Bringing Grits to Life

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

5 Facts About Grits and the Grimels

I'm getting excited about my first children's book, Grits and the Grimels, which is scheduled to come out in March. Here are five interesting things about the book. 

1. It was written as part of a series. The first book introduces the characters. Grits is the neighborhood kid that everyone loves and is always into something. The Grimels moved into Grits' neighborhood to help start a new church in the community. There are about six books total, with each one sending the Grits and the Grimels on a new adventure. My prayer is that the first book does well enough to publish the rest of them. 

2. Getting the book published was my 2015 New Year's Resolution. I wrote those six stories in 2012, but they have just been filed away. Tomorrow isn't promised, so I wanted to be more aggressive to getting the books in print. I made it a 2015 resolution - and part of my prayer life -  to get one published in 2015. It will be a few months after that, but I'm glad I finally pursued getting one published. 

3. It's my second book. One reason I didn't do much with them at that time is because I also had my first book, You're Grounded, coming out through Moody Publishers in 2013. That was an amazing experience for a first-time author. My first book was sort of like an introduction to theology and Christology (the study of Jesus) remixed for hip-hop culture. 

4.  There's a unique connection between illustrator Nic Johnson and me. Nic is an amazing artist in addition to being a talented football player. His parents were actually best man and matron of honor at our wedding. Nic moved away from the hometown we shared when he was young, but I'm so glad we got to work together on this project. 

5. I'm trying a different publishing route.  I was so fortunate to have my first book published by Moody. For this series, I wanted to try co-publishing, which combines the benefits of self-publishing and with the benefits of traditional publishing. So far it's been a good experience. I'll keep you posted. 


Chris Lassiter is an author and a freelance journalist. He worked at the News Leader as a reporter for 15 years, and he's written faith and culture articles for VIBE, Rapzilla, Jam The Hype and Young Life Relationships. He can be contacted at chrislassiter540@gmail.com or (540) 569-0270. He blogs at http//thecrosspromotion.blogspot.com 

Nic Johnson is an illustrator and a student-athlete at Elon College. You can visit contact him at Johnson.nic12@gmail.com and see part of his art portfolio at https://www.behance.net/NICATNITE 

Nyree Press was founded in 2011 when founder Kennisha Hill transitioned her writing firm into a full-service publishing company to provide all the essential services writers need to begin their journey as published authors. You can contact Nyree press at contact@nyresspress.com or visit the Website at www.nyreepress.com 

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