"Danny the Dragon was an idea I had that I just could not put out of my mind. It evolved when I slept, drove, looked at a child, walked by a child, or even looked at the sky. It was developing beyond my control, and I loved the anticipation of creating the book and the series.”

Tina spent a full year interviewing illustrators after writing the first book, Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy. She wanted complete control over the development of her own characters, which in many cases one does not get when working with a publisher as a new author. In addition, she found the business had changed dramatically over the years with the evolution of computers and the Internet, not to mention Internet marketing and social networking.

“I asked illustrator Aija Jasuna to do one quick sketch of three of my characters, after supplying her with very detailed descriptions of each. Many illustrators supplied lovely sketches during this year, but when Aija’s sketch arrived, I KNEW she was THE ONE! I fine-tuned the characters down to exactly what I wanted, and the more she got to know me and vice versa, the easier and faster we worked. We have become amazing long-distance friends.”

Aija Jasuna speaks no English! Tina and Aija worked through a translator, as Aija lives in Latvia, in northern Europe. “We are two souls far apart physically, yet we work as if we were side by side and had been friends forever. There are really no barriers.”

This book is the first in the Danny series to be released, along with the upcoming Danny cookbook!