Author Feature/Article-Interview Medium.com Indie Author Erica Graham

Phonetically Speaking with Children’s Author Erica Graham by Angel M.B. Chadwick
















From the moment, I read Erica Graham’s books (I’ve read two and have added the other three to my bookshelf) I was hooked on the way she incorporated speech patterns with fun lessons and story in a short amount of pages and at the same time making it educational and worth the read. The kind of children’s books that stay with parent and child leaving the reader eager to revisit the speech sounds, story and lessons learned in the process. I urge you to read this fantastic and brilliant author who can entertain you, your children and educate you in an artistic and phonetic way of sounding out and learning words and sounds with beautiful illustrations, appropriate for all ages, backgrounds, educational levels, parents and children alike.


Angel Chadwick: Tell us a little about yourself and your latest novel.

Erica Graham: I am a speech-language pathologist and children’s author. I have combined my knowledge as a speech-language pathologist and love of writing to create the Talking Tales series. Each book in the series focuses on a core sound or group of sounds to help with speech development. My most recent book was “Catch that Chinchilla,” which focuses on the “ch” sound. Each book has an engaging storyline so that even children who are not working on speech can enjoy them.

Angel Chadwick: What inspired you to be a writer and to get into indie publishing? How long have you been writing? How long have you been published as an indie author?

Erica Graham: My desire to help parents find ways to promote their children’s speech at home initiated my search for children’s books that helped with articulation. After spending hours in bookstores and online, I was unable to find what I was looking for—thus birthing the idea to write something myself. I have been writing most my life, and have been published for a year and a half.

Angel Chadwick: Who are your writing mentors/authors? What genres do you enjoy writing and what genres do you like to read? Are you an avid reader/reviewer of other authors?

Erica Graham: One of the first indie authors that reached out to and inspired me was Carole P. Roman. Her willingness to share her experience and advice has inspired me to do the same for other authors. I enjoy writing children’s books, but am considering branching out to other genres in the future. I personally like to read mystery and fantasy novels, though my current life leaves very little room for reading. I do leave reviews on books I have read because, as an author, I understand how important they are.

Angel Chadwick: Have you ever co-wrote or consider collaborating or co-writing with anyone on a writing project?

Erica Graham: I have never co-written a project.

Angel Chadwick: What are your dreams and aspirations that could drive you forward on this writing and publication journey?



Erica Graham: My hope with my Talking Tales children’s stories is to help give parents and children a fun way to target speech while promoting literacy. My hope as a Medium author is to provide people with stories that inspire their personal and professional lives.

Angel Chadwick: Do you prefer to do marketing and promotion yourself for your works or would you rather have someone else control that spectrum? What are some of the things you have done to promote and market yourself?

Erica Graham: I personally enjoy marketing, but would not be opposed to outside help. There is a lot of work and luck that is associated with marketing. I enjoy doing group author events and writing guest articles for blogs and publications. The best marketing I have found is live events at libraries, book readings at schools, and setting up a booth at vendor fairs.

Angel Chadwick: What is your greatest accomplishment as an author?

Erica Graham: I have come a long way since becoming a published author and have overcome many hurdles. However, the accomplishment that is most important to me is having written books that my children enjoy. I will never forget the first time I asked my daughter to pick a book from her shelf for a bedtime story and out of the hundreds of books that were before her, she choose one of mine.

Angel Chadwick: What's the next writing project(s) you're working on?

Erica Graham: I have a couple more books in the works for the Talking Tales series. Recently, I have started writing a variety of articles for Medium.

Angel Chadwick: How would you balance creativity with the business side of writing such as coming up with particular concepts and solutions to stand out amongst the crowd in this writing/publishing industry where 'popularity' is key, if your idea wasn't exactly popular/or was unknown to the readers/publishers?

Erica Graham: I believe an author has to decide where his or her priorities are in that situation. If your main concern is sales, then you may want to stick with “cookie-cutter” storylines that are close to the big sellers. However, one of the things that authors and readers find most attractive about indie authors is their freedom to provide a story that is unique and refreshing. While this may make it harder to create a buzz, it fills a void that a lot of readers have when it comes to traditionally published works.

Angel Chadwick: Have you ever been traditionally published? Would you consider it? Or feel like a sell out if you took a traditional deal and abandoned indie publishing? Have you ever thought about being a hybrid, part indie, part traditionally published? How would you feel about such an opportunity, if both or either of these things happened?

Erica Graham: I have never been traditionally published. I have never even submitted any work to a traditional publisher. I enjoy the freedom that comes with being an indie author. I like the fact that it gives me a direct relationship with my readers and allows me to get my work to them quickly. Traditionally publishing a book can take years, and I have readers with kids who could benefit from my books now. I wouldn’t turn down the idea of being part traditionally and part indie published in the future, but for now, I will remain an indie author.

Angel Chadwick: What other creative talents do you have? Do you draw, sketch, paint, etc.?

Erica Graham: I do all my own illustrations for my children’s books. I also enjoy crafting, many forms of art, including photography, painting, and pottery. Music and learning various types of instruments is also a passion of mine—however, singing is not my strength. Though I feel I am pretty fabulous when singing with my radio in the car. Yes, I am that crazy person singing and dancing in the car next to you at the stoplight.

Angel Chadwick: What advice would you give other aspiring authors?

Erica Graham: Don’t let your fears stop you from pursuing your dreams of publishing. It can be scary when you don’t know how others will respond to your work, or worse, not respond at all. However, if you don’t put your work out there, you will never know whose life you will touch.

Angel Chadwick: Describe yourself in a one-sentence epithet.

Erica Graham: She is that tea-guzzling multi-tasking author who can’t sit still and loves her family.

Angel Chadwick: Paying it forward. What things do you do in your community/ and other communities to help others?

Erica Graham: I am very involved with the youth in my community--especially 7th-12th grade. This is one of the most challenging times in a person’s life as they try to sort out who they are and where they want to be. I feel that it is important to help them understand that they are not alone during this time and there are people who care for them.


Links to Erica Graham’s Social Media Sites:
https://www.talkingtalesbooks.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EricaGrahamA...
https://twitter.com/egrahamauthor
Medium: https://medium.com/@egraham040
Medium article: https://medium.com/@egraham040/a-glim...

Medium article:
https://medium.com/@egraham040/what-i...


Erica Graham’s Author Bio:

Erica Graham is an award winning children's author. Graham graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with her Master of Science Degree in Speech Language Pathology. She also holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence with the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. As a mother, Graham understands the difficulty parents have finding time to work on speech with their children. In her pursuit to create a fun easy way for therapists, children, and their parents to enhance speech development while promoting literacy, she has written a series of exciting children’s books. Each book focuses on a core sound used in the English language. Outside of writing and working as a Speech Language Pathologist, Graham enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and daughters, volunteering with the youth group at church, and a good cup of tea.