WEBVTT 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.210 Hey guys, Matt Major from Good News York. Welcome 00:00:14.210 --> 00:00:16.609 back. We are in our new studio, but we're not 00:00:16.609 --> 00:00:18.629 using the full -blown set yet. And I know I'm 00:00:18.629 --> 00:00:20.329 driving Danny crazy, because he's like, come 00:00:20.329 --> 00:00:22.129 on, can we just shoot this thing? But it's not 00:00:22.129 --> 00:00:24.929 ready. So we're working on it. But we are taking 00:00:24.929 --> 00:00:27.469 a portion. You've seen a few things. You've seen 00:00:27.469 --> 00:00:30.670 our. set in the train so far. You've seen some 00:00:30.670 --> 00:00:32.289 interviews there. You've seen some interviews 00:00:32.289 --> 00:00:36.009 at some of our client sets in the back. And you're 00:00:36.009 --> 00:00:38.329 going to see more of that. And today we are at 00:00:38.329 --> 00:00:41.990 our guest area here at the Good News York set 00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:44.350 here at Clickstream Studios. So I'm very excited. 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.549 I'm also very excited to kick off this. This 00:00:47.549 --> 00:00:50.350 this little corner area for the first time with 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:53.429 a really interesting person who has done an incredible 00:00:53.429 --> 00:00:56.670 thing Which is write a book and and to me that 00:00:56.670 --> 00:00:59.369 is just absolutely incredible It's a children's 00:00:59.369 --> 00:01:00.810 book and we're gonna learn a little bit about 00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:03.590 it and her and how she got here But we were just 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:05.329 talking about how needed is to actually have 00:01:05.329 --> 00:01:08.469 a physical thing, you know I'm always very impressed 00:01:08.469 --> 00:01:10.670 with people that did create things that you can 00:01:10.670 --> 00:01:14.829 hold in your hand. So without further ado Candice 00:01:14.829 --> 00:01:17.120 block has joined us. Welcome to the show Hi, 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:20.099 Matt. Thank you. So, Candice, tell us a little 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:22.120 bit about this book that we're looking at in 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:24.799 front of us here. Well, it's a children's picture 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:27.260 book. It's called Marshmallow and Coco. It's 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:29.939 about marshmallow skunk trying to make friends. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:32.340 But, you know, who wants to be friends with a 00:01:32.340 --> 00:01:35.260 skunk because they stink. And on his journey, 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:40.099 he tries to make friends with a porcupine, a 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:42.379 chipmunk, a squirrel, and even rabbits, but they 00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:45.579 all reject him. And he actually comes across 00:01:45.579 --> 00:01:49.900 Coco, the porcupine, who also wants to be friends 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.500 with the porcupine because of the quills. You 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:54.680 know, and he actually, Marshmallow's afraid of 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:58.780 Coco. So, but on his journey, he encounters him 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:03.599 and he realizes that, you know, he's afraid also 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:07.250 and that he doesn't have any friends. So, towards 00:02:07.250 --> 00:02:10.389 the end, he meets him and decides, you know, 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:12.490 we all need friends. You know, maybe he's just 00:02:12.490 --> 00:02:16.389 as lonely as he is. So, they actually become 00:02:16.389 --> 00:02:21.430 friends. This is such a cool book, and we'll 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:22.969 show some close -ups. I don't know how well you 00:02:22.969 --> 00:02:26.030 can see here, but it is a true, it reminds me 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:27.830 a little bit of the, you know, the little golden 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:33.110 books, the classic children's story books. You've 00:02:33.110 --> 00:02:35.469 got some great, where did these? these awesome 00:02:35.469 --> 00:02:37.870 drawings come from. Are you an illustrator as 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:41.270 well, Candace? No, I wish I was. But no, I had 00:02:41.270 --> 00:02:45.330 the input. I told my publisher what I wanted, 00:02:45.550 --> 00:02:48.469 how I wanted it. It was a little bit longer process 00:02:48.469 --> 00:02:51.270 for the illustration. They look great, though. 00:02:51.449 --> 00:02:53.789 That's the thing. Like I said, they remind me 00:02:53.789 --> 00:02:56.870 of the classic children's book. Yes. Goes so 00:02:56.870 --> 00:03:02.759 well with your story. What inspired this? It 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:05.719 actually started out as a homework assignment. 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:13.900 Oh, wow. But kids nowadays, or even when I was 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:18.280 growing up, some of us got bullied because we 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.879 didn't look like the in -crowd or we didn't dress 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:26.580 like them. And I think children need to feel 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:32.599 loved and that their differences shouldn't Stop 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:35.159 them from having friends sure that they're worthy 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.080 of friendship. You know that we're all creating 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.219 God image and Our differences should be celebrated 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:44.979 and that they should feel belong that they belong 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:48.159 and that they're worthy of friendship That's 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:53.379 incredible. Now you this isn't your first Writings 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:56.020 right you you've done some other work previously. 00:03:56.020 --> 00:04:00.139 Yes. I wrote a book on divorce Wow came back 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:03.229 and came out in 2017. It's a big difference. 