Russell Bernstein, Amazon Bestselling Children's Literature Author
Russell D. Bernstein, a 33-year-old author, who was born in Miami, FL. Bernstein currently lives in Orange, CT with his wife and two daughters. He holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and has extensive experience in the Healthcare field.
An advocate of young people, Bernstein tours schools as a guest speaker where he uses the podium to speak about his books and to raise bullying awareness.
When asked why he feels so ardent about bullying, Bernstein says, “I speak about bullying because it was always a sore spot when I saw others getting bullied. I was bullied in camp as a kid and it had a major impact on my life.”
To learn more about his advocacy project, visit his site at www.bullytalks.com. It’s an amazing exploration of his work and depicts his passion the moment you arrive at his website.
Like many working authors, Bernstein hopes to be able to make enough financial gain from his literature to write full-time. “If I can do that, I will feel very successful,” he says. Currently, he’s employed part-time.
Bernstein’s writing time is not a drama free relaxing pursuit, he finds that juggling the responsibilities is very difficult. He doesn’t have full control over his writing focus until after putting the kids to bed, which is after at 8:30 pm. However, past that time, he’s often physically and mentally drained and struggles to do much else. Not limited by life’s normality, Bernstein has adopted a strategy to write during other times by the use of his cell phone. He typically writes every day, although the hours vary drastically. Not only does he uses his device to write, but to also capture any ideas that pop into his head, he emails the ideas to himself and transfers them to his computer the first chance he gets.
Bernstein enjoys reading other books, such as Magician Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist. And when he’s not writing and conforming to life’s routines, he spends his time watching movies and hanging out as a human jungle gym for his two daughters.
Bernstein draws his encouragement from figures such as Amanda Hocking, a romance paranormal author. Although he’s not a fan of the genre, Hocking's documentary story of her rise to fame that can be found on Youtube and Raymond E. Reist, who is a Fantasy author, are both inspirational sources for Russell.
To date, Bernstein has only published fantasy, but he is expanding his writing territory and veering out into the Young Adult Fantasy genre. His current published works are all geared towards Middle Grades ages 8-12, but he states that “…it has been enjoyed by those who are older as well.”
Doodles:When Art and Magic Collide
Doodles Lanhorn and the Quest to Save Inner Earth
Doodles Lanhorn and the Search for the Missing Artifact
His books can be purchased on the following sites.
Walmart online: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Doodles-Lanhorn-and-the-Quest-to-Save-Inner-Earth/53636358 www.bullytalks.com
http://www.bullytalks.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Russell-D.-Bernstein/e/B00N6ZKVG4
Interviewer: I noticed that your work is available at Walmart.com, do you have any advice for other authors on how they too can get their work in book stores, either online or brick and mortar?”
Bernstein: Walmart online actually picked it up on its own because of a few month period where my book was selling really well. I would advise focusing on marketing your books and writing more books and good things like that will eventually come to those who are persistent.
Interviewer: Give us an insight into the main character of your latest book. What does he/she do, that is so special?”
Bernstein: My main Character, Doodles Lanhorn, is picked on by bullies and doesn't have many friends, yet he maintains a positive attitude and uses his creativity and heart to solve problems. He discovers the secret art of drawing magic where anything he draws comes to life and he has to use this newfound ability to overcome bullies, solve riddles, and ultimately save the world.
Although writing and reading goes hand-and-hand, every writer would love to see their work up on the big screen. Bernstein could see no other actor playing the role of his character Doodles Lanhorn other than Daniel Radcliff, “…because he has some similarities to Harry Potter with the awkward underdog.” He feels that Radcliff unique artistry would bring his character to life as only he can do best.
Currently, Bernstein is shifting the direction of his ink pen to the YA genre. A genre that was introduced to him by his older brother, a fan of fantasy books. After reading the books, his brother passed on his collections of fantasy to Russell who found the discussion of the genre with his brother whom he looked up to be “neat”.
Engrossed by the YA genre, Bernstein is trying his hand at the genre. He recently wrote his first YA book and is currently editing the new series tentatively called: Raven and the Phoenix Raven and the Cure.
Bernstein knows his characters very well and usually, very minimal research is required to write his books. However, at the request of his publishing company and because his most recent project required extensive research, he delved behind the scenes to collect further information for authenticity purposes.
Unlike some authors, Russell does not use outlines to create his stories. He likes to understand his characters' motivations and emotions and put them in situations where he thinks about how they would react.
Russell is excited about his latest book: The Great Chinese Adventure from the Doodles Lanhorn Series. In this novel, he says, “Doodles travels to China to compete in the International Wizartry Competition. Why there, he is thrust into another adventure, taking him all over China.”
Every writer has writing challenges and Bernstein is not exempt. He finds that the hardest thing about writing for him is overcoming his own self-doubt. He says, “I think every day, at some point in the day, I think I am not good enough.”
Relating to other authors, he too deals with the dreadful writer’s block. He finds that when he gets stuck, he goes for walks outside to clear his head. While doing so, he takes his faithful companion, his phone, he jots down ideas and mulls it over in his head.
Driven by the motivation of Winston Churchill’s quote:
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Bernstein encourages aspiring writers to, “Keep going. Don't let anyone, especially yourself, stop you from writing.”
Bernstein also hosts a Youtube channel where he interviews authors. “The Author and Reader Podcast is a platform for readers to discover new and exciting authors. And for authors to gain insight and tips from other authors at every stage of a writing career, pointing readers to amazon author central page and bullytalks.com would be great.”
Want to connect with Bernstein and check out his work and sites:
