Heidi Johnson’s Inspiring Journey to Create Meaningful Children’s Books

Sponsored by Harford County Living

In this episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich sits down with Heidi Johnson, a former kindergarten teacher turned children’s book author and illustrator. Heidi shares her journey from teaching young minds to creating her debut children’s book, Come to Me: A Journey to Jesus. Drawing inspiration from her love of art, faith, and storytelling, Heidi discusses how she combined her skills to craft a heartfelt Christmas story that resonates with readers of all ages. She opens up about the challenges of self-publishing, the joys of illustrating, and her passion for encouraging imagination in children. Sponsored by Harford County Living, this episode highlights the importance of supporting local talent and fostering creativity in the community.

HonoringDesigns - Etsy

Sponsor Message:

This episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett is brought to you by Harford County Living—your go-to resource for all things Harford County! From uplifting community news to spotlighting local businesses, events, and podcasts, Harford County Living is dedicated to showcasing the best of our area. Discover how they support local talent, connect neighbors, and inspire a sense of community pride. Visit harfordcountyliving.com to learn more and stay connected to what makes Harford County truly special. Thank you, Harford County Living, for supporting conversations that matter!

Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00
A lot of you heard of a young lady I've had on the podcast a few times, Debbie Jennings, D.A. Jennings, local author, and she took. 

Heidi Johnson 0:10
Tell me about 

Rich Bennett 0:10
A young lady that I think at the time was writing or about to release her 

Heidi Johnson 0:16
her. 

Rich Bennett 0:17
first children's book. And he said, Well, you got to get her on the podcast. So. 

Heidi Johnson 0:23
That. 

Rich Bennett 0:23
Debbie tells me to do something. I'm going to do it plain and simple. So I have a young lady. Her name is Heidi Johnson. She wrote a children's book which was recently released called Come to Me A Journey to Jesus. I want to say it's a Christmas children's book, but because of the theme, I think you can read it any time. So first of all, how are you doing, Heidi? 

Heidi Johnson 0:48
I'm good. Thanks for having. 

Rich Bennett 0:50
Oh, my pleasure. So before we get into the book, tell us a little bit about yourself. What have you always inspired to be an author, especially a children's author or dad? Just out of the womb? You said, I'm going to write the. 

Heidi Johnson 1:05
No, no. I think it it came along gradually. 

Rich Bennett 1:09
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 1:11
So I have some background in art. Went to Bel-Air High School. Art teacher there really encouraged me in the art. His name was Kirk Biddle, and then I went to Philadelphia College of Art and Design just for a year. 

Rich Bennett 1:28
Oh, wow. 

Heidi Johnson 1:30
And decided I. I enjoyed the art. I learned so much, but I decided I really wanted to pursue a different path. 

Rich Bennett 1:40
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 1:41
And so I went into early childhood education at Towson. 

Rich Bennett 1:44
Wow. 

Heidi Johnson 1:45
So after teaching for 30 years of kindergarten. 

Rich Bennett 1:49
Oh, wait a minute. You taught kindergarten for 30 years? 

Heidi Johnson 1:54
Yeah, I 

Rich Bennett 1:54
No. 

Heidi Johnson 1:54
retired two years ago. 

Rich Bennett 1:56
Oh, come on. 

Heidi Johnson 1:57
I really enjoyed it, but I really did feel like along the way I wanted to use more of the art. 

Rich Bennett 2:04
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 2:05
You know, along the way I practiced and I did little projects here and there, but I just fell in love with literature 

Rich Bennett 2:13
Mm. 

Heidi Johnson 2:13
through teaching. I loved sharing it with my kids. I loved seeing them write stories, illustrate stories. I was inspired by them. 

Rich Bennett 2:24
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 2:25
To write this book. And the book is actually dedicated to my kindergarten students. 

Rich Bennett 2:30
Oh. 

Heidi Johnson 2:31
So, yeah, that's it's special to me. And I want to share it with as many of them as possible. 

Rich Bennett 2:38
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 2:39
I was able to go to the book fair at my previous school, Fountain Green Elementary School, and just kind of shared that it was coming out. 

Rich Bennett 2:48
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 2:48
Because it was before I had any copies. 

Rich Bennett 2:51
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 2:51
And so I was able to tell some of my students and it was really fun to be able to do that. And a special time for me. 

Rich Bennett 3:01
Wow. 

Heidi Johnson 3:01
So, but I think it was just a gradual thing. I started it's illustrated digitally. Program called Art Rage. If you look at the pictures, there's a lot of detail and there's a lot of, um. You can see like the strokes of the the brush. 

Rich Bennett 3:24
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 3:25
And so you don't really think it's digitally illustrated. That's one thing I liked about this program, art Rage. It really does make it look like it's not digital, even though it is digital. But. 

Rich Bennett 3:39
What has that worked? So. 

Heidi Johnson 3:42
You have to 

Rich Bennett 3:42
I 

Heidi Johnson 3:42
have. 

Rich Bennett 3:42
have like, a pad and like, you paint on it or. 

Heidi Johnson 3:45
So yeah, I just use a regular computer, but it has a touch screen. And it was I bought it specifically because I knew I wanted to paint digitally. I did take two courses at Ringling College of Art and Design. They it's in Sarasota and they offer a course. Well, they did. I don't know if they still do, but in the summers they offer courses for art teachers. I wasn't an art teacher at the time, but they still accepted me. Because you do teach art in Kinderhook. 

Rich Bennett 4:16
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 4:16
So. So I had this really good instructor, which I wish I could think of his name right now. I did not write that down, but 

I took I took his course for two summers and it was just a week. 

Rich Bennett 4:29
Hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 4:31
But I learned, you know, it was like the beginnings of it. And 

Rich Bennett 4:35
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 4:35
we. Whack them tablets, these big, expensive tablets. 

Rich Bennett 4:39
Wakeham. 

Heidi Johnson 4:40
They're called Wakeham tablets and you're just with a digital pen you're drawing right on this tablet using We were using Photoshop at the time. 

Rich Bennett 4:50
Wakeham. 

Heidi Johnson 4:51
Welcome. 

Rich Bennett 4:53
Go play Whac-A-Mole now. 

Heidi Johnson 4:55
Yeah, it does sound like that. 

Rich Bennett 4:56
Wow. 

Heidi Johnson 4:57
So, yeah, so 

Rich Bennett 5:00
Do you 

Heidi Johnson 5:00
that's 

Rich Bennett 5:00
have. 

Heidi Johnson 5:00
the process. 

Rich Bennett 5:01
Is that what you used to 

Heidi Johnson 5:02
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 5:02
have? Straight this. 

Heidi Johnson 5:03
Mm hmm. Well, I don't use a welcome tablet. I just use my regular PC, which is for digital drawing. Most people use iPads. 

Rich Bennett 5:12
Oh, she had 

Heidi Johnson 5:13
Create. 

Rich Bennett 5:13
the touch screen. The. 

Heidi Johnson 5:15
Yes. And I use a pen. It's like a special pen that you use on the touch screen. And then you just pick like, I'm going to use an oil brush in the program, and then you're painting with an oil brush. 

Rich Bennett 5:26
Really? 

