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by Sophia Gholz

Thanks for having me on the blog, Tara! I’m so happy to be here and excited to reveal the cover for my new book, TRUCK IN THE MUCK.

You asked me to share how the idea for this book formed and the truth is…it’s complicated.

The first book in this series, BUG ON THE RUG, developed after a bout of writer’s block, a self-inflicted writing challenge, and a late-night phone call with my little brother, whom I call BUG. The second book, BEAR AT THE FAIR, flowed easily after a family trip to the nearby annual county fair. Truthfully, I never planned to write more stories in this animal world. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I’ve found chasing ideas counterintuitive to the creative process. Instead, I have to sort of allow things to form organically. If it comes, it comes, and if not. Well then, there you go. But life, as it often does, had other plans.

Both BUG and BEAR were drafted before the pandemic and released after its peak. During those years, I often struggled with inspiration. Finding a silver lining when things are tough isn’t always easy and it’s something I thought about a lot. While I was stuck in the muck of my bubble at home, I spent many hours scrolling online. Then one day, I happened upon a beautiful image of a family traveling in their camper van…and then another picture…and another. I watched online as others explored the world with little more than a vehicle and roadmap, and I found it to be such a freeing idea. I especially loved the thought of traveling with friends, except my inner child turned the mental imagery into a van full of animals with a feathered duck at the wheel! Turns out, it was an image I just couldn’t let go of.

I’m so thankful to have found Duck and his easy-going personality in the silver lining of that time period. TRUCK IN THE MUCK was a much-needed reminder for me that even in muck, we can sometimes find luck…and a whole lot of fun! I fell even more in love with this story when I saw the brilliant way illustrator Susan Batori designed Duck’s truck and brought all of his buddies together. *Spoiler: keep an eye on the pages for familiar faces from BUG and BEAR.

Thanks again for having me and Duck on the blog! I hope everyone enjoys navigating muck with Duck, his sweet group of friends, and his quirky old truck.

TRUCK IN THE MUCK releases July 15th from Sleeping Bear Press!

Sophia Gholz is a children’s book author, music lover, magic seeker, and avid reader. She enjoys writing fiction with humor and heart. When writing nonfiction, she pulls on her love of science and her strong family background in ecology. Previously, Sophia worked as an advertising copywriter and made a career managing visual artists in New York City. Sophia is the author of The Boy Who Grew a Forest, a NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book and Florida State Book Award gold medalist. This is Your World: The Story of Bob Ross, Bug on the Rug, ARLO and more. When she’s not writing from her home base in Florida, you can find Sophia reading, visiting schools or exploring the great outdoors with her family. For more, visit SophiaGholz.com.

Susan Batori is a Hungarian illustrator, graphic designer and a character design addict. She studied graphic design at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary. As an art director at DDB Advertising Agency, Susan designed many print ads, websites, posters, and packages. That’s how she discovered drawing hilarious characters was much more fun. She also loves creating new digital textures, reading, watching great movies, drinking coffee, walking in a forest or pampering herself with a good salted caramel ice cream. Since 2012, Susan has been working as a freelance children’s book illustrator. For more, visit Susanbatori.myportfolio.com.