A local community leader who is a well-known author in the nursing field is branching off into a completely new writing genre.
Deborah Hunt, a Community Board 10 volunteer from Pelham Bay who has three books on the nursing profession to her credit, now also has two children’s books due out in August and September. This is a first for her.
Waldorf Publishing released one of Hunt’s new books, ‘The One-Eyed Pug,’ on Tuesday, August 15.
It is a 48-page chapter book that is lightly illustrated.
The book has a surprise, happy ending, said Hunt.
It will be followed on Friday, September 15 by a non-fiction picture book called ‘Same Inside, Different Outside,’ focusing on multicultural themes along with practical lessons about the functions of the organs of the human body.
“I have been wanting to write children’s books since I was in grade school,” said Hunt, adding that she took creative writing classes in high school, before starting a career and raising a family.
Hunt, who has a career as a Nursing professor at the College of New Rochelle, said that she had been writing children’s stories, including several short stories published in online magazines, for that past 10 years or so.
After facing a number of rejections, she had a enough small successes publishing stories with names like ‘Johnny Snowman’, ‘Happy Hands’ and ‘Mary’s Magical Garden’ to keep her developing her youth writing.
Hunt said she did not want to self-publish her children’s books, citing a cost that could have reached tens of thousands of dollars.
“I was looking for a traditional publisher and found it,” said Hunt, adding that she inked a contract with Waldorf, a Texas-based publisher, in December 2015.
Her publisher encouraged changes to her two books.
She urged Hunt to enlarge the length of the ‘The One-Eyed Pug’ and publish it as a chapter book instead of a picture book as the author had originally envisioned.
With ‘Same Inside, Different Outside,’ the publisher allowed Hunt the privilege of collaborating with the illustrator, Xavier Pom. This doesn’t always happen, said Hunt.
Hunt said that her children’s writing mainly took place in the basement of her home with the help of some online course and paid writing critiques from Writers Digest.
Hunt, a Registered Nurse, was already the author of The Nurse Professional: Leveraging Your Education, The New Nurse Educator: Mastering Academe and Fast Facts about the Nursing Profession.
While the types of writing may be different, learning how to write well allows you to make your thoughts and words flow, no matter what the genre, indicated the author.
“I believe that the more you write, the more it becomes second nature,” she said. “You are developing your craft.”
The new children’s books written by Hunt are available for order and pre-order through Amazon, Waldorf Publishers, Follett, Barnes & Noble and Target, along with other retailers.
