Marian Camden, Psy.D.and Dawn & Dusk Publications, LLC

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Hi, I'm Marian Camden, a children's author and clinical psychologist.  After working professionally with children and families for many years, I decided to try my hand at writing children's books.  I've always loved children's literature and there is so much to share with children about our world. My first book was An Earth Child's Book of the Year, which allowed me to write about my love of nature, gardening, and the magic of earth-based ways to living.  An Earth Child's Book of Verse came out at the same time, which is a collection of poems and songs that go with each month of the year, as they are described in An Earth Child's Book of the Year.  I started my own little publishing company, Dawn & Dusk Publications, LLC, as a vehicle for my published books.  So far it's just my own work, but I'm considering publishing the works of others as well.  My mother wrote many poems, mostly about her faith, and I hope to get those out into the world for the people who would enjoy them.​

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Because so many of the children and families I worked with as a psychologist were dealing with divorce, I started writing books to help children and their parents and caregivers with some of the common things I saw coming up over and over:  dealing with transitions between homes, Going Back and Forth:  A Joint Custody Story for Children.  What it's like to have older brothers and sisters who go back and forth when the younger child in a new stepfamily doesn't: Where Do My Brother and Sister Go?  And the very common and very painful topic of children experiencing conflict between their parents: My Parents Are Fighting Again. 

 

After writing about some of those challenging topics I decided it was time for some more fun with earth-based lore again, and I wrote An Earth Child's Book for the Very Young. 

 

In December, 2023 I released my seventh children's book: Tiny Giraffe's Big Adventure.  This is a story for children about moving to a new place, and I wrote it for one of my own grandchildren when the family relocated.  Something different about my Tiny Giraffe book is that I used artificial intelligence to illustrate the pictures.  That was a lot of fun and a lot of learning and work, too.  Turns out AI art is not as simple as just telling the program what you want to see and having it magically appear.  I continue to think about the ethics of AI and how to use this powerful new tool in ways that are respectful of artists and illustrators, while still allowing the rest of us to have this chance at artistic expression.

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Early 2024 saw the release of Once Upon a Cousin, a cute and funny story about a young child trying to understand the concept of a cousin.  Great for extended family-building.

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When I'm not working on books, I'm still seeing therapy clients, working in my garden, cooking, baking, reading, practicing and sharing yoga, hanging with my family and my dogs, and visiting those little grandkids of mine.

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I hope you and the children you care about enjoy the books.  I'm always happy to hear from readers about what you like, what you would like to see more of, your own ideas for stories that would help and delight children.  The easiest way to contact me is through my psychology website: camdencounseling.com.  Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!​​​​