BookWorthy Chats with Kristen Puma

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Valerie - Welcome to Bookworthy. Today we're talking with Kristen Puma about her book, Abby and Liam and the Bedtime Adventure. This series follows a dynamic duo of siblings whose bond is as strong as their imaginations are wild. Their world is one where the ordinary world becomes extraordinary, where a simple bedtime routine transforms into a journey of discovery and excitement. Welcome to Bookworthy Kristen.

Kristen -Hi, thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Valerie -It is a pleasure. I love what you've said on your kind of your website and your author page on Amazon that you just kind of want to inspire a love of learning. So I know we're going to be fast friends here, but to get us started, we have to do our random question of the week, which is, what is the most adventurous thing you've ever done?

Kristen -My goodness. My parents would probably say anything I did in my teen years was too much, too adventurous. Gosh, you know, I, I think the most adventurous thing I've ever done is a spur of the moment, I took a trip up the mountains where I live and, you know, I just, kind of found this, this little parking spot off the side of the road and I parked and I just watched the sunset and the lights light up from the city below. For me, you know, that was super adventurous and just kind of something that, you know, I don't typically get to do or just go and do. So that was, that was a pretty cool evening. That was a good night. Yeah.

Valerie -Very neat. Love that it's kind of one of those, a lot of people think adventurous is jumping out of airplanes or, you know, that kind of thing. But it is adventurous to step out of the norm, to do something different, to experience something new. That itself is an adventure. Well, Kristen, tell us a little bit about your book.

 Kristen -So Abbey and Liam and the Bedtime Adventure, was my debut children's book and it was released in early June of this past year. And it's based on my children and my family and our own exciting adventures that we go on almost daily.

It's specifically about how these siblings, just don't want to go to bed, right? No kid at the end of the day wants to go to bed. And so mom and dad, create this kind of setting where even though they are trying to guide the children to go upstairs and make the right choice, they're still offering a welcoming setting where the kids can just have one more adventure with them.

And it really just takes that mundane task of getting ready for bed, brushing your teeth, all the things. It just takes that mundane task and turns it into something that can be enjoyable and doesn't have to be this thing that you're dreading doing at the end of the day.

Valerie -I know come bedtime, it's usually mom and dad are just as tired as the kids are. And the kids are like, if I stop for just a second, I'll fall asleep. And we call it crazy tired because I'll just go a hundred miles an hour. After all, if they stopped, they would just crash and they don't want to miss out on anything. Too fun. Well, In your bedtime routine with your kids that inspired this book, how did you kind of come up with the idea to make it more of an adventure than a task?

Kristen- Yes, I was actually on the phone with my older brother a while ago. He was telling me how my niece, just loves to take her time with going to bed. he was just a little bit, he wasn't sour, but he was just, know, bedtime is just that kind of time of day where we're all just so tired and she makes it a little more difficult and she just won't, you know, brush her teeth and go to bed. And so I just kind of had this light bulb moment where, you know, he told me he said you should write a book for her about going to bed. And I was like, no, we actually have a pretty good setup here. So why don't I turn that into a story? Because for our family, we you know, there are some nights I'm not going to lie, there are some nights where mom and dad were both tired and we're just ready to end the day. But at the same time, bedtime, I find, is

when children just really open up to you and just really, even though they want to ask you 20 questions and just keep you there, it's just a good time and a valuable time to spend together as a family. And so instead of having it be this job that we also have to do, why not just make it warm and wonderful for the kids and they'll, you know, they'll look back on those memories and be like, you know, my parents were always there at bedtime and it was always a good time. So that's just kind of where it, you know, I, my brother, he told me to write the book and I just light bulb, you know, our own family. So it just kind of came to be.

Valerie -I love that because what is it in our, have three boys and two are external processors. And of course, they don't start processing their day until they slow down, which is when their head hits the pillow. And so I've had to learn to embrace that time to set aside that time that, you know, to remind myself this is the reason why I am putting my kids to bed. I'm putting them to send them off well, to help them feel loved, help them feel safe and to communicate, be able to talk to me. We always ask you can ask, say we can, we always say you can ask us anything and tell us anything and you know, we'll always love you. And that's kind of just kind

of our place to just do those things. It sometimes leads to big conversations and sometimes it's...I don't know. Think my son was trying to tell me a riddle the other night and he like fell asleep halfway through the riddle. I'm like, okay. Exactly. Was kind of, it was like, okay, I guess I can't solve the riddle because I didn't hear it.

