 7 years at that point. And, so I said I was gonna publish my children's book. And in December, I had the first copies in my hand. So it took about that year. But, it it was, it was exciting to to go through that process, to make it happen. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
And when you and just speaking on personal experience, when you birth a book into the world, it's almost like birthing a child, you know? It is. And and I remember you saying, as we would connect through social media posting, just wait till you get the book in your hand. Just wait till you open the box and you see your book. And you were so right.
My husband, I had him, be there with me, and he took the phone and he recorded the whole thing just so that we could see what it was like to open the book. And it was an amazing, amazing experience. And you're right because now something that's been in your head, and as an author, you know this, that you have something that's been your head and you can actually touch it and see it. And it is a remarkable, remarkable feeling. Very giddy. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. No doubt.
Yeah. When I got my author proof of my, of my very first book written in the stone, I think I cried for 2 solid hours. I mean, it was really that that me it was really that just ethereal of an experience. It is. It is. I I hear you. I I get that. So, I'm glad you've experienced it and I I hope to experience it again and again. Absolutely. Well, let's, let's just kinda rewind a little bit. What was the inspiration behind this book?
How did the like like, how did I I know you said that it's been in your, that this something like this has been in your space for a few years, but what was the inspiration behind, you know, sitting down and writing it and, you know, finally getting it out? Sure. Well, it's, it's a very personal story. I have a granddaughter that is now 16, who is not a grandchild by blood. She is the girl the the daughter of my son's former girlfriend, and she just became part of us, part of our family.
We had her all the time. And so Kayla was visiting one day, and she's maybe about I wanna say she was 6, 7, somewhere in that that age range. And one day she came up to me and she goes, nana, when I'm not here, do you forget me? And I just, like I remember just looking at her with well, of course, I could never forget you, but it was how do you respond to something like that? And so we've had quite a conversation, around it and the reasons that I would never be able to forget her.
But I also remember turning the question around to her, and I said, but Kayla, when you're not here, you forget me. And she said, no. And so we did end up talking about, you know, hugging in the heart and and all of that. And so that's the the question that birthed this book and stayed with me and trying to figure out how do I put that together. How do I, you know, really set up the story and and then actually write it.
And I had several versions of it until I finally finished the draft after that event in January. Finished it enough that I began to research how to publish it. But yeah. So it's a really personal story. And and when people see the book, and particularly people who know me and know Kayla, that the, the characters are the the illustrations of the characters, you know that it's us. It's it's very clear that the nana in the book has got the silver hair and the aqua glasses the way I do.
And, Kayla is a child of mixed heritage. And so the brown skin with the curly hair, which is exactly what she has. And so it was, you know, it's it's it's very meaningful in that way. Definitely. No. I mean, that granted, I haven't known you long. But it was it was seeing the cover, especially, I'm looking at it right now. Seeing the cover, especially, I think it's pretty obvious that, that it's you and Kayla on that cover. You know, it is.
And and what's funny is that the character in the book, the little girl Zoe, is really a blend of both Kayla and Olivia, my 8 year old granddaughter. That some of the things that Olivia says are in the book. And she recognized that when I first read it to her. And we ended up talking about the little girl and that she does look like Kayla, but that's okay with her because that's her big sister as far as she's concerned.
But, throughout the book, every so often you hear Zoe say, I have a great idea. And, and towards the end of the story, that's exactly what happens. And that is Olivia's phrase all the time. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard, nana, I have a great idea, which usually involves me having to do something. So it's it's it's it's really, you know, both of them, and it's a nice blend of their personalities and, the kind of things, that, both of them have done with me over the years.
Yeah. I, yeah, I totally get that. You know, as you're sharing this, I, like, I get an image. I've got a dear friend of mine from back home in Alabama who there's a similar type, like a similar type, like familiar situation with her, that her husband had a child with another woman before they got together, but for all intents and purposes, Dylan is her son. So I totally get that particular, and, Renee, if you're listening, hi. I'm pretty sure she is.
