Chatting with Dawn O'dell Co-owner, Literary Agent of Angels of Inspiration

My name is Dawn Odell Co-owner, literary agent and creative consultant of Angels of Inspiration and my partners name is Derek Fobert Co-owner, author, illustrator and together we formed Angels of Inspiration, we are two people, who began as strangers who one day shared a heartfelt experience and many, many conversations before ever meeting face to face. Through life's experiences, Derek and I became friends and mentors of one another. The inspiration and respect we developed for one another filled us with such positive energy that helped us to realize that our paths had crossed for a reason. Together we found ourselves going on a forward journey to learn from one another and share with one another a passion and a desire to walk down a pathway and take a turn and an opportunity to give back to mentor and to share.

We shared a strong desire to put both our passions and visions together to create an amazing project to reach out to the children, our next generation. To take a step forward and help children in their most developing years to dream, to reach for and prepare a positive coarse to create a vision as they travelled down their individual pathways of life in pursuit of happiness. We had a desire to create change.

Derek Fobert is a single father with three children and lives in Kingston, Ontario. He offers guidance and inspiration through his entrepreneurial and personal coaching work for those who have a vision and want to reach their dreams. He has an even more exceptional talent of expressing himself through word as well as very gifted at articulating his thoughts and feelings. Derek is a very special and gifted leader and mentor to many.  His special talent comes out and shines in everything and everyone he touches. He is an exceptional artist in capturing his subject’s soul and spirit through art. His portraits are in pencil, charcoal, and pastel. Myself (Dawn Odell) I am a single mother of two children, and reside in Belleville, Ontario. I worked for many childcare centres before being hired by The Board of Education as a teacher’s Assistant for special needs children for four years. I am now self-employed in the field of private home daycare and have been successfully for 15 years. I am an up-coming entrepreneur in the area of real estate, and Co-owner of Angels of Inspiration children's inspirational book series. Both Derek and I share a great interest and passion in self-help and positive life choices.

Tell us about the genre of your work.

Our vision, genre and intention are to promote emotional well- being and link that to the children's imagination and creativity. To give our children the tools they so desire to empire, dream, to inspire and achieve, to think outside the box with a positive mind set. Therefore, our genre is children’s books.

Why did you choose this genre?

We wanted to share our vision of reaching out to the younger generation, through inspiration, to empower these young individuals into having strong, confident, and positive minds and prepare them for a bright future ahead.  We wanted to promote education at a positive level, and to support and inspire children while they are in their developing years.

What are some of your books, stories that have been published?

Right now Lydia’s Dream Come True is the first book from our Angels of Inspiration children’s inspirational books series to be published, but watch out for book II real soon. I am working on a Christmas special edition with hopes of having it released in time for Christmas of this year.

What ages do you direct your books?

Our books are directed to an age group 5- 12 years of age. What makes Angels of Inspiration unique though is our passion, our vision to teach children to dream. Our drive and dedication is to create the tools required through entertaining children’s books to empower our next generation.  It is also to give parents the help and words to teach their children in order to help them develop the positive mind-set to lead by example. We are unique simply because we care, and because we are committed to our children and their future.

Can you tell us more about your book?

Our first children’s inspirational book is called Lydia’s Dream Come True. This children’s book will engage a young childes interest. We believe will be of benefit to any child looking for a positive and inspiring twist on creating a new healthier mind set as well as life style and change. Lydia’s Dream Come True will offer guidance and inspiration stepping stones geared to children through inspiring and motivational messages. The characters are simply lovable and the story line is guaranteed to touch you. The illustrations for this first book are amazing and geared to the imagination of our children.

You will be able to find information as to where to purchase Angels of Inspirations Lydia’s Dream Come True on our blog page at ISBN 978-1-926945-26-2

Do your books have a teaching objective?

Yes. Our goal is to reach out to our younger generation give our children the tools they so desire to dream, to inspire to achieve. To think outside the box with a positive mind set.

We believe that there is a great lack of learning tools, and guidance. We believe that what our children are learning is outdated and very basic. We believe that we must motivate and inspire our young by giving them the tools they crave to promote emotional well being through creativity and positive thinking.

How do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books?

For our first children’s inspirational book entitled Lydia's Dream Come True, I created the story from the crossing of mine and Derek’s pathway. These actual events were developed into a beautiful child’s story/lesson. I called and still to this day call Derek, my guardian angel and so it was easy to see that our very first book was special and from our hearts. I wanted the characters names to portray who they really were and be true to form. One of the characters names in Lydia’s Dream Come True is, Claria, which is the name of an actual angel. We wanted to be sure that children could relate to and fall in love with these characters as we did.

Is there a unique character or a recurring character if you have more than one published or to be published book?

