Niki (Serio) Alling, a Fredonia native, had her first author/book signing event in Ithaca on Saturday at the Barnes and Noble bookstore, in honor of the store's educator appreciation week.
Alling is the daughter of Carol Aitken and the late Gary Aitken of Fredonia and granddaughter of Mary Conti and the late Fiore Conti of Fredonia. She graduated from Fredonia High School in 1982. She went on to attend college at Tompkins Community College in Tompkins County, and Empire State College, where she graduated with a degree in graphic design.
She currently lives in Ithaca, where she is an educator in pre-K with the Ithaca City School District. She is the mother of two grown children, Frederick Kalfas III, and Bless (Kalfas) Shingler. She is also a grandmother of two young granddaughters, who inspire most of her children's books.
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Niki (Serio) Alling
At the event, she read four of her children's books for her debut author event: "The Roots of My Family Tree," a multicultural family celebration story; "When I Build with Blocks," a fun book about block building in pre-K/kindergarten; "The Straight Rainbow," a story of being OK to be uniquely yourself; and "How Do You Peel A Banana?" a whimsical story of the frustrations of learning to peel a banana. All of her children's books are written in rhyme.
The combination of working in printing shops in pre-press in past years, writing poetry most of her life, working with young children and graphic design, led her to write and illustrate her own children's books and other genres, from start to finish. She also maintains online gift shops where she offers her unique poetry and designs on greeting cards, T-shirts and gifts, called NikiClix Creations.
She frequently consults with her brother, William G. Aitken, and uses the guidance and editing skills of her mother, Carol Aitken, both self-published local authors. (William writes suspense - Carol writes memoirs). Alling has published seven children's books, and other genres including a one-time travel novella, a couple short poetry books, and short stories.
A former member of the RWA (Romance Writers of America) and the SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators), Alling has attended many conferences/meetings and workshops throughout New York state, where she was inspired to reach her writing goals by the many supportive members and authors.
Alling's books are available in print and ebooks, through most online stores wherever books are sold. Her latest release is a children's Christmas color concept book, "It's A Colorful Christmas," now available in ebook. The print version will be released soon.
To learn more, visit her blog, where she talks about writing and designing at: www.nikialling.com.