Heidi Johnson 5:27
Is a watercolor brush and you're painting with a watercolor brush. So it's. Yeah, that's how it works. 

Rich Bennett 5:33
Oh, do I have a touchscreen computer? 

Heidi Johnson 5:36
Yeah, you can. I mean, any computer has a little program on there where you can draw. It's probably you just have to look it up. I don't know what it would be called on different computers, but they probably have a drawing program where you could 

Rich Bennett 5:52
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 5:52
try drawing on it, 

Rich Bennett 5:53
I'm 

Heidi Johnson 5:53
so. 

Rich Bennett 5:53
glad to tell my daughter this because she's I mean, she's a good it will all. Keep telling her she needs to get back to writing because she's good at writing. 

Heidi Johnson 6:02
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:02
Good art. 

Heidi Johnson 6:03
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 6:03
And I think. 

Heidi Johnson 6:04
maybe that. Fine. Does she have an iPad? 

Rich Bennett 6:09
No. 

Heidi Johnson 6:09
Okay. 

I mean, the easiest way to get into digital drawing is probably to get an iPad and use a program. And I think they have a free version called Procreate. 

Rich Bennett 6:21
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 6:21
And most digital illustrators use that. 

Rich Bennett 6:24
Okay. Hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 6:25
Oh. So. But you could, you know, look into it. 

Rich Bennett 6:30
Wow. So I see you took this. You illustrated the book. You wrote the book. 

Heidi Johnson 6:36
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 6:37
Good Lord. What didn't you do with. 

Heidi Johnson 6:40
I did not edit it. I had an editor. 

Rich Bennett 6:44
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 6:44
I hired an editor. So I found out about her through this better writers and illustrators group that I'm in. And 

Lindsey Pope, who's a local author, she recommended my editor to me, and her name is Glennis Nelle List. She lives in Minnesota and she's from England. She has a lot of beautiful books out, some great Christmas books. And so you should look her up if you're looking for some really wonderful Christian literature. 

Rich Bennett 7:21
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 7:23
But she what we did is we just met on Zoom. I sent her my things and she just help me illustrate this book. And she also or not illustrate sorry, she helped me edit this 

Rich Bennett 7:35
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 7:35
book. And then she also helped me edit my next two books, so I'm excited to get started on illustrating those. 

Rich Bennett 7:42
We will get. So you got two more books coming out already? 

Heidi Johnson 7:45
Well, not yet. I have them written, 

Rich Bennett 7:48
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 7:49
but the illustrating takes a really long time. So in January, I'm going to I'm going to start, you know, working on. 

Rich Bennett 7:55
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 7:56
In those books. It's a series. So. 

Rich Bennett 7:58
So what made you decide to write a Christmas book and not your regular Christmas? I don't want to say regular Christmas book. Christmas book where it's got scene and all in it. This is talking about 

Heidi Johnson 8:11
Jesus. 

Rich Bennett 8:11
you. 

Heidi Johnson 8:12
Which 

Rich Bennett 8:12
It is 

Heidi Johnson 8:12
is. 

Rich Bennett 8:13
truly Christmas. 

Heidi Johnson 8:14
Right. So. 

Rich Bennett 8:15
So what made you decide to write something like that? 

Heidi Johnson 8:17
So I got inspired from a Christmas card. 

Rich Bennett 8:23
Really? 

Heidi Johnson 8:23
Christmas card that I made. So one Christmas or I decided I was going to start painting my own Christmas cards and sending them to my relatives as a gift because you kind of want to give a gift, but you don't know what to give. 

Rich Bennett 8:37
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 8:37
So I just made copies of it, like I made an original and 

Rich Bennett 8:41
right. 

Heidi Johnson 8:41
then I made copies. And the first one I painted, it has animals looking up at the baby Jesus. And the baby Jesus is being held up in sort of like a blanket. A baby. 

Rich Bennett 8:55
Uh huh. 

Heidi Johnson 8:56
Buy two doves and the animals are looking up at the baby Jesus. And I don't know, I feel like it was just God inspired me to. 

Rich Bennett 9:06
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 9:06
Painting. It just kind of came out of I like to do sort of like a journaling, sketching, reading time with God every morning. And this just came out of one of my times in the morning. And 

so after I finished the card and it was sent out and I got a lot of good feedback and I was like, You know what? I think there's more to this story. 

Rich Bennett 9:31
Uh huh. 

Heidi Johnson 9:32
So I took that and I sort of wrote the story and it just kind of came one morning, you know, it has changed a lot over the next few. Over the next months, it changed quite 

Rich Bennett 9:47
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 9:47
a. Even years because I think I wrote it about three years ago. 

Rich Bennett 9:53
Really? 

Heidi Johnson 9:54
Mm hmm. And so 

close the time I was retiring, I knew that I was going to write this book. 

Rich Bennett 10:04
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 10:04
So I took a course at Harvard Community College called A Creative Writing Course by Debbie Jennings. And 

Rich Bennett 10:11
We 

Heidi Johnson 10:11
she. 

Rich Bennett 10:11
don't know her. Love you, Daddy. 

Heidi Johnson 10:14
She was. She's wonderful. Very inspiring. She she's very welcoming in the course like you feel like you can share because she's no one's going to make fun of you or your writing, you know. 

Rich Bennett 10:27
Got to take the course. 

Heidi Johnson 10:28
Yes, you should. 

Rich Bennett 10:30
To. 

Heidi Johnson 10:31
You really should. 

Rich Bennett 10:34
I would be the teacher's. So I. Go ahead. 

Heidi Johnson 10:37
Front row. 

Yeah. So yeah, so I really enjoyed it. And she was the first person to kind of edit it 

Rich Bennett 10:46
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 10:46
and give me some feedback, which was helpful. So yeah. I think it's only like six, six weeks, eight weeks, something like that. 

Rich Bennett 10:56
Six weeks. How many days are we 

Heidi Johnson 10:57
It's just one night a week. 

Rich Bennett 10:59
really? 

Heidi Johnson 10:59
But I think she teaches it in the fall. Only in the fall. So you're. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:06
She's. 

Heidi Johnson 11:07
You'll have to do it next fall. 

Rich Bennett 11:11
Why did I? I wanted to do it. I think it fell on a night where I had meetings or something, which is why 

Heidi Johnson 11:17
I can't remember what night of the week we had. 

Rich Bennett 11:19
I think it was a. 

Heidi Johnson 11:20
It might have been a Thursday. 

Rich Bennett 11:21
Figures of Thursday. 

Heidi Johnson 11:22
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:22
And that's why I couldn't do it. So with with come to me a journey of the Jesus. Is a two part question, 

Heidi Johnson 11:30
You 

Rich Bennett 11:30
because I believe 

Heidi Johnson 11:30
believe 

Rich Bennett 11:31
especially 

Heidi Johnson 11:31
especially. 

Rich Bennett 11:31
of children's children's books, you know, we hear that the. 

Heidi Johnson 11:35
With kids all the time. 

Rich Bennett 11:36
Time, but I do believe adults can learn from them. 

Heidi Johnson 11:39
Mm hmm. Oh, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:40
What is it with this book that adults can learn from it? 