But, but, like, I totally get that, not of your blood, but of your heart sort of, sort of energy that, in that family. Right. And, and it is so much. I mean, to this day, she is my heart and always will be. She now is living in South Carolina. So we don't get to see her, the way she did when she was up in Connecticut where we are. But, you know, that distance doesn't change anything.
And I think that's I get the message that I really wanted to get across in the book, that it happened to be published during this time of COVID when grandparents and grandchildren couldn't see each other and still aren't able to see each other the way they would want to. But even without COVID, that families live long distance. So that they don't live in the same town anymore, and they don't get to see each other.
So there are different ways of seeing now with things like Zoom calls and FaceTime and all of these other options. But for for many, that wasn't the case. And, how do you how do you let a child know that no matter what the distance is, that I am always gonna love you. I'm always gonna hold you with me. And in the story, one of the things that the nana shows Zoe, the little girl, is look at here. I have photos of you here that I see every single day. So how could I forget you?
I have, certain movies and TV shows that you watch together. And we would snuggle up on the under a quilt on the sofa to watch TV. So when I snuggle under my quilt, how could I forget you? Or they both love to have cookies be made. And so when making cookies and smelling the aroma, how could I forget them? Because, this is what they love. And so there's those experiences, those those, things that, you know, the memories that always stay.
And so it was important to be able to share that with my grandchild when she asked, but also for little ones to be able to see that with the grandparents. Because even when things go back to somewhat of a normal and we can see each other, and it looks like that could be happening more and more as more grandparents become vaccinated fully. There's still gonna be the the issue of distance relationships. Being on one coast and, the somebody on another coast or, you know, states away.
So I think it's an important book in that way so that children can feel secure that they will always be remembered. I really I that that's an incredibly powerful statement that that, yes, just because we have computers and iPads and Zoom calls and FaceTime and, you know, what have you, there's still something missing in just running up to somebody in an airport and giving them a big hug. You know what I mean? Right. There's still, like, there's still something missing in that.
And as more and more people, grandparents, get get vaccinated and, you know, a lot of the restrictions and a lot of the, like, a lot of the, I don't want to say lightened, but just kind of, not quite as strict, I would say. Right. Right. Right. And and as we get more safe, it's still gonna happen. But, you know, like you, her, your you know, she lives in South Carolina. You live in Connecticut. I've got family back in Alabama, which is even further away.
So there's still a lot of, you know, there's still a lot a lot of that going on and a lot of that stuff that just won't go away. Right. Right. Right. And and that's exactly it. And it's, I I can't tell you how many people have said to me, oh my gosh, this is so timely. It is so necessary, and I need one because I haven't seen my granddaughter in, you know, a year or it's been 6 months. Or, I can do this kind of FaceTime or Zoom calls, and we can we can talk, but it's not the same.
And and as we were talking before we started to do this call, I've been really blessed because I do see my youngest grandchild, every week because I'm part of her schooling. And but it's also meant that we all are living a very cautious life to enable that to happen.
But I know others who haven't seen seen their grandchild in months months, and and it is, they're so ready to be able to just wrap their arms around them and just feel that physical connection, because it is so needed for all of us as human beings. We need that. Yeah. Yeah. We really do. We really do. I've, you know, I've had very few hugs over the past year and it's starting to get to me, you know.
Yeah. You know, and it's and I'm sure because I know you live alone a little bit easier because I've got my husband, so I can always say, okay. We need a hug right now and get that. But I can imagine how much how much harder it is when you are living alone. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, granted, I do have my dog, and he gives good hugs, but it's still not the same. It's not the same. It's not the same. And sometimes they'll just look at me like, what are you doing, biped? What is wrong with you? Great.
Yep. I hear you. I hear you. Well, I would love to talk a little bit about your creative process. I know that, I know that most people in terms of, like, creatively, they know you as the jewelry maker. Right. And how, like, how do you blend the 2? Like, how were you able to blend kind of that side of you with the, you know, with the jewelry making and the visual art and the writing and the, you know, and the illustrations? Could I talk a little about that if you would?
