Sands Hetherington Bio:
Sands Hetherington,
creator of the Night
Buddies series of chapter books, credits his son John for
being his principal motivator. Sands and young John developed the Crosley
crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take.
They collaborated many nights on escapades starring John and Crosley, until
eventually it occurred to Sands why it was that Crosley was bright red. That
was when the first book came together.
Sands raised his son as
a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during
those formative years: all of the classic children’s stories from Aesop through
the Grimms, Lewis Carroll, Frank Baum, Tolkien and Dahl, with a lot of Dickens
and Hugo thrown in. When school was out they got in the car and toured Alaska,
Canada and most of the contiguous states. John still gets around. So far he has
lived in Germany, Scotland, Russia, England and Spain.
Dogs have always been a
part of the author’s life, beginning with Whiskers, a cocker spaniel. When his
wonderful boxer Hube died, he despaired of finding a boxer who could match him,
and instead got a Saint Bernard. He ended up breeding Saints for a number of
years and at this point has had twelve as house pets. Sands says dogs can do
you a power of good, and if you lose one, go out and get another the next day
and you will be surprised at how fast your grief goes away.
Sands is also a Civil War
buff. He would like to spend a month of evenings with common soldiers from both
sides to see how they felt about the business. And eccentric generals like
Jackson, Sherman and Forrest, and most of all Lincoln. Because Lincoln never
gets to smile in his pictures.
The author was born in
New York City but was transplanted a year later to Greensboro, North Carolina,
where his maternal grandmother lived. He never really left the area and has a
lot of the South in him. His grandmother was a prominent educator and became a
great friend and mentor.
Sands majored in history
at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and has an M.F.A. in creative
writing and an M.A. in English from UNC-Greensboro. He lives in Greensboro now,
and hangs out with his longtime friend Ann and their Saint Bernards Dudley and
Maggie. He likes visiting ancient Mediterranean sites in Turkey and Italy, and
most of all Greece.
Links
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Night_Buddies
Night Buddies Go Sky High bcc:
Young
John Degraffenreidt and his red crocodile buddy, Crosley, show up at the
Pineapple Cheesecake Factory and find Big Foot Mae lying on the floor, staring
up at her Great Star Puzzle on the ceiling. Crosley only wants a new supply of
pineapple cheesecakes, but what Mae points to on her ceiling will start the
Night Buddies on a totally new fantasy adventure. A suspicious white dot has
passed through the Corkscrew Constellation and is now moving underneath the
Hound Dog Stars. Across the Borough, Crosley s brother Crenwinkle sees the same
curious speck in the sky. It looks to be a long night for sleepyhead John, but
thanks to the time spreader dingus with its sleep retardant setting, he gets
right into their next escapade. Join the Night Buddies as they embark on
another Program, this time taking them all the way into the stratosphere in
their racing blimp.
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