Heidi Johnson 11:45
Hmm. That's 

Rich Bennett 11:46
And then 

Heidi Johnson 11:46
a 

Rich Bennett 11:46
the 

Heidi Johnson 11:46
good 

Rich Bennett 11:46
second part to that question is what can 

Heidi Johnson 11:48
children. 

Rich Bennett 11:48
children learn from? 

Heidi Johnson 11:49
Oh, I like that question. 

I can. I do the children first? 

Rich Bennett 11:56
That's cool. 

Heidi Johnson 11:58
So I think. 

With with children. The message is just that all are invited to come to Jesus, because sometimes, 

you know, there's the Nativity story. Right. And it's the standard. The sheep 

Rich Bennett 12:17
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 12:18
and the sh. The shepherds and the wise men. But you can use your imagination and think, Well, who else can? You know, I'm sure that other people came to that we don't know about. 

Rich Bennett 12:31
right. 

Heidi Johnson 12:31
Right? Right. Because the star was there, and I'm sure other people noticed. I mean, it lit up the whole area. So I think that's one thing that I kind of thought about. And I want kids to use their imagination. And it's a way to encourage that. Like, you 

Rich Bennett 12:49
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 12:49
know, I'm using my imagination. I'm I'm I'm using my prediction skills and thinking what else? Who else could have visited, you know? I used kind of everyday animals that that children would see in their backyards. Now, not in every country, but where we, you know, live 

Rich Bennett 13:09
I love 

Heidi Johnson 13:09
in the 

Rich Bennett 13:09
the. 

Heidi Johnson 13:09
US. 

Rich Bennett 13:10
Squirrels. 

Heidi Johnson 13:11
So, you know, the squirrels might have come to Jesus, 

Rich Bennett 13:14
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 13:14
the you know, the dogs. I'm sure they were local dogs, even in Bethlehem. So, you know, 

bunnies. So I want kids to just kind of think about when they do their own writing, using their imagination. 

Rich Bennett 13:31
Hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 13:33
Also that they all, all the animals in the story brought gifts to Jesus in one way or another. So the moths might have used their dance, their flapping wings to dance for Jesus. The bunnies brought some herbs for tea, you know, So it's like they all brought something special. The snails brought little trees that they picked up along the way. Little sapling trees. 

Rich Bennett 14:00
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 14:00
On their backs. And the the snails are like the most imaginary animals in the story. Others are more realistic. 

Rich Bennett 14:08
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 14:09
So. 

Rich Bennett 14:12
Good. Yeah. They would you? I like the fact that you use your imagination to really write this. Because, yeah, most people would. Right about the sheep, the donkeys and all that. 

Heidi Johnson 14:25
Right. 

Rich Bennett 14:26
And you took it one step further and. Wow. 

Heidi Johnson 14:28
Wow. But I did include sheep because I felt like they had to be there. 

Rich Bennett 14:32
Right. Well, the squirrels, I mean, not the squirrels. The snails had to ride on the back of somebody's. 

Heidi Johnson 14:38
Yeah, exactly. 

Rich Bennett 14:39
They need to get there quick. 

Heidi Johnson 14:41
Exactly. Yeah. So, and then, um, for adults, I do think this is a book that can encourage adults to. 

Every morning I read a book called Jesus Calling as My Devotion. And I feel like 

the message in this story come to me is that Jesus is calling us to come to him and not only to come to him, but to at the end of the story. I want to give it too much away. But there's a verse, a Bible verse, which I'll let you read when you read the story. But Jesus does say, Stay here with me to all the animals. And I feel like that's my challenge Every day is like when I'm meeting with Jesus, when I'm praying, when I'm writing, when I'm drawing, whatever I'm doing. 

It's a matter of staying in that place where 

Rich Bennett 15:40
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 15:40
I am. I'm communicating with him all the time. Like he says, stay here with me all the time. So it's like, you know, when you're grocery shopping, you know, how can I be with Jesus? How can I be his light? You know? Let his light shine through. 

Rich Bennett 15:56
Mm. 

Heidi Johnson 15:59
So I think it's a challenge for all of us. So I guess that would be the way that this could maybe reach out to adults to. 

Rich Bennett 16:06
Yeah, I think also it would it would teach adults basically to teach their kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews or whatever, how to use your imagination. 

Because let's face some kids, their imagination can go like, whew, way out there. I mean, 

Heidi Johnson 16:26
Right. 

Rich Bennett 16:27
some 

Heidi Johnson 16:27
So. 

Rich Bennett 16:27
kid may say, well, the squirrels came in on spaceship or something. 

Heidi Johnson 16:30
Exactly. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 16:31
It could be interesting, though. 

Heidi Johnson 16:33
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 16:33
But, I mean, these are things that. I think the parents can teach them as well. 

Heidi Johnson 16:38
Well. 

Rich Bennett 16:39
And teach them more about Jesus. 

Heidi Johnson 16:41
Right. 

Rich Bennett 16:41
Because with lot of times the kids, unless they go to go to church and go to Bible study or whatever. They really don't know how many families even have family dinner anymore 

Heidi Johnson 16:56
Right. 

Rich Bennett 16:56
to sit around the table. 

Heidi Johnson 16:58
Right. 

Rich Bennett 16:58
And that could be some of the talk about 

Heidi Johnson 17:00
Right. 

Rich Bennett 17:00
which they should be, because they should be saying Greece and Italy. This is I'm not telling everybody you have to do this, just me. I do it all the time. But say grace before your meal. 

Heidi Johnson 17:10
Or just be grateful for any. 

Rich Bennett 17:11
That's teach your kids about it. 

Heidi Johnson 17:13
Yeah, just that gratitude is so important and and just, you know, books are so important. I mean, I know 

Rich Bennett 17:21
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 17:21
you can get this on e-book, but there's so important because it's just a time where kids slow down. You know, you're reading a book. 

Rich Bennett 17:30
Mm. 

Heidi Johnson 17:31
You're you're not on the tablet playing a game or whatever. It's just a way for kids to kind of. Slow down a little bit in 

Rich Bennett 17:39
One 

Heidi Johnson 17:39
this 

Rich Bennett 17:39
of 

Heidi Johnson 17:39
busy 

Rich Bennett 17:39
the. 

Heidi Johnson 17:40
world 

Rich Bennett 17:40
And one of the things I've and I've mentioned this before, like of my daughter's generation, 

Heidi Johnson 17:44
generation. 

Rich Bennett 17:45
my daughter's 20. 

23 now. But even when she was a. 

Heidi Johnson 17:53
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:54
And to this day, her and her friends would not. They didn't because a lot of people thought they wouldn't like the kind of books. No, they want to. 

Heidi Johnson 18:03
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 18:03
They will not get rid of them. Because they'll go back 

Heidi Johnson 18:06
I can 

Rich Bennett 18:06
and. 

Heidi Johnson 18:07
read and 

Rich Bennett 18:07
Which is something I love about children's books. 

Heidi Johnson 18:09
write. 

Rich Bennett 18:10
I love reading children's books because, like I said, I. 

Heidi Johnson 18:14
And. 

Rich Bennett 18:15
I know the kids can learn from. Actually. Have you gone to any daycares to read yet? 

Heidi Johnson 18:21
So I'm just starting this month. I'm going to be going to Trinity Lutheran and doing like the preschool, the kindergarten in the first grade and sharing. 

