I am an old man and live on the edge of town with my two
Saint Bernards Dudley and Maggie. Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Sacre is my first children’s book and another is coming
out in the fall. And now let me cut to
the chase and tell you how Night Buddies
and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare came about.
I raised my son John as a single parent from the time he was
six. I can't remember exactly: Maybe one
night John wanted more story and I was tired of reading and suggested he invent
a buddy to go off to sleep with. Or maybe
he did it spontaneously. He was six, I
think. Anyway, before I knew it, John
came up with this red crocodile named Crosley.
I was duly charmed, and we started batting Crosley ideas around at night
and making up episodes. Crosley got to
be a real member of the family.
In many ways the thing was ready-made for me, but I did need
to figure out why on earth Crosley was red. I couldn't just dump something like that into a story without
explaining. (I was determined not to
leave the red part out; this was Crosley's trademark feature!)
It finally occurred to me: Crosley was red because he was
allergic to water! In a roundabout way,
that is. If he got any water on him, he
broke out doing the Black Bottom dance and had to go on for hours and
hours. Unless he took his antidote
pills. These stopped the Black Bottom
well enough but did have a side-effect, and you surely know what this was: they
turned him red! This was fine with
Crosley, though: "Not that I mind that part a bit. Cause when people see
me now, they know not t' get me wet."
I give John most of the credit. He invented Crosley the red crocodile and all
I did was figure out why he was red and drop the two new Night Buddies into a
situation. I like to think of John as
the writer and myself as the editor and rewrite man. John is thirty-two now and
Crosley is obviously still a member of the family.
The second book in the series (the one coming out this fall)
is called Night Buddies, Imposters, and
One Far-Out Flying Machine. It
features John and Crosley, is much longer, and introduces a bunch of new
characters. My favorite part is the
fantastic flying machine that I really can't talk about here. I hope you'll check it out, though, and
thanks again for inviting me in.
Sands Hetherington
About the Book:
Night Buddies and the
Pineapple Cheesecake Scare is the first in a series featuring John, a young
city kid who isn't ready for bed yet, and Crosley, a bright-red crocodile who
shows up in his room to rescue him and take him on an adventure.
Night Buddies is
an astonishing and inventive adventure with unforgettable cast of characters that
will make you laugh and win over your heart. The book has lots of thoughtful,
multi-layered twists, giggles, and perils -- things kids can relate to and
enjoy.
Publisher: Dune
Buggy Press; One edition (June 1, 2012)
ISBN-10:
0984741712
ISBN-13:
978-0984741717
Get a sneak peek of the book at http://tinyurl.com/7xxl8qw
About the Author:
Sands
Hetherington credits his son John for being his principal motivator. Sands
raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him
every night during those formative years. He and young John developed the Crosley
crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take.
Sands majored in history at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and
has an M.F.A. in creative writing and an M.A. in English from UNC-Greensboro.
He lives in Greensboro.
The World of Ink Network will be
touring author Sands Hetherington’s nighttime adventure for kids, Night
Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare published by Dune Buggy Press
all through July and August 2012.
You can find out more about Sands Hetherington’s World of
Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/6vgevbh
To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit http://worldofinknetwork.com
