This month is called, “Month of the Military Child.” Why is it called this? It is a celebration that was established in 1986 by the Defense Secretary to recognize and celebrate the military child. According to the Dept. of Defense website (https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/Month-of-the-Military-Child/),  “there are over 1.6 million military children.”  
 
Military children deal with issues related to self- esteem, making friends and having to leave, adjustments, living sometimes out of country, separation from one or both of their parents being deployed (being gone for long periods of time from months to even years )  and many other issues that relate to the life of a military child.
 
There are some benefits of military life for a child though in that the child has experiences that many other children never get to do like traveling around the world to new overseas bases and living on a military base (sometimes which is like a giant city with some or many amenities depending on the location).
 
Lately, I have been seeing a lot of videos about homecomings where the military parent stops at the child’s school and hug them after the parent has been gone for a long time and return from their deployment. Many times, it is a total surprise. The videos are very emotional in that they touch your heart. It goes to show you how emotional and difficult these times are for military children. The reunions though are priceless. At the same time, you begin to realize how rough life can be for a military child.
 
               As a former military member, my children had to deal with the life of a     dependent. As I was never a military child, I cannot relate to that life. I can    tell   you though as a young   boy, I did move around a lot so that part, I can   relate to.
             
               I moved to an area of Florida so many times that I went from one   elementary school to another every grade from 1st grade to 6th grade from   one city to another. It is extremely hard to make   friends when you know that    you must move. I even moved from Florida to   New Hampshire. Check out    my book, “Brains Over Brawn” (https://a.co/d/fXuGhQv)    which talks about   the issue of moving and adjustments.
 
              With the onset of technology like video calls, it has made it easier but not the   same as in person. However, it is extremely helpful. Many parents use this  form of communication but letters, post cards, and phone calls are often                                        used too. Imagine that your mom, dad, or both have been gone for a year. That    is a long time for a child to have to deal with absences.
 
 I began my journey by writing several military dependent related books. One book I wrote was “Did You Come Home for Lunch?” (https://a.co/d/858eaf1 )     which talks about what a three-year-old military   dependent says when his dad comes home.
 
Then, I authored a book called, “Living on A Military Base”   (https://a.co/d/7xZbbCk )  which is a book that    explains from a military dependent what it is like to be a military dependent. The boy is telling the story from his perspective to a non-military child what it is like to live in a foreign country as well as living on and off a military base overseas.
 
Another book that I wrote talks about moving which is “I Was Just About…”   (https://a.co/d/eoTvK1y ) . This is a story about a boy who is happy that he has friends, home, and school friends but he moves which turns his world upside down. Now, he is given encouragement that everything will be okay with new friends, new place, and lots of room in his room of his new house.
 
 One book I would highly recommend is “I Move A lot and That’s Okay “by Shermaine Perry Knights (https://a.co/d/aKjNF8y). This is about a boy whose mother is in the Army who moves to Italy and how they deal with their experiences moving overseas. I really enjoyed this book.
 
 As a former military member and now a Veteran, I love being a part of the Month of the Military Child. This is the second year that I have participated in Month of the Military Child Celebration. Last year, I was at the Proclamation Party which was so much fun with the whole room covered in purple props, purple t-shirts on staff and military dependents and families with their purple shirts on, and lots of purple items throughout the event. There was a lot of music and some fun events that the military parents and their children participated in.
 
I had the opportunity to be a part of this fun event giving out 77 books out to military children. Each parent was allowed to pick one of my books for their children that I signed for them.
 
This year, I was able to give out over 121 books to military dependents at the “Month of the Military Child- Purple Up at the Zoo” I also had the opportunity to participate in the introduction line of staff clapping for the entrance of the military families and their children as they came into the zoo. I had wonderful conversations with the children when they came to my table after they went through the zoo. My table was right inside the entrance to the zoo.
 
Since this is how I   first started in the author business as a Military Veteran and the fact that my children were military dependents, I wanted to give back to the military families. 

