Roberson family writing middle-grade book series

Most of us would find writing one book to be an intimidating project. Imagine collaborating with your spouse and your six children on not just one book but a 12-book series.

For Joe and Jen Roberson, both 2004 graduates, the writing grew out of a desire to teach their children the lessons the couple was learning about entrepreneurship in a fun and engaging way. Their promotional literature states, “We believe stories are the quickest way to the heart and want to come alongside you as you intentionally parent your children towards faith, family, and freedom.”

Jen said the idea blossomed after Joe started writing fiction in 2020. “I found that I absolutely loved reading his stories and asking him questions about what was happening,” she said. “It’s a unique experience to interact personally with the author especially while a story is less finalized.”

Joe serves as the director of the story and writes the first draft about 97% of the time. Jen then shapes the story and characters to make them more engaging. “We’ve always said this was a story we were writing together, so I have a lot of leeway to change how and why something happens, and I frequently update or modify the dialogue to add drama or themes we want to emphasize,” said Jen. 

When the Robersons realized there was a market for wholesome fantasy stories and for edutainment-style books, The Wonderful Wandering Wagon book series was born. They have committed to a 12-book story arc for the initial series and are open to writing standalone stories about the characters if readers are interested. 

The Roberson children are emotionally invested in the story and deeply empathize with the characters. Jen said, “While the characters have taken on a life of their own separate from our children, it’s fun to watch them argue their favorite character’s point of view or learn a similar lesson.”

The series is about a multigenerational family on a different planet who have a business partnership with a family of cats. The series stars Honor, based on the Robersons’ Maine Coon cat who likes to sit with Joe as he writes and demand attention. Jen said, “Honor has already taken several generations of the Bishops out in the wagon to establish a trade route when they were teenagers, and now it is time for Sinclair, the oldest, to make his journey in the wagon.” His mom expresses concern about him being alone, so Honor decides to take all four children on the adventure. “We hope our readers will learn how to work through struggles, the value of family, and some basic business concepts,” she said.

Book one launches the series with the children learning to be on their own and facing the consequences of their choices. As the series progresses, the children learn with the help of some mentors and Honor how to work together to solve real-world business problems. Jen said, “We employ several game mechanics in our stories such as experience points, classes, and skills, to help the reader see character growth and engage on a different level with the characters.”

The Robersons teamed up with Aslan Dominique to illustrate the books.

The Wonderful Wandering Wagon is available on Amazon.com. The second book, Dealing with Dwarves, is in the production phase.

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