Popular Author Explains Magical World of Yumi, home of Bat Rider

Oct. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- 'Readers enjoy your Bat Rider stories. What is it about the world you have created that attracts them?'
'I'm not sure. It is a beautiful world, with a trees a mile high, and strange gardens among their branches, and the work the young people do there, flying their giant bats high into the air to harvest the Yumi fruit, is dangerous and thrilling work. After all, how often do young people get to do responsible, risky work of benefit to others? I think that's part of the attraction.'
'So the young people risk their lives? Why?'
'The whole society I have invented relies on the trees for food, for fibre for clothing, and so on. But the bats in the story, though larger than the fruit bats of the South Pacific, are not large enough to carry grown-ups on their backs.'
'So it's up to the kids, then?'
'Yes, and when you read the stories, you can sense how anxious their parents are, and, at the same time, how proud.'
'How did you dream up Big Bad Bat?'
'Every story needs a good villain. I think the difference between my stories and so many others is that my villain is plausible and even likeable. He is vain, he enjoys riding his pogo stick, yet at the same time he is vulnerable. I have a soft spot for Big Bad Bat. And now that my Bat Rider books are being published by Amazon.com, we get to see what he looks like!'
'There are pictures in your books? Does that mean that the books are for children?'
'I don't know. Good stories are for everyone, regardless of age. That's what I think, anyway. The Bat Rider books provide a welcome chance to escape to another world for a while, a world of glow worms, caves, and starships. Not bad for $9.99! Besides, I love drawing pictures. I want to share my magical world with my readers.'
'What are you doing to promote Bat Rider?'
'I'm planning an exhibition of some of my original sketches and watercolors for the book. One sketch shows Bulmer the Bat licking his lips and looking at a moon pie. He knows he's not supposed to eat it because Matthew John told him so. If he does eat it, it will wipe his memory. But the pie is fresh from the oven and looks so good, he is sorely tempted.'
'Poor Bulmer. Does her eat the pie in the end?'
'That would be telling.'
'Thanks for giving us a glimpse of the planet Yumi.'
'You're welcome.'

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Bulmer Books is famous for publishing the Bat Rider books for children of 7 - 11 years, sold in Australia, Canada, the US, and elsewhere. The Bat Rider books are distributed in English and Spanish by Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords.