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Meet Up and Coming Catholic Children’s Writer Nikos Lambdin

Meet Up and Coming Catholic Children’s Writer Nikos Lambdin

Last updated on: July 31, 2026 at 6:56 am by Mark Wilson

Meet Up and Coming Catholic Children’s Writer Nikos Lambdin 2026-07-31T06:56:31-05:00 Mark Wilson

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The Catholic Writers Guild is an amazing meet up place for those who identify as Catholic and are a writer of some kind. Whether you’re a non-fiction writer, tech writer, spiritual writer, bible study writer, blogger, song writer, poet, mystery writer, romance writer, children’s writer, horror writer of vampire novels, crafter of fantastic fantasy worlds, and designer of worlds far away in the great genre of Sci-Fi ye all are invited to join CWG. You may be published and you still might not be yet.

After reading Nikos’s description of what his upcoming idea for a kid’s novel he wanted to write I invited him to do an interview. He told me…

I’m not a published writer yet, so I probably will not be ready to be interviewed yet; I’m in the rough draft stage currently. What a wonderful interview with Sarah Greydanus, though! I met her previously at a MG/YA chat once!

I let him know that

I have a few people who interviewed who are not yet published authors. It’s all about the writing process. Take a look at the questions and see if it is possible to answer them. Some have said that it was fun going through the questions.

Santiago Muguiro Olagaray is one of those authors who doesn’t have anything majorly published but yet and still had a lot to say about writing and what he is working on. After thinking about it Nikos answered the questions and below is what he had to say about the world of imagination he has constructed in his head. I think his interview will inspire all who are still working at getting their book from their brain unto the printed page.

He is interview # 37 and at the time of this publication the last interview I’ve had sent to me. I’m expecting more in the future.

But for now be prepared to take a masterclass in creativity as you…

Meet Up and Coming Catholic Children’s Writer Nikos Lambdin

1. Tell something about yourself.

I’m a young man who’s been blessed by God with a wonderful childhood and a creative streak a mile wide—and I’m beyond thankful to Him for that! I LOVE to draw; animals are my best subject! There’s just something about them that’s so fun to draw—their personalities, mannerisms, and the way God made them. (Plus, I spent my childhood watching Disney movies, so that also may have shaped how I view animals as their own characters!)

Additionally, I love reading middle-grade fiction and fantasy (I hope to write mainly for a middle-grade/YA audience, so I study what kids are reading these days), but I also enjoy reading mysteries on the side. Sherlock Holmes is the best literary detective, hands down!

2. What makes a good Catholic writer?

To my mind, here is what it means to be a good Catholic writer. I learned this lesson from Father Donald Calloway at a Fishers of Men gala dinner I attended a few years back. He said ‘let the Holy Spirit work through you’. Ask Him for inspiration, for help, for guidance. You’ll find yourself tremendously surprised at the ideas that start flowing through your head, and your imagination kicks into gear as the Holy Spirit shapes you and powers your creative juices—Fr. Calloway sure was!

Giving a keynote address, he was talking about how he’d flip through pages of his Consecration to St. Joseph book and get blown away by the stuff the Holy Spirit wrote through him, like: “Wow! This (part) is GOOD! There’s no way I could’ve written something this good, did I? Thanks, Holy Spirit!” So, a word to the wise? Take a deep breath, step back…and let the Holy Spirit go to work. God is the Great Author, after all!

3. What do you like about being a Catholic/Christian writer?

What I like the most about being a Catholic/Christian writer is that God gives you the potential to evangelize in your own uniquely creative way! You know, there are many books on the Lives of the Saints, but do any of them see them from the animals’ point of view (like in the animated movie The Star)? Let me follow up with this question: what would it be like to imagine what the childhoods of Mary or Saint Simon Peter were like? Or whatever became of the Kind Innkeeper who let Mary and Joseph stay in the stable-cave where Our Lord was born? What’s his story, right? There’s so much potential to revisit these important figures’ lives and inspire people to come to or revisit the Faith of the Church! I hope that my stories and/or artwork can be a part of that in some way–big or small.

4. What is the main focus of your particular writing? Or, what do you like to write about?

I like to approach writing my novels as if I’m seeing it play out in my head like a movie, and ask myself:

How would this story happen if I were a bystander?
What would my world look like?
What does it feel like?
Smell like?
Sound like?
How would the characters translate well into live action or animation?
How would this story be achieved via visual effects?

Those are the kind of questions I ask, so that I can adjust my writing and turn it into something readers of all ages would enjoy reading–and watching if it gets adapted for film or TV! As a personal rule, I keep all my stories at PG or G-rated level.

5. How does your Catholic faith influence your writing?

I think the powerful theme of forgiveness that our Faith values doesn’t get talked about a lot in our culture today; neither do mercy or redemption. Very rarely do you read a book or watch a film in which the antagonist realizes the true consequences of his or her actions and is moved to fix what they did; I’m hoping to write more stories where the bad guy doesn’t stay bad, that room is made for more interior and outward growth within a character. Our Lord said Himself that the sun shines on both good and bad people, and that we need to love our enemies (the latter is very difficult to do, as we all can attest—but it’s not entirely impossible). Perhaps it would be easier if we had stories that inspired our enemies-without being coerced-to look inside themselves and embrace their inner goodness.

6. What’s your favorite article/post/book/story you’ve written?

There’s this story I’ve just wrapped production on, and is still undergoing a second go-around of revisions, entitled FTBI: The Fairy-Tale Bureau of Investigations, that I really have a good feeling about! It centers on a hapless self-published children’s writer named Travis Typist who, during a book-signing tour in the small town of Booksborough, Montana, finds himself joining an eclectic crew of librarians at Chesterton Public Library moonlighting as *Men in Black/Ghostbusters-*type secret agents whose job is to monitor the irregular appearances of public-domain book characters (in cameo appearances akin to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Wreck-It Ralph) into our world via ‘Page-Portals’ and return them to their stories if they’re having trouble adjusting to modern times…or if they’re making (Just a slight tease there) I truly enjoyed writing what is a love letter to literature as a whole with this Who’s Who of characters both familiar and unfamiliar!

The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) Public Domain

7. What’s your favorite topic/subject to write about?

I like to write mainly about anything involving talking animals, like in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Jungle Book, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Wind in the Willows, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Charlotte’s Web, Redwall, Eragon. They just make life so much cooler, with their own thoughts and observations about the world around them! Stuart Hill’s snow leopard king character Tharaman-Thar (from his novel The Cry of the Icemark) is one of my most particular favorite examples of this in play, just how he has a genuine childlike curiosity about human beings and the different ways they live**,** and absolutely marvels at our sense of creativity as far as inventions!

8. What’s your favorite Scripture verse?

“Go out and make disciples of all nations” (Mark 28:19). I love this commission by Our Lord so much I once etched it into a mug I made in Art class during in high school! I like to think that Jesus is encouraging all of us to use our own talents that He gave us to bring more souls home to the fullness of the Faith in this one simple-yet-crucial verse.

Master of the Reichenau school of illumination (Q2139129) –

9. What am I currently working on?

I’m currently at work on experimenting with The Piñata Smashings on Cinnamon Street, a murder-mystery novel for a sixth-to-eighth grade audience featuring Rodolfo Redondo, the first LAPD homicide detective who happens to be a living, talking donkey piñata with a penchant for guzzling candy and hot-cocoa mix!

10. Name a favorite saint or some other figure who inspires you in your life. A: I believe that my namesake Saint Nicholas of Myra inspires me in my life. Not only did he have a very kind heart, but he also attracted many children to the Catholic faith through his warm demeanor. Did I also mention that I love giving presents like he does? I try to emulate him and be thoughtful when it comes to gift-giving.

11. What is your favorite living writer?

I have to say William Joyce—there is no limit to what his creativity can produce as far as picture books and children’s novels! I love how prolific he is like myself! My favorite stories of his include the Guardians of Childhood series (which reimagines Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and the Man in the Moon as Avenger-type warriors, and inspired DreamWorks’ 2011 film Rise of the Guardians) and Ollie’s Odyssey (about a little hoodie-wearing toy bunny who unites with forgotten junkyard objects to save his owner Billy from an evil toy clown named Zozo). I just recently bought one of his most recent tales Rocket Puppies for my baby nephew—never too early to introduce your loved ones to the wonderful World of William Joyce!

12. If you could have lunch with any deceased writer, who would it be? What would you eat, and what would you talk about?

I would gladly have lunch with Brian Jacques–may God rest his soul. I feel that there is a very likely possibility we would have fish n’ chips, sausage, and Cornish pasties together at a cozy pub in London, while I ask him what the writing process was like when he wrote the Redwall novels, and tell him how Basil Stag Hare (a comedic hare character in the first Redwall book) made me and my younger brother crack up during our childhoods!

13. Name a favorite movie or TV show or music you find worth sharing with others.

I think I was pleasantly surprised by IF, John Krasinski’s effort at directing a family film, with how he approached the idea of imaginary friends searching for new kids to bond with; it was kind of sweet reading one news article in which Mr. Krasinski talked about how he did it for his and wife Emily Blunt’s daughters and in response to the cynical, unimaginative atmosphere pervading the world today. I also found it amazing in a poignant way how a large imaginary teddy bear would be one of Louis Gossett, Jr.’s final roles before his passing. I’d definitely recommend it to others who are looking for a decent feel-good fantasy comedy!

14. Can you see one of your books being made into a movie or TV series? Who would you want to star or direct?

Oh, my goodness, yes! There’s this one book that I wrote with the working title of Teddy Bears Versus Demons, in which God brings to life an army of teddies to help Him fight the shadow demons of the Evil One, equipping them with the Rosary and sewing-needle swords. I was totally amazed when I was writing the battle-sequences for the novel! I think it would absolutely do well as a stop-motion animated movie (like Fantastic Mr. Fox or James and the Giant Peach). In a perfect world, I would want EWTN +’s Seeking Beauty host David Henrie to voice the role of Toddy Sewell, my main teddy character who gets enlisted into the Button Regiment, and for Timothy Reckart (the director of 2017’s The Star, and a Catholic) to direct it!

15. What is your favorite historical event?

December 17th, 1903, when the Wright Brothers invented the first airplane in history and ushered in the Age of Aviation. My love of traveling is grateful to these humble bicycle-makers for not giving up when the world seemed to think they were both crazy!

This interview was published on June 28, 2026

The day these other historical events happened.

1891 –Children’s author Esther Forbes, (died 1968) is born. She wrote A Mirror for Witches (1928) about the Salem witch trials(Public Domain Book) and Johnny Tremain (1943 YA novel and 1944 Newbery Medal winner) set in Boston prior to and during the outbreak of the American Revolution.

1914 – Causes of World War I: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo, beginning the July Crisis and providing the casus belli of World War I.

1926- Legendary comedy filmmaker 1926 – Mel Brooks is born and today turns a century old.

1975 – Rod Serling (born 1924) creator of the Sci-Fi anthology series ‘The Twilight Zone’ dies.

2006- Superman Returns opens in theaters.

16. What else do you want people to know about you?

I also enjoy experimenting with coffee (the iced kind is the best), listening to soft rock, and working with chalk art. Plus, I’m an avid collector of pens and baseball caps—I’ve lost count of how many I have!

Want to Be Interviewed Also?

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A List Of Catholic Authors Who Write Fiction With A Few Exceptions.

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