Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of the Captain No Beard series. Both Captain No Bear: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life and Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis have received the Kirkus Star of Exceptional Merit. The first book in the series was named to Kirkus Reviews Best 2012. Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis has been named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2015. Each book in the series has won numerous awards including the NABE Pinnacle Award, IAN Award, Moonbeam Award 2014, National Indie Excellence Award Finalist, Shelf Media Outstanding Series Award, ForeWord Review Five Star and Finalist in the Book of the Year, and Reader’s Views Children’s Book of the Year 2013. Roman is also the author of the award-winning nonfiction culture series, If You Were Me and Lived in..., which explores customs and cultures around the world. She has co-authored a self-help book, Navigating Indieworld: A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing. She lives on Long Island with her husband, and near her children and grandchildren.

IF YOU WERE...AUTHOR CAROLE P. ROMAN

If You Were Me and Lived in...the Ancient Mali Empire is the latest in a collection of award-winning books by author Carole P. Roman. LitPick catches up with Carole to chit-chat about her love of writing.

When writing your first draft, do you like to write by hand or on the computer? For my cultural and historical series, I write up all the facts I will highlight, either in an outline or on cards. As I finish the subject, I put a line through them so I know I've used all the information.

What was your favorite childhood book? I loved the Nancy Drew series and read all 99 books in one year in a competition with my best friend.

What is the most exciting part about being an author? There are so many exciting parts of being an author. I love when I publish a finished work. I get a thrill that I've tackled a project that interested me. I enjoy reading the reviews. Either I learn what people didn't enjoy, or it validates that I hit the nail on the head when I created something. When I hear from readers who say how my books affected them, it fills my heart with joy. It's like I've reached people and made friendships that will last forever.

What is the most challenging part about being an author? The most challenging part is getting all the pieces correct. Sometimes there are mistakes. The beauty of being an indie author is that I can go back and make changes or corrections. There are huge costs to getting your books in the public eye, and the constant work of promoting and marketing is very time-consuming. The disappointments when your book doesn't sell even though it's won awards and you know it's a good book is a challenge, too.

What are three writing tips you've found beneficial? Keep writing. Keep promoting. Get your name in as many places as you can.

What do you like to do when you're not writing? I am the CEO of a very large company. I have many people who work for me, and in my spare time when I'm not busy with my grandchildren, I market and promote my son's books, too. He is author Michael Okon, who is the author of the Monsterland series of books.

Keep on keepin' on, dynamic mother-and-son author duo!