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Mealtime Monster next children's book for author

Jessica Williams is making a meal of her next book. The emerging children's author, formerly of Smithers and Prince George before moving to her current base in Swift Current, is set to issue her second title.
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Jessica Williams, formerly of Prince George, releases her second children's book called Mealtime Monster.

Jessica Williams is making a meal of her next book.

The emerging children's author, formerly of Smithers and Prince George before moving to her current base in Swift Current, is set to issue her second title. It's called Mealtime Monster put out by All Write Here Publishing.

"I have a habit I can't break, now. It's just my fun," she said, after first releasing her debut story Mama's Cloud and forging directly into Mealtime Monster only three months later, and there are more on the go in the background.

Mama's Cloud started her career on a deeply personal note. It was a tale that examined Williams' post-partum depression following the birth of her first child. It was a critically acclaimed hit, and Kirkus Reviews Magazine just named it one of its Best Books of the Month for its upcoming November edition.

Although lighter in theme, Mealtime Monster went into another common family drama.

"Oh, it's my life, too," Williams said, admitting more inspiration from her own reality. "You write what you know, that's what they say, for a good reason. I just brainstormed what a child would think about, if they could solve a problem. This book is about a little girl who's a picky eater. A large percentage of parents can relate to that. I was probably the pickiest eater when I was a kid, so I know what that was like from that perspective as well."

The first star of this new story is Iris, a girl who turns her nose up at all the nutritious foods offered up on her family table.

She convinces her parents she's eating them all when in fact she's handing it off under the table to the second star of the story, a long-tailed handful of purple hair and gappy teeth. This insatiable monster is happy to gobble all the greens, and Iris soon comes to know why he's keen on nutrition.

"She gets to reap the benefits of finishing her plate, being great in her parents eyes, and getting that dessert reward," Williams said. "But obviously there is a price to be paid. One cannot live on ice cream alone. Things start to go badly and there is a lesson to be learned in there."

One of the new directions Williams took with her latest literature is the use of rhyme. The story is told in verse, which adds an extra bite of sweetness when read out loud, but it was not an easy recipe to cook up.

Another new element was Daria Lavrova, an artist from Estonia who Williams found in an online hunt for children's book illustrators.

"Oh, man, my illustrator is so talented," Williams said. "Interesting fact about her: she was a lawyer and quit to become a painter. I love it. When I started talking with her, I left it very open for her interpretation. The only solid requirement I put on her was the monster had to be fluffy and purple, because that was how it was written, and the creature she created is so wacky and fun and I want one of my own to squeeze."

She's tested the book out on some of the kids in her life, and Williams is thrilled with the responses. No one is honest like a child, and they've given the green light to her green veggie fable.

Mealtime Monster is, like Mama's Cloud, available in hardcover, paperback and ebook forms. Watch for the sales portals (Amazon and others) to open soon.