The Culpepper Family

Family Picnic is Saturday

2008-07-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so delighted. Our family picnic is Saturday. I've taken off work this week and have spent the whole time with Chloe and Carol. I want to pamper Chloe as much as possible. She doesn't know that she has a little brother on the way soon. Shhh! Mums the word!

Chris

Guess who got Dottymania? Chloe Culpepper

2008-07-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't Miss Donna (Shepherd) pretty? I just love her because she writes some of my favorite books. I loved Topsy Turvy Land. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Now finally, she has given me another great book, Dotty's Topsy Tale. Hooray!

I think the cover is so beautiful. Mr. Kevin drew the pictures. He must be terribly smart to draw things so good. It seems like he draws all the good stuff. Nearly all my favorite books now were drawn by him.

Just yesterday, I found out that Dotty was available for my mommy to purchase at http://store.livingwaterspc.com/

I love Miss Donna's smile. She looks like what I imagined an author would look like. She kinda reminds me of my mom, who is also an author. I hope my mom interviews her soon. I just want to meet her in person. I bet she's the nicest person on Earth, other than my dad. He's the best!

The Fun and Adventures of Katie-Bear

2008-06-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. It's Chloe again.

Today, I finished reading my latest book, The Adventures of Katie-Bear: Fun Days at School by V.K. Sansone. It was the most fun I've had lately. I read it to my friends. We all enjoyed it so much.

Katie-Bear reminds me of myself because she likes the outdoors. I also like the outdoors, camping and all. I hope the author will do a camping story. Maybe I should be an author. I love to read.

Anyway, I recommend Katie-Bear because she is a cool bear to read about. The illustrations are fun. There are 5 different sections which let me read it over the week. I wanted to stretch it out to give myself something to do during reading time. My mom makes me read every day, even while school is out. She doesn't want my brain to turn into overcooked spaghetti. Talk to everyone soon. Signing off, this is Chloe Culpepper.

Grand Finale! Last Day with Ms. Shari Soffe

2008-06-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Today, Mom surprised me and let me interview Ms. Shari. She actually said I could call her that. It was totally COOL! She was more awesome in person than in the books. Okay, okay. Mom is telling me to get on with it.

1. Ms. Soffe, I love your books. I especially love Snuffle. How did you come up with that character and that name? I love that name.

Thank you, Chloe. Snuffle was patterned after a family member. He has a childlike innocence and enthusiasm that I love. A writer friend didn't like the very ordinary names I originally gave the raccoons. She suggested Rooter, and I came up with Snuffle based on the way they act.

2. Rooter is cute too! What inspired him?

Ahhh, Rooter is mostly me. I was the oldest of four children and I sometimes felt little brothers were a nuisance. My brother is all grown up now and we are good friends.

3. Will you do another book for us? Pretty please! When?

To tell you the truth I hadn't thought about doing another Rooter and Snuffle book until recently. My illustrator, Kevin Scott Collier, asked me if I had another one so I think I will write one.

4. YAY! Victory is MINE!!! LOL! Okay. Tell me all your books so I can get Daddy to buy them for me. Where can he get them?

THE MISADVENTURES OF ROOTER AND SNUFFLE
ON THE GO WITH ROOTER AND SNUFFLE
TROUBLE FINDS ROOTER AND SNUFFLE

Chloe, your daddy can find them at http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com and at all online and brick and mortar book stores.

5. Mommy thinks I've taken up enough of your time. Will you come back to visit us soon?

I have enjoyed this visit. I would be happy to come back. Thank you for having me.

This was the best present I could have ever gotten. I loved interviewing Ms. Shari. She's our new family friend. She's coming back again when her new book comes out, Mom said.

Interview with Shari Lyle-Soffe, Storytelling Genius

2008-06-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

This interview I conducted with Shari was wonderful. I could tell that she truly loves what she does. Well, just see for yourself:

1. Give our readers a brief introduction. Who are you?

I am a mother of two and grandmother of four. My husband and I are animal lovers. We live in the woods in Southern Oregon where we feed the birds and leave the windfall apples for the deer and other critters that visit our property. We share our home with a cat named Amber, and a dog named Dallas.

2. How did you begin writing children's books?

I started by writing for children's magazines. In the beginning I tried everything. I wrote poems, short stories, puzzles, recipes and craft instructions. I had work published in most of the well known children's magazines. Then I decided to concentrate on children's books.

3. What made you come up with raccoons as subject matter?

As a child I lived in the redwoods of Northern California. Two raccoons visited our back porch every night. I loved watching them.

4. Did you know that some liken you to the greats of yesteryear? How does that make you feel?

Wow! I am flattered. Humble.

5. Give them a teaser, something that'll make them want to come back for the last day. Just anything you want to say.

Although the raccoons on our back porch inspired me to write about brother raccoons, you will be surprised to learn what inspired the stories. But we'll save that for another day.

Tomorrow, Chloe conducts her own interview. Don't miss it!

