Title: Legacies
Author: L.M. Haynes
Publisher:TBA
ISBN: TBA
Pages: 31
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book / Religion
Interviewed by: Beth Adams

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PBR: Thank you for taking your time to share with us today.
It is my pleasure to be able to spend some time with you.

PBR: In you book Legacies, you have a very original way to teach youngsters the values to live their lives by telling them about what they, and others, will leave to family and friends upon their death. How do you feel children respond to the mortality of their lives from their very young ages?
The world that we live in makes us aware of death from a very young age. Children become aware of human mortality through the passing of a friend or loved one, television, the internet, and social media. But when we are so young and so full of life and hope, the idea of death is still so distant to us that we believe that it will never come our way.

PBR: What brought this sequence of values such as money, letters of love, tradition, Biblical scriptures, and that of a young boy dying prematurely into your decision to exemplify in your story?
When the idea to create a children’s book with this message first came to me, the first question that I asked myself was how do I present it. I came to the conclusion that the best way to reach children was through four or five short stories or examples of how important our own legacy is. From there, I just drew on some personal experience and stories that I had heard to create the five stories in Legacies.

PBR: I realize the reference to Brian Ketridge must be a real event. Can you kindly elaborate a bit more about how you knew Brian and his family, and what personal effects Brian’s life had on you?
The real life Brian Ketridge was a young boy by the name of Brian Murphy. Unfortunately, I never knew Brian. He passed away almost 30 years ago. However, since his passing I have been able to get to know Brian’s family very well and to learn about his story.

I have heard his dad speak publicly about him and he has spoken to me privately about his precious son. When I mention in the book that Brian continues to touch the lives of those who knew him and those who did not, I am including myself in the group of people who did not know him yet are always touched and inspired by his story and amazing faith. What a great legacy!

PBR: Can you tell us about Father Ed?
Father Ed was a parish priest at my local parish a number of years ago. He was a very beloved priest in our parish. One night, my wife and I were attending a talk given by Father Ed during the Lenten season, and he posed the idea of these letters of love to the people in church that night. It was an idea that stuck with me, and when I was creating this book, I thought that relating the idea of these letters to children and their parents would be another way of leaving a positive legacy.

PBR: Our reviewer has read many of your other books including The Vanishing Doorknob, and The Christmas Time Travelers. You have both the talent for writing and for drawing, which tie together. What might you plans be for future books?
I am currently writing and illustrating two new children’s books. The first title is The Christmas Time Travelers II (The Professor’s Journey) and the second title is The Runaway Clock. I am hoping to have both titles completed and published this year.

PBR: Thank you again, and we wish you great success in your publishing efforts.
Thank you so very much for this wonderful opportunity and all of your best wishes.