NIghty Night Dinos, Hello Debut PB! Craft Chat with Deborah Holt Williams & Book Review by Kathy Halsey

 

Congratulations to Deborah Holt Williams and illustrator Anna Doherty on their debut picture Nighty Night Dinos scheduled to release June 16, 2026! Deb and I have been longtime friends and have supported each other on what can be a loooong journey over the years. It’s so dino-rrific to witness her debut book! Big congrats and dinosaur roars! 

Nighty NIght Dinos Book Review

By Kathy Halsey

I’ll put on my educator-librarian-book reviewer hat to discuss this appealing book. How does one take an evergreen topic like a bedtime story and make it stand out? Deb took the path of adding another perennial topic, dinosaurs, to the mix along with rhyme to make a lyrical read aloud that also shares the importance of sleep. 

I can picture parents gently rocking their children to sleep as they read this or taking an active kiddo, not ready for sleep, and imitating the dinosaur’s motions of romping, splashing, swimming, and flying. Once the cadence of the book slows, the little dinos yawn, find their stuffies, curl up in their favorite blanket, and rest their crests on the best pillows, hopefully as a nudge to their young readers! Shh! 

I was surprised to learn about dinosaurs I’d never heard of before. Curious kids will be interested in discovering these less traditional dinosaur classifications, too. 

Illustrator Anna Doherty has created a soft, unique palette that amplifies dreams and sleep. I’ve never seen such cute, cuddly dinosaurs. The end papers feature a striking sky of dinosaur clouds that lend whimsy to this picture book, too.   

This is a winning combination for kids and parents that will last through many a storytime and be a welcome addition to public libraries, too.

Craft Chat with Deborah Holt Williams

 Kathy: It's a pleasure to be in conversation with you today, Deb. My copy of NIGHTY NIGHT, DINOS arrived earlier than I thought, and it's such a fun, charming book featuring one of children's literature's favorite animals, DINOSAURS!This is such a delightful story. What is the origin of this book? Did you envision it as a board book or a poem, or did you always see it as a picture book?

Deb: First let me say it’s an honor to be featured on your blog, Kathy! We’ve been in the submitting trenches together a long time. NIGHTY NIGHT, DINOS started off as an entry in a bedtime story poetry contest in January of 2020. It was not a winner, but I really liked it, so I made it a bit longer and envisioned it as a board book. I sent it to Familius publishing in February of 2021 and heard back the very next day! (How rare is that?) The company’s owner, with the wonderful name of Christopher Robbins, liked it but they had a few other dinosaur books in the pipeline already. We kept in touch but a couple years went by. Then in October of 2023, Christopher wrote and asked if I would add four more stanzas so they could turn it into a 32-page picture book! Absolutely! I sent them off, and then in November of 2023 I was in the hospital after a procedure, couldn’t sleep, turned on my laptop and there was the contract! Just what the doctor ordered!  I first saw the artwork for DINOS in September of 2024, while we were in Greece for a wedding, and I loved it! Anna Doherty is so talented, and a lovely person, too.

Kathy: Yes, we've been writer friends for years. It's delightful to host you on the GROG! Congrats!

I understand there will be two more books in this series, Nighty Night Bears and Nighty Night Puppies, both due out in 2028. Did you have these others waiting in the wings, or how did you approach this as a series for Familius? 

Deb: In April of 2025, an e-mail arrived from Familius. Tariffs were everywhere, and I was afraid to open the e-mail. Paper comes from Canada, books are printed in China, and I was sure that this email was to tell me that they could not produce my book after all. (I’d had two close calls in the past from other publishers on other manuscripts.) But, I opened it and… it asked if I would consider doing a series! I got cracking, and shortly after that, contracts were signed for NIGHTY NIGHT, PUPPIES and NIGHTY NIGHT BEARS, both due out in 2028. In January of 2026 the book jacket for DINOS was sent for my approval, and the School Library Journal review came out and was very positive. That was followed by a good Kirkus review in March, and my ten author copies arrived on May 1st. The book comes out on June 16 this year, 6 years after it’s first iteration.

Kathy: So, there's still time to pre-order this book! Excellent news. I’m curious about how you decided which dinosaurs would make their sleepy time appearance. Some of them feel very similar while others I've never heard of. Did you have to do any research on these dinosaurs?

Deb: I’ve loved dinosaurs since I was 6 and found my first fossil. I took my youngest son on a dino dig when he was 6, and we read tons of books about dinos, so I didn’t have to do too much research there. But when I saw Anna’s illustrations and all the bats she put in, I had to check and see if there were bats in the dino days. (There were.) When I learned she was planning on painting clouds for the endpapers, I asked if she could make the clouds look like chubby dinosaurs, and she did. She is from Scotland but lives in Switzerland, and I hope I get to meet her someday. Now that the book is done, we chitchat on Instagram.

