For Creative Kid Thursday, I am posting my 2014 Upper Bucks Free Press Newspaper (the newspaper I write for) article I wrote. I got to interview Felicia Maziarz the kid-author behind the book “The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets.”

The online version was just published. To see the online version of the newspaper, click HERE (see page 9). I hope you enjoy it!

Young Author Keeps on Writing

Felicia Maziarz describes herself as “a ten-year-old sixth grader, and hamster owner, attending the University Scholars Program at PALCS. She adores writing, reading, acting, gymnastics, stuffed animals and working with technology. Felicia is a member of the Davidson Young Scholars Program and her latest creative project is organizing the D.I.R.T. Kids – a small group of performing kids who want to raise money for charities (dirtonstage.blogspot.com).”

 I met Felicia when I reviewed her book on my blog. Felicia’s first book is titled “The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets.” I thought the story and writing in the book was awesome and I was surprised to learn the author, Felicia, is around the same age I am. I was very happy to meet a kid who likes reading and writing as much as I do.

 Here is what “The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets” is about;

 After three years of living under the same roof as the dog in the house, Katrina von Cat the Master of Wisdom and Knowledge decides to write a letter to her canine housemate, Stanley. Katrina loves treats, naps and bossing the dog around. Stanley loves snow, attention and turkey. The diva kitty, Katrina, will have none of Stanley’s antics and most certainly will not stand for him eating her food. The only reasonable solution is to take him to Kitty Court.

 I think there are a lot of kids out there writing great stories and maybe some kids who want to get their stories published. Felicia is a great example of a kid doing just that. She let me ask her a few questions about writing and being an author.

 Erik – Your book, “The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets,” is a hilarious story about a cat and a dog who live in the same house but interact by writing letters to each other.  How did you get the idea for your book?

 Felicia – I got the idea for my book because I have attempted to write books about humans before, which didn’t go so well. I think I understand pets better than humans. I also kind of built the story around the name Katrina von Cat the Master of Wisdom and Knowledge and it grew from there.

 Erik – I love Katrina’s full name! This is a question that’s been on my mind ever since I read your book; because dogs and cats can’t write, how do they communicate by letters? Do they have a typewriter? A computer?

 Felicia – They found a typewriter in their basement, I still don’t really know how they type on THAT. Yes, they keep secrets from me.

Erik – They do seem to be very sneaky. What attracts you to writing?

Felicia – I think that it is a creative outlet that can go anywhere. Oh, and it’s fun!

Erik – Speaking of writing, you just completed NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Can you tell us what that is and about your experience with it?

Felicia – NaNoWriMo is in November, and it is where you try and reach a word count goal. If you do, you WIN! I use YWP (the Young Writers Program) NaNoWriMo where you can pick your own word count goal, but the grownups just use regular NaNoWriMo, they have to make it to 50,000 words.  I have written Stanley & Katrina’s first and second book through NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org) and am soon going to be interviewed on their blog.  Happy Dance!  

Erik – NaNoWriMo sounds like a great challenge for kids (and adults) who want to write their story down. Which authors inspire you the most? Do you have any writing mentors?

Felicia – I think the authors that inspire me the most are Rick Riordan and all of those Indie authors out there. I actually do happen to have a writing mentor named Julie Grasso who wrote 2 books. She helps me edit and review my books.

Erik – I’ve read Ms. Grasso’s “Adventures of Caramel Cardamom” books. They are great! What do you want to be when you grow up?

Felicia – I would like to be an interior designer and write books in my free time even if I don’t have any free time.

To learn more about Felicia and “The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets,” visit her website at stanleyandkatrina.com.

 For book reviews and more, please visit my blog ThisKidReviewsBooks.com.

Categories: Creative Kids, Newspaper Columns, Other Stuff Related to Books and Reading

Tags: bibliophile, bookworm, childrens books, Creative Kid, stanley and katrina, The perpetual papers of the pack of pets, writing