At a young age, Alicia knew she was fond of writing. She indicates, "I always enjoyed composition classes in school. I fondly recall my 7th grade English teacher, Ms. Frank, whose assignments was to read several poems by Edgar Allan Poe. Something inside of me awakened after reading his works. As strange and weird as I found Mr. Poe’s writings, they intrigued me. Ms. Frank was also inspiring and pointed out my writing abilities. It gave me self-worth and confidence, which are vital at such an impressionable age. So, “THANK YOU,” Ms. Frank, for being such a good teacher and taking the time to help me discover my God-given gifts." When Alicia is not working or writing, she relaxes and unwinds, having been known to make a mean frozen Patron margarita, but indicated she, "loves listening to many genres of music. It feeds my soul, I love attending concerts, hanging out with family and friends, traveling to places unknown, and quiet talks with my closest friends. As much as I like to have a good time, my spirit is renewed when I’m alone with my thoughts and space." The making of a good story in Alicia's opinion is to, "believe in your story, as well as the characters it reveals." She'd like to pass on a bit of advice to aspiring authors by saying, "Write your book. Hire an editor. Invest in marketing. Believe in your vision." Authors often have writer's block, but Alicia found not to experience it in developing The Little Coconut and here's her reason why. "I do not write daily, weekly, or even monthly at times. If I had a 9-5 writing job I’d probably lose my mind along with my creative juices, or I’d be a seasoned author and have 50 books already under my belt. Maybe there is something to being a disciplined writer." Although Alicia thoroughly enjoys writing lyrics, as music has always been a passion, she is currently writing children's books, however, she does look forward to testing the waters in writing adult novels having no limitations on her thoughts, word use, or expression. In order to get into the writing mode, Alicia admitted, "I listen to the voice inside my head." She asks in jest, “What? You don’t have one of those?” Then continues, "It often repeats itself, until I stop what I’m doing and write it down. In fact, the quote below came to me while I was in the shower shampooing my hair. I tried to ignore it twice, and then finally jumped out of the shower with shampoo dripping down my face. I quickly wrote it down and got back into the shower." The quote reads, 'There is a glimmer of light within us all, whose connection melds us together like a moth to the flame. Never suspecting the outcome, just moving towards each other in hopes of finding what we need.” She could not ignore the voice and often she remarks, "this is not my quote, it came from a higher place, and it very well may be, a message for us all." If Alicia could have written any book at all, she said, "I’d love to have written the Harry Potter series, mainly because that was my son’s favorite book series when he was a little boy." Having been inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, Alicia states that, "His poems inspired me to write poetry when I was a young girl. Poems were my first true love. His poems were frightening to me, but I was truly captivated and inspired by his unique writing style." Once an author is published, reviews are very important in a number of ways; we appreciate and become more inspired reading the raves, but sometimes authors receive some dislikes or poor reviews. Here's what Alicia said about how she handles both: "I do read them both. I try to reply to reviews because I like to connect with my readers. Their opinion matters and they give me insight sometimes in ways I never would have thought possible. Positive reviews are like winning the lottery. Authors spend countless hours working on their books and rarely ever get a pat on the back, so it definitely matters to us. If you read a book and like it, leave a review for your author. It is like payday to us! And as to a bad review, I’ve only responded in great length to one negative review. OUCH! I learned a lot through the entire experience. I will never again pay a substantial amount of money for someone to critique my work, especially that has a reputation for being extremely harsh at times. Many other colleagues and friends, who read the negative review found it very offensive and prejudice too. I can handle constructive criticism regarding my grammar errors, etc, and I welcome it. However, I will not sit by quietly as someone trashes the direction and virtues of my TLC (The Little Coconut) series with ignorance on their behalf. After the review I corresponded with the entity via an exchange of emails for a couple of weeks. They ended up just removing the “controversial remarks” that their reviewer originally wrote, making themselves look better. I had hoped that they would have given me another non-biased review or even an apology. But