An Interview with Author Kalonice Berry!

Today, instead of doing a normal blog post, I am interviewing Kalonice Berry, an up-and-coming young children's author! Kalonice loves animals and art, and, of course, writing books. She has published two books so far, and they're both very good (yes, I've read them), so go ahead and check them out on Amazon.

Now, without further ado, let us begin!

First, tell us a bit about yourself, Kalonice.

I started writing when I was five. My favorite books are ones about animals. We have two guinea pigs, a cat, a gerbil and 7 hens and I may decide to work with animals when I grow up.

I love magical stories too. My favorite stories to read are therefore ones about magical animals but I also love David Walliams books.

I love art and craft too. I do mosaic, glass painting and sewing and as I love drawing I do all my own illustrations for my books.

Poetry is another love of my mine and I have written poems about autumn and Christmas, nature and also about the Romans. I am home educated and just did a piece of writing based on what we have been learning about World War I. I pretended I was a lady who had lived through the war and the story was based ten years after the war ended. I wrote it as a diary entry and I was reminiscing about the "good old days" when my father was still alive.

In my writing I aim to use lots of adjectives and adverbs to make my work more interesting and also at least one example of onomatopoeia, personification or alliteration. I also try to use a variety of dialogue words.

What books have you written, and what genre are they?

The first story I had published was about some mice who lived in an attic and kept stealing Mummy's food and Mummy wanted them to leave but the mice were very clever and managed to convince Mummy to let them stay. This story is called Naughty but Mice and was written when I was five. My second story is called Charlie and his Amazing Adventure in Space.

What ages are your books for?

Naughty but Mice is a short story aimed at very young children. Charlie and his Amazing Adventure in Space is suitable for slightly older children and is a much longer story.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Anything and everything. Often I see something in the garden, a beautiful flower, a caterpillar ... and I think "I feel a story coming on!" I am also inspired by Enid Blyton books.

How did you come up with your characters?

That's hard to answer! Sometimes an animal I see or a person I meet makes me want to write a story and I think about how they really are or how I would like them to be. Sometimes I just think of a storyline and as I write, the personality of the characters come to me.

Where do you like to write?

I sit in bed where it is quiet or on the sofa but I often start writing in my head as the ideas come to me so I could be anywhere. I could be at the beach or walking through the park and then think "This would make a good story" and I "write" the opening lines of the story in my head.

What are some of your favorite books?

Enid Blyton "The Enchanted Wood", St Clare's and Malory Towers. David Walliams "Mr Stink".


Thanks for chatting with me, Kalonice! Again, I really do recommend her books, so go ahead and snag them for yourself. You're in for a treat!

Kalonice's first book, Naughty but Mice

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