Rich Bennett 18:30
They closed. 

Heidi Johnson 18:31
Well, they are closing, but they're not closed yet. 

Rich Bennett 18:34
Okay, Good. 

Heidi Johnson 18:35
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 18:35
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 18:36
sadly, they've been around for so long, so I'm excited that I get to be there 

Rich Bennett 18:42
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 18:42
before they close and 

yeah, so I'm donating 20% of the proceeds of the sales to them so that they can have a special end of the year celebration. They're going to put it towards that. 

Rich Bennett 18:54
Good. 

Heidi Johnson 18:55
So yeah. But I think that I'm really excited about starting to do visits with kids. 

Rich Bennett 19:02
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 19:03
I made little felting. Do you know what felting is? 

Rich Bennett 19:07
No, but I know you're going to tell me. 

Heidi Johnson 19:09
So it's basically wall. 

Take wall. 

Rich Bennett 19:15
Oh, no, you may. 

Heidi Johnson 19:16
Can you? This is a little dear. And so I made two characters in the story so that the kids can act out the story, especially for the little ones, because they have short attention span. 

Rich Bennett 19:27
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 19:28
So these are just I brought a few examples. I made the felted deer in the story, the felted snails, the little girl in the story who gives her heart, her paper 

Rich Bennett 19:39
Oh, 

Heidi Johnson 19:39
heart to Jesus and the baby Jesus. But yeah, so I'm excited to start using these with the kids. So that they can take their character. When I read the story, they bring it up and they put that animal next to the baby Jesus as as they. 

Rich Bennett 19:55
Oh, I love that. 

Heidi Johnson 19:56
As we re-enact the story. So excited about that. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 20:02
A good way to market that. How long did it take to make like 

Heidi Johnson 20:06
These. 

Rich Bennett 20:06
the deer? 

Heidi Johnson 20:06
These take a while. 

Rich Bennett 20:08
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 20:09
You start with just plain old wool and then a needle that has sort of like a jagged edge. So it binds the fibers together. 

Rich Bennett 20:17
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 20:18
Push it into the animal, but they are time consuming. So I'm thinking they're more or less just things to use to reenact. 

Rich Bennett 20:26
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 20:27
Murray. 

Rich Bennett 20:28
Who take too long to make them the soul of the books. 

Heidi Johnson 20:30
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 20:31
You'd have to do a. 

Heidi Johnson 20:33
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 20:34
Bundles. 

Heidi Johnson 20:35
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 20:36
That is. 

Heidi Johnson 20:37
So kind of fun. 

Rich Bennett 20:39
So saw. 

Heidi Johnson 20:40
Here they are. 

Rich Bennett 20:42
Oh, so those of you. And I'll make I'll take pictures and put them in the show notes. But these things are just a. 

Heidi Johnson 20:49
Adorable. 

Rich Bennett 20:50
They're just little. It looks like a deer. Yeah. Yeah, right. A little stuffed animal. But the end is this, I mean. Oh, wow. 

Heidi Johnson 21:00
Now you can put wire. You can put wire in them. I don't put wire in 

Rich Bennett 21:05
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 21:05
mine 

Rich Bennett 21:05
well, 

Heidi Johnson 21:05
because 

Rich Bennett 21:05
that. 

Heidi Johnson 21:06
they're really for just re-enacting. They're not for like sitting on a shelf. 

Rich Bennett 21:09
Well, not only that, 

Heidi Johnson 21:10
But 

Rich Bennett 21:10
if kids are playing. 

Heidi Johnson 21:11
yeah. 

Rich Bennett 21:12
Wire pokes through. 

Heidi Johnson 21:12
But you can put like pipe cleaners or whatever. 

Rich Bennett 21:15
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 21:16
But yeah, 

Rich Bennett 21:17
that is 

Heidi Johnson 21:17
so 

Rich Bennett 21:17
it. 

Heidi Johnson 21:18
I'm excited to start using that with the kids. I tried it with my Sunday school class and they loved it and they wanted to just keep telling the story over and over again, so. 

Rich Bennett 21:27
All right, So you're technically not really retired. 

Heidi Johnson 21:32
Yeah, I am. But I do have a part time job. I'm. 

Rich Bennett 21:36
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 21:36
Assistant for a lady with some disabilities, and I teach Sunday school, but just once a month. 

Rich Bennett 21:44
Where do you teach Sunday School at? 

Heidi Johnson 21:45
At Harper Community Church where on 543. 

Rich Bennett 21:50
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 21:51
It used to be Cresswell. 

Rich Bennett 21:53
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 21:54
And then. 

Rich Bennett 21:56
And you're taking care of a lady with different abilities as well. 

Heidi Johnson 21:59
With some disabilities. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 22:00
I am learning so much more about you. That is amazing. 

Heidi Johnson 22:04
Yeah, it's 

Rich Bennett 22:04
Thank 

Heidi Johnson 22:05
funny. 

Rich Bennett 22:05
you for doing that. 

Heidi Johnson 22:06
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 22:07
We need more people like that. 

Heidi Johnson 22:09
I enjoy it. I really do. 

Rich Bennett 22:11
Oh. 

Heidi Johnson 22:11
I mean, it's very different from taking care of five year olds. 

Rich Bennett 22:15
Yeah. Oh, yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 22:16
Teaching five year olds. 

Rich Bennett 22:17
It's rewarding, though. 

Heidi Johnson 22:19
But it is. 

Rich Bennett 22:20
But teaching the kids are two by. 

Heidi Johnson 22:21
Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 22:22
Wow. 

Heidi Johnson 22:24
Well, it's fun to just be able to help someone 

Rich Bennett 22:27
Mhm. 

Heidi Johnson 22:28
that and she really appreciates that. 

Rich Bennett 22:30
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 22:30
She's very appreciative. And so it's fun to work. I tell her, you're the best boss I ever had, and she likes that. 

Rich Bennett 22:39
So I 

Heidi Johnson 22:40
I 

Rich Bennett 22:40
wanted 

Heidi Johnson 22:40
want to. 

Rich Bennett 22:40
to learn more about it because I've mentioned writers groups before in the past. But you started something new. Tell us a little bit about that. 

Heidi Johnson 22:50
Yes, we have a Bel Air writers, and I would call it Bel-Air writers and illustrators, because there are illustrators in the group, too. 

Rich Bennett 22:57
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 22:59
So yeah, I was looking for a writing group and couldn't really find something specific to children's literature. 

Rich Bennett 23:06
Mm. 

Heidi Johnson 23:07
So I put out something on Facebook and on the Bellaire site, on Facebook. They all are happenings, I think it's called. And some people responded and they really wanted to come out. So we started a group. We meet the second Thursday 

of the month at Wegmans. 

Rich Bennett 23:28
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 23:29
And so, you know, if anybody's interested in it as a writer or illustrator and or wants to learn more about it, or if you've written some books, we'd love to have you, you know, come out to that. 

Rich Bennett 23:42
What time did you guys meet? 

Heidi Johnson 23:44
We meet at 6:30 p.m.. 

Rich Bennett 23:45
630. PM Do you guys have a Facebook group or page? 

Heidi Johnson 23:51
We just kind of we do not have we should make one. 