they didn’t. They just deleted the controversial comments, which in turn just made me sound like a complete idiot. I then requested that they publish the original review, not the revised one. After all, it was truth from the reviewer. Even though I was offended by it, and it certainly won't help my writing career, I honestly felt that maybe someone will become enlightened at the risk they take when searching for that “magical review.” I had put way too much credence on thinking I needed a positive review from the entity in order to be successful. The smiles and excitement from my young readers is what really matters. Forget the critics!" What inspired Alicia to write The Little Coconut? She explains, "I held a little coconut in my hands that belonged to a dear friend of mine. When I picked it up off the shelf, it rolled into the palms of my hands and smiled up at me. It had a face…I saw a natural impression of a face. That was the light bulb moment, right then and there." For many authors in writing a picture book, chapter book, or novel often there is a message for readers to takeaway. Here is what Alicia revealed about The Little Coconut: "God gives everyone a special gift when you are born, what you do with it is your gift back to Him. I hope that as the TLC series unfolds children and parents both will discover what unconditional love truly means and attaining an acceptance of indifferences, coping with change, the loss of loved ones while adapting to new environments. Each character has a unique talent/gift that God has given them. The TLC series is a children's fictional story, peppered with God's love. All of the characters in the TLC series reveal their truest potential, inspiring young readers to soul-search for their own special gifts." In certain situations timing is everything, which is what Alicia experienced in the creation of The Little Coconut. Here's what she had to say about a certain place at a certain time: "It’s funny how God works. Travel had a lot to do with bringing TLC to life. I wrote the story several years before I discovered an amazing island located in the Abaco Bahamas, Scotland Cay. I will never forget taking a boat ride with my boyfriend sightseeing all of the surrounding islands. I immediately started taking pictures, hundreds that day. I was a little beside myself when I discovered that the exact scenery matched the content to my story. That sparked the fire under my butt and I began the production process of creating the TLC series." Designing book covers, approving artwork, and capturing the full story is what Alicia had to do in putting together first in series The Little Coconut. She chose her cover from among 16 illustrations within the book itself. It wasn't always easy, but she did have input. Alicia explains her experience, "I was on a limited budget, as are most authors, and was a first time author knowing zero about publishing. I researched online for the best publishing houses. Knowing that I wanted The Little Coconut in print, I did not want to put its destiny in the highly unlikely hands of a traditional publisher, needing, perhaps, countless manuscript denials just to get an approval. So, I began a very grueling process of learning how this all works. I decided to go with Author House. I had input every step of the way. I used finely detailed written descriptions for each scene and submitted photo’s--many of which I took myself--to help the illustrator grasp my visuals. It took almost a year to complete the process." Ever wonder if a book is turned into a Hollywood adaptation, who would play its cast of characters? This thought doesn't come across every author's mind when writing a novel, but what if it could happen with The Little Coconut? If something such as this were to happen, in Alicia's situation, it would be voices, as the book would be animated. Here's Alicia's response: "Well, because there are only two human being characters thus far, I would cast Kirk Cameron as Christian and Jennifer Garner as Rebecca. The beautiful and sweet Roma Downey, from Touched By an Angel with that soft nurturing Irish accent would beautifully complement Dalyn, the dragonfly. Oprah Winfrey would make a fantastic Penny, the sea turtle. James Earl Jones would totally rock as Boo, the funky starfish. Chris Rock would be a great pick for Tough, the larger dog. And I’d want a sweet little girl's voice for Tia, the Chihuahua; I think Taylor Swift would be fun for that role. In the next book Mateo’s Blessings there are several new characters, which I’m not going to reveal just yet. Let's just say Ellen DeGeneres would fit one of those characters perfectly. WHEW…that cast is going to take a lot of bank to get hired! (For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37)."
To learn more about this author or read her book, visit her author page at: http://www.amazon.com/Alicia-L.-Anderson/e/B00IA1DVQ6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1426263311&sr=1-2-ent