13 Jul 2023
The Best Ideas with Shaun Brown
This week I have the privilege of visiting with my good friend, Shaun Brown who has just authored a children’s book, titled, The Best Ideas Come From God (https://amzn.to/3PVgw59). Shaun writes about real people who have acted on heavenly inspiration to do important and historic things, and her much-needed message to the next generation is God loves you and wants to send his best ideas to help you!
I know you’ll enjoy hearing about Shaun’s creative process and that you’ll take encouragement to do the things you feel called to do!
Children need to know that God will help them in every part of their life. Learning how to listen for guidance from God is so important for safety and peace. Using examples from the lives of Harriet Tubman, George Washington, and others, this book illustrates how God has always helped his children and teaches children how to recognize when God is helping them.
“Ideas come from God. You cannot command the idea to come, it will come when it’s good and ready.”
— Albert Einstein
I’m all in on helping Shaun promote this book and its important message!
In Shaun’s own words: Since I was 14, I have known I would one day write books for children. As a full-time mother, I read a lot of books to children, but never tried to write. A few ideas came to mind over the years, and I stored them for the future.
Eventually, with my own children grown and starting their families, I found I had time to write. But where to begin. I made lists, I prayed, I bought books, and I prayed some more – looking for inspiration. Finally, into my mind came the title of my first children’s book “The Best Ideas Come from God.” Once I had the title, I searched for ways to tell a story that would help children realize God does love us and he wants to help us. I wanted children to know how to recognize when God is sending ideas. Some of my favorite people in history trusted God to guide them, so I decided telling their stories would be a great way to teach the truths I hoped to share … once I started writing, I found I needed someone to illustrate the book. I learned about the site called Upwork (https://www.upwork.com) – an online marketplace for illustrators, graphic designers, and other very talented people. I began reviewing the portfolios of different illustrators and found Sonja, from Serbia (https://www.instagram.com/sonjetina/). She was amazing to work with, so fast, and so responsive. I would send ideas and she would create the image I was envisioning. It was a treat to work with her and I am so grateful for her talents in helping make the book a reality.
I chose to self-publish with Amazon (https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US) because the only investment was $10 for the ISBN code on the back of the book—plus my time in the writing, layout, and cover design of course!
Perhaps one day I will pursue a more traditional path to publishing, but for now I enjoy the process of bringing my books to life myself. There is incredible satisfaction in holding a book in your hands, that you know you created from beginning to end, with God’s help and the help of people he helped you find along the way.
Purchase a copy of The Best Ideas Come From God HERE (https://amzn.to/46KRBXT)
Learn more about Shaun (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-lorraine-brown-23603470/) and the community newspaper (http://libertylakesplash.com) she founded.
Thanks for listening!