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:06.530 Very big difference. Was that one illustrated 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:09.909 as well? No, no, no, no. It could be some funny 00:04:09.909 --> 00:04:14.330 pictures, you know? I don't know. Yeah, no. That 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:16.050 was actually kind of helped me heal from the 00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:19.009 divorce as well. That's great. But if I could 00:04:19.009 --> 00:04:21.689 help some one person with that book, you know, 00:04:22.930 --> 00:04:26.529 because divorce is devastating. But I just felt 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:29.790 Just a few years ago led to to write this so 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:32.629 I could help children I love that to feel like 00:04:32.629 --> 00:04:35.930 they belong and feel accepted and that you know 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:41.670 kindness Matters more than fitting in Sure, you 00:04:41.670 --> 00:04:44.689 know, and I love that and I think I think that's 00:04:44.689 --> 00:04:46.769 a message that that kids want to hear and they 00:04:46.769 --> 00:04:48.629 want to see reinforced That's that's almost sort 00:04:48.629 --> 00:04:51.110 of their default nature. I feel like and until 00:04:51.110 --> 00:04:53.939 something kind of takes it away from them and 00:04:53.939 --> 00:04:56.680 I love reinforcing these messages. How have you, 00:04:56.860 --> 00:04:59.639 how has it been received with folks that have 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:02.199 been looking at the book so far? They like the 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:06.560 message. They just love it. They love the illustrations. 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:10.779 It's great. Is there a target age range or what 00:05:10.779 --> 00:05:12.939 would you say if people were considering it? 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:15.600 Is it too old, too young for their children? 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:18.560 What would you say? I would say ages from two 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.660 to ten. Okay. Maybe twelve. Yeah, so it's you've 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:26.339 got a good range there and and obviously a Fun, 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.660 but easy to understand message, which is which 00:05:28.660 --> 00:05:32.459 is pretty cool Where can folks find this you 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:34.839 can get it on Amazon bards and noble books a 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:38.100 million anywhere. They're sold online You can 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:42.500 also google play, you know any ebook. That's 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:45.620 great It's it's so neat that we can have these 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:50.000 things so accessible Are you? Are you from the 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.860 area? I don't know if I even asked you that. 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:54.740 You're from the greater Syracuse area here. I 00:05:54.740 --> 00:05:58.120 am born and raised. I love it. I love it. And 00:05:58.120 --> 00:05:59.939 that's the thing that's so neat is that somebody 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:01.540 can come up with something like this and have 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:04.040 it available in places like Amazon where people 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:07.600 all over the globe can get this thing and do. 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:12.199 We've seen it's very high rated on Amazon. When 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:15.680 we first met, we took a look and very impressed 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.310 by that. you know seeing it all over the place 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:22.930 what um uh what would you like to see happen 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:25.430 with the book what would you like to see the 00:06:25.430 --> 00:06:30.569 next steps are from here i would actually create 00:06:30.569 --> 00:06:35.050 a series oh wow yeah okay maybe even a cartoon 00:06:35.050 --> 00:06:38.529 type series as well in addition to the book series 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.920 I gotcha, so would that follow the same characters 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:43.980 or would you introduce new folks? Yeah, same 00:06:43.980 --> 00:06:48.139 characters probably, you know new New characters 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:50.160 sure they got to meet some new friends, right? 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:53.819 Yeah along the way Can you give us a preview 00:06:53.819 --> 00:06:56.600 of like what what types of things might they 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.980 do and later in the series? Uh Well, I haven't 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:02.500 really thought I realize that might be a work 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:04.040 in progress. So I don't mean I don't mean to 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:11.509 put you on the spot coming across you know other 00:07:11.509 --> 00:07:15.810 characters that have maybe a disability or just 00:07:15.810 --> 00:07:21.709 Making more friends I haven't really given it 00:07:21.709 --> 00:07:23.790 too much thought sure sure you know it's just 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:27.949 an idea that I have thought of you know I just 00:07:27.949 --> 00:07:33.350 want to You should I'm thinking I need to introduce 00:07:33.350 --> 00:07:36.589 you if you don't know already the local animation 00:07:36.889 --> 00:07:40.149 I don't know if you know Dean, Dean Lyons, awesome 00:07:40.149 --> 00:07:46.470 guy. Hollywood level animator, producer and stuff 00:07:46.470 --> 00:07:50.110 right here in Syracuse. It might be a good introduction 00:07:50.110 --> 00:07:52.250 for when you're ready for that. He actually runs 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:55.250 a training camp for students that want to get 00:07:55.250 --> 00:07:57.689 into animation and they do all kinds of things. 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:01.420 Um, he may love something like this. Uh, and 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:03.680 I think that's pretty neat. Um, one thing I'd 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.519 like to talk about, cause being the businessman 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:07.680 that I am myself, I'm always interested in how 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:10.120 these things work, right? Like behind the scenes. 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:12.339 So could you tell us a little bit of the process 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:14.579 of, you know, you have this idea, maybe you've 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:16.839 even written the book, but how do you get to 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:20.439 the point to having it in a physical form and 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:22.120 available on Amazon and things? What do you have 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.360 to do? Who do you even reach out to, to make 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:27.980 that happen? Um, well, I decided to go with. 