Winner of the 2016 OneBookAZ and 2013 Mom’s Choice Silver Award! Buckaroo Buckeye grew out of author Kristin Anderson Cetone’s imagination and joy of reading.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, she traveled many miles before putting down roots in the Arizona desert. Influenced by family, education, life experiences, and a desire to teach others, Mrs. Cetone discovered her purpose—just like Buckaroo Buckeye did.

Her true calling and passion is writing and helping others become successful readers. She created Buckaroo to encourage children to believe in themselves and follow their dreams while dodging the bumps and bullies along the way. Reading will help guide the way. Being a Reading Specialist, she has also created Nuts About Reading™ an informal, supplemental, online reading service. She shares her insights and suggestions to help parents strengthen their children’s reading process and become successful readers.

Her joy now is to inspire and help kids to find the Buckaroo Buckeye in themselves.

We hope that you will enjoy this interview we had with her.

Describe yourself in five words: determined, creative, nostalgic, reading educator,

How do you work through self-doubts and fear? I keep pressing forward and believe in myself

What makes you happiest? Seeing a child’s face light up when they can read

Why do you write? To inspire kids and empower parents to guide their child’s reading success

Have you always enjoyed writing?  I have always found I can express my thoughts better through writing instead of the spoken word

What motivates you to write? To share my stories through my unique characters I create and relate their messages to all

What writing are you most proud of?  My first book, Buckaroo Buckeye™-A Little Nut with Big Dreams as like all moms, I have a special place in my heart for my first born .

What are you most proud of in your personal life? My education, my life experiences with family and my two children 

What books did you love growing up? Stories of dogs and horses like “Call of the Wild,” and “Misty of Chincoteague”, humorous stories like Amelia Bedelia, and stories that related to my life experiences.

What do you hope your obituary will say about you? She dared to Dream, Believe, and Achieve

Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and where you now live?  My roots are in the buckeye State of Ohio as I grew up in Dayton, Ohio and now reside in Scottsdale, Arizona.

What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?  marketing

Do you find it hard to share your work?  No, because I think it relates to all our life journeys of self-discovery.

Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you?  Yes all have been very supportive and encouraging.

What else do you do, other than write?  I am a Reading Specialist and educator, and I offer reading tutoring for grades 1-3 in an online format.  My tutoring service is entitled “Nuts About Reading™”

What other jobs have you had in your life? Medical library assistant, administrative assistant, teaching

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?  Right where I am.  Though I have travelled a lot, without my experience living in Arizona my character, Buckaroo Buckeye might not have come to life. 

Tell us about your family?  I have a husband of 45 years, one son, and one daughter.  My husband is a cytotechnologist and screens for cancer, my son works for local courts, and my daughter was a professional ballerina, and transitioned into human resources upon her exit from the stage.

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?  I put pen to paper first, before then going to the computer.  I am old school.

How much sleep do you need to be your best?  7-9 hours to stay alert.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support? I have had several key members on my team through the years, most recently in marketing.  Thank you Suzanne Jameson and Monica Kelly, for your support and encouragement and spreading my messages of inspiration, encouragement, and arranging personal appearances. 

Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?  Providing inspiration and encouragement to young children, especially for children who struggle to read, and empowering their parents as they guide their child’s reading journey. 

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign? I believe every writer must have a local presence in their area while also developing a wider following through social media.  You must key in on the audience for your specific offerings, and not just a large general audience, and provide them with what they see as important to them first, and then also broaden their scope to what they might not have thought was possible for them, such as my message of their importance in guiding and nurturing their child’s journey to reading success.

Tell us about your new book? Why did you write it?  I have three sequels in the publishing pipeline.  They all relate to my original character’s dream and life journey of self-discovery, to find his special place in the world, and so do my three new characters.  These three characters were chosen to honor three very inspirational women from my family, but again their journeys relate to everyone’s life journey of self-discovery. It is not your ‘size’ in life that determines success.  Like Buckaroo, these three, tiny little nut-seeds follow their dreams of finding their own special place in the world.  Success comes from a tiny ‘seed’ within each of us.  This seed contains our roots, our hopes and dreams, and interests and passions. When we receive encouragement and nourishment from family, culture, education, and life experiences, this seed will sprout and grow mighty, to rise above the bumps and bullies and setbacks along the way.

 

When you are not writing, how do you like to relax? Walking, reading, daydreaming, travel

 

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?  I hope children and their parents take away inspiration and encouragement and a feeling of self-esteem in themselves.  My focus is to write only hopeful words, and words that encourage us and not words that might hurt us.

“Discouraging Words…Discourage Dreams,

Encouraging Words…Sprout Dreams,

Parents Plant the Seeds!”-Kristin Anderson Cetone

We hope you have enjoyed this interview. Do check out her social media links and website address below.

Reading success begins at birth with parents reading to their children! Buckaroo Buckeye™ – A Little Nut with Big Dreams is a read aloud book for parents and their children. Life is a journey of self-discovery on the path to building self-esteem.

This journey is nourished by the encouragement and guidance from family and culture, life experiences, and education…of which reading success is the foundation.

A Mom’s Choice Award Winning Children’s Book.

2016 ONEBOOKAZ Award Winning Children’s Book.

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