A Vegetable Garden Adventure is about a brother and sister who shrank to a pea’s size after they read an ancient message hidden in a garden shed, in order to release a trapped silkworm. They went on a three day’s adventure through a garden where they met different garden animals. Every single one of them is helping in their own way to ease up a little their journey. It’s an amusing and captivating story about a bond between a brother and sister, as even about their emotions arising on their journey through the unknown. Happiness, sorrow, fear and bravery are ingeniously fused on their way towards the goal.
Will the siblings reach their goal and return to their normal size? To find out, I’ve managed to squirrel away a few minutes to chat with Daniel D. Horvat, author of ‘A Vegetable Garden Adventure’. Daniel, I love the idea of a garden adventure. What inspired you to take your characters down this path?
I just wanted to create an interesting and adventurous story where children will learn some about garden animals and vegetables.
There are so many things to teach children about the garden, so what ideas or thoughts lead you through the story?
When I start writing as if to go to another dimension. The brain starts to work faster and faster and I no longer have a clue about time or what time is it. It’s hard to explain but sometimes I feel like I’m not here, in this world, mentally.
Does this feeling of mentally being in another world energise or exhaust you?
It depends. If I write in the evening, then it exhausts me, but if I write through the day then it energizes me. Anyway, it makes me happy and complete.
I love to hear writers that feel happy when they write, I think it means that they build a great message to share with the readers. What message did you want your readers to take away from this book?
That every goal is achievable!
Now that’s an awesome message for kids to learn! And I’m sure that you picked up a few new things along the way when you were getting this book through production to published. Looking back, what do you personally learn from sharing your characters and message with your readership?
Every time I stopped writing, I’ve added several notes about what is coming next.
Oh, the ability to keep yourself on track with awesome notes is a great habit develop. I’m sure that by keeping yourself up to date your characters and their interactions were so much stronger. As you think about your characters now, do you still remember how they came to life?
I simply knew they had to be brother and sister. And their appearance came to me slowly. I created them little by little.
It’s great that adding little bits over time builds up to a fully fledged story. And when you’ve done it once, it’s much easier to do it again. Have you already started thinking about your next writing project to follow up this one?
Yes, I’m currently working on a very imaginary children story that I plan to publish this year.
You must have that imagination of yours in high gear! Let’s take advantage of that for a little bit and see what your imagination throws out when I pose you the question if you invented a monster what would it look like and what would you call it?
Like a hairy tennis ball. Fluffy.
Now the question is would you play tennis with it? Don’t answer it now, just put it into your next book! So, what does your imagination think of the question, what happens if Batman gets bitten by a vampire?
Vampire dies. No more Batman. Just a Batvampireman!
*Laughs* Now that’s a character that I want to meet! Again perhaps we’ll meet him, or a variant in one of your upcoming works. But until then we’ll have to amuse ourselves with A Vegetable Garden Adventure. Daniel, can you share a taste of the garden adventure with us today to encourage our readers to pick up a copy?
“Don’t talk like this, sis! If you think we’re not going to make it, then we won’t. But if you start to think differently, all sorts of ideas will come to you! Try it!”
I will! And I hope the readers will too. Daniel, thanks for sharing a taste of your imagination with us today, and I can’t wait to hear about your next adventure into your imagination!
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Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘A Vegetable Garden Adventure ( ASIN: B07D3GXK2L )‘.
Want to find out more about Daniel D. Horvat? Connect here!