Rick Williams & Fantasy Kidlit
Writing with Kids for Kids
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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free”
Frederick Douglass
Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles
Star Life Keepers
Welcome to the Belacamber parallel universe where knights and archers team up with elves and shapeshifting dragons to defeat dinosaur invaders.
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In the Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles series, you can follow Jason, Amanda, Elisa—and their friends in the Evergreen Nation and Dragonora—while they fulfill their mission as second-generation Star Life Keepers.
Jason, Amanda, and Elisa discover their grandfather’s secret Star Globe and go back in time to prevent family tragedies from happening. Jason also hopes to get his lost hearing restored.
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see colored version on Readers' Club
see colored version on Readers' Club
As they travel through West Bukania, Jason, Amanda, and Elisa must collaborate with young elves and dragons to overcome dinosaurs and humanized creatures.
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Star Life Keepers will soon be commercially available via Amazon and other retail outlets.
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We are currently working on short stories, e.g., Dragons & Betrayals, and a sequel (Orion Fire Storm).
Jason and Amanda received ancient astronomy rings from their father before he died in a Space Force mission. When the kids place those rings side by side, they activate the Star Globe and enable them to travel with Elisa through a portal in Orion’s belt.
Jason, Amanda, and Elisa land in the medieval country of Bukania where they find out they are members of the royal family. Queen Dhyanna is dying: Jason, Amanda, and Elisa must travel to West Bukania and retrieve the Carmanixia plant to save her life.
see colored version on Readers' Club
Authors & Storymaking
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Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles is our family’s series for middle school readers of fantasy books that combine the spirituality of the C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia with the epic battles between good and evil in J. R .R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Additionally, our “fantasies with a heart” address issues like teamwork among kids from different races/cultures (humans, shapeshifting dragons, and forest elves); special needs; and emotional challenges such as fear and anxiety.
We like to create mash-ups of dragons, dinosaurs, and videogame hybrids, along with warriors in the King Arthur medieval era.
Brandon Sanderson’s illustration strategy for Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians has been a great inspiration for our storymaking.
In honor of my Chinese friends and grandchildren, I added a subplot tied to Gavin Menzies’ 1421: The Year China Discovered America.
Books Written With Kids For Kids
We asked six middle school students, led by Luke Waldstein, to critique the first draft that Brady and I had developed. Luke later read the final manuscript while in high school and once again gave us positive feedback.
“I’m very proud to have worked on this book. The concoction of dinosaurs, dragons, and knights, among other things, portray an epic and adventurous story that I have enjoyed.” Luke Waldstein
A Time-traveling Boy with Special Needs
Jason Blakeslee, our protagonist, must accomplish his quests in a medieval parallel universe while wearing two hidden hearing aids and dealing with anger management. Worse yet, Jason has a deadline: he needs to return to the modern world within one months or his special hearing aid batteries will lose power.
I used my background in hearing problems and childhood diseases to address Jason’s medical condition—and had him channel his anger in order to fight against dinosaur hybrids. Quintessence by Jess Redman greatly helped me. As a former therapist, she wrote her midgrade novel about children dealing with psychological difficulties.
Meet the Stars from
Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles
STAR LIFE KEEPERS
Amanda
Jason
Elisa
Kayta
Dragon Girl
Shapeshifting dragon
Bryn
Forest Elf from the Evergreen Nation
Orion Fire Storm
Orion Fire Storm, our first sequel, is a novel focusing on the adventures of Jason, Amanda, and Elisa after Star Life Keepers takes place.
Stories for
Elementary School Readers
The Global Fairies
Global Fairy Academy Series
My granddaughter, Mia Pei Ni Johnson, and I are finishing The Global Fairies, our illustrated short novel for children in fourth through sixth grade who love adventure stories. We hope to make this first book in our Global Fairy Academy series available in 2024.
Girls and boys from all over the world travel to the Global Fairy Academy to learn how to become Guardian Fairies. They train at the secret Fairy Island—a magical location in the Pacific Ocean—to receive their fairy wings and sword-wands. They also learn how to use Invisie Dust, which makes their wings disappear so they can go unnoticed among humans as they stop the troublemaking Storm Fairies.
Ride the Sky
Flying Horse Island Series
In the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Carolina, there’s another secret island—except this one has special horses that train to get their flying wings. The original wild horses on Flying Horse Island, however, don’t have wings and cause problems for the visiting horses.
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Readers of chapter books will learn about Ride the Sky Ranch; horses from around the world; and how to save rare horse breeds.
Fun Stuff
Please consider signing up for our newsletter. Storymaking With Kids Workbook contains “mini stories” where Story Developers can learn how to create their own projects using Ride the Sky characters that fly to the Philippine Islands on a mission to rescue people and wildlife in trouble.
You can also receive other complimentary offers including a free Star Life Keepers flying-raptor chapter and a downloadable PDF study tool (Star Life Keepers Discussion Guide).