Rich Bennett 23:54
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 23:54
And that's a good point there, because 

I we have just a messenger group. 

Rich Bennett 24:00
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 24:01
And then if somebody is interested, I include them on the messenger group. And then I just kind of give a reminder every week. 

And so that. 

Rich Bennett 24:10
So with that, do you have people for the meetings that will get up and speak? 

Heidi Johnson 24:16
So we've done a very casual it's a very casual thing where people can share what they've been working on. 

Rich Bennett 24:23
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 24:25
We kind of just celebrate achievements that people are doing. It's usually just 3 to 4 of us right now. Sometimes some local authors will come. Lindsey Pope has been there before. 

Rich Bennett 24:37
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 24:39
And Stacey McGee has been around, too. So, yeah, so it's been kind of fun to just network and someone to share the process with, especially. 

Rich Bennett 24:52
Right? 

Heidi Johnson 24:52
Illustrator, you need feedback. So that's been the best part of it, is you can post your pictures on the site and say, Which one do you like better or 

Rich Bennett 25:03
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 25:03
you know, things like that. So. 

Rich Bennett 25:05
So with writing this, actually, before I get into that, I want you also to talk a little bit about the publishing. 

Heidi Johnson 25:15
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 25:16
You learned about that in the I 

Heidi Johnson 25:17
I 

Rich Bennett 25:17
forget 

Heidi Johnson 25:17
forget. 

Rich Bennett 25:18
the print or the imprint, would you call? 

Heidi Johnson 25:20
Yes. Oh, yes. So I well, I did self-publish this book, but I did try to get a publishing deal. I sent out, you know, the information to a few publishing 

Rich Bennett 25:32
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 25:33
companies that would accept non solicited without an agent publishers. But I didn't really. It is hard. But I felt like if I never tried, I wouldn't know 

Rich Bennett 25:43
Mm. 

Heidi Johnson 25:43
how. So at least with my first one, I wanted to try. But, you know, nothing came of that, really. There was one person that had some interest but really wanted to change it a lot after I'd already edited it. And I just thought, you know what? I don't think I want to do the way you do 

Rich Bennett 26:01
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 26:01
it that way. So. 

Rich Bennett 26:02
Taken away from your creation. 

Heidi Johnson 26:05
Yeah. I like the freedom of self-publishing. 

Rich Bennett 26:08
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 26:09
I really have enjoyed that of just being able to kind of do it the way you really see it envisioned and you feel like God's wanting you to do it. So the challenge was how do you self-publish? Right? So you read a lot. You watch a lot of videos. 

Rich Bennett 26:26
YouTube. 

Heidi Johnson 26:26
You talk. 

Rich Bennett 26:27
He's great, isn't. 

Heidi Johnson 26:28
It is. I tell you, YouTube without YouTube, I would have been lost. 

Rich Bennett 26:33
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 26:34
So I did watch a lot of videos on YouTube, talked to people within my group. There were several self-published authors in my group, so especially Lyndsey was very helpful. I, you know, back and forth, back and forth with questions. But I did discover a site. If it gets evga Jones dot com. Eve I. Jones dot com. And this author 

just has a video just about for every question you might have. 

Rich Bennett 27:07
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 27:08
Free videos. Of course, she has a university you can join and you 

Rich Bennett 27:12
Oh, 

Heidi Johnson 27:12
know, 

Rich Bennett 27:12
wow. 

Heidi Johnson 27:13
and pay for everything. But I didn't do that because a lot of the things that she had in that process were in that university. I'd already done. Okay. I'd already written the book. I've already edited the book. I had already illustrated the book. So I needed from there on how to format it and that kind of thing. So she encourages you to format yourself. 

So I. 

Rich Bennett 27:39
Explain that we're. 

Heidi Johnson 27:41
So the formatting is just taking your words and your pictures and putting it into like a book form. 

Rich Bennett 27:48
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 27:49
So that it's there's a certain like you have to have a certain size, you have to decide what size your book is going to be ahead of time for your illustrations. 

Rich Bennett 27:59
Oh. 

Things you would never think of. 

Heidi Johnson 28:02
Yeah. And what kind of fonts you're going to use and what's a free font. What kind of fonts do you have to pay for? I personally used ended up using Canva to do my formatting. 

Rich Bennett 28:15
I guess also you would need a fund that makes it easy for kids. 

Heidi Johnson 28:19
As 

Rich Bennett 28:19
Well, 

Heidi Johnson 28:19
well. Yes. Yes. You want, you know, the the type of letters that they're used to 

Rich Bennett 28:26
yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 28:26
seeing 

Rich Bennett 28:27
Wow. 

Heidi Johnson 28:28
and not those fancy. Although they have to know that, too. They have to know. You know, they have to learn it eventually. 

Rich Bennett 28:35
Wow. That's a cool spike. Yeah, I get confused with them. So tough still. 

Heidi Johnson 28:42
And that fancy A's and all. 

Rich Bennett 28:44
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 28:44
Yeah, I. 

Rich Bennett 28:45
that's amazing, because these are things that I mean, I've never thought about that. And of all the authors I've talked to, nobody's ever mentioned that. 

Wow. Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 28:56
Yeah. So I do recommend it. She even has a paperback book that you can get or an e-book that really has a lot of links in 

Rich Bennett 29:03
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 29:03
it to help you. But yeah, that was I'm glad that I did format it because if you format your first one, then the next one you can do. You know from then on. So I'm not saying that I there weren't many tears and I with tears and me wanting to throw my computer across the room but. You know, you just it's it's little steps I. 

Rich Bennett 29:27
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 29:28
There's little, you know, little steps. 

Rich Bennett 29:30
Actually. What was the hardest part about this so far? 

Heidi Johnson 29:34
I'm probably finding my style for illustration. I mean, writing was a challenge, but the editor really helped with that. 

Rich Bennett 29:43
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 29:43
The illustrating I felt like I was more on my own. But I did want to mention I took a course at Harford Community College again. It was a painting course painting 

landscapes, because I knew I was going to have a lot of landscapes in my book so that the teacher I used was all right, took the course through was Rita Cooper. 

Rich Bennett 30:08
Yes. 

Heidi Johnson 30:09
You know, Rita Cooper, she's been around 

Rich Bennett 30:11
Heard 

Heidi Johnson 30:11
a long 

Rich Bennett 30:11
of 

Heidi Johnson 30:11
time. 

Rich Bennett 30:11
her? Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 30:12
Yeah, she's very good. And she actually encouraged me a lot with the story. I even took a what do you call seminar course. 

Rich Bennett 30:23
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 30:24
Kind of doing your own thing. 

Rich Bennett 30:25
right. 

Heidi Johnson 30:26
So I took two courses with her. But she helped me a lot to just she looked at my illustrations that I did digitally, even though I wasn't painting acrylic. 

Rich Bennett 30:35
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 30:36
Or through it with acrylics. But. And she gave me some advice and and so I wanted to give her some recognition 

Rich Bennett 30:43
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 30:44
because I really appreciated that. And I recently just tried to reach out to her. I'd like to bring the book by and share it with her, you know, 

Rich Bennett 30:51
Oh, 

Heidi Johnson 30:51
because she helped me a lot through it. So. But yeah, I'd have to see the illustrations. The illustrating part was the most 

Rich Bennett 30:59
well. 

