Celebrating the New Year with a New Children's Book: Author Interview with Kris Tarantino

I have been friends with today's spotlighted author for over a decade. For several years we were in the same writers critique group in San Antonio. She still lives there, but I'm now in Florida. Kris is definitely one of the hardest working authors I know. I think I was just as excited when she got her first contract with Waterbrook as she was. That book was Be My ValenSlime, the first book in her Slime series. Now she has a second book coming out called BedSlime Blues. Tell my readers about the new book.
BedSlime Blues is about the same group of monster friends who first appeared in Be My ValenSlime—Snoodle, Iggy, Zee-Zee and Fleck—and how they don’t want to go to bed. Iggy doesn’t want to take a bath. Zee-Zee’s jammies are itchy. Fleck whines and stomps when it’s story time, and so on. With all their stomping and clomping, the bedslime blues are impossible to escape. Readers will laugh along and wonder if these grumpy monsters will ever lie down for a peaceful night of ZZZ’s.
 
How did the sequel come about? Was it your idea, or your publishers?
My publishing team decided. Once Be My ValenSlime was in the final art stage, my editor had internal meetings with editorial, sales and marketing regarding what kind of story should follow. The team ended up picking bedtime since it’s an evergreen kid category with year-round appeal.
 

Once the team picked bedtime, I wrote a story that showed how these monsters—who generally don’t like anything—also don’t like bedtime. I thought about how that would look within typical bedtime routines. Since this was a series, I needed to keep some elements from Be My ValenSlime to anchor this next story. For example: I kept key works, like wowza, grumpy, and gruffy. I also added a few new ones, like slime-tastic and monster-ific. In addition, I kept each monster’s personality and character traits. And I kept a similar opening to the story.
Meet the monsters! A tad gruffy. A bit grumpy. And definitely not ready for . . . BEDTIME!
 
Then there was the title. It had to contain the word ‘slime’. The original title was BedSlime for Monsters. But the team wanted something punchier. So, I spent a weekend brainstorming and landed on BedSlime Blues. I thought it was hooky and fit the monsters—they could be singing the blues, the bedslime blues (not literally singing, but grumping about it). My editor loved it!
 
Your first book, Be My ValenSlime had 1Corinthians 13:4-5,7 woven throughout the story. Is BedSlime Blues also tied to a bible verse?
Yes, BedSlime Blues is tied to Psalm 4:8. “I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone Lord, will keep me safe.” There’s a good combination of silliness and sweetness as the little monsters finally wind down, one by one, showing young readers the big concept of God’s perfect peace, what it is and how it feels. The verse is not obvious throughout the text as in Be My ValenSlime, but the theme of finding peace is definitely woven throughout.
 

What do you hope children will learn about finding peace that leads to a good night sleep?
As each monster grumps through typical bedtime routines, kids will see how Iggy, Zee-Zee, Fleck and Snoodle’s grumps melt away as they each settle down and find peace, (with a little gentle, calm, loving help from their parents). Cori Doerrfeld’s expressive and sweet illustrations convey the monster’s emotions perfectly, and show the snuggly peace that results.  
 
In addition to reading the story, the topic of bedtime could prompt a discussion about how God never sleeps and is always watching over each of us. And how God’s perfect peace comforts, protects, sooths, and smooths over the bumps of the night—so we all can sleep in peace.
 
Children will see that if these grumpy monsters can find peace and go to sleep, so can they. Little listeners are sure to nod along and smile when the monsters say their prayers, get a hug and a kiss, and are all tucked in. Because bedtime really is slime-tastic. Even for monsters. 
 
That's all for today's interview.  To learn more about Kris's books, use the links below.

Website: www.kristarantino.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kris.tarantino.5
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristarantino/
X / Twitter: https://x.com/Kris_Tarantino

And here's a special bonus for my readers... You've just received a sneak peak at Kris's upcoming book. It's set to release Feb 3. Leave a comment on this post (make sure it shows your full name so I can contact you if you are the winner) and a week from now we will draw a name to get a hardback copy of this book for FREE! So do that now!