Kristen -That's so sweet. He was just so excited and so tired at the same time. Yeah. He was just he was giving you extra time so you could you know leave the bedroom and then go and figure it out. Yeah, Tell him at breakfast time.

Valerie -Tell us a little bit about the adventure that Abby and Liam go on in this first book.

Kristen -This one is a bedtime adventure. So, Dad is telling them, it's time to go to bed. It's time to climb the stairs. And instead of just having it be a typical house with stairs and walls and bathrooms and bedrooms and all these things, they imagine that their home turns into a completely different setting. And so to climb the stairs, they instead decide to make their canoe and they sail up the stairs. But the stairs is a volcano and it's got lava and ash and all these things, these different elements. So they scale this volcano and then there's a dragon that shows up and Dad leads them through the jungle and it's one adventure after another and they just, as a family, it's not just the siblings, it's the whole family. Even our Labradoodle, Peanut, she's actually in the story too. The illustration of her is so cute. It looks just like our dog. It's like spot on. Yeah, it's just, they go through these different places and each place is an adventure and then yeah, they settle in for the night and everybody is happy and everybody's ready to call it a night.

Valerie -That's fun to take that routine mundane brushing teeth, and getting ready for bed, and to make it fun and engaging for kids. What is your hope to communicate to those who read your book? What's the overarching message you'd like to leave with them?

Kristen -Yeah, really just, so Abby and Liam, they are meant to be a series. The message within the whole Abby and Liam series is just that I want kids to feel comfortable using their imagination and feel comfortable just taking the ordinary and turning it into something that does excite them. You know, if they're curious about something or they're feeling creative it's okay to do that. It's okay to stop and take a moment and just really hone in on that. Like I said, like bedtime, for example, if the kids still need that one last piece of just, you know, fulfilling their day with something fun or just something that makes them feel close to their parents, it's okay to invite that and welcome that into your home. And

You know, same with, you know, drawing pictures. My seven -year -old, she loves to draw and create. And so when we were on family vacation, she actually, you know, our days were action-packed. We had so much going on, but she still wanted to take a moment to draw a picture of our dog. And, you know, it could have been so easy for me as the adult to say, no, no, like, we have to go do this. We have to, you know, we have to move on to our next activity.

But instead, it was just something where I said, you know what, go ahead and sit down and take the time to be creative and curious and create what you want to create. And I'll have to send you the picture that she created because it's not, yeah, it's fantastic. Yeah, that's just, yeah, yeah. It's just, yeah. So I think the message with the Abby and Liam series is really just that I want kids to understand that it's okay to take the moments to be imaginative and creative and curious and especially we as adults, we can slow down too and we can allow that. So, you know, allow that not just for your kids, but allow that for yourself too. There's enough hustle and bustle out there. It doesn't need to be in our own home, you know.

Valerie- I love that. It's easy to get caught up in all the things that have to get done and you know, what is it? Our kids, all they want is time with us. And it doesn't have to be hours upon hours. What is it? I found, what was it? When my kids were young, it only took about 15

minutes of just intentional time with them before they were ready for me to, they were like, okay, I'm done with you. I want to go play over here. Okay. So just a little bit of time of really intentional stepping into their world, just would fill their bucket and give me a few moments to be like, you know what? Can go load the dishwasher and I can step away for just a few moments to get something done. And it's, it's hard as an adult to be like, okay, I'm going to step out of my to-do list and step into our children's world. And I think that our relationships are built so strong when we can do that.

Kristen- Yes. Yeah, I mean, you said it, you know, we all have to-do lists and it's easy for us to get caught up in that. And I noticed as I was writing this book and, you know, getting it sent to the publishers, I noticed that for myself, it was just really, I don't, not necessarily healing, but it just, it helped me embrace my inner child again and just really, you know, find that playfulness in myself. And it shifted my parenting style a little bit, which is yeah, which is really cool. I think I've always just kind of been that type of person where, you know, if I have things to do, I need to make the plan and I need to get everything done and I need to make sure I do it promptly. Whereas my children and You know, writing these stories has really caused me to just settle down and slow down and just enjoy, just truly enjoy the time that I'm in. And so, yeah, I don't know, add that to the to-do list, right? Enjoy your time with your family.

Valerie -Right, right. Too funny. Think I saw like, you've heard of Ted Talks. Well, they're doing like kid Ted Talks now where kids are stepping up there and doing things. And there was one where a kid with her mom wouldn't let her watch TV. And she was like, you know, her mom kept saying, be bored. That's a good thing. And the kid was like, no, I don't want to be bored.

