The Back Story...

After a twelve year career in higher education, I was happily a stay at home mom of two wonderful boys.  As the boys were becoming school age, I knew I needed something for me - but I wasn't quiet sure what "it" was.

I dabbled in photography, jewelry making, and scrapbooking.  And in blogging, writing, and speaking.  And much more.  I loved it all.  But nothing hung with me for the long run.

Also, I took a stab at writing a few children's books.  But, none of the attempts went very far.

Until one night in July 2011.

My husband and I had spent the weekend at Martha's Vineyard having a kid-free, truly magical time.  It was one of those times...

You know the kind - the times that you never want to forget....the moments that you wish you could bottle up and save forever.  Those moments that are meant to savor!

That night, I cuddled up with my husband and I dozed off to sleep.  It was a restless night.  All night long, I dreamt myself awake with visions of writing a children's book called "Moments to Savor."  My dreams and waking thoughts were filled words weaved into rhymes, scenarios, and characters. 

In the morning, I knew, I needed to write the book.

In the months that followed, I wrote.  And tweaked.  And scratched out.  And rewrote. 

Then, I dared to allow a few people to read it. I got feedback.

Some glowing.

Some not.

 

Some peeps were encouraging.

Some were not.

Many times, I put it away, discouraged and disappointed.  But, the book would always creep back into my thoughts.  And I would return to it.

To Write.  And, Rewrite.  Tweak and Re-Tweak.

And then I dared to send the manuscript to publishers.

And I waited.  And waited.
And waited...for that one person to see its brilliance and say "YES!".

Instead, I saw rejection letters.

Again, I put it away.

I was completely

D I S C O U R A G E D!

So, I moved on.

Randomly, I signed up for a doddle class.  And began to doddle.

A little bit of this                              and a little bit of that...

and, it was fun!

And one day I began to wonder... "Could I illustrate my book?"

Tentatively, I pulled my book back out AGAIN and dared myself to draw some illustrations.

So, I began to draw.
I drew enough to have a rough draft of my book.

And, so, this is where it currently stands...

I am doing the finals edits and turning my drawings into final illustrations. 

Because, I am double-dog-daring myself to publish Moments to Savor by the end of 2013!