Well, I think, the commonality is creating. It's that creativity. It's just a different type of creativity. So I think that's it. But it is an odd and and I've been it's it's funny you would ask that because I've been kind of struggling with these 2 very diverse businesses, so to speak, being an author of a children's book and then, doing the jewelry.
And, it was only recently, maybe a couple of weeks ago, I was participating in a 5 day, business challenge and making a declaration of of who I am and what I do. And I finally declared, I am a children's book author, and I also make, jewelry. And and the idea of it is that it's not just it's not a just jewelry. It is jewelry that has some meaning and intention behind it with the idea of giving some message.
And so when I look at this book, and I contemplate future children's books, I want them to be books that would be helpful to children in a developmentally and emotionally, healthy kind of way. So that there's always something that they're learning from that they can be, of comfort or, open up a conversation, about, something. As an example, last week when Olivia was here, she is amazing of giving love. She can give love like nobody can.
But she was struggling, and I could see it all over her face. And she's always been like this where we'll say, what's the matter? And she said she'll say, nothing. Nothing. And you could see it all over. And so we had a conversation that was about learning how to receive love because when we ask what's the matter and when we want to help, it's because we're giving her love back. And so it's not coming from a sign of weakness that you need help. It's allowing somebody to love you.
So there's another story in there already that I can see. So that becomes part of the process of how can what is it in a life story, especially for little girls, and little boys that they need to know about so that they can become, stronger along their journeys. And and, you know, in tandem with that, the jewelry, the tagline that I have is it's, jewelry for your journey or your journey, your jewelry. So I'm creating jewelry for a woman's journey.
And so it's really about helping in a tangible way, very, very different, obviously, in, that helpful part of me. And what I realized is the creating, but there's this desire to be helpful and supportive. And these are two ways that I can do that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I love that because that's I have it that that's all part of your message of just the journey. I mean, the I mean, the only ending of the journey, honestly, is the day they were where you went to the ground.
But the journey, just enjoying that journey, however it looks, good, bad, ugly, indifferent is the, is the real magic of life. Right. And and you know from the work that you do with men and through your books that we all reach this adult life with some baggage. You know? Some truths. And I learned this. It's like truth with, lowercase t versus the truth with the capital t, which is we wanna get to. And so, it's with the children's books, can I help find a way?
Because I think I've always loved children's literature. I love picture books because I think they teach something. They get to the essence immediately. Because you can't do a lot of words. So it's the photos with the bit of the words that are there get to the essence of, of of the issue. And so being able to use children's literature in a way to even help us as adults open up a conversation. And how do we help kids, through that?
So maybe the baggage isn't quite as heavy, as some of it has been for for those of us in our adult stages of our life. Totally. Totally. You know, one of the things that, that, like, I just flashed on is just the messages that children's literature can bring to, you know, can bring to adulthood. I mean, if you watch some of mister Rogers' old shows Right. You can, you know, even as an adult, you can get really deep lessons out of something like that.
Or I know he's been in the news a lot, but if you read some, you know, Doctor Seuss material, there's you're gonna get messages from, you know, you're gonna get messages from that that your adult brain can then comprehend that maybe your 8 year old brain could not have comprehended, and that's really the magic of this kind of literature. Right. Right. And and I agree with you is that, I've always read to grandkids and even to my son when he was a child.
And it was it's it's amazing the what I see is some lessons. And and prior to doing all of this, I was working in the youth development arena for about 30 years. And in creating after school programs and literacy programs, How to find the books that could teach, about a, a positive mindset or that you are different than everybody else, and that's absolutely okay.
