.The Simon Collective - A Story of Friendship
"The concept of "Simon" was pretty much just a whim of poetic thought." Amy said. When asked what made Amy and Penny decide to create a child's character and extend it into a series of books they both replied, "We don't really know for sure. One day we simply decided to write a poem together, not planning on taking it into any direction, and with that, Simon was born. It was so fun writing about his first adventure that we decided to write a few more. The more we wrote about him and fell in love with his concept, the more others urged us to create a series, and so that's what we've done." Amy and Penny met online via a poetry community which Amy, along with a few dedicated staff including Penny, moderates. They both believe to be very fortunate to have stumbled upon such a great friendship and hope that Simon only brings them closer together. "The best thing about Simon," Amy said "is that in each of his adventures, we've tried to include a little bit of ourselves. Penny and I both love camping, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and the two of us love baking cakes, especially Strawberry. Simon is special to us on a personal level, but so many others have fallen in love with him too." The Simon Collective is a ten story set, all fully illustrated and written in poetic rhyme. When asked if there was a possibility that more Simon books would be constructed Amy said, "I think ten is a pretty well rounded number, though if Simon's fans really demand it, we may just decide to create a few more. I mean, after all, how could you not grow to love Simon?" The entire Simon collective is expected to be completed at the end of 2008.