In each one of our children’s inspirational book series, we will create and nurture a character who is an angel of Inspiration to the main character, and main theme to the story line. This character is providing guidance as a mentor that the children can create a bond with, and develop a creative outlook with which to learn and to be empowered.

What is your favorite thing about your book/s?

I think our favorite thing about our children’s book series is our vision to teach children to dream but also the vision it creates for us on a personal level. This series comes from within our heart and soul, from the pathways we have walked and the lessons we have learned. From our paths walked comes something that so amazing something that will empower our children to wish it, dream it, and do it! Our books are personal from within ourselves, but with a special twist that will be magical to those who read them.

Is your book illustrated?

Yes, our book is beautifully illustrated.

If so, would you tell us by whom, and if you worked with an illustrator, can you discuss that experience?

All of our Angels of Inspiration children’s books will be illustrated by co-owner and Author Derek Fobert. Watching the character that I created come to life in picture form was amazing, touching and very heartfelt. It was as if we were creating our babies together. We both fell in love with them before we could actually see them but when they were illustrated it really was love at first sight, they are like our children, a part of us.

How is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?

I am not sure there really is a difference in our genre and other genres, we take lives experiences, goals and lessons and build them into something beautiful that we hope any age groups can be empowered and enriched. Our series is pure and from the heart. We hold within us the desire to create the tools to provide our readers an extra pathway with which to choose a new direction.

Are there any problems in getting children’s’ books published?

Derek and I have not had any problems thus far. I did research many different publishing companies and spoke with different reps. for publishing houses. We were very lucky to find our publisher. When I first spoke with him via the telephone, it just felt right, I could instantly feel a connection with him. After having shared a meeting with him face to face, Derek, I, and our publisher, knew that we wanted to work together. Our publishers name is Raymond Coderre of Baico Publishing.

Why and when did you begin writing?

I believe that Derek and I both had thoughts of writing for many years; however, after we met we believed that in sharing our roads travelled we could inspire others. It was not till one day about a year ago after having shared many, many conversations and becoming friends that we realized we were on a forward journey, that together as a team we had a passion and a desire to create change, to give back, to mentor and to inspire our younger generation. We created an amazing project together to reach out to our next generation. It was our vision to take a step forward and help children in their most developing years to dream. We wanted to prepare a positive course by creating a vision to guide them as they travel down their individual pathways with the tools they desire, to inspire, dream and to achieve. We want them to think outside the box with a positive mindset. We started Angels of Inspiration almost one year ago. We believe that there is a lack of learning tools, and guidance. We believe that what our children are learning is outdated and very basic. We believe that we must motivate and inspire our young by giving them the tools they crave, to promote emotional well being through creativity and positive thinking. So the why, is quite simple, we wanted to create change. We saw in each other something unique something that we wanted to learn and grow from and with, something with which we wanted to share... and so Angels of Inspiration was born.

What is your writing schedule?

Derek and I both have different writing/work schedules. As for me, my working habits are more disciplined, and Derek is a more laid back carefree. It took some time for us to learn to work together, but through our respect for each other, we always talk everything through, we are patient with one another and work with nothing but respect and trust for each other as well as our work. We both understand that we are working for the same result.

What projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?

Right now, we are promoting our first book Lydia’s Dream Come True planning book-signing meet the author events as well as the business side of our book series. Derek is working on the second book in our series, which for now will have to remain hush, and I have decided to create Angels of Inspirations Christmas edition story. We also have an Angels of Inspiration blog that I work on daily. As a team, we work closely together to choose our writing topics because we want to write on topics that motivate.

Are there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers?

I would have to say, write everything down, your thoughts and ideas as they come to you. Keep a pen and notepad with you at all times, as you never know when you might need to scribble something down. Inspiration comes to us in many forms and at anytime, and to write it down when it is fresh in your mind is the best. I think we would both say do not give up. The hurtles you climb, are the lessons you must learn on your pathway to happiness and success. Just do it!

What do you do when you are not writing?

Derek and I are both single parents so we keep busy with our separate family lives. Derek, also, works a full time job and I have and run a private home childcare business as well as invest in real estate rental properties. We both are always looking, learning and growing.

Anything else you would like to add?

We would also like to add that a portion of our book sales for Lydia’s Dream Come True will be donated to "The Three Oaks Foundation." A safe house and so much more for abused women and children. If anyone is interested in speaking with me in regards to Angels of Inspiration, you can contact me at deltadawn@sympatico.ca

What "Made It" moments have you experienced in life?

This is an awesome question! Derek and I have talked so much about this and with both of us being big believers in visual boards I think we both can agree that both our made it moments come every single day simply because we are grateful for today and every day.

You can find out more about the authors on the following sites.

www.angelsofinspiration.blogspot.com,

or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyF2JZGV0Hc on YouTube.