Bobos Babes Adventures: The Missing Egg by Karen M. Bobos

Interview

What made you write a book about a missing egg?
This summer, there was a family of swans near my mother’s home where we stayed during the pandemic. The girls talked about these swans a lot, so I wanted to include them in a Bobos Babes Adventure. I started researching swans and learned how the male swan would sit on the nest on occasion to let the mother rest. My daughter, Scarlett, is obsessed with superheroes, and saving the day. I thought it would be fun to have them help the dad find an egg that went missing when he was lured away from the nest by chocolate cake.

What inspired the swan characters’ clothing?
Russell is such a “cool” guy. My husband suggested a smoker’s jacket, not that Russell smokes. We use to stop by their condo in Chicago after we went to 7:30am mass on Sundays. Diana had this fabulous mint green chiffon robe. The girls thought she was so glamorous in her “dress.” So, her character will wear a lot of mint green. It’s just fun memories for my girls. His friends, “The Boys” needed to dress “cool and fun,” hence the Hawaiian shirt, fedora hat, and sunglasses with a gold chain.

How did you choose the Bobos Babes’ Magical Powers?
Scarlett has a rare skin disease called Ichthyosis. We call it angel skin. This is why she is an angel and her touch creates beauty. Daphne is a goofball. She also says things that are so funny to adults, and she doesn’t even know she is saying things. Her teachers will tell us how she says something and they laugh and wonder if her friends got what she said. She is also very gentle and will make you feel so special. It felt natural for her special power to be to provide instant comfort. Cora is so stinking fast and hears everything we say. I’m a mom in my mid-forties. She is three. I can’t keep up with her, thus her character is swift with supersonic hearing.

What is the most courageous thing you have ever done?
Said yes to my husband (now married 10 years) when he proposed marriage after only knowing me for two weeks. I had a 2-hour conversation in my head during the 4 seconds it took me to respond telling me that this was crazy and my heart blurted out yes. Best decision ever.

What is your favorite travel spot?
My husband and I celebrated our one-year anniversary in Fiji. We stayed in an over-the-water bungalow. It was heaven. It was majestic. There was definitely a lot of inspiration from this vacation when I created Harmony.

How long have you been writing?
I’ve been a writer since as long as I could remember. When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a book of poetry. My teacher found it and called the local newspaper, who wrote an article about me.
Throughout the rest of grade school, I would write stories and my teachers would have me read them to the class. When I was in junior high, I wrote a soap opera with my classmates as characters that everyone anticipated the next episode. I guess that was when I really first started creating an imaginary world for people in my life. I also wrote two playwrights in junior high that the teachers had me direct and produce with the students. Wow, I really had some great teachers who believed in me.

What advice would you give a writer that is just starting out?
Just write. There will always be people who love what you write and critics that do not. That’s normal and fine. I still worry if my stories are good enough. I could barely sleep the other night before a reading in the park. The reading went great and many parents stood in line to get their book signed afterwards. I was so touched. I wanted to start writing when I graduated from college and let someone discourage me. Never let fear control who you are meant to be and what you are meant to do.