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:30.899 Publisher. Okay. I didn't go with traditional 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:33.259 because I didn't want to lose my rights. I see 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:35.759 Because I didn't want them changing the story 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:39.220 and the meaning behind it. Ah So sometimes when 00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:41.399 you do that you give them the the capability 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.519 to modify everything, huh? Yes, and with especially 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:47.860 with this book I didn't want to do sure that 00:08:47.860 --> 00:08:49.679 makes sense, you know, I didn't want the meaning 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:53.879 to change like I said I did find a publisher 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:58.759 Christian faith publishing and I We signed up 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.679 with them. We went through the editing phase. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.360 And then I started the illustrations. And like 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:07.100 I said, I told them what I wanted, how I wanted 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:14.500 it. And it takes probably about a year. So once 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:18.100 it was ready for publication, you know, they... 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:23.059 Have I guess they're connected with Ingram sparks. 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.480 I think it's called. Okay, and a few other and 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:29.240 they you know, they they are the ones obviously 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:32.679 it comes in paperback hardcover and ebook and 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:36.320 they all have their own ISBN number and it they 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.820 put them on Barnes and Nobles Amazon and Other 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:42.919 book we have tailors online. So they helped all 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:45.220 the distribution for you. Yes, that's awesome 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:49.250 and The marketing is my responsibility, but they 00:09:49.250 --> 00:09:57.330 did create some of my social media pages on Instagram 00:09:57.330 --> 00:10:02.090 and YouTube. So they're giving you some support 00:10:02.090 --> 00:10:06.409 as well as helping you produce the thing, sounds 00:10:06.409 --> 00:10:08.909 like. That's a pretty decent deal. And I did 00:10:08.909 --> 00:10:11.950 a reader roundhouse. I don't know if I'm saying 00:10:11.950 --> 00:10:15.460 it right. Roundhouse reader podcast and then 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:21.320 I did a zoom interview about the book and That's 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:27.139 great. Yeah, that's great Candice again Tell 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:30.120 folks I want to reiterate this all the best places 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.220 or maybe even the out of all the places you can 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:34.240 get the book What's the one you'd prefer they 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:37.460 they go to to check it out? Probably Barnes and 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:40.610 Nobles or in Amazon. Okay Some of the most popular 00:10:40.610 --> 00:10:42.850 those are the easiest ones. So that's that's 00:10:42.850 --> 00:10:46.250 great. That's great Uh marshmallow and cocoa 00:10:46.250 --> 00:10:48.649 are is the name of the book. It's the name of 00:10:48.649 --> 00:10:51.090 the characters Uh, i'm gonna hold on. I want 00:10:51.090 --> 00:10:54.850 to guess here. Uh I'm just gonna guess because 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:57.370 it's left and right that the skunk is marshmallow. 00:10:57.370 --> 00:11:00.629 Yes. Okay. See I figured it out He didn't stump 00:11:00.629 --> 00:11:06.389 me. Um I love I just love Everything about this. 00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:08.730 This is such a neat thing I just don't want kids 00:11:08.730 --> 00:11:11.450 feeling like lonely because they don't have friends, 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:13.830 you know, I don't want them to give up You know, 00:11:13.830 --> 00:11:16.750 I need you know, they need to be hopeful about 00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:23.289 making friends. I love that This is such a neat 00:11:23.289 --> 00:11:28.629 such a neat thing Candice You've got a little 00:11:28.629 --> 00:11:31.690 bit of Um, you mentioned it was it was published 00:11:31.690 --> 00:11:34.610 by a christian publisher. It sounds like so there's 00:11:34.610 --> 00:11:36.970 a there's a little bit of a religious message 00:11:36.970 --> 00:11:40.169 but Talk about that a little bit because I think 00:11:40.169 --> 00:11:43.370 it's I think you've done it really well to where 00:11:43.370 --> 00:11:46.049 whether folks are are into that or not Correct. 00:11:46.049 --> 00:11:48.309 It's not going to bother them. It's not it's 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:50.769 there's not a sermon here, you know, um, talk 00:11:50.769 --> 00:11:53.710 about that a little bit if you could Well, um, 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:57.139 well in the story I wanted to you know, I wanted 00:11:57.139 --> 00:12:01.220 him to go on this journey to find a friend and 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:06.179 In the editing process I reference God and stuff, 00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:11.379 but the way the editor suggested that this refrain 00:12:11.379 --> 00:12:14.940 about Marshmello singing a song about making 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:16.960 friendship because every time he got rejected 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.779 he would sing this song so He would be encouraged 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.840 So at the end, in the epilogue, is when I talked 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:27.860 about God, how we're different, I'm different, 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.159 we're all different, and that we're created in 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.000 His image, and that we're special to Him, and 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:40.240 that we need to, you know, embrace everybody's 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.820 differences. And I even have a little prayer 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.539 there for a child that might want to pray and 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:49.139 ask God to help them make friends. That's great. