We were lucky to catch up with Elizabeth Bell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth, appreciate you joining us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me took place during the self-publishing process of my first children’s book, Bedtime for Dragons. Self-publishing a book is very expensive so I was slowly raising money the $2,000 I needed to fully complete the process. In December 2018, I was still $800 short of being able to finalize it. I made a Facebook post to my friends saying I was still quite a bit short of money to publish my book, but I was determined to continue saving up in order to become a published author.

A few minutes after posting it, I got a Facebook message from a friend of mine from high school that I hadn’t spoken to in ten years. He said he saw my post and asked how much money I still needed to publish it. I told him $800. He said he wanted to send me some money to go towards it and asked for my Venmo. I told him it wasn’t necessary but he insisted. After giving him my Venmo name, I got a text saying $800 had been sent to me by my friend. I was stunned because he gave no indication that he was going to send the whole $800; I assumed he was only going to send me a small amount as a gift (which honestly, any amount would have been a kind gesture).

I immediately messaged him saying there was no way I could accept all that money. But he said he wanted to give it to me and that if I didn’t want to keep it, he’d rather me gift it to someone else than give it back to him. With that money, I was able to pay for the rest of the self-publishing process and my book was released to the world via international distribution soon after in February 2019. I was so grateful that I thanked him by name in the acknowledgement section in the book’s first pages. Without him, it would have taken me much longer to publish my book. The generosity from someone I hadn’t even spoken to in years was truly life changing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Elizabeth Bell and I have been writing since the age of nine. I grew up in Chicago, IL and have always been creative in nature as a musician and a writer. I have written a few short stories, but my favorite genre to write is poetry. While I actually went on to major in music performance in college, I never stopped writing in my spare time.

Writing children’s books came about in a particularly interesting way. I’m an avid reptile lover and have a pet leopard gecko named Dragon. In 2014, she was about a month old and I was trying to get her to go to sleep during the day since geckos are nocturnal. I picked her up out of her terrarium and said “It’s bedtime for dragons.” I suddenly had a huge burst of inspiration and immediately sat down and wrote my first children’s book, entitled Bedtime for Dragons. I didn’t publish the book until five years later in 2019 because I didn’t know that self publishing was an option. I’m so glad I did end up self-publishing though because now I have two children’s books under my belt⁠—Playtime for Dragons was released in 2021.

My goal is create a full children’s book series called the Time for Dragons series. I want to inspire children through a lovable story with amazing illustrations to get them excited about reading and the creative arts industry. I also want to get kids a little more familiar with reptiles throughout the process. Although the book features dragons, I take my gecko Dragon along to my book readings so the kids can see her and get to know the inspiration for the series. I’m incredibly proud of my two books and that they’re out in the world for kids to have. I hope to one day to have a full series that will be recognizable to children for years to come!

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

To me, the act of sheer creation is incredibly rewarding. To create something that hasn’t existed in the world before and to bring it to life is amazing because it’s literally bigger than myself. A creation doesn’t just live through you. It lives in the lives of people you touch with it. It’s a way to leave your mark in the world and bring joy to people you may not even know. The inspiration and joy your creation can create on its own after you’ve given it life is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

We need more encouragement and education of the arts, particularly for children. People need to be exposed to all aspects of the creative arts at a young age so they grow up with a better understanding of why they’re impactful important. Students need to have access to the tools needed to express themselves. The tools need to meet them where they are and at their level so they can be inspired and be excited to learn more. It’s not helpful to tell people that a career in the arts is a waste of time because they may not make any money.

For these students, we need diverse leaders and teachers that are patient, encouraging, and motivated. It can be tough to automatically express emotions in a creative manner so the gift needs to be cultivated, sometimes slowly. Volunteers and teachers should be patient and work in a tailored manner with each child to help foster their budding talent and encourage them to keep going.

There is no type of expression that is not valuable, impactful, or important. It just takes time and encouragement to get the story flowing.

Supporting and growing the reach of the arts is especially important to me. I honestly believe that creativity is at the core of our society. The way to help artists now is by ensuring that the arts will continue to live on through younger generations. All of that can’t be done without the proper resources, education, and encouragement.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elizabethbellbooks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insta_for_dragons/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-walker-6b329673/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tweets4dragons