And, being able to to have conversations with kids afterwards about it, or or helping parents learn how to ask a couple of questions that open up a conversation about what really is going on, in the play yard, in the school room, you know, on a regular basis. So, I think that's one of the reasons I'm drawn to Children's Lit is how could I and I really, really wanna be able to put a few more books together that can get at that. I get yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just to just to be able to start that conversation about those about those deep issues that Right. Children really need to talk about. Right. I remember when when my son was little, he was probably about 2 or 3. And we were all laying in bed one Saturday morning and he looked at me and goes, well, mom, if daddy's black and you're white, what am I? And so even then, becoming aware of the difference in the color of the skin, but having that conversation.
And so there's all of these things that that in pulling out is how do you have that conversation, and finding a book that could probably be a place to start it, I think is really important because these kids, when they ask these questions, I don't know about you, but I get stumped. And I have to really think about it, you know, and you wanna respond the right way, and you wanna respond quickly, because they'll forget about it, later on, and a book can be helpful.
And it's funny with with the question when I talked with Caleb, she doesn't remember asking me that question all those years ago. Oh, yeah. I answered was satisfactory, but she doesn't remember the question. It was that much more powerful for me, to say, wow. What does a child think that out of sight, out of mind? Wow. Yeah. And she doesn't even remember the question now. Nope. I asked her, and she goes, I don't remember asking you that. But it obviously left a pretty deep impact on you. Right.
Right. I mean, you wrote a book about it for. Right. So, and it's it's, and, you know, and it's it's like with a children's book. And here's a difference, I think, between the writing an adult book and a picture book is that the story is 1 piece, but finding an illustrator is so crucial. And I had tried to do an independent route and look at some freelancers and all.
And it was such a struggle to really get what a vision and I know it was a very personal story, that when I finally went with a hybrid publisher, which is is a costly way to go. But the illustrator that came on to do the book, did such a marvelous job that I'm also hearing from folks who see the book is that the illustrations are perfect.
That the colors that she chose and the watercolor type of illustrations just conveys that that, the love is conveyed in all of the photographs and all of the illustrations that are there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The the thing that I got from that is just that it's not photo realistic, but you definitely can like, you definitely can see that from the child's eyes. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's it's, I think one of the hardest things to do. I did a lot of this alone.
And now, now, after the fact, now that I'm thinking of more, I finally made some connections with some, children's authors groups, the, International Society For Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. So that as I move forward with this, not only do I have my experience, and I'm glad I did it the way I did because I now understand more of the process that makes it easier to know what I'm looking for. And, but now there's these supports and, there's another world that's now opened up to me.
Most people would probably have gone and looked for that first, but I'm just different that way. Hey. Hey. It worked for you, and it worked for you very well. It did. It did. And it was the illustrator. Fortunately, she said to me that because she and I have been in touch now. She's the one that suggested that I submit for some awards. And so, I did in January to the mom's choice awards. And so on my husband's birthday in February, it was awarded to me and I got wind of it over the weekend.
So you talk about that giddy feeling, that it's real feeling when you see the book. Well, let me tell you, when you get notified that there is an award and it's not just a word, it's the gold award. I was floating. I couldn't A big stamp right on the cover. Yeah. So for, for like 48 hours, it really was for 48 hours. I just couldn't, I couldn't come down to earth or think about anything. It was just this, oh my God, what an amazing thing.
And first, when I got the letter, the email, it was, oh, this can't be real. You know? Until I looked at it and looked at it and went on their site and sure enough, I know it's real. But it was, it's such an encouraging thing to know that, a group like that where they're looking at books and toys and other things, that are developmentally healthy for children and families to have the book recognized for that, was just such a, an awesome, awesome experience.
Yeah. Must be, you know, must be a really powerful validation to know that that this story and these characters and your words really, like, really left an impact on this group and for readers everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. So it's exciting. We are still about a month out from retail release. The book I have books in hand, and orders can be done, and I can certainly send things out. But the retail release date is on April 6th. So that's when I'm I've got my fingers crossed.