Trouble Finds Rooter and Snuffle by Shari Lyle-Soffe

2008-06-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, Chloe had a small fever over the weekend. She finished this latest edition of Rooter and Snuffle today. She really loved this one and swears that they are getting better every time.

Tomorrow, I will post my first interview with Ms. Soffe. I know Chloe will go bonkers. Be sure to be here for that. You don't want to miss it!

"On the Go with Rooter and Snuffle" by Shari Lyle-Soffe

2008-06-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from ON THE GO WITH ROOTER AND SNUFFLE:

"Something is Fishy"

At the pond their plump friend, Fritter, did a funny dance on the ice.

Snuffle giggled, "What are you doing?"

"I'm testing to see if the ice will hold us," Fritter answered. "It's pretty solid."

The three raccoons listened for the sound of cracking ice as they tiptoed out on the frozen pond. They looked like three masked bandits with sacks of loot on their backs

The Misadventures of Rooter and Snuffle by Shari Lyle-Soffe

2008-06-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Chloe read her book, The Misadventures of Rooter and Snuffle. She has been googling them and the author. She just loves Ms. Shari's websites. She's there all the time, waiting on any sign of a new story. Little does she know, Ms. Shari will be here with us. I just can't wait.

Vacation was great!

2008-06-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful vacation. What, with all the tornados going on everywhere, we were blessed to go to NM, AZ and California for awhile. I'll tell you about it later.

Anyway, while I was gone, I had the pleasure to meet Shari Soffe. That's her to the left. I was able to talk her into a visit here in NY with our family. I've not told Chloe yet. It's a big surprise for her, so shhh. Don't tell her either.

She's read every Rooter and Snuffle and absolutely adores them. Stay with us this week and see how the adventure unfolds for our darling Chloe.

A Culpepper Prayer, from our family to yours

2008-03-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

We'd like to pray for your family.

"Father God, we thank you for giving us faithful readers and people who desire to make their family life better. We pray that we can be a great example and show people the joys of family life. God, allow each reader to find entertainment and excitement, encouragement and education at our site. Bless each one. Touch their hearts. Keep their minds. And bring them again to join in our joys. Thank you again. Amen!"

Guess who I met? April Robins of Robin Falls

2008-03-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Hi. Carol again.

Chloe nagged me all yesterday about going to the bookstore. I was so busy trying to get my magazine article done. I just couldn't do it. Today, I picked her up from school and took her straightaway to the bookstore. To my amazement, I met up with April Robins. She was the Author in the Spotlight choice for this month. You should have seen all the wonderful books she'd written. Chloe made me buy one of each that hadn't sold out. (We all know how convincing little girls can be.)

Anyway, I found her website tonight. It is http://www.robinfalls.com/. It was absolutely inspiration. I saw several more books I plan to purchase. I hope we can get her to do a storytime at the library, maybe even an interview here at our blog. Who knows? She just might do it for a fellow writer like myself. Anywho, these are the books Chloe purchased. I hope you will share them with your little ones.

The Blessing that Came While Searching for Cyle

2008-02-22T18:11:00.000-08:00

My name is Carol Culpepper. I'm Chris' wife and Chloe's mother. I guess you figured that out.

While on the phone calling around looking for Cyle the other day, I got the biggest blessing. I met my new friend, Susan Schank. She has a new book coming out soon called Gilda Can't Gallop. We became fast friends and I'm glad we did.

Susan and I have been emailing each other back and forth. She finally sent me the cover to her book. Chloe fell instantly in love with it. She is right this minute in her room reading the book. So, we'll be hearing more from Susan soon, and getting to know Gilda, her beautiful golden horse.

Oh, I finally found Cyle. One of the local pounds had him! Whew! I know Chloe will be very happy about that.

Busy at Work

2008-02-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

Lately, it seems everyone is coming down with the flu. I'm convinced that some of these flu-like symptoms are not actually the flu at all. I've had to work a lot lately. I was called in early all week long, worked a double twice this week, and may have to work on Sunday, which I just hate to do. Some of the other pharmacists are becoming ill. So, we've been praying for them. I know I don't want to get sick, especially not right now with so much going on.

Anyway, I figured everyone would want to see this man who talks so much about his family and work. Hopefully, we'll get to know each other more over the next few weeks as our first book is put on the market.

God bless you all!

Beautiful, Little Chloe

2008-02-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

Chloe Alicia Culpepper is the beautiful little pride and joy of the family. I'm proud to be her father. You'll learn much more about her as the days go on. She'll make many of the posts on this blog because she's always on the computer.

Chloe recently got a cat. His name is Cyle, notice the "c". That's the going thing in this family. Ha ha.

Here is a picture of my pride and joy. Isn't she gorgeous?!!!

We are the Culpepper Family

2008-02-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks you for visiting our blog. We are the Culpepper family from Syracuse, New York. We have a book coming out soon, The Culpepper Family series, written by our creator, Lacresha Hayes.

I am Chris, a pharmacist. My wife's name is Carol, a writer. We have one daughter who is seven years old. Her name is Chloe. You'll learn more about us as time goes on. We hope to hear from you. Don't be shy. Step right up and introduce yourself.