Heidi Johnson 30:59
challenging. 

Rich Bennett 31:00
And when did the book come out? 

Heidi Johnson 31:02
At the very end of September. 

Rich Bennett 31:04
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 31:05
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 31:06
So how? It's such a challenge I know a lot of authors run into as well. The marketing part. Has that been? 

Heidi Johnson 31:17
Well. 

Rich Bennett 31:18
Besides doing this? Of course. I mean. 

Heidi Johnson 31:19
This is great. 

Rich Bennett 31:20
Your first podcast. 

Heidi Johnson 31:21
This is my first podcast and I really appreciate you having me here. 

Rich Bennett 31:26
Oh, my pleasure. 

Heidi Johnson 31:27
Debbie's recommendation. But I think. 

Yeah, the marketing has been more of a challenge for me. I'm more introverted 

Rich Bennett 31:39
Right? 

Heidi Johnson 31:40
and so I don't mind, you know, sitting by myself and writing and illustrating and even working with a small group of authors. But the marketing has been a little bit harder. 

Rich Bennett 31:50
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 31:50
Yeah, you know, you just kind of want to share your book with people 

Rich Bennett 31:54
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 31:55
and it to encourage people when you get into like monetary things, it gets, you know, uncomfortable. 

Rich Bennett 32:01
It's tricky. 

Heidi Johnson 32:02
Yeah, it's tricky and uncomfortable. 

Rich Bennett 32:04
And especially with children's authors, because somehow or another you have to 

get the kids 

Heidi Johnson 32:12
Kids 

Rich Bennett 32:14
wanting 

Heidi Johnson 32:14
want 

Rich Bennett 32:14
to 

Heidi Johnson 32:14
to 

Rich Bennett 32:14
get 

Heidi Johnson 32:14
get 

Rich Bennett 32:15
the. 

Heidi Johnson 32:15
the ball. 

Rich Bennett 32:15
The kids are going to be buying the ball. So you have to show 

Heidi Johnson 32:18
Somehow 

Rich Bennett 32:18
how. 

Heidi Johnson 32:18
or another. 

Rich Bennett 32:20
Get the key. 

Heidi Johnson 32:20
Kids to tell their parents about it. 

Rich Bennett 32:23
Or. 

Heidi Johnson 32:25
Find out which parents to market to. Mm. 

Rich Bennett 32:29
Where they would want to get it for their kids. So yeah, being a children's author's got its challenges when 

Heidi Johnson 32:34
When it 

Rich Bennett 32:34
it 

Heidi Johnson 32:34
comes 

Rich Bennett 32:34
comes to. 

Heidi Johnson 32:35
to Mark. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:37
How many? Because this is probably for pre-K. 

Heidi Johnson 32:41
Say like 328. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:43
Three, two eight. Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 32:43
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:44
Hit me. Three day eight old. You're on social media. 

Heidi Johnson 32:47
Right. 

Rich Bennett 32:48
You know, but there. 

Heidi Johnson 32:49
I mean. 

Rich Bennett 32:49
I think their parents probably are, but it's like, how in the world do? 

That's that's got to be tough. Well, it is tough. You already said that. 

Heidi Johnson 33:00
Yeah, well, I think like one recommendation that I read about and watch videos about is starting a launch group. So that was really important at the beginning. You know, getting people to I provided like a free e-book. So they would read the e-book and then they could share it out. I made little visuals that they could share out with their friends about. 

Rich Bennett 33:21
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 33:22
Of course, writing reviews is an important part. 

Rich Bennett 33:24
Oh. 

Heidi Johnson 33:24
So you're kind of reaching. Yeah. The grandparents, the parents, the teachers, the Sunday school teachers, you know, curriculum writers, your career kind of reaching out to those type of people for a book like this. 

Rich Bennett 33:39
I think I just came up with an idea. So a lot of these kids, 3 to 8, have two tablets, 

Heidi Johnson 33:46
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 33:46
you know, and they play their little 

Heidi Johnson 33:48
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 33:49
games on the tap. 

Heidi Johnson 33:50
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 33:53
Somehow or another, if you. We're not just you, but your. 

Heidi Johnson 33:57
Put together. 

Rich Bennett 33:58
Other like videos of the book with the care. 

Heidi Johnson 34:02
You mean like a real a real or a what do you call it? Um. 

Rich Bennett 34:08
I mean, I. 

Heidi Johnson 34:08
A trailer. 

Rich Bennett 34:09
Yeah. Thank you. 

Heidi Johnson 34:10
Yes. Book. I tried. I couldn't find anybody to do that. I had someone lined up to do it, but they were too busy. 

Rich Bennett 34:16
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 34:17
So, which I totally understand in that field. But yes, I would love to find a person who does trailers because I wanted to. And the nice thing about this book, though, I probably won't be marketing it after Christmas until next October, but I can always have a trailer made up for then, 

Rich Bennett 34:34
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 34:35
you know, and then do 

Rich Bennett 34:36
Because the 

Heidi Johnson 34:37
it 

Rich Bennett 34:37
books 

Heidi Johnson 34:37
again. Then 

Rich Bennett 34:37
would be around. 

Heidi Johnson 34:38
it's always going to be good for Christmas 

Rich Bennett 34:40
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 34:41
for people who haven't bought it yet. So yeah, So that's a trailer would be a good idea maybe for next year for me. But finding people to do those is a little tricky. 

Rich Bennett 34:52
I'll see what I can do. 

Heidi Johnson 34:53
I like to work with local people, 

Rich Bennett 34:55
Yeah, 

Heidi Johnson 34:55
you know. I mean, my editor wasn't local, but that worked out fantastically. But you don't know, 

Rich Bennett 35:02
right. 

Heidi Johnson 35:02
you know, if you. So it's kind of nice to be able to meet up with someone, support your local businesses and local people. 

Rich Bennett 35:11
It's important, but sometimes that's a challenge too, 

Heidi Johnson 35:14
It is. 

Rich Bennett 35:14
because if you only have one person that does it that's local, but they don't do a good job. Is it going to hurt you more than it's going to help you? 

Heidi Johnson 35:21
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 35:22
And the other thing with the video, and I've found this like with my podcast, I advertise on other podcasts with our Lions Club, we're selling Luminaires. I do. I created an ad that. The club was against me. I was like, I got to go. Targeting is important. Of course. 

Heidi Johnson 35:44
Some 

Rich Bennett 35:44
Of. 

Heidi Johnson 35:44
folks went. 

Rich Bennett 35:45
Target throughout the country. But I noticed that somebody said they were playing a video game and they saw the ad for the Lumineers. Because a lot of these video games that kids play have ads. 

Heidi Johnson 35:58
Yeah, you're right. 

Rich Bennett 35:59
And that is that book. 

Heidi Johnson 36:00
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 36:01
Pops up. 

Heidi Johnson 36:03
Yes. Well, the ads I have. Search the ads yet. But that is another way to advertise. 

Rich Bennett 36:10
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 36:11
I mean, I've been mostly just using social media and things like, you know, talking about it at my church or, you know, different things like that. Going to school visits I think is 

Rich Bennett 36:22
School 

Heidi Johnson 36:23
like. 

