Hi, I’m J.B. Moonstar!
I have loved the natural world from an early age and enjoy going to zoos and aquariums and watching animal shows on TV. One of my favorite animals is the meerkat! My stories are eco-fantasy adventures for juvenile readers (7 years and up). In my stories, the dragons and mermaids are the “good guys”, and with help from my young heroes, they rescue endangered animals. I want my readers to learn that animals have lives – families and homes – and just want to survive among the growing threats posed by humans. My books also give children a glimpse of the world from the animal’s point of view. I hope that I can encourage children to learn about, and love, nature as much as I do!
Living in Florida, it is summer most of the year. Even in winter it doesn’t get too cold, and I don’t even own a heavy coat. I raised orphan squirrels for several years and started because in 2004 we had three hurricanes within a six-week period and numerous squirrel nests were blown from the trees. I rescued two of them and contacted a local wildlife group on how to raise them. While I don’t raise the babies anymore, I have “my squirrels” now whom I feed and provide water out in the back yard. One squirrel is a character in my books (Sedric from the Jenna books). I also have two red-winged hawks that perch on my fence and screen porch on a regular basis, we can hear them calling to each other all the time. We call these two beautiful hawks Mr. and Mrs. Taylor based on Taylor’s hawk from the Taylor books.
Why did I start writing?
My daughter was an avid reader in grade school, always one of the top readers in the class. When she was in 4th grade, she was reading at a much higher level. However, as a 4th grader, I didn’t want her to be reading some of the books that are out there for high school students. So that is why my first book was written, I wanted to write a story with lots of action and adventure, dragons, unicorns and magic, but still safe for a 4th grader to read.
It hasn’t been an easy road – but I’m glad I decided to keep going! One of my favorite quotes is by Henry Ford – “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right!” When I first started writing books, I had a rocky start, and almost stopped; however, I answered the call for submissions from the 4HP and I feel great now about writing – my characters are ready to have adventures and happy to be part of my books. Some of them write their own books, and I’m just here to type them up. I really enjoy writing now and consider myself an author. Thanks, 4HP!
How do I write – am I a Plotter, Pantser, or Plantser?
I’m not sure. I try and plan the facts out, but facts don’t tell the story. Sometimes you just don’t know what is going to happen. When writing Jenna and the Eyes of Fire, I remember getting about three quarters of the way through and everything was stacked against Jenna. I thought to myself – how is she going to get out of this, and I just stared at the computer screen for a several minutes. My character, Jenna, (in my head) realized she had to do something now – time was running out. She couldn’t wait for me to figure it out, so Jenna basically wrote the rest herself, letting me know how she would handle things and how the book would end. I was just there to write it down. Now that dragon Megan is in Ituria’s world, she loves adventure, so I just put her in a situation, and she takes it from there. As I told my publisher, Taylor and Megan really wanted to be in a book together, so they basically wrote Taylor and the Final Nine themselves in just a few weeks.
I learned early on that I should listen to what my characters want to do, because if I try to force them to do something they don’t want to do, whole chapters fall apart, and I have to start over. They are in control, and if they don’t get what they want, the story doesn’t work.
Ituria’s Alliance continues!
Come join me in the adventures of Knocker, Megan, Michelle (the part-time mermaid), and the other members of Ituria’s Alliance as they rescue animals and protect nature from illegal poaching and other dangers posed by humans! We are always looking for new recruits for Ituria’s Alliance!
Website: www.jbmoonstar.com
Instagram: @j.b.moonstar
Email: jbmoonstar.author@gmail.com
