As a child, I remember listening to my father’s stories. He was an amazing raconteur and could bring me right into his stories. I could see the characters and would be transported to the locations and engage in the plots. As I grew older, I was always writing. I used it as a sort of escapism…writing poetry to deal with teenage “stuff”, studying journalism and creative writing in college.

Although I continued to do it for the next 15 years, I found myself pulling out the pen and paper more and more after I decided to make those major life choices I mentioned earlier. I published a book of poetry, An Inside Look…, wrote for a small-town, New Hampshire newspaper, and even formed a business around editing and writing! However, the need to survive and put food on the table always brought me back to the corporate world!  In 2000, I moved to London with my husband and worked at The Economist for 3 years. All the while, plugging along and “succeeding” but never feeling really fulfilled.

After having two beautiful boys (now teenagers), true happiness began to shine in my life and the stories and words started to flow. I realized that my dad had given me his gift of gab. The stories my dad told were of Keeno and Ernest. Unfortunately, he never wrote them down before he passed away. My memory recalled the characters perfectly, but not the adventures. When my first son was born, I started making up my own stories around Keeno and Ernest, and he loved them! I added a moral to each story (which I’m sure my dad’s never had…his were ALL action/adventure!) that tied in with things my boys were dealing with at the time.

One day, my son asked me to come to his preschool to share one of the stories with his class. The kids loved it! His teacher came to me after and suggested that I try to publish. She said the content was great and could be used as a teaching tool.  Although I was thrilled to hear this, I wasn’t ready yet. I did, however, continue to go into my boy’s schools and tell the stories. We would do teaching activities around the stories, and some of the kids were even inspired to write their own stories. After each visit, the teachers would urge me to publish. I found this so rewarding that after years of telling stories to my boys, their friends, and their classmates, I decided to take the plunge into publishing and share them with the world.

Now that I am a more than a decade into this adventure, I would very much like to see my books in the hands of all children, and have started a new project called The Joy of Reading. The goal of this project is to match individual and corporate donors with charities that focus on children in need.

Specifically, in The Banana Tree, Keeno learns about following family rules.  In The Diamond Mine, Keeno learns about stealing and asking before taking, and in A New Friend, Keeno learns about staying true to himself and not changing for the sake of others.

MCA: Those lessons sound applicable to children and adults alike! If you could ensure your readers walked away with one main lesson, what would that be?

Maggie: My tagline that I always sign off with is “Always Follow Your Dreams!”  Sometimes it takes time to figure out what those may be, and that’s okay as long as you strive toward them everyday. I truly feel that I am living my dream and I hope to inspire my readers and their families to do the same.

MCA: What a beautiful line! I know you’ve also said that to us here at Mom’s Choice, too, which we love. So what has the general response been like from readers of Keeno & Ernest?

Maggie: I am so thrilled with the response that I get from children and families!  They really love the stories and totally get the life lessons within each story.

My initial goal was to leave a legacy for my sons, and I have done that.  They are very proud of me which, in my mind, is success!

MCA: That is a huge measure of success! I’m sure it makes them very proud and happy to see you pursuing your dreams, and sharing their beloved bedtime characters with the world. So, before signing off, tell us what your favorite part of being an Author has been.

Maggie: My absolute favorite part about being a children’s book author is reading to the children! The Adventures of Keeno and Ernest is a series that targets children of all ages. I’ve read to preschoolers through 5 ^th graders and even read at a nursing home. My claim to fame is that I’ve read to over 3,500 children and haven’t lost one yet!

MCA: That’s a great claim to fame! We are so glad we got to learn more about you today and share more about you with our readers. We are thankful that you, Keeno, and Ernest are all part of the Mom’s Choice family, and we can’t wait to see what’s next! Thanks, Maggie!