Kathy: What plans do you have for the NIghty Night Dinos debut? A blog tour? A launch party? What are you most looking forward to as a published author? What project are you working on next?

Deb: Our town hosts Colorado’s oldest festival every summer, Strawberry Days, and our terrific local bookstore, Alpenglow, will have a booth where I’ll be sitting with them to sign books on the 20th of June. So that will be my book launch! I’m scheduled for a few blogs, and to appear at several local libraries (the national summer reading theme this year is dinosaurs!) and I even got an invitation for a bookstore in Denver, on the other side of the Rockies. (I live on the western slope, in Glenwood Springs.) I’ve contacted some dinosaur museums in Colorado and Utah but haven’t heard back. I’m still writing and submitting, and I learned recently that 12 states have an official state dinosaur, so the wheels are turning about a story where they decide to get together and…well, I’m not too clear on the plot yet. But I’ll keep at it!

Kathy: That will be fun, especially visiting museums! Thanks, Deb, for chatting with me today and for inspiring me with your journey. Finally, here's a tip for writers from Deb.

Deb: A tip for aspiring authors:  I find it really helpful to volunteer at my library, wiping down the picture books and keeping them in order, because it helps me to see what’s new and which publishers my stories might fit.

Connect with Deb here! 

Website: https://deborahholtwilliams.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucky.williams.7  

Bluesky: @debwriter.bsky.social

Instagram: @debwriter

The Researcher’s Treasure Hunt: Finding the Heart of "The Secret War"

By Todd Burleson

If you looked at my Google Drive right now, you wouldn't see a neat folder for a published novel. You’d see a decade-long archaeological dig.

Writing The Secret War wasn’t a straight line; it was a 13-year journey of uncovering the "wrong" stories to eventually find the one that truly mattered. As authors, we often feel like we’re on a long road trip where we’ve been pulled to the side with a flat tire or a busted radiator. There were even long stretches where it felt like the car had broken down entirely and I simply abandoned it—only to find it still there a year later, waiting to be repaired and driven again.

But in those moments of being "stuck," we notice the horizon at sunrise even more. Inspiration is everywhere if you are looking for it.

From Identity to Authenticity: The Shift from Jamie to Jamie

In the early versions of this manuscript, the protagonist was a 13-year-old Black girl. I spent months lost in the fascinating history of the Coffey School in Chicago and the incredible WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots). I loved learning about these pioneers, but as a new writer, I began to feel a deep responsibility toward representation.

Black and female characters have, for too long, been written through the lens of cis white men. I felt that as a debut author, I wanted to focus on an identity I "knew" from experience to ensure the story remained authentic. Jamie eventually became the boy I wish I could have been in 1944—someone who would have given anything to look Orville Wright in the eye.

The Heart vs. The Blood: Centering the Young Reader

Orville Wright was the inspiration for this entire project and has fueled my lifelong fascination with flight. In my initial drafts, the adult characters were front and center, but I realized I needed to bring the story back to a relatable reader audience.

I shifted the adult storylines to the background to ensure the boys remained the heart and soul of the book. If the boys are the heart, Orville is the blood pumping through their veins—his presence is felt everywhere, even when he is pushed into the shadows as a 72-year-old recluse in chronic pain.

From Trope to Truth: Trading "Green Goo" for Reality

As an educator and librarian, I’ve read thousands of middle-grade books, and I’ve learned that young readers don’t need "kid gloves". They need empathy and truth.

In my early drafts, the antagonist, Billy, was a cartoonish bully whose father suffered from a sci-fi version of "radiation sickness"—complete with glowing green goo. I eventually realized that by leaning on lazy tropes, I was robbing the story of its power. I traded the "goo" for the terrifying reality of the Dayton Project. In the final version, the tragedy is real: Billy is a victim of the system he’s trying to protect, carrying a warm, gray piece of Polonium-210 like a treasure while the adults look the other way.

The "Magnesium Glow" of the Future

The adult story that I "killed" in The Secret War hasn't actually vanished. It has become my next project, currently titled Magnesium Glow. This book is a narrative non-fiction biography of Colonel George Hatcher, the man who gave Orville his final flight on April 26, 1944. It explores the "Venn diagram" that brought these two amazing men together in Dayton, and I am incredibly proud to finally give Hatcher’s story the focus it deserves.

Looking Toward the Horizon

It is tough to give writing the time it deserves when you are working, raising kids, and simply surviving. But with retirement from my 34-year career in education now on the horizon, I am overjoyed. I’m looking forward to building more efficient routines while still allowing myself the time to wander the lakeshore and soak in the beauty of Kenosha.

The "Writer’s Math" of my journey—writing 500,000 words to find the 35,012 that mattered—wasn't a waste. It was the fuel.

What "scraps" are sitting in your own files waiting to become their own story? How have you balanced the "survival" of daily life with the need to wander and find inspiration? I’d love to hear about your own creative path in the comments.