Featured Interview With Carol Smith
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Carol Christina Smith was born in Grass Valley, CA in 1948. This small historical gold mining town is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her maternal grandfather, Sylvester Nugent, worked in the Empire Mine in the early 1930’s and 40’s when gold was still busting. One of her fondest childhood memories was going with her maternal grandmother to drop her grandfather off at the mine during the wee hours of the morning. He would ride a cart into the mountain and disappear. Her grandmother would explain that he was far down under the earth digging for gold.
As a young girl, she romped through the woods with her two brothers. They enjoyed play on a fallen tree which they named the “monkey tree”. The woods created the setting for her children’s fiction “Tales of Wonder Woods”. A deep love and appreciation for the wonder and beauty of nature began to grow deep in her spirit.
At the age of ten, her father found employment in Rocklin, CA, a small town not far from California’s state capitol, Sacramento. With tears and a broken heart she left her childhood paradise and began a new life.
In 2005, her five-year old grandson Val, was in her care. He enjoyed listening to a story about an adventure in the woods with a talking tree and other fantasies. He was so enthralled with the story, he would add his own ideas.
In 2009, she began to write “Tales of Wonder Woods”. The book was completed in 2019. She is hoping to complete another children’s fiction based upon historical facts involving a family living during the Civil War.
I feel strongly that my book is good reading for kids in this particular era of time. So many families are separated, and this story offers hope
This story wraps knowledge and education into the real world and the fantasy world. It teaches family values, friendship, knowledge, the value of education, and so much more.
Music was her first love. On a trip to San Francisco in Golden Gate Park, she enjoyed the opportunity to listen to an orchestra playing “Stars and Stripes Forever”. She asked her father, “what is that beautiful horn” playing that music. He answered, “it is a trumpet”. She replied with the promise, “someday I am going to play the trumpet”.
In Rocklin she joined the school band playing trumpet. Her love for piano developed while visiting her maternal grandparent’s home in Grass Valley. At the age of three she would sit on the bench of the Baldwin player piano and push the keys. She learned to play piano by practicing on an imaginary keyboard on the kitchen table. After the death of her maternal grandfather, the Baldwin player was gifted to her, and she began to play on a “real” piano.
Her life was filled with making friends with the “Rocklin kids”. Together, they romped the hillsides enjoying the natural beauty surrounding them.
In school she was an active cheerleader, Vice-President of Health, a choir member, active in Campfire Girls. In high school her interests wrapped around modern dance, choir, and acquatic arts.
Her love for style and design emerged into a fashion career at the age of 16. Her most aggressive hobby involved designing and sewing her own clothes. Proudly, she walked the halls of high school wearing beautiful outfits. Design and sewing continued through most of her adult life.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a young girl, I read such books as Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, Louisa May Alcott “Little Women”, Heidi, and the “Wizard of Oz”, He by L. Frank Baum and so many others. In school I always enjoyed writing stories, creative writing, analytic writing and other forms of writing. I have written a series of poems although I have not published them at this time. My grade scores were always rated high.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite books are biographies. I have read bio’s of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Rosevelt, and so many others. My favorite historical fiction so far is “When We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate. A recent favorite is the “Lightening Thief” by Rick Reardon.
I enjoyed reading Brian Stephenson’s book “Just Mercy”, a true story about the “Equal Justice Initiative”. So much good read available.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My first and latest is my recently published children’s fiction “Tales of Wonder Woods”. This began as a story I told to my young grandson. He was so enthralled with the story, he wanted to add his own ideas. The book is so versatile because it combines real life episodes with the fantasy adventures in Wonder Woods introducing knowledge. Family values center around the entire story.
Val is a young boy living with his mother; his father is gone. In the woods near his home, he meets a giant spruce tree. Spruce, the giant Sitka spruce tree is steadfast; his roots are planted deep in the earth just as his values are planted deep in his spirit. Their friendship matures and endures until the time of Spruce’s death. The story combines real life intertwining with the fantasy world that takes place in Wonder Woods. In the fantasy world, a near-fatal rafting trip happens when Val and his cousins are rescued by an Indian chief. Big Chief Yellow Bird is like an angel unaware who appears when Val and his cousins are in danger or in need of guidance in Wonder Woods. Adventure, danger, death, grief, disappointment,
Victory, and heroism are portrayed in this tale. There are real-life explanations for the fantasies that occur in the woods. Throughout the story, signs of Val’s father slowly returning home are emerging.
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