Rich Bennett 36:23
visits and daycares 

Heidi Johnson 36:24
Mhm. 

Rich Bennett 36:24
definitely important. 

Heidi Johnson 36:26
Yeah, I'm going to probably do more of that next year. 

Rich Bennett 36:28
Yeah. And even the books at the book fairs. 

Heidi Johnson 36:32
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 36:36
There's I mean, there is. But again, that's all local. Now, what you need to do is you have a microphone, a computer at home where you could record podcasts virtually. 

Heidi Johnson 36:45
Yeah, of course. Oh. 

Rich Bennett 36:46
Oh, 

Heidi Johnson 36:46
Um. 

Rich Bennett 36:46
I'm going to get you hooked up. You see? You're comfortable doing this already, aren't you? 

Heidi Johnson 36:52
It's not too bad. 

Rich Bennett 36:54
Get on podcasts around the world to talk about your book. What greater feeling than to see somebody go on Amazon and there's a review for Come to Me A Journey to Jesus from Somebody over. 

Heidi Johnson 37:06
In England. Mm. You. 

Rich Bennett 37:09
Just. 

Heidi Johnson 37:11
It's fun to see your book sold and even sold in another country 

Rich Bennett 37:13
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 37:14
that I. I saw there was one sold in Australia. Everything else was U.S. But I'm like, does that say Australia? And I was like, How in the world did that happen? You know, you just wonder. You wish you could see who it was. 

Rich Bennett 37:27
What that's like with this with the podcast. Yeah, it'll show me, like, where the listeners are. So over 100 countries. I'm thinking, 

Heidi Johnson 37:35
Really? That's 

Rich Bennett 37:36
who? 

Heidi Johnson 37:36
amazing. 

Rich Bennett 37:38
So I like to play a game. I'll go through and look at which 

Heidi Johnson 37:40
We. 

Rich Bennett 37:41
countries. 

Heidi Johnson 37:41
It's like, 

Rich Bennett 37:42
I never heard of that. Could you? And then the search for to find some of each country's beautiful. 

Heidi Johnson 37:47
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 37:48
So maybe we get enough listeners that want to pay more. Well, compared to record. 

I put a post out about that because there's listeners in Iceland. I want to go to Iceland. So we. 

Heidi Johnson 38:00
Oh, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 38:01
He lives in Iceland. You want us to come and pay our way? We'll be more than happy to. 

Heidi Johnson 38:06
Yes. A great trip. 

Rich Bennett 38:09
So where besides Amazon, where did people find about? Do you have your own website yet? 

Heidi Johnson 38:15
I do not have my own website. I have an Etsy shop where I did put it on and 

Rich Bennett 38:20
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 38:20
some products that go with it, like I make keychains and things like that, you know, So. So. 

Rich Bennett 38:26
Make key change at all. All right, Let me make it easier, Heidi. What don't you do? All 

Heidi Johnson 38:32
So. 

Rich Bennett 38:32
this. It's the not the squirrel that. 

Heidi Johnson 38:35
The snail. Yeah, there's a I have a snail and a rabbit keychain that I did sell at. I did one vendor event at two Hartford Lifestyle. I guess it's a online magazine. They had a creative expo at the Black Horse Golf Club, and I did get to sell and do a little vendor thing. 

Rich Bennett 38:57
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 38:58
There it was. They mostly had Harford County, you know, artists. 

Rich Bennett 39:04
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 39:04
Creatives there, which was kind of nice, and a lot of people, it was their first time. 

Rich Bennett 39:08
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 39:09
Can. 

Rich Bennett 39:10
Here. I didn't hear anything about it. 

Heidi Johnson 39:11
Yes. And this was their first, I think, vendor event that they did. 

Rich Bennett 39:16
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 39:17
And I just know it's Harvard lifestyle. 

Rich Bennett 39:19
You're going to see more vendor events coming up to. 

Because COVID put a damper on a lot of things. 

Heidi Johnson 39:25
Yes, it's changing. 

Rich Bennett 39:26
Yes. 

Heidi Johnson 39:26
You can tell. 

Rich Bennett 39:27
Because one of the things like var line is called We used to do a pet festival. 

Heidi Johnson 39:31
Mm 

Rich Bennett 39:31
We haven't done it in years, 

Heidi Johnson 39:33
hmm. 

Rich Bennett 39:33
so we're bringing that back in June. 

Heidi Johnson 39:35
That's fun. 

Rich Bennett 39:36
Yeah, but we're changing it up where we used. 

Sort 

Heidi Johnson 39:40
So 

Rich Bennett 39:40
of like we had. Now, because I'm 

Heidi Johnson 39:42
I'm 

Rich Bennett 39:42
thinking 

Heidi Johnson 39:42
thinking. 

Rich Bennett 39:43
of the animals. 

Heidi Johnson 39:43
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 39:44
It's like, this would be good for you. 

Heidi Johnson 39:46
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 39:46
Even though it's June. 

Heidi Johnson 39:47
Yeah. Still? Yeah. But we do 

Rich Bennett 39:50
Have 

Heidi Johnson 39:50
have. 

Rich Bennett 39:50
I kept separate and all that. And this year, I mean, the young lady. 

Heidi Johnson 39:56
I got things like. 

Rich Bennett 39:57
Do we really want to do a pep parade or do we just want to bring in vendors? Maybe start off with like. A little five K where people can take their pets and walk 

Heidi Johnson 40:07
Mhm. 

Rich Bennett 40:07
walk it, but just have vendors that have something to offer to families and 

Heidi Johnson 40:11
And you? 

Rich Bennett 40:12
even pets. 

Heidi Johnson 40:13
Where are you going? A little petting zoo. 

Rich Bennett 40:15
Oh, well, we do it on the football field, so I got to run that by football. I can get a petting zoo in here. Easy. 

Heidi Johnson 40:21
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:22
I mean, my brother in law has got goats and. 

Heidi Johnson 40:24
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:25
Sheep and all that. Doesn't have any snails, I think. Dear. 

Heidi Johnson 40:30
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:30
Trying to convince him to get a highland cow. 

Heidi Johnson 40:32
Oh, they're beautiful. So beautiful. So. 

Rich Bennett 40:36
So what is next? You see, there's two other books. 

Heidi Johnson 40:40
Yeah. So. Well, I have two books I've written and that are edited in. 

Rich Bennett 40:45
Mm hmm. 

Heidi Johnson 40:45
And. They are different from this book. I'm glad this was my first book because I feel like it was my most important message that. 

Rich Bennett 40:53
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 40:54
To get across. But the next book is going to be about the main character is my dog, Zara. She is a she is a rescue dog. She came with the name Zara, which means little star in Russian, my friend told me. But she is. She discovers that she has the gift of wisdom. 

Rich Bennett 41:14
Oh. 

Heidi Johnson 41:15
And so she helps the garden animals and it's all about basically the setting is my backyard garden. 

Rich Bennett 41:22
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 41:23
Because I love gardening. And so there's some interesting backyard animals in the story. And of course, the little a snail has to be in that story. 

Rich Bennett 41:33
So the animals don't. 

Heidi Johnson 41:34
I do. 

So yeah, so it's going to be a series. So far I just have two books written. Zora and Zora Tassels are the two. 

