And So the Journey Begins!

So I’m not really a ‘blogger’. Or so I thought I guess! But there’s something really special about writing, organizing your thoughts and writing in a diary (even if it’s public!). Writing has always been therapy for me… A creative outlet for everything rattling around in my head. So for those of you who are interested, thank you for following me and being my sounding board!

When I grew up, I had great aspirations to… wait for it… work in a deli (and drive a pinto). Thankfully God had other plans for me and I got into education, where I was fortunate to spend the majority of my kid’s lives working where they attended school. Now with 5 of them in 4 schools, I’m fortunate enough to be at home for them (actually I think it’s more accurate to say in the CAR for them, that is, in fact seem to be the place we spend the most time, volunteer at their schools and also have the time to persue my dream to be an author. And God’s timing, being as perfect as it is, made it just happen that I found a publisher and amazing illustrator who wanted to journey this new course with me.

I don’t know about you, but I have some ‘mom’ quirks, passions and strong opinions on Children’s Lit that all went into every aspect when creating my books. First and foremost, I can’t STAND children’s books that are too wordy. I will publicly admit that before the kids could read, I would often turn multiple pages at once just to be done quicker. And even after they could read I would try to sneak that in whenever they were not paying attention. Bad, I know. My favorite bedtime picks are anything “Dr. Seuss” or “Llama Llama”. They’re fun, they move quick, and they RHYME! So much fun to read and rhyming is super important in the development of young reading skills. They even have a point to them, a moral to the story, and we (hopefully) end the book a better person than before we started it. I mean, look at how many kids will actually eat ‘green eggs & ham’ at a Seuss celebration at school just because the Sam was such a persistant little guy and convinced millions of readers everywere that it’s a tasty treat. Unlike other books that seem to carry on without a point. How those books got published, I have NOOO idea. It’s such a competitive market, it’s a shame some publishers wasted paper & ink (let alone investment dollars) on those pointless books. And unfortunately they seem to be everywhere. Moving on, I also have strong opinions on the illustrations. How many times do I pick up a book in the bookstore and set it down immediately because the illustrations aren’t captivating? I could be missing out on all sorts of great reads, but if the illustrations don’t deliver, It’s an unread message. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to my new favorite artist, Amy McKay. She works with my husband and is a friend of my sister in law but also passed the publisher’s approval and they set us free to create the storyboard. It was magical! She nailed every one. I’m almost worried the photos are better than the book! That’s always the author’s fear, I guess. Much like a bride who doesn’t want her bridesmaids to outshine her 🙂 But seriously, Amy’s a gem and I’m so lucky to have gotten to work with her! Then past my opinions on children’s lit, I, as a mom, have a huge thing for manners. I get sick of TELLING my kids to have good manners. I want them to WANT good manners. And so, stir all of these ingrediants together, and out pops a fun-to-read manners based series, that rhymes, with fabulous art and is just the right length that a toddler can sit through and a young elementary child will learn from. I promise that you won’t find yourself skipping pages just to get through it, or hiding the book behind the others so your child won’t pick it at bedtime. At least that’s my hope! I also hope that this becomes a favorite book for you to enjoy with your children, and that the good life lessons learned will stay with your child long after they loose their hat & sword.

Thanks for following me in this journey and I look forward to sharing my books with you!

Steph