I have partnered with Stephen G. Bowling and The Children’s Book Review to bring you an interview with Stephen, author of Grandma’s House is Haunted.

Be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of the interview for your chance to win a picture book prize pack and an Amazon gift card.

Grandma’s House is Haunted
Written by Stephen G. Bowling
Illustrated by Vitali Dudarenka
Ages 4+ | 34 Pages
Publisher: Valley of Mexico | ISBN-13: 9781950957248
Publisher’s Book Summary: Everything is fun until nighttime comes. Are the howls in the dark only in their imaginations, or do ghosts and goblins become real when the full moon rises?

The children love visiting Grandmother. Playing great games and reading cool books goes perfectly with eating her delicious cookies and cakes. But when bedtime comes and off go the lights, things get a little scary as they say their goodnights.

The kids shiver at the creepy sounds from the attic and the strange shadows floating through the air. But Gran’s not worried at all; in fact, she has a secret to share…

Will they find a way to get over their dread, so they can finally rest their heads?

Grandma’s House is Haunted is a delightful children’s picture book, both spooky and sweet. If you like Halloween fun, bumps in the night, and doting grannies, then you’ll adore Stephen G. Bowling’s cheerfully eerie Picture Book that shows children there’s nothing to be afraid of when the lights go out.

Read Grandma’s House is Haunted to happily hide under the covers today!

PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon
Bookshop
Barnes and Noble

Visit his website ➜ stephengbowling.com
Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/stephengbowling
Instagram:➜ https://www.instagram.com/stephengbowling

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN G. BOWLING:

TYNEA: What inspired you to write Grandma’s House is Haunted?

STEPHEN: A creaking door gave me an idea. What if the door was haunted? What would happen? Would anyone care? I wrote my thoughts down and soon forgot about them. A few years later I came across my notes and I recalled my childhood imaginary fears, especially at night, and particularly at my grandmother’s house. As she lived in West Virginia and we lived in Connecticut, we traveled to see her twice a year and would stay at her house.

Seeing her was great. She was very kind and compassionate, and I modeled the title character after her.  I always looked forward to visiting her. But when the evening came, her old West Virginia house made all kinds of noises; grunts and groans from the pipes and radiators, creaks from the house settling. That, coupled with dim lighting at night, made my overactive childhood imagination work overtime.

Having a love for monster movies at the time didn’t help. I thought a story about children’s imaginations seeing all sorts of ghosts and goblins in the shadows would be fun and could help children realize that the dark was nothing to be afraid of. I did keep a haunted door in the story, and it was actually the first verse I wrote.

TYNEA: What are some of your favorite childhood memories of spending time at a grandparent’s house?

STEPHEN: My grandfather was a coal miner and passed away when I was very young. Unfortunately, I don’t have memories of him. My grandmother doted on my brother and me when we visited and made us all kinds of treats. She was wonderful and I loved visiting her. There was a little creek that ran behind her small West Virginia house that was full of excitement for me as a child.

One fond memory has to do with my father taking me to get a haircut down the street from my grandmother’s house. It was as if I was entering an episode of the Andy Griffith Show in Mayberry, if anyone else remembers that show. Everyone, including the barber, looked the part. After my haircut I was allowed to go next door and get a bottle of pop if I wanted while my father continued to talk with the men in the barbershop. Everyone was just as friendly and pleasant as the characters on the TV show.

TYNEA: How have you kept child-like enchantment and imagination alive in your life?

STEPHEN: I have a passion for learning new things, especially in subjects I am unfamiliar with. I am particularly fascinated by astrophysics and quantum physics. Both continually gives me a “wow” as well as childlike amazement and curiosity. Plus I still love watching cartoons.

TYNEA: How has your political science, business, and philanthropy background helped you as a writer? 

STEPHEN: My background deals with studying the circumstances and lessons of history while examining intention and perception, as well as philosophical thought. This has assisted me in recalling my own childhood and examining how I and my childhood friends perceived the world around us. I wrote a series of books about a young bird named Simon. In the most recent book he looks at the moon one evening and wonders who lives there, what type of ice cream do they eat, what kind of cake do they have on birthdays. He then decides to build a rocket and visit the moon with his friends to find out. This came from my own recollections of what I would do as a child and an examination of how I would understand and consider the situation. Understanding how I thought and how I perceived the world around me as a child has greatly helped me write stories from a child’s point of view.

Debate and discussion are a big part of my background. My next book is about a scarecrow who has a different approach that not everyone agrees with. The scarecrows then get into a discussion or debate about what they should do. That was a fun one to write, and my background certainly came in handy.

TYNEA: What is one word of advice you would like to share with young people?

STEPHEN: So many words come to mind. If I had to pick only one word it would be “reason,” as a verb rather than a noun. Reason embodies the other words of advice I believe to be important. Think. Question. Imagine. Without the use of reason, the others may not be as powerful. We seem to be losing objectivity in analysis and abandoning the use of reason. That saddens me. Reason can lead to actual solutions to problems, issues, or desires we have in life.