But then she just kind of sat there and stared at the ceiling and in moments, she just started creating something. She wrote a story and it's just kind of giving herself that time to sit and enjoy and be bored and, you know, allows our mind and our hearts to just explore and to embrace that childlike attitude that our kids are so naturally doing.

Kristen -Yes. Yes, yes, you know, I mean, I think our kids are onto something. They have life figures now, think. Yeah. Yeah.

Valerie - Most definitely. Well, Kristen, when did your writing journey begin?

Kristen -Goodness. I actually, so wrote my first poem when I was 10 years old. And it was, you know, it was just this very adolescent, you know, kind of theme with it. And I still have it. I read it a while back, and I just had to chuckle to myself at, you know, the rhymes I was creating like I'm at school and so and so is cool and just stuff like that. But either way, I wrote that poem when I was 10 and I fell in love with just the whole process of writing and the way I could string words together. It just, you know, as I grew, I continued to write poetry. And I just, I write, I feel like the words are almost music to my ears. Like it's just this thing where I write and I can, it just plays in my head and it's just this really beautiful thing. And I just, yeah, I, very, I'm one with writing and I love that. But yeah, so I started writing when I was 10 and I, you know, I would stop off and on depending on the season of my life and

Once I had kids, that is kind of just when I shifted to writing picture books. And I love it. And I can't say I'll ever go back to anything different. So yeah.

Valerie -There's a playfulness and a joy that comes with children's books, whether you're reading them or writing them. So that's always fun. Well, Kristen, what's one of the most impactful books in your life?

Kristen -Hmm. You know, I don't know if I have an impactful one. I guess maybe in different ways. As silly as it sounds, the Harry Potter series was the first set of books that actually got me like reading. Like I remember being a kid and I wasn't that much of a reader. I would read like the, I forget what they were called. Maybe you know, they were, They were like old school. They had a picture of a girl who lived in the 1900s or the 1800s. And they were like basically, yeah, yeah. They were like diary-type stories. Yes. I have memories of just loving those when I was young. But then as I kind of grew up a little bit, I just stopped reading. Don't know.

Reading for me, I don't think was that big of an interest early on. Once the Harry Potter books came out, that's kind of what sparked my love again of books. So that was really impactful in that sense. I also loved The Lord of the Rings. Like that was just that those were the books I think that like just opened my imagination. Those were just fantastic. And then to see the movies, I mean, that was you know, incredible too. But yeah, mean, Anne of Green Gables, The Catcher in the Rye, just all like, you know, all the classics, I think. I do love Jane Eyre. That's a good one. Yeah, I don't know. I can't ever pick a favorite or the most impactful because books are just so. Incredible, right? They just, have a way of bringing out different pieces of you. And it's just, I don't know. I can't pick a favorite. Don't think. Yes. Yes.

Valerie -They hit you differently in different seasons of your life. And so what would be, you know, a book, what was it? A book I read in high school that I loved. I tried to read it again. And I'm like, I do not have time to read this book because it was just very detailed and various, like as a mom of three kids, I do not have time to read this one. It was just like, yeah, I love this book, but no, I got to put it away and we keep going.

Kristen -Yes, no. Yes. Yup, yup. I'll just forget the back cover. Yup.

Valerie -Right, right. Just soaking the memories of reading the book. Too fun. Now, what can we expect next from you?

Kristen - Yes, so the series is continuing. Abby and Liam and the Snowball Adventure is set to be released and it's with the publisher now and I can't wait for that. So everybody keeps an

eye on that. Everyone can follow me on Instagram. That's where I'm most present. And that's that written by Kristen and then it's two underscores. Or people can check out my website at www.AuthorWrittenByKristin .com and that's just kind of where, you know, those two places are where I'll have all the updates.

Valerie - Very fun. Well, a snowball adventure. That sounds like an adventure in itself. We live in Texas, so we don't get much snow. But so yes, it just ices. We call it ice-mageddon. And yeah, it's but yes, snow is always an adventure for kids for sure. Well, Kristen, thank you so much for joining us today and telling us more about your book.

Kristen - Yes, thank you so much for having me on the Bookworthy Podcast. I appreciate it.

Valerie - My pleasure. And thank you for joining Kristin and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Check the show notes for any books or links that we discussed and let us know in the comments what is the most adventurous thing you've ever done. Be sure to like and subscribe so we can discover more great books together.

Happy reading