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Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

Congratulations to Michele Beresford on the release of Leviathan Jones and the Sea Witch: Part 1

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

When I was about eleven, I started dreaming of characters who would come and tell me their stories. A favorite English teacher recommended that all of our class that year keep a journal by our bed so we could write down anything we felt was important before bed. I started writing down the stories that characters came to tell me. I’ve continued to do this throughout my life. For Leviathan Jones and the Sea Witch, it was Brody who first came into my dreams and told me of a boy who needed his story to be told.

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

As I wrote and then later illustrated this book, I came to see that this wasn’t just a book about good hearted robots and a boy. This story is about what a real family looks like. That’s what I want my readers to understand. This graphic novel is the first of 3 books that, on the surface tells a story of an epic sea adventure. As readers follow along, Leviathan is chasing this idea about what family is ‘supposed’ to be. He comes to realize that Brody, Grogan and the robots have shown him the meaning of friendship, loyalty and love. He sees that Brody may be made of metal but he would do anything for Leviathan. Families come in all shapes and sizes and colors and circumstances. It’s the love that counts. That’s what I hope readers will understand at the end of the series.

What inspires you to write and illustrate?

Since 2009, I have written other genres of books under a pen name. When Covid sent everyone into lockdown, my grandson, Finn inspired me to invent a rhyming game. We played it so much that it eventually became the book, Huggy, Muggy Do. Finn and I are listed as co-authors on that book. Since that book, I’ve found that I like telling stories for children of all ages. To get back to the question, what inspires me? I guess you could say this new generation in my family does. I also have a love of painting and drawing. Writing children’s and tween books lets me enjoy that part of me as well as an illustrator.

What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?

Leviathan Jones and the Sea Witch: A Graphic Novel Part 1 will be exclusively available as a printed novel through my website www.micheleberesford.com. The ebook will be available for Kindle. I usually publish all of my books with a very wide reach. This is my first graphic novel and I am hoping to do some book signings and meet my readers. Since I’m also the illustrator, I’m offering to do a drawing workshop featuring the characters from the book with every book signing.

What's next for you?

I am already working on drawing book 2 in this series. I hope to release book 2 for the summer of 2025 and then the final, third book will be available for Christmas/Yule of 2025. Since Leviathan Jones and the Sea Witch is also a novel, I am writing the sequel to that book which I hope to release in early 2026. Then, more graphic novels will follow.

More about the book . . .

The only thing that Leviathan Jones has known is a lonely life within Nautilus Castle. He’s been given the highest room in the tower away from the royal family. The townspeople whisper of secrets and the mysterious boy. Some say Leviathan is royalty. After all, he has a faithful robot, (Brody) just like the rest of the royal family. Some say the boy is dangerous; maybe even a sea monster.

Leviathan’s life changes overnight when a mystical package arrives addressed to him, followed by the song of mermaids. It will take an army of insect robots to help Leviathan escape the castle, retrieve the strange package and take the first step to knowing who he truly is.

Publisher: Beresford Media and Barefooted Friar Publishing

More about the author . . .

Michele Beresford is the author of several children’s books including, Huggy, Muggy Do, Mr. Kiwi: Trouble With Mr. Mow-It-All and Leviathan Jones and the Sea Witch (novel). When she isn’t writing and illustrating, she is a harpist and music teacher. Michele lives in Michigan with her family and her mysterious, black cat Gigi. She often leaves cake and tea out in her garden for the fairies (just in case) and loves to collect moonbeams in a jar during her evening kayaks.

https://micheleberesford.com/

Instagram: WriterHarpist