How does a jewelry maker become a children's book author about a penguin named Moe?

By Andrea Walser (aka Andi Walls)

Why penguins and why Moe?

I've always loved penguins. An old commercial for the New England Aquarium is the first penguin related thing I remember and loved. The video of the old commercial is below this post!

I started collecting penguins, nothing too extreme, mainly Christmas decor, over the years. While coming up with social media posts for Bella Ornamenti, I used a penguin in a post and named him Moe. Over the next couple years, I used Moe more and more.

Moe became my silly side. I could be as crazy and silly as I wanted when I was posting as Moe. One day a story popped into my head. It was about Moe having an annoying brother. I've never written before and never did well in grammar (as you can tell by this post!) BUT, with the encouragement of my cousin who is an author, I "put pen to paper".



Moe the Penguin Book
Moe became a complete character with friends and family. After a while, I completed my first book, "Moe and the Most Annoying Little Brother". I used a print on demand book company who distributed my book to all the stores. I ordered a copy for myself and it was the proudest I've felt about myself (except for having my kids and marrying my husband!)

I chose to use a pseudonym to separate my "serious" jewelry making persona from my "goofy" author persona. Andi is a nickname my family has used forever. I hated the nickname for most of my life, but decided to embrace it for the books. Walls was just using part of my last name and extending it!

Moe's adventures are a fun way for me to let out my childlike personality! I can be goofy and silly when I'm Moe. While I intend for Moe's books to be fun for children, I also would like to add messages and teach lessons (like with Moe's Big Move where it explains buying and selling a home in a way children can understand.) I actually have a character sheet with dozens of friends for Moe.

There will be plenty more Moe books in the future, I just need to remember the ideas I have at bed time! Maybe a notebook by my bed will help. If you enjoy Moe, follow his social media pages facebook.com/moethepenguinbooks and instagram.com/moethepenguin or visit his website moethepenguin.com

Until next time,

Andrea