About the Book

Book:  Tyrone the Terrible

Author: Jan Lis

Genre:  Children’s Chapter Book

Release Date: March, 2020

Tyrone is the skinniest chameleon in the swamp. No one wants him on their team. After going on a fitness program, Tyrone gets carried away with his new self and terrorizes his friends in Gnarly Tree Bend until he meets Sly, the meanest gator in the bayou. Looks like Tyrone is gumbo.

The moral of this story? Someone is always bigger and badder than you, so you’d best make friends along the way.

TYRONE THE TERRIBLE is a bullying tale. The feisty chameleon picks on his bayou buddies before meeting his match. In the process, he learns the value of friends and family and how actions have consequences.

This delightful story is filled with swampy animal characters with a distinctly southern voice – not quite Brer Rabbit, but a good deep-south feel.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Jan Lis is south Florida writer and artist.  Living in this multicultural area, Jan utilizes these diverse cultural influences in her stories.  Jan fills her children’s books with spunky characters and rich imagery, bringing to her stories and illustrations the same vivid quality found in her fine art paintings.

Jan attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, has a degree from Ohio University’s School of Fine Art, and took post-graduate writing at Case-Western Reserve. She established her writing as a journalist contributing articles to publications such as the Miami Herald, and the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and worked as Fine Arts Editor and Columnist for the Florida Arts Gazette.

Jan Lis is an established artist who has exhibited and won awards in many of the country’s top Annual Exhibitions including: The Butler Institute of American Art, the San Diego Watercolor Society, and the Piedmont Biennial at the Mint Museum.  She is represented in corporate and private collections including: the State of Florida Art In Public Buildings Program, the Brevard County Florida Art in Public Places Program, and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC.

Jan is represented by agent Cyle Young, Hartline Literary Agency, and is member of the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

 

More from Jan

How I first met Tyrone was an interesting adventure in itself. One day, a curious little chameleon climbed up on a stone, and watched me as I went for my afternoon swim. Day after day his little head popped up every time I entered the pool. Then he scrambled up onto his rock to watch me swim. Over the course of the summer I saw this skinny fellow gradually mature into quite an impressive chameleon. Sometime during the summer he gained the name Tyrone, and the story was born. Much of the action in Tyrone The Terrible takes place around Gnarly Tree, located along the bayou. While the setting of the story is fiction, the tree is not. My Gnarly tree is a venerable old Banyan, located along the pathway near my home. These days I give it a nod whenever I pass by. I loved writing the Tyrone characters, and the southern feel of the dialogue. It’s a story you just have to read out loud, and have fun with.

Mindy Houng’s Q&A with Jan Lis

What character did you connect to best in this book?

That is hard to answer because I love them all. Each character is quirky in his own way. I guess Oscar Possum comes close to being my favorite. I am intrigued by a possum who hangs upside down and wears glassed while reading the novel Moby Dick.

Which scene was the most difficult to write?

That would have to be when Tyrone discovers he is not lying on a log resting in the water, but on an alligator’s nose. I tried to capture Tyrone’s surprise and fear when he realizes the gator is opening his toothy mouth, and Tyrone is about to tumble in.

What inspired this book?

Tyrone The Terrible is the result of watching a skinny little chameleon in my back yard. Over the course of a summer he ate and ate and developed into quite an impressive fellow. I combined this with the question – What would happen if this filled-out chameleon became a bully?

Which author influenced you the most?

Robert Louis Stevenson is my first choice among many writers. As a kid I read Treasure Island. The book had been my father’s when he was a child. It was given to him for Christmas by his aunt. I still have the book. It is illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. That particular book began my love of writing and illustrating children’s fiction.

What is your favorite Bible verse?

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Ps 103:2. It reminds me to rely on the Lord for everything in my life. And to praise Him in all things.

Thank you Jan, for your time in allowing us to get to know you better!

Blog Stops

For Him and My Family, June 1

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 2

Vicky Sluiter, June 3 (Author Interview)

Older & Smarter?, June 4

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, June 5

Texas Book-aholic, June 6

Simple Harvest Reads, June 7 (Author Interview)

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, June 8

deb’s Book Review, June 9

Inklings and notions, June 10

My Devotional Thoughts, June 11 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, June 12

Splashes of Joy, June 13

Artistic Nobody, June 14 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jan is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and a signed copy of Tyrone The Terrible!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/fc14/tyrone-the-terrible-celebration-tour-giveaway