Rich Bennett 41:45
I love it. 

Heidi Johnson 41:47
But in the future, I would like to write books about my mom. 

Rich Bennett 41:51
Children's books. 

Heidi Johnson 41:51
Children's books. 

She she was born in East Germany. And so she has all kinds of wonderful stories and hard stories to tell. I always thought I was going to write, you know, her story. 

Rich Bennett 42:07
Right? 

Heidi Johnson 42:07
But then I decided, no, I want to do it through children's picture books 

Rich Bennett 42:11
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 42:11
because there's so many great images. That I really want to illustrate, 

Rich Bennett 42:16
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 42:16
you know. So. So that will be the next series after the Tzara books. And then from then, I don't know. 

Rich Bennett 42:24
Tells you to do 

Heidi Johnson 42:25
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 42:26
well. 

Heidi Johnson 42:27
Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:28
So when would you like to get the next book published by. 

Heidi Johnson 42:33
I would like to at least have Zora's tiara done. By April. 

Rich Bennett 42:40
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 42:40
Okay. Is sort of if I could get it done before April, that would be great. But 

Rich Bennett 42:45
Right. 

Heidi Johnson 42:45
I'm going to start, like I said, illustrating in January. 

So we'll see. 

Rich Bennett 42:51
Oh, I have a funny feeling you're going to be writing a lot of children's book. 

Heidi Johnson 42:55
I hope so. I've 

Rich Bennett 42:56
Oh. 

Heidi Johnson 42:56
always admired children's authors like Beatrix Potter. Some of my favorites. Eric Carle. I brought along my favorite. I don't know why, but I just had to have it with me. Jane Chapman is one of my favorite illustrators and Karma Wilson wrote The Bear. So stories and of course, Animals write great series. If you're looking for a series of books to read to your two younger. 

Rich Bennett 43:22
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 43:24
Beautiful illustrations. I'm so inspired by those books. So 

Rich Bennett 43:29
Growing up, what was 

Heidi Johnson 43:29
your 

Rich Bennett 43:29
your favorite 

Heidi Johnson 43:29
favorite 

Rich Bennett 43:30
children's 

Heidi Johnson 43:30
show? 

Rich Bennett 43:30
book? 

Heidi Johnson 43:32
My parents read Richard's scary books to me, and I really loved those with the Little worm and the little bunny. And what what do people do all day? Oh, okay. 

Rich Bennett 43:46
Okay? 

Heidi Johnson 43:47
Richard Scary. I loved those books. They were very busy, though. 

Rich Bennett 43:52
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 43:52
It's very different than the way I illustrate, but. Those were books that I really loved. Of course, Dr. Seuss. Everybody. 

Rich Bennett 43:59
Everybody loves. 

Heidi Johnson 44:00
Everybody loves Dr. Seuss. 

Rich Bennett 44:02
One fish. Two fish. 

Heidi Johnson 44:05
Yeah. So those were some of my my first books. 

Rich Bennett 44:08
Okay. One of my favorites now. My son. Because his name's Denny. I think his favorite was Denny the dinosaur. 

Heidi Johnson 44:16
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 44:17
But one of my favorites a lot people never heard of was Caps for Sale. 

Heidi Johnson 44:21
Yes, I. 

Rich Bennett 44:22
Okay. You remember that book? 

Heidi Johnson 44:23
Oh, yes. 

Rich Bennett 44:24
Okay. 

Heidi Johnson 44:24
Caps. 

Rich Bennett 44:24
Thank. 

Heidi Johnson 44:25
Caps for sale. 

Rich Bennett 44:26
I love that. 

Heidi Johnson 44:27
$0.50 a cap. 

Rich Bennett 44:29
Yeah. 

Heidi Johnson 44:30
We read it in kindergarten a lot. 

Rich Bennett 44:32
Yeah, I just I mean, but that's for some reason, that's one that I and of course Dr. Seuss, but that's one I've always. 

Heidi Johnson 44:39
That's a great one. Have you ever heard the recording of the story read? 

Rich Bennett 44:46
For what? Capture or sale? 

Heidi Johnson 44:48
You should listen to it. I don't know if they they'll probably have it on you too. But I'm going to really age myself by saying that I still have books with cassette tapes because I can't get rid of them because I love the recording on there, you know, the way they put the music in the background. And I just remember with that story you hear as he's putting the cap on, it's like Dee dee dee dee dee. And then, you know, the next caps go on. It's like doo doo doo doo doo. It's just something about having the music in 

Rich Bennett 45:17
Wait 

Heidi Johnson 45:17
the 

Rich Bennett 45:17
a 

Heidi Johnson 45:17
background. 

Rich Bennett 45:17
minute. What's 

Heidi Johnson 45:18
What's 

Rich Bennett 45:18
even 

Heidi Johnson 45:18
even 

Rich Bennett 45:18
more 

Heidi Johnson 45:18
more. 

Rich Bennett 45:18
amazing is that because if you had the cassette tapes and you're listening to them, what's more amazing is that you stuff a cassette player. 

Heidi Johnson 45:25
Yeah. You can still get them in with the like it has a CD cassette 

Rich Bennett 45:31
Oh. 

Heidi Johnson 45:32
and radio on it. You can still buy them and I still have. 

Rich Bennett 45:35
Eight. Check back. 

Heidi Johnson 45:37
I don't have any of those. 

Rich Bennett 45:39
Look, I know I'm going to age myself, and we were talking about this the other day, my first tape deck. 

Heidi Johnson 45:45
Mm. 

Rich Bennett 45:46
Was the little reel to reel. I was before. Way before cassettes. And I think. 

Heidi Johnson 45:53
You just come. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 45:55
Yeah. I'm that old man. 

Heidi Johnson 45:57
Wow. 

Rich Bennett 45:58
man. 

Heidi Johnson 45:58
You know, 

Rich Bennett 45:58
I'm. 

Heidi Johnson 45:59
I remember it. 

Rich Bennett 46:00
My first my first tablet was not an iPad. It was actual chisel and stone. 

Heidi, Is there anything you would like to add? 

Heidi Johnson 46:15
Not in particular. Just. Thank you for this opportunity to share the book, and I hope that it reaches a lot of people. 

Rich Bennett 46:23
Oh, it will. It will. And those of you listening, when you when you buy. Not if when you buy it. Come to me A Journey to Jesus by Heidi Johnson. When you read it to your kids or your kids read it, ask them what they thought. Kids really can't write a review, but the. 

Heidi Johnson 46:42
Parents can. 

Rich Bennett 46:42
Can. The uncles can. Write reviews, full reviews. Don't just give it a four or five star rating. They're why you are giving it that that rating. And it's going to just push everything up and help Heidi sell even more books and get ready for the next ones. And join. That was the name of the group again. 

Heidi Johnson 47:04
Bel-Air. It's right now. It's the Bella Writers Group. 

Rich Bennett 47:07
The second Thursday at 6:00 or 630. 

Heidi Johnson 47:10
30. 

Rich Bennett 47:11
630 at Wegmans in Abingdon. 

Heidi Johnson 47:13
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 47:14
Yeah. You're going to screw that place. I can feel now. Heidi, thanks so much. 

Heidi Johnson 47:19
Thank you so much to.