I do know that there is interest from some of the big publishing company, distributors, I should say, for it. So I'm really excited to know that that'll happen. I'm collecting reviews so they can be released with reviews because we know how important that is. Oh, yeah. You know, we do. Yeah. So doing a lot of my, pre work. And I'm hopeful that, as things do loosen up that I'll be able to do some some readings. And I'm I'm working on, an activity to go with this book in the story.
It and I'll hug you in my heart. At the end of it, Zoe comes up with her great idea was, how about if we make hearts and we put each other's picture in the heart? In this way, she's got this tangible heart with nana's picture in it to take home with her.
And so we're working on that activity so that it would be wonderful to be able to do it on a grandparents day or a parents day or a parent and children's activity day, where we read the story and can actually create the hearts that they can go home and put their pictures on to give to the grandparent. So I'm trying now to look at their way of doing some interactive things with it, with families. And I think that that's gonna be a real fun fun aspect to the book as well. No. For sure.
Do you see this book maybe being, I don't wanna say studied in schools, but maybe read by teachers in schools? Like, what's the age range? It is early readers. So I would say 3 to 8 year olds. 3 to okay. You know, so they're preschool to, about grade 3. Yeah. I'm happy to say that one of our local school systems now has it in their school libraries. So that was really exciting to see. And I had a request from a nonprofit in Brooklyn that is putting together, literacy packs for young children.
And the, director really loved the message of the book. And so I have, books going to children, in Brooklyn to be able to do that same kind of thing with reading with parents and grandparents and and, being able to have that conversation and know that they're always cared for no matter what. If it's a grandparent or a dad that's not there or an auntie or or anybody else. So, yeah, it would be wonderful to be able to have more of that happening. Oh, well. Oh, well.
We'll certainly, we'll certainly, you know, keep our listeners abreast of what's going on with that. Did you you know, one more question before we wrap up here. Did you just in a 1000000 years, did you ever imagine that this that this story that lived in your brain, that lived in your head for so many years, do you ever imagine that it would have this kind of an impact on readers and on the world? No. I really didn't. I just knew that it was a dream, and I wanted to do it.
And I wanted to do it because I wanted to give it to Kayla. I just wanted to give this to her. That was the whole purpose behind it, which I have sent it to her. And I wouldn't help you. Which she loved. She absolutely loved everything about it. But I, I'm thrilled to think that it it does have an impact on on families. I love it. And and what's next for you? Well, I've got a second book synopsis drafted, tentatively titled, I am not a mean girl.
So that it is about friendship and perspective taking. Because you hear a lot from children about, I don't like her. She's mean to me. And, so really helping understand what that's all about. And maybe we won't have so many mean girls when we get to high school. One can only hope, Right. Yeah. One can only hope.
I mean, I'm hearing a lot of, you know, I I'm hearing a lot of deep, I guess deep topics in that about relationships and about self love and a lot of stuff that just really speaks to me as a life coach. Right. Right. Exactly. Exactly. So I'll be the the books will be the life coach for kids. How's that? There you go. Life coach for kings, life coach for kids. There you go. Maybe that'll be the new thing coming up. And I cannot wait. April, thank you so much for joining us here today.
My pleasure. How can people snag a copy of this incredible book? Well, the, easiest way would be to go to my author website, which is my initials with author after it. So it's agbauthor.com. And the book is right there along with some other information. And they can click on the button that says buy the book, and it'll take them right to the book page to be able to purchase. And, of course, I will include a link to that in the description of this podcast. April delightful as always.
Thank you so much for taking the time today. As always, April, thank you so much. And we thank you so much for listening to this episode of the solar powered podcast, a presentation of royal hearts coaching. For more information about Royal Hearts Coaching, just hit up royal hearts coaching.com. You can follow me on social media at Ryan Hall writes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or you could just shoot me a good old fashioned email at Ryan at royal hearts coaching dot com.
But that'll do it for this episode. Until we meet again, this is Ryan Horrell saying thank you so much for listening. So long for now, and go get solar powered.