Author Interview with Maureen Baggett

Whether they like it or not, a writer’s work is shaped by the events and relationships that they experience in their lives. Some rebel against this collection of knowledge and details. Others embrace it.

New children’s author, Maureen Baggett, has chosen to embrace her history by turning it into novels based on her family. Not only does this create entertaining stories, but it helps her family's legacy to live on in the world of fiction. Below is my interview with Baggett. Be sure to check out her books on Amazon and consider the historical significance of her stories, both personal and in general.

1. How many books have you written and where can you buy them?

I’ve written five books which all can be purchased at Amazon.com.

2. What famous books can you compare to your own?

My first book, Nana’s Wish, could be somewhat compared to Little House on the Prairie in that the reader is looking back at a time in the past. I wish my granddaughter, Odessa, back to 1955 where she spends a day with me on the farm when I was an eight year old. She goes to school in segregated Maryland and finds wearing a dress and the drab schoolhouse very strange. She is also surprised that bullies were around even then.

3. Why do you write for this particular age group?

I love to write for children because I was a teacher. Seeing the joy on children’s faces as they read silently and aloud is a great pleasure.

4. How autobiographical are your books?

Though Nana’s Wish is about my childhood, most of the other books are from my imagination. The Fanny series is taken from memories of my mother’s childhood in 1925. The Tannenbaum series is about a Christmas tree farm, and the Sheldon series is about a cat.

5. What’s the best compliment that you’ve ever received about your writing?

The best compliment was the sound of a child laughing and laughing as she read, Great Idea, Fanny! while I was talking to her mother.

6. What has been your greatest moment as a writer so far?

In my Tannenbaum series I have changed the name of my brother-in-law to Otto. When I heard his Christmas tree customers starting to call him Otto, I really thought I had arrived.

7. Where do you get your covers?

I have worked with two artists on Fiverr. I select one of the interior pictures, crop it, and use it as the cover.

8. Who is your biggest fan?

Without a doubt, my biggest fan is my 97-year-old mother. She has always wanted me to write stories for children. I have always been the storyteller in the family. Career and family kept me too busy. Now, I am full of words and ready to go.

9. What is next for you?

I have just started the Blue series which is a series to help children to adapt to being ill and in the hospital for extended stays.

10. End with a quote from one of your books.

“Fanny, get that skunk out of the house!”