I am an English teacher with 18 years of experience in urban classrooms. Before my kids were born, when I was learning how to be a good teacher, I wrote a couple of books, sent them out to publishers, never heard back from anyone, and gave up. My kids are my life and for the last decade my wife and I have dedicated ourselves to them. I forgot about the two books I had laying around.
But we always have plenty of books laying around our house here in California. Hundreds usually. I read the entire Harry Potter series to both of my children at different times. I read the entire Fablehaven series to both of them as well. And as my kids have gotten older I have found myself writing books for and with them. During the COVID pandemic I wrote an entire book with my son and daughter, chapter by chapter, as we were locked down in our home. They couldn’t wait for me to finish my chapters most days and would fight over who got to read the chapter first. With their input as my youth consultants, we are on a writing journey to publish the book we wrote during COVID. It is about colonizing Mars, it is about being human, and hopefully it is funny.
Matt Amaral 