Reblogged from The Light Behind the Story:

Darlene Foster is a writer of children’s stories, a retired employment counsellor, an ESL tutor, a wife, mother and grandmother. Her grandson once gave her the nickname “super-mega-woman-supreme.” Darlene was brought up on a ranch near Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she dreamt of traveling the world and meeting interesting people. Her book series for children follows the heroine Amanda Ross as she travels throughout the world and learns the history and culture of faraway places.

 Darlene, thank you so much for being a guest on “A Better World of Books!” Please tells us a little about the inspiration for your character Amanda Ross.

Amanda Ross is the twelve-year-old I would have liked to be. I had a wonderful rural upbringing but my world was limited and I was bored. My grade three teacher taught us about faraway places which sparked my interest in traveling the world and experiencing these places myself. Much later, as an adult, I took a trip to the United Arab Emirates and was fascinated by the culture, the people, the landscape and the food. I thought about how I would have felt if I had visited such an amazing place as a young person and began to write a story from the point of view of a twelve-year-old. Children view the world from a different perspective. Everything is fresh, new, and exciting. They are not yet jaded. Oh, to be a child again! For me, writing books for children, and the young at heart, is the next best thing.

Continue reading at The Light Behind the Story