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:53.740 That's so nice. What a great what a great thing 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:57.139 to do I Love that you've been able to take this 00:12:57.139 --> 00:13:00.059 idea turn into a reality share it with children 00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:03.899 and families Around the globe really like I said 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:05.899 all those distribution channels get you everywhere, 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:10.159 right? That's kind of neat Kenneth the last thing 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:13.980 I'll ask you and then I'll let you get back to 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:20.819 to all of the cool things that you're doing What 00:13:20.819 --> 00:13:22.720 throughout the book what's been your favorite 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.480 processor not even necessarily just writing the 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.299 book But all of this talking about a promoting 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:28.139 and all these different things. What's been your 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:30.799 favorite part of this whole activity so far? 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.539 Seeing it come to life. Yeah, you know all my 00:13:34.539 --> 00:13:38.679 all my work and writing it and Putting you know 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.000 telling the illustrators what I want and then 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:42.960 just actually holding it in my hand and thinking 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:47.120 yeah This is this is a reality It's you know, 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:48.940 I I love that. Like I said, I said at the very 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:51.659 beginning It's such a neat thing to create a 00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:54.100 physical thing, you know I've always worked in 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.059 in kind of service -based businesses and I've 00:13:56.059 --> 00:13:57.860 done a lot of things for people I've built websites 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:01.600 and all these things but a physical product is 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.200 just I don't know to me it feels like such an 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.519 achievement so I can only imagine that Why that 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:09.399 might have been the best part and inspiring children 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:12.240 and bringing glory to God is my goal You know, 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.460 I don't children are very important. Sure 100 00:14:16.460 --> 00:14:20.340 % 100 % that's That's what drives everything 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:23.299 right? Yes, we need somebody to take care of 00:14:23.299 --> 00:14:27.700 us when we're yeah Home somewhere, right? Always 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:30.379 tell people you know Raising children is a little 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:32.720 bit selfish because you want good people around 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:36.580 when when they're in charge So I love it Candice. 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:39.120 Thank you so much for joining Good News York. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:42.879 This has been an awesome awesome time Come back 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:46.740 in in the future When we do have new books and 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:48.620 fun things and different activities to talk about 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:52.379 we would love to have you back anytime another 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:56.629 book Kind of dedicated to my father. Oh, wow 00:14:56.629 --> 00:14:59.529 Bobby's ice cream adventure Oh, wow, cuz it's 00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:01.429 his it was his favorite thing in the whole world 00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:03.730 was ice cream And it was just kind of a god thing 00:15:03.730 --> 00:15:05.950 that the last thing he ate was ice cream. Oh, 00:15:06.049 --> 00:15:08.129 wow before he passed Yeah, what was his favorite 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:13.470 flavor? He was such a connoisseur he just loved 00:15:13.470 --> 00:15:15.789 ice cream ice cream, but I think it was kind 00:15:15.789 --> 00:15:18.929 of within there cream Okay, I could be wrong, 00:15:18.990 --> 00:15:22.399 but I know he liked that. That's that's a That's 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.879 quite a choice. So I love that. But he loved 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:26.940 ice cream no matter what. Well, that's going 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:29.860 to be great. And we'd love to hear all about 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:33.379 that as that project moves along too. So thank 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:36.080 you again for joining us. This is great. Thanks 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.519 for stopping by and thanks to everybody for watching. 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:42.740 This has been a great interview for Good New 00:15:42.740 --> 00:15:44.759 York. We've got a lot more lined up this week 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:46.879 and then coming up soon We're gonna have our 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:50.019 full regular segments as you're used to with 00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:52.679 the full -blown show So we're almost back to 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:54.559 that from our new location here at clickstream 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:58.220 studios Don't forget our sponsor ads on the go 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.799 get ads on the go comm is the website Our man 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:04.820 Zach with the billboard truck out there Spreading 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:07.320 the message of everybody's business and and we 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.980 love that so with that Peace out.