Meet the Authors
Krista Dowell
I grew up in Missouri and California, but I prefer to claim Missouri as my home. To further narrow it down, I prefer to call myself a country girl, my home being my parents’ farm in southern Missouri. We grew up making everything from “scratch,” canning and freezing the food that we raised in a huge garden, and sewing our own clothes.
My husband and I live in Nicaragua. We have two kids who are grown and married. Between the two of them, they have given us seven wonderful grandchildren. They, and Robbi’s grandkids, are the ones who inspired the writing of The Orange Chronicles.
Our daughter and her family live in Nicaragua near us. Our son and his family live in northern Wyoming. It is his three boys that Jes is named for, and the rest of the grandchildren are named throughout the different books in The Orange Chronicles and the second series, which is called The Orange Files.
Our books have been a wonderful way to connect more closely with our grandchildren, and with other families across the country. I hope they bring some pleasure and excitement to you and your family as well. Story telling is a great way to make that connection with your kids and that’s the purpose of these books. That, and to learn a little something while you’re at it.
Robbi Almanzar
I grew up for the most part in the Ozarks, except for a few years in California. My childhood was happy and fairly unremarkable. I believe that is how childhood should be.
Although we didn’t have a lot of “stuff” our parents encouraged us to use our brains, our imaginations, and to develop our talents. Both our parents told great stories! Sometimes they tried to out-do one another in their stories. Sometimes they would start to tell a great story, then stop at a very exciting spot, and call on one of us to finish it. We loved that!
I met my husband, David, during my second (and last) year in college. We have four grown children, and ten grandchildren.
This has been one of the most surprising, enjoyable and ambitious projects I have ever undertaken. After a very difficult 2010, a friend suggested that I do something fun with my sister. Since she is a missionary in Nicaragua, and I am a Pastor’s wife in Colorado, that just wasn’t possible, or so we thought. Thanks to Skype, we put our heads together and did something fun! The Orange Chronicles happens to be the result.
I hope you enjoy reading Orange Down Under enough to read the rest of the series. We learned so much about the places we wrote about in the books, and we worked hard to make the facts in the book interesting and fun. Just put yourself on the back of that incredible pig, and go for a ride!