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An Interview with N. Kelly Breza, Author of ‘The Wizard’s Vacation’

N. Kelly Breza is the author of The Wizard’s Vacation, a wonderfully written children’s fantasy book released in November 2022.

N. Kelly Breza is a social worker for children with mental, emotional, and behavioral health challenges and he assist children and families to overcome their crisis and move forward in a sustainable way. He has a Bachelor of the Arts in Criminal Justice and a Master of the Arts in Mental Health Counseling.

Breza wrote and illustrated The Wizard’s Vacation while his wife was pregnant with their now seven month old son, and they inspired him to publish The Wizard’s Vacation as his first book this holiday season, November 2022!

According to Breza, his favorite definition of “Wizard” comes from Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, and to attempt to quote it, “A Wizard is a particularly clever or skillful person.”

About The Wizard’s Vacation

The Wizard’s Vacation follows The Wizard, a mysterious and magically dressed character, as he hops from one vacation destination to another. It is a book that is simple to read and follow along with, allowing the book to be about the children and family who are reading it, and the author hopes that it will cause people to fantasize and reminisce. It is also a book about feelings of loss, and that they are normal. All vacations come to an end, after all, and we can’t have them back. But we can remember, and we can create new experiences!

What inspired you to become an author?

I have wanted to write books ever since I read The Hobbit for the first time when I was 9 years old. It was a beautiful, big copy with large print and full page illustrations and I hope to give it to my son some day when he is old enough to read it on his own.

Describe a typical writing day.

Drinking coffee – Daydreaming – Doodling – Taking a shower and having prose or poetry come to me in a flowing stream of consciousness – Write down what I can remember.

I allow myself to be curious and to dive down whatever rabbit hole my curiosity leads me to.

I daydream and let my imagination run wild, and then I try to capture some of the thoughts and images that fly by with some paint or a pen!

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Spend time with my wife and son, visit with our extended family, draw, paint, and play the guitar.

What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?

Making it officially available to other people so that they can see it and judge it for themselves. I had all of the words and illustrations completed for over a year before I decided to self-publish!

Which part of the book is your favorite?

There is a gentle reminder about loss and life in the final three pages that even sneaks up on me, and I like it because I think learning to lose and mourn are skills that we all desperately need, but are not well taught to us when we are young. This should change, because we all lose things, we all grieve, but if we never mourn then we can never heal. Mourning is a skill that we can learn, but it is difficult to teach.

the wizards vacation qa

What do you think makes a good story?

A Wizard who takes a vacation.

Tell us more about the publishing process behind the book.

My wife is a driving force in my life, and when she said it was time to publish I snapped to it! I self-published through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) which allows authors to be in charge of the entire creative process and which provides an isbn number for free, cutting out all the middle men. My wife is in charge of our Instagram, which is our primary means of advertising and reaching out to fans of our book!

What are some tools you used to write this book from start to end?

Soft Pastels and paper for the illustrations and Microsoft Word for the text. The book was formatted on and uploaded from an old Macbook Pro.

What authors inspired you into becoming an author yourself, if any?

J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, and J.K. Rowling.

What are your future plans and where can our readers find you?

I’m not done with The Wizard and he is not done with me!

Follow us on Instagram @thewizardsvacation to learn about the book, see images and Timelapse videos of The Wizard illustrations and my process behind them, and to connect and share about all of the many things that have the power to enrich the lives of children.

Happy reading! ❤️

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I love to read and I enjoy exploring a range of genres including contemporary and historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, nonfiction, and memoirs. If you would like me to review your book, feel free to reach out to me!