story origins

My family likes words. I collect them, especially those of our younger members whose turns of phrase are often pithy and engaging. In particular, the little guy who grew up without his father had evocative questions and comments about the prospect of a meeting. This got my mental wheels turning about how even a child who has a full life and a loving family can be powerfully drawn to connection with a parent they have never known. I wrote a poem about it. 

Meanwhile

A graphic design colleague and I decided to go together to a children’s book workshop. Over three days of presentations, I enthused over editing, layout, publishing, and illustration—which I'd worked with during my years as a graphic designer. Then the writer spoke, and I remembered how much I like words. My friend and I blue-skied doing a book together. I would write; she would illustrate. We were advised, though, that publishing houses weren't likely to pair a new author and new illustrator, prioritizing name recognition for one or the other as important for selling books. Discouraged from pursuing our collaboration, we shelved the notion and both got back to making a living.

Fast forward 25 years

Self publishing and hybrid publishing now offer opportunities without the strictures of traditional publishing. My choice of a hybrid option with Miriam Laundry Publishing has taught me how to turn an idea into a children's book and get it produced and published. Their instruction, editing, coaching, design, technical expertise, process, planning, knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry, flexibility, and encouragement has made the difference between daydreaming a tale that wanted to be told and creating it. And can you guess who's done the illustrations? My friend Joan—who, after our long-ago workshop, went on to illustrate several books and write one of her own—is my collaborator. From the foundation of a little boy's words, we’ve now told the story and, I hope, honored this experience of braving the unknown..