Featured Interview With Kizzi Roberts
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in a small town in Southern Missouri where I raised goats and cattle and showed animals at the county fair. My love of animals led me to study animal science and after college, I ran away with the circus. I joined Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus as a veterinary technician and spent two years traveling the country and Mexico. I lived in an RV with my dog and took care of elephants, tigers, camels, horses, and more! It was an amazing experience, but also made me miss home. After the circus, I settled back in my hometown which ultimately led me to meet my future husband. I now live just outside Springfield, Missouri with my husband, our two small children, and our dog. I recently got into beekeeping and I’m looking forward to the day I can have a couple reindeer and maybe a Norwegian Fjord too.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. I still have all the books I read as a kid and that includes the complete Animorphs series as well as tons of Boxcar Children, Babysitter’s Club and shelves and shelves of other books. I absolutely loved checking out books from the library as a kid, and my fascination with libraries continues today. My love for writing is also something I’ve had for as long as I can remember. I still have stories I wrote in elementary school. When I was in middle school, my English teacher had a big impact. She was so encouraging of my writing and made me think I could be an author someday. I got away from writing as I got older, but it was always something I dreamed about. While working at the circus, I decided I wanted to get serious about writing. I started taking online writing courses and became involved with SCBWI in 2014.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read fantasy books and my favorite book ever is Sabriel by Garth Nix. In my writing, I’m probably most influenced by books I read as a child (Animorphs, The Island Stallion, Island of the Blue Dolphins), although I continue to read a wide range of books today. I really enjoy middle grade books especially if they are science fiction or fantasy.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I’ve released a couple books recently. I’ve been working on a new nonfiction picture book series called Animal Clues Guess Who and I’m having a lot of fun with that. The latest release in that series is called Farm Animals and I teamed up with a local farm (Gooseberry Bridge Farm) to take pictures of their animals for the book. These books are basically animal guessing game books with facts about different animals and closeup pictures on one spread and then you turn the page to see the full picture of the animal plus more fun facts. My idea for this series came about while reading books to my toddler. We both enjoyed the guessing game style of books, but I wanted a book with more facts about the animals so I decided to write it. So far I’ve published Farm Animals, Forest Animals and Polar Animals.
My other book that came out recently is the second book in my Critter Camp Kids chapter book series. It’s called Kinsley and the Curious Corn Snake and includes all sorts of summer camp adventures plus lots and lots of animal facts. The series focuses on four girls attending an animal summer camp and they experience lots of problems along the way as well as a lot of fun. I teamed up with illustrator Stephen Gilpin for this series and he is incredible. It was amazing seeing him bring my characters to life.
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