1. Hello! Thanks for taking part in this interview. Now, tell us a little bit about you and your work!
Hi my name is Caron Pescatore. I am a wife, a mom of two, a tween and a teen, an author, a lawyer, and a nurse. I live in Florida, USA. I write a middle-grade series titled Kids’ Court. It’s an innovative legal fiction mystery series about a group of children who start a court and resolve conflicts between kids in their neighborhood.
2. Before we get into everything else, do you have anything published? If yes, you can add links to your work and your socials in question ten!
Yes! Currently, I have three published books in the Kids’ Court series. Book #1 The Doll Dilemma Book #2 The Go-KartAstrophe and Book #3 Goodbye Goody Bag.
3. Why did you start writing and how did you start writing?
Hmm. I’ve always love to write, even as a child. I was always that kid in school who would complain when the English teacher assigned a paper and put a word limit on it. In Elementary school, I found an old manual typewriter of my mother’s and wrote a play, and in high school, I co-wrote a story with a classmate. We’d take turns taking the manuscript home each weekend and add to the story. It was pretty fun. I never thought about writing as a career but always felt that I would write a book at some point in my life. After I had my daughter, I gave up my job to become a stay-at-home Mom. My husband knew of my love of writing and encouraged me to use the time to write. That’s when I developed an interest in writing children’s stories.
I started by dabbling in short stories for children, which I would tell to my children. I also wrote health-related articles for an online magazine for a short while, but it was pretty boring and, I soon gave it up. The idea for the Kids’ Court series came from my husband. My youngest was approaching school age, and I began to obsess about what I wanted to do when I went back to “work.” I had no desire to return to either the practice of law or nursing. I had discovered a love of arts and crafts and was getting pretty good at making personalized plaques. I told my husband I was considering opening an Etsy store. At this point, he suggested that instead of driving myself crazy trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I should write. I’ll never forget what he said. His exact words were, “You’re a lawyer. Go write a book about a kid lawyer.” And then he made that shoo motion with his hand! Two days later, I had an entire story outlined in my head. I went and told him, the joke’s on you! I have a whole story about a kid lawyer in my head. His response was, well, write it then.
4. Do you have a specific writing schedule or do you just write at any time?
No, I don’t, but I should! My schedule very much depends on my family. I have two school- aged kids, and there is always something that needs doing. This past year with the pandemic has been challenging what with them schooling from home. The last month has seen us return to some semblance of normalcy now that they have returned to the physical classroom. But their school day is much shorter than it had been before. To compensate, I get up early in the mornings to get some writing or writing-related work done. Now that things are slowly getting back to normal, I am slowly trying to figure out a writing schedule that works best.
5. What inspires you? Does life itself inspire you? Do ideas just come to you? What about searching online for ideas?
My inspiration comes from my children and my love of writing. My husband, of course, is responsible for planting the seed for a story about a kid lawyer, which is how the Kids’ Court series started. As for the ideas for the particular stories in each book, I have no clue where they originate; they pop into my head at random times.
6. Has your work every made you laugh? Smile? Cry?
My books make me laugh and smile very often. There are several humorous LOL moments in each story. My son and I were rereading my first book a few nights ago, and there were several times when we both laughed aloud.
7. Do you have a number one supporter, or even multiple supporters!?
If I had to choose a number one supporter, it would be my husband. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have the luxury of indulging my love of writing. My children are also super supportive. They and my husband are my beta readers, and my children are mini editors. Lol.
8. Do you have any advice for someone who may be feeling negatively towards their work? Perhaps they feel it’s not good enough or are struggling to find ideas and motivation. What would you say to them?
Wow! I need help with this one! I always question my ability and think my work isn’t good enough. When I first write a story, I like it; then, after I edit it, I like it even more. But when it’s returned from the editor, I love it! I always say she turns my manuscripts into “book books.” But this love affair with my work is here one minute then gone the next. Sometimes I love them; other times, I think they don’t measure up. I think that feeling of inadequacy isn’t all bad. I believe that it has, to some extent, helped me to improve my writing. The moment you begin to think you’re amazing is the moment you stop growing and trying to improve. I think I’ve finally figured out what the problem is with my perception of my work. I told my daughter the other day that I don’t see the story; I see the individual words that make up the story. Whereas when I read books by other authors, I appreciate the story as a whole. It’s almost as if I’m always in construction mode when I read my books. I analyze each word, each punctuation and am always thinking that there is room for improvement. I guess it’s like building a piece of machinery from scratch. There is the whole, but you see each piece that you added to create the whole. I’m not sure if I’m making sense. This realization is helping me to understand why I’m so hard on myself and my work. As for my method to stop beating up on myself too much, I’ve started that exercise where you look in the mirror and say something positive about yourself. My mantra nowadays is “my books are good.” Hopefully, with time this will help me to be less critical of my writing. As for advice to writers who struggle with negative feelings about their work, I would say the first and most important thing to do is make sure you do your best. You have to know that you’ve done your best before you can have any hope of liking your work. If you think you’ve cut corners, you’re never going to be happy. As for the rest, I’m still figuring it out. If anyone finds the answers before I do, please let me know.
9. Before we wrap up, how about a fun question! Do you enjoy editing!?
Hell to the NOOOOOOOO!! I’m in the midst of a three-week streak of editing. OMG, it’s horrible! Editing is tedious work. And being a type-A personality with a perfectionist streak a mile wide does not help! But editing does provide such a deep sense of satisfaction that I get from nothing else. There’s nothing like having a completed, polished manuscript.
10. Okay, now for the real stuff, post the links to your work and your socials!
Author Website: https://caronpescatore.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/CaronPescatore/e/B01FZS7AVI/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Instagram: https://instagram.com/caronpescatore
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaronPescatore
Facebook: https://facebook.com/CaronPescatore
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXcRWi5ckiRiOAlNhe1IRJg
Thank you for taking part in this interview!
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