​I had a blast working at an author booth at Tinker Air Force Base Exchange. Since this is the Month of the Military Child, I like to celebrate this month by doing venues that relate to this theme. Like I said in previous blog posts, you must find your niche. Since I was in the military at one time, my children were also exposed to me doing my duty to the Air Force, and duty to country while having a family which included duty to my family. I have authored several books that relate to this month to include “Did You Come Home for Lunch?”, “Living on a Military Base,” and a future military book coming this year. 

​​My next venue was attending an Author Showcase at Belle Isle Library in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At this event, there were over 20 authors or more highlighting their books and genre with over 175 people attending. Another author friend, Makenzi Fox, was in attendance. We both write children’s books. I also got to meet up with many other author friends from Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, authors that I have done events with, and a publisher that I hope to sign on with this year to publish another military book.

​My next venue is Month of the Military Child event at the OKC Zoo. I look forward to participating in this event for military children. Then, this month, I will be recording “Eli’s Shenanigans” on another Indie Read Aloud, will be a guest on a podcast about trauma and triumph, and am currently collaborating with an illustrator on my newest book for this year. Finally, I will be in an upcoming magazine and another author who is also a publisher will interview me in June.

I promise that this is not an April Fool’s joke.

So, I have not been blogging lately due to sickness most of February and March but nevertheless, my mind is still whirling around with stories. I was supposed to go to a book festival but that did not happen. While I was in the emergency room, as you know you must wait a long time, I wrote some future stories and finished another half of a future story I plan on doing with another children’s book author. Why not! The hours just seemed to be forever, but I tried to make use of the time.
 
The cool thing about this trip that I could not go on due to sickness was that the coordinator, Tony Dalhous, which was nice enough to order my book for the event. This was amazing since it was only two days before the event so I was not sure the coordinator would get the book in time. This book that I was supposed to read there was “Nicoli Picoli”. The book did show up and the coordinator had an intern read my book at my normal designated time to be a reader.
 
After being sick for some time, I did have some good news. My video from Facebook from Read Across America is downloadable for me since Facebook is deleting videos after 60 days.
 
Then, I registered for an upcoming Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc Conference where I submitted all the books I have written, the stories in the anthologies I submitted, and a personal blog. This was for the Famous Author Presentation. Another part of the conference is the Writing Contest in which I entered a published book and some unpublished manuscripts for review and possible award. I just will not know until May banquet which is on the second night of the conference. I was so excited that I won a “one day conference " scholarship. I just had to pay for a second day. https://www.owfi.org/
 
Another turn of events, I did not win in the national portion of the National VA Creative Arts Festival. Only three winners won in Oklahoma City but not in Creative Arts. There were over 6,000 entries I think from Veteran’s Administration Clinics and Hospitals. The results came during late January.
 
Next, I put my book “Nicoli Picoli” in the Oklahoma Book Award through the Oklahoma Center for the Book. This was very competitive since only 38 out of 177 entries were nominated.
 
My philosophy is that I still enter contests. Of course, it is nice to win. However, If I did not, that is okay too. At least, I tried my best.
 
During this past week, I have been interviewed by Diana Kathryn Penn, a Michigan Author. The interview just came out on Facebook. The questions were fun to respond to. I really appreciate this opportunity given to me.
 
My next couple of months will be busy besides my appearances at different venues, I will be doing an Indie Read Aloud of “Eli’s Shenanigans” on YouTube, will appear in a magazine spread for kids, and was approved to be interviewed in June on a podcast by Quill Hawk Publishing. I think I have another one scheduled in August this year with a different podcast.
 
In the meantime, I am working on two children’s books with two different illustrators. One book is in the works now which is a fourth-fifth grade book through my illustrator of “It Happens”! and “Nicoli Picoli!”, Iris Davydenko. I should get some sketches back this week.
 
Then, my next book is a second-grade book which will be illustrated by Allison Vandenbosch (artful allie on Tik Tok). I hope to have both books done during the fall. For the fall, I will be hopefully working with a publisher to publish my third military story for children.
 
If it all works out, my fourth book to work on this year will be collaborated on with another children’s book author. My creative juices are still flowing since I have some other stories, I wrote that will be hot off the press between January-March 2026.
  
So, I am back in the saddle for more fun adventures